Self Weaning?

hey Mom,

I have heard of it,

But I usually starts when a child begins to eat.

When food takes more of a priority.

The nursing is up to you, a personal preference.

If your ready, you need to get him ready,

which basically means offering him more juice cups, and cows milk in a cup. during the day.

and then still nursing just before bedtime.

after 2 years old, you can try and wean him off the night nursing. with perhaps pumped milk in a bottle.

--In my opinion there is nothing wrong with nursing however long you feel comfortable.

However, at 3 many children start a part time nursery program, which ususally requires them to be potty trained.

Just something to think about.

Good luck

M

Both my children self weaned. One was 14 months and the other 18 months. They really loved FOOD! That helped. I would feed them then nurse them near the end but they ultimately started refusing the nursing. The last to go was the nursing right before bed. It was a comfort to them (and me) then and I made sure they were full and just nurse them a little. Even that they decided to quit. It is possible but if you want to "assist" in weaning start feeding more first then the baby will only nurse a little and you can cut out different nursing times easier. Start with the "random" nursing but keep nap and bed time nursing. Then cut out nap and eventually bed. Good Luck! A.

I was hoping my son would self wean also and there I was at his 2nd birthday wondering if it would ever happen. I saw no signs of it so I decided at 26 months to do it cold turkey. He took it amazingly well and we are both really happy now. Good luck and if weaning gradually doesn't work for you going cold turkey is not that bad at all.

How wonderful that you've been in a nursing relationship with your son longer than you expected. My son self weaned completely at about 2 years, 3 months. Though, it was a gradual process around 20 months, he was nursing once or twice a day. The age is different for different children, though. I have heard about it happening very early- 6 months, and as late as 4. It is a beautiful processs, and if you choose to let your child self wean, I hope you both enjoy it.

My son was 9 mos when he did this. He got teeth (and wouldn't stop using them) and started crawling. He didn't have time to nurse anymore...he had other places to be. So he stopped nursing on his own. If he's not interested in stopping and you are, maybe you need to lead the weaning instead of waiting for him.

I think if your son was going to self-wean he would have done it by now. I traveled a lot for work so my daughter self-weaned at 10 months because she found she could get more from a bottle than from me at that point.

Unless you are substituting bottles or sippy cups for some of the feedings, he's going to enjoy the comfort of nursing for as long as you let him. (Many bottle-fed kids take the bottle, at least at bedtime, until 3 yo or later if parents let them). I don't know how many times a day you are still nursing. I would eliminate one or two for a week, then more as your milk adjusts, leaving the bedtime (or whichever one he needs the most comforting at) for last. If you haven't done any bottle feeding with him, go straight to a sippy cup.

Nurse him for as long as you feel comfortable and appropriate with it, there is no mandatory age you have to stop, but you may want to consider the opinion of your husband as well. My personal no longer comfortable level is when the kid comes running up and says "I wanna suck mommy"

HI N..
I am in the same boat as you. I keep waiting for my daughter, 21 months, to stop looking to nurse but she loves it, Its her comfort. NOt only does she love to nurse but always has her hands down my shirt. haha. I dont mind it and I know she doesn't mind it but I am waiting for her to decide she doesn't want to anymore. I cut out all the feedings except nap and bedtime since she falls asleep nursing (which is a whole other issue haha). They were all easy to get rid of and I offered sippys & snacks instead. I did try and cut out naptime nursing in my attemtp to stop nursing but she doesnt fall asleep on her own and after a few days I decided we would try this another time, hopefully she will self wean. Good luck and let me know how it goes! I am always interested to see what the other moms out there do/did. None of my friends nursed/are nursing and think im crazy but we dont mind!
Keep us posted

I just went through the same thing with my daughter. My mother told me my sister and I self weaned around at a year so I didn't set a timeline for my child thinking she would do it in her own time. But she likes it too much to give it up voluntarily. My ped. recommended that at this age she would understand if she was told she was too old for nursing and to offer her milk instead - she likes strawberry flavor. My daughter has not liked cow's milk which is one of the reason's I didn't push the weaning thing but I was ready by 18 months and my ped. thought she needed the calories and fat from whole milk. So, one feeding at a time I told my daughter that she was a big girl and didn't need boob any more. The first feeding we dropped around nap time was the hardest lasting a full two weeks before she stopped asking for it but then she didn't put up much fuss for the last two. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and she seemed to understand what I told her. She didn't love the idea but I made sure to be especially cuddly with her during the time that she typically nursed. We're a week post full wean and all is going great.

If you are ok still nursing, then that is great as every day they nurse is good for them. If you are ready to wean this is a good age because you can explain to him that it is time to stop because he is a big boy - or whatever reason you prefer to give. My ped said the emotional aspect was all in my head and she seems to be right so don't make yourself feel guilty if you want to wean. Nursing for 19 months is awesome.

Hope this helps.

I felt the same way when my son was younger - I never thought I'd nurse past 12 months, but my son continued and I wanted him to self-wean. So I stopped nursing during the day and only nursed him in the morning and at night after about 12 months - I gave him milk in a sippy and watered down juice for a snack. He was in day care when I worked, so it wasn't an issue to wean during the day. And then I waited for him to self-wean the night and morning sessions and I waited and waited and waited. He turned 2 with no signs of giving it up and we had been trying for a second child for a year at that time. 6 months later, at 2.5, no signs of weaning, so I had to wean him (well, we could have continued and he probably would still be nursing to this day! I weaned him because I was starting fertility drugs and didn't need to pass them on to my son. As a prior poster said, it is up to you and your comfort level). Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that sometimes self-weaning just doesn't happen (I guess that is how some women end up breastfeeding 5 year olds!) and it is up to the two of you to come up with a plan that you are both comfortable with...

Hi N.,
I think extended breastfeeding is wonderful, good for you! There is no age that children normally self wean, the whole idea is that there is no schedule! While I know another mom said her baby did this at 9 months, babies under a year don't self wean because milk is still their primary source of nutrition, whether at the breast or in a bottle - they'd have no more interest in being bottled than nursed. It's impossible to say when your baby will decide that he's done. Self weaning isn't something that just happens in one day, they gradually taper off, maybe go a day without nursing or two, and then may still ask again. Sometimes moms "help" this process by wearing clothes that don't allow for easy access to the breast, offering snacks or cups at the times the toddler often asks to nurse, out of the house at bedtime so someone else puts toddler to bed, etc. But if you're happy breastfeeding and your toddler is too, there's no specific benefit to stopping. Good luck!

Hi,
I nursed all 4 of my children, 14 months, 10 months, 18 months and 15 months.

I figured I would nurse them all about a year or so, and it worked out well, until my son, who nursed the longest, which was fine with me, since I was a SAHM, but there is a time to stop.

When I thought it was time for him to wean, I started out by cutting out 1 feeding per day. Let him and your milk supply adjust for about a week or so before cutting out another one.

Offer something different at the time of his normal nursing time, like whole milk - if he doesnt like that, add just a couple drops of chocolate, strawberry, I personally add a teaspoon of flavored coffee creamer to my little one's milk cuppy at nap time. (She's almost 3 and doesnt like plain milk). Or with my last 2 children, I was advised to use soy milk, try flavored if he doesnt like plain, my daughter liked vanilla, that was bought by accident.

Three of my children self weaned, but not my son, at 18 months, I had to wean him myself.

Good luck