Hi Ladies! My question is for those of you who have breastfed your toddler and then dealt with weaning. My daughter is almost 19 months and addicted to the boob. Shortly after 12 months we had a few days where she only nursed a few times and I was real excited. Then she went back to wanting to nurse throughout the day. I have loved nursing and did not anticipate how much I would like it. I am incredibly thankful it's gone well for me. I'm happy to continue nursing in the morning and at bedtime, but throughout the day can get frustrating. I know she does it for comfort, but she wants it when it's just us at home, not only when she's stressed. Currently she nurses at least 6-8 times a day, including morning and night (just at bedtime, she sleeps through the night). I've read that weaning is a lot easier with a willing child, so I've sorta been waiting to for that to happen. I've tried wearing clothes that make the boobs less accessible. She will often pull on my clothes so much I'm afraid she will rip them. And I've definitely tried distractions. To make things a little interesting, I'm actually 12 weeks pregnant now. I had thought maybe a decrease in supply would lessen her interest, but now she just nurses on both sides each session instead of one. If you've gone through something similar, I'd love your encouragement and suggestions!

Re: Weaning a Boob-Obsessed Toddler
Interestingly, Lansbury also says that using distractions to get your kids to cooperate isn't good because it doesn't teach the kid that a certain behavior is not ok, and if a behavior annoys us we need to properly teach them not to do it. I thought this was funny since "distraction" is one of the biggest things suggested when it comes to weaning. It's worked a little bit in the past, but usually not for more than 15 minutes. I think Lansbury (and others) suggest the "connect and redirect" approach, where you say "I know you're angry, but it is not time to nurse (or whatever). You may do this instead."
I'm only a day and a half into this, so who knows. I'm thrilled to have seen some progress and feel more in control.
Not going to lie, it was hard the first few days with weaning, but use your partner to keep LO distracted during times you usually feed. Also, it really helped for me to hold DS close to me and show him love and hugs that way he knew we could still have that closeness and bond without the BF'ing aspect.
Me: 31 DH: 34
Married 11/09/2013
LO#1: LMP 09/14/2014 BFP 10/15/2014 EDD 06/24/2015 DS Born 06/14/2015
LO#2: LMP 09/18/2016 BFP 10/19/2016 EDD 06/27/2017 DD Born 06/27/2017
LO#3: LMP 05/16/2018 BFP 06/18/2018 EDD 02/20/2019