successful weaning (so far!)

papeete

So, we stopped weaning when my little girl turned two almost two weeks ago now, and it's been much easier than I feared.

I know everyone's different, and every kid is different, etc., but here's what worked for my family in case it can be useful to anyone else.

Some background information: my two nephews are three and five, and they are my little girl's best friends right now.  When her younger cousin turned two, his mom weaned him by really making a big deal of his being a "big boy" now.  It also helped that he wanted to be like his big brother.

So, we tried the same tactic.  We started talking about her birthday and how she was going to be a big girl for almost a month.  We talked about how we were going to turn her car seat around, we were going to move her to a big bed, and she would start drinking cow's milk instead of mama's milk.  And of course, we were going to have a party where she could play with her friends, we would all sing happy birthday to her, and she'd get to eat a cupcake and get some presents.

Two weeks before her birthday, I stopped nursing as much during the day.  Instead of always whipping out the boob on demand (which was what I had mostly done), I started trying to distract her more and only nursing if she wouldn't give up asking for it.  Often, she was easily distracted and didn't even care.  This was a big sign to me that she was almost ready to move on, too.

A week before her birthday, I cut the morning nursing and only nursed her at night.  When she wanted to nurse, I'd just say we could nurse before we went to sleep, and she more or less was okay with it.

I cried twice (which I thought was pretty good!): once when she asked for it and really cried when I said no (broke my heart), and again the last time I nursed her because I was feeling so sentimental about her growing up so quickly...

Anyway, she's asked to nurse almost every day since we stopped, BUT she doesn't cry about it now.  I just remind her that it's all gone, and she's a big girl now, so she drinks cow's milk.  I then immediately offer her (cow) milk, and she'll usually just say yes and rush to the fridge.

SO!  It's possible to not have that heart-wrenching of an experience I thought I would have to endure.

Good luck if you're trying to wean, and I hope this helps!

P.S.  I hear we have "diamond boobies" if we nursed for two years.  Good job, diamond-boobies mamas!  Sounds like there are a lot of us that made it! :-)

MrsH11710

So happy to hear your successful story! Sounds like both of you did a great job.

I'm still nursing before nap and before bed (and one MOTN feeding). I wanted to wean completely before her 2nd birthday but haven't. I'm having a hard time coming up with an appropriate strategy for my DD.

Thanks for the encouraging story!

MelissaMiso

We are still nursing over here. I mention to her that soon she won't have to have mommy milk anymore bc she's getting to be a big girl. She doesn't seemed phased. She usually only nurses when I get home from work and before bed.Some days she doesn't nurse at all. Occasionally she'll ask when we are out and I just tell her not now. She seems to be okay with that so I think if I am the one to initiate weening, it shouldn't be too bad (fingers crossed).  I am hoping she just weens herself.
Thanks for sharing your story, @papeete Hooray for Diamond Boobies!

bellelamb

Hehe diamond boobies
Lucas only really nurses now early in the am like 5am and if he's having a grumpy time for some reason. Most days only twice at most. He does ask more but I say no and distract and get up if I'm sitting or he tries to help himself.

Congrats on weaning so well

najzomax

Congrats on the smooth transition! We are still nursing on demand here and DD is showing no signs of being ready to wean. She still asks to nurse every couple hours and will rarely let me put off nursing without a complete meltdown. I decided a few months ago to let her wean on her own so unless something changes we still have a while which is fine by me. She is my only and I am going to cherish every moment and snuggle

GromMom

We're still nursing but I'd like to wean soon, we had him weaned at night but then DH threw out his back (he normally was sleeping with lo) so I slept with him "for one night" which has turned into two months.  I told DH he's back on duty now so hopefully we can go back to just once before bedtime and nap although lo has been super clingy, like I can't take a shower without him standing outside of the glass bawling, he wants to be near me or touching me when he naps or sleeps too.   It kind of sucks because I've had bad morning sickness and he just cries and cries for DH when DH takes him outside or away to play so I can get some rest.   My goal is to have him weaned by 5 months pregnant so that give me me a little over 3 months to do it.   My friend told me they were going to start night weaning so they just told their little girl that there was no more milk at night and she stopped cold turkey.  If only it was so easy!  I'm bracing myself for a few sleepless nights.

papeete

Thanks, everyone, and good luck!

@ najzomax, if I knew my LO was my last, I'd do the same.  Lucky girl! :-)