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Parenting
Weaning....HELP
Ok so I really want to stop breastfeeding because it's getting to be a pain and well I am over it. My son though seems to feel differently about it. I know I should go until he wants to stop but if that's the case I might have a 2 year old breastfeeding and I do not want that. So far we are down to night time feedings. What can I do to stop it all together? I need some sort of plan and my husband is of no help so I look to you girls for advice. Thanks!!!
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Re: Weaning....HELP
My thinking is that if one person is tired of playing then the game must stop. I guess it depends on how much he nurses and how big your supply is.
When I weaned DD I dropped one feeding a week and replaced it with whole milk. It was all I would allow myself to do since my supply was big. It took a while, but it worked well for me.
When I was down to nighttime feedings I had no choice but to wean because I dried up. I just gave him a sippy and that was that. It was much more tortuous for me then DS.
Try having DH give him a sippy for the nighttime feeding and see how your DS handles that.
Liam is 5!
He is only nursing at night? He most likely doesn't "need" to be waking up at night at all and is just doing it out of habit. I would probably not give him anything when he wakes up, just rock him, etc. to calm him until he can go back to sleep and then gradually decrease the amount of interaction that you have with him during the night so that he stops waking up. You could drop one feeding at a time, but if you don't have a substantial supply I would do cold turkey so he doesn't get confused as to why he gets to nurse sometimes at night and not others.
Personally, I wouldn't give him a sippy instead because he'll just keep waking up for a drink whether it is to BF or for a sippy.
When I weaned, DD was STTN so I dropped one feeding every 4 or 5 days until we were done.
Ditto pretty much everything Amanda said. My DD was STTN when we weaned so I dropped one feeding each week until we were down to 2 feedings a day (wakeup and bedtime). We kept those 2 for a while; I mostly wanted to wean to stop pumping at work, so I didn't mind those two feedings since it didn't involve pumping. Anyway, A few months later we dropped the other two.
What's your supply like? When I was down to just 2 feedings, my supply was really low.
I wouldn't give him a sippy of milk at night. He shouldn't need nurishment in the middle of the night at his age. Go in and comfort him back to sleep in other ways, gradually reducing your interaction with him. Will your DH help with any of it? It would probably go better for him since he doesn't have boobs to try to get at!
The bedtime feeding was not that hard for us, but it also wasn't the only one.
I just replaced it with a sippy of milk. After a couple of weeks I made it a sippy of water, and then nothing. He seemed OK with the whole thing.
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008
Is he only nursing before bed or all night long? If it's all night long, you might want to start by weaning at night. Jay Gordon has a technique if you want to google him and find it. You might also find more information on kellymom.com.
I night weaned DD a few months ago, and she sometimes still wakes up asking to nurse. It's a long process. We're down to 3x a day (morning, after work, before bed), and there are definitely times I'd like to be done.
I'd start with the night weaning and when he's consisently no longer nursing at night, then I'd think about stopping the before bed session. Maybe start a new bedtime routine or get your DH involved at night. Good luck with whatever you do.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13