Stop Nursing - San Antonio,TX

M.,

It's funny but my plan was to have my daughter stop at age 1!! Unfortunately she decided otherwise and at age 2 we are still breastfeeding at night and naps and whenever she feels sick. I believe that at this age they don't willingly stop by themselves and unless you are ready to take some major crying and unhappiness you just have to cut her off. I tried the gradual weaning that too did not work for me... I finally decided that I will let her self wean and from what i heard it's usually around 3 or so.. i am anxiously waiting because I for one does not want to let her go through all the crying and agony of sudden withdrawal...

Hi M.,
I recently just stopped nursing my 14 month old, and was having some of the same struggles as you. I first started weening my daughter by cutting out the first morning feeding. As soon as she woke, I made her breakfast and gave her some milk. As long as we kept busy through out the morning, she did not want to nurse. But if we were sitting around the house, she thought that was what she was supposed to do. The nap time and bed time feedings were the hardest! What I finally had to do was leave. My husband and I left her with some family for a whole day, and she was fine. Drank her milk, and layed down for a nap when she was tired. The next step - I left. One night I went to a moms night out - my first time away from my daughter at bedtime. My husband put her down with no problems. It became evident the I was "comfort" to her. Part of her routine. But if I was not around she was ok. But we made sure that she drank some milk with every meal. She is now off the breast completly - 3 weeks now! My suggestion is if you can - remove yourself from the equation. Hope this helps, and good LUCK!!

K.

It sounds like she is not ready to wean. Is there a paticular reason you'd like to be done by age 2? (not judging, I weaned my last child at 2 and it was all me).

Check out kellymom.com and do a searcn on weaning. You can find books on the topic and advice for weaning a child who isn't choosing to wean on their own. One main thing is to make sure you're still giving lots of physical contact/love. Don't be afraid to cuddle because you think she'll want to nurse. She still needs the cuddles.

By the way, when I weaned we did it cold turkey (I left town for a couple of days), but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that.

My almost 4 year old daughter stopped nursing at 18 months. At that time she was only nursing to sleep. Then I was about 5 months prego and it was just wearing me out. What I did was laid down with her, and just held her, and kept my breast covered up. It worked, but we did get into the habbit of her not being able to sleep without me being there. Good luck to you, and remember, you are a great mom for making it this far. Kuddos to you. 39, married, sahm.

It sounds like her nursing before nap and bedtime is part of her sleeping routine. Maybe you could to try to change the routine slightly so she doesn't associate nursing with night night. I remember that was the last feeding I weened my son from when he was 14 mo. Also, the less you nurse, the less milk you will have. If you limit her to just a minute or so for her comfort, your production will go down. Once there is no milk you can just tell her mommy can't make any more. Hope that helps. Best of luck.