Help - how does this weaning thing work?

acia

I was initially going to just let DD wean herself naturally, but I really don't think it's going to happen without me leading the way a bit. My goal is to have her entirely weaned by age 2, since I'd like to start to try to get pregnant around that time (I still don't have my period back yet).

Right now, we're down to 3 nursing sessions a day - first thing in the morning, naptime, and bedtime. She doesn't nurse to sleep for naps or bedtime, but she nurses right before it (during story time). Each feed is a good, solid feed, and I usually end up having to pull her off after 10-15 minutes or else she will fall asleep (except for the morning), which is a habit we've worked VERY hard to break. DD can't have any dairy, and right now she doesn't take any kind of milk supplement since she's still nursing quite a bit. The only kind of "milk" she'll drink is almond milk, but I know it's not even close to being a breast/cow/soy milk substitute due to its nutritional content (but at least it has some calcium and vitamins, etc.). It has been a long, hard road to get her down from about 8-10 feeds a day, which is where she was even 4 months ago. She's never been a good eater, which makes things that much harder. But these last 3 nursing sessions are so ingrained in our routine that I have no idea how to move forward any more.

Anyways, I guess I'm wondering where I go from here.... How do I start to cut out more nursing sessions? Do I just eliminate them one-by-one? Or shorten each one? Do I explain this to her, or just do it? What do I replace the breast milk with? How do I make sure I don't get engorged or get mastitis or something? What do I do if she asks for it? So many questions!

I'd love to hear from some other mamas who have "gently" weaned their toddler, or are in the process of doing so.

atlbride23

I have been moving the midday session to later and later in an effort to slowly get down to twice a day. First I moved it to right after nap, then later and later. I don't say " no", but I do try to distract/delay them a bit. So far, each of my DDs has skipped it once this week, so that's progress, I guess. I'm definitely worried about mastitis, so I'm trying to get them to cut back really slowly.