Seeking Advice to Wean from Breastfeeding Appropriately

My son was also 13 months when he was weaned. I also was concerned about doing it at a slow pace, and I began to substitute some feedings with a bottle of soy milk or whole milk. I did this for about a month and soon I was down to the last feeding at night and just added the bottle to that feeding as well and he has never asked for it since! Infact I think this really helped him to sleep through the night also. Good Luck.

I had 2 out of 5 children that went beyond 15 monhts of breastfeeding. What I did was this: I took one time of the day out at a time. For example.. I would pick the least "cuddly" time and eliminate that... giving that child some other distracting activity so he/she would not think about what they were missing. For one child the morning time was the last one to go .. as that was her most comforting, cuddly time.. the other one it was the before bedtime. It seemed to make the best transition for them as it was a gradual process. I think I gave each one at least 3-5 days to get used to not having the one I was eliminating before eliminating the next one. It all depends on how many times a day you are spending nursing. This will also certainly also help your body adjust to the reduced number of times as the demand for milk decreases more gradually.

I weaned my daughter at 10 months. I just exchanged formula for 1 feeding a day for a week or 2. Then added another exchange a week or so later. The feedings I weaned last were her mornings....

I think you should let her nurse still. Babies get up to 40% of the nutrition from breast milk from ages 1 to 2. It's still very healthy for her to nurse. I nursed my son until he was 3, I just started refusing him and offering water. It only took a couple of days.

I weaned my second child cold turkey at age 2. I do not recommend this. If you're going to wean her, do it by slowly cutting out one feeding a week or so. If she is nursing for comfort,I think this will be the best for her.

Hi S.,
It seems your little one needs the comfort and reassurance of breastfeeding due to your return to work full time. If this doesn't hamper you too much I would let her nurse a bit longer until she feels secure in her new situation. Most babies wean themselves when they feel secure. Of my three, one did at 7 months, one at 18 months and one comfort nursed until 2 years. It is hard to figure out what baby needs to feel one with their world.
I doubt if you will "damage her" if you refuse to breastfeed her any longer. Holding and cuddling should work just as well, but it might take a week or two for her to comply to your wishes.
Best to you.
J. S

I stopped breast feeding my daughter at 14 months. My husband and I went away for the weekend and left our daughter with his mother. When we got back I just told her that we weren’t going to do “that” anymore. There didn’t seem to be any issues on her end. The only time she wanted to was in the middle of the night, I just reminded her that we didn’t do that anymore and she went right back to sleep.

We had also taught her baby sign language so we had a pretty good communication system and she was able to let us know if she wanted a drink or something to eat.

Good Luck

I remember worrying that I was going to scar my daughter for life when I weaned her at 19 mo. But really, it went really smoothly. She was nursing just before nap, just before bed and at 4am. So I just cut out one at a time. I rocked and sang to her instead of nursing her at the 4am wake up for a week. Then my husband put her to bed by rocking/singing to her for a few weeks while I was out of the house. Then I cut out the nap nursing. I think it took about a month for the whole process, but there were no tears. We just replaced the comfort cues from nursing with rocking and singing, which we still do with her at 2.5 years. Good luck!

Hard situation, you’re going to get the every response in the world from, every type of mother. The breast feed till there 5 group and the weaned at 3 mos to go back to work group. Ultimately, the decision is yours. I have three kids, the first two weaned them-selves. My eldest at 9mos, so we had to supplement with formula, and my second weaned herself at 15 mos; but, I had found out I was pregnant w/ number three about that time, so I thing that had a lot to do with her weaning herself. Plus I told her they " my breasts where broken and put band-aids over my nipples" she said ok and that was it, she really never asked about it again.
At 13 mos you really can’t reason with a baby. But, you also need to feel like your comfortable nursing, the last thing you should do is continue to nurse at the expense of your sanity. It will compromise your feelings towards your baby. Working full time and nursing is exhausting, I’ve done it I know. Commuting, getting them to daycare picking them up… then dinner and trying to nurse an over 20 pound kiddo is not easy. Plus the expenditure of energy it takes for your body to produce breast milk.
You can wean her in about a week, I would take away a feeding a day or maybe every other day. If you’ve gone back to work already than she is likely already not getting the daytime feedings.
I feel for you, I have a 19mo son who shows no signs of being interested in weaning; I’m going to wait till he’s closer to 2 so I can explain it to him easier. I should have done it at 13 mos. GOOD LUCK!

at 20 months, i stopped breastfeeding my first cold-turkey. she was only nursing at nap and bedtimes anyway. i was terrified it was going to be an ordeal but she took it really well. she asked for it for about a week at night and cried a little but was pretty content with her pacifier.

i thought my second one was going to be much worse since she's stubborn. i chickened out and went on a mini-vacation and daddy dealt with her. she took it even better than my first, maybe because she was 22 months. she is a thumb-sucker tho so she had a mechanism to self-soothe.

i can definitely see where it will be hard at 13 months because you can't explain but IMO it's will be easier than waiting until she gets toward 2. everything's harder then. just give it a try and see how you feel about it. get ready for some tears but she will be fine, whatever you decide. just give her some cuddle time instead. if you can't handle her crying, have daddy put her to bed.

I've been dealing with this issue myself with my 22 month old son. He's still nursing before sleepy times (nap and bedtime), and pitches a fit if I try to put him down without it. My husband would love me to wean him, and I wouldn't mind, but I finally realized it's not putting me out any, it's a special time between my son and I, and he just loves it! You should see how excited he gets when I pull my shirt up. I've decided to just let nature take its course, and will stop nursing him when he stops asking for it.