Weaning hell

MrsCodeMonkey

So DD is nearly 16 months and I'm ready to wean. I've been ready since a year. All my efforts have been for nothing. I tried various sippies with milk cow's milk, soy, coconut. I stopped offering. She keeps losing her sht when she can't nurse. DH tried going in at night with a milk sippie. She cried so much worse.

She has a double ear infection, so I've been nursing her every time she wants to help with the pain until the antibiotics do their thing. She's been nursing so much at night that I started leaking again! At nearly 16 mo postpartum! Shoot me now! That is all.

MrsWindyCity

Sorry. When I weaned, I made DH put Z to bed and go to him if he ever woke up in the MOTN. It was hard, and Z screamed and cried like a maniac, but was back to normal very soon. I just didn't trust myself going in there because I knew I'd break and nurse him.

CoffeeBeen

I hear ya.  DS is 23 months so he's getting into that awkward phase.  He gets so panicked if milk is not available and I like the closeness, but he's going to be 2 very soon.  Unfortunately, he doesn't accept any substitutes so weaning will be a nightmare.

The other day he wanted to switch boobs so he pointed at the other and said, "This one, please."   

MrsCodeMonkey

CoffeeBeen:

I hear ya.nbsp; DS is 23 months so he's getting into that awkward phase.nbsp; He gets so panicked if milk is not available and I like the closeness, but he's going to be 2 very soon.nbsp; Unfortunately, he doesn't accept any substitutes so weaning will be a nightmare.The other day he wanted to switch boobs so he pointed at the other and said, "This one, please."nbsp; nbsp;

Haha! At least he's polite! : Too cute!

pepomntpat

Well, milk isn't really the only substitute for breast milk. I really think it is more about the breast than the milk at this age from LO's point of view. So, there are a few things you can try.

DD doesn't drink much cow's milk, but she does like water with a splash of juice so that takes care of fluids. And she eats a lot of cheese and yogurt so that takes care of the calcium and protein she'd get from the cow's milk. And if I want her to drink the milk, I'll put a bit of Ovaltine powder in it. She'll usually, though not always, drink it that way. And of course she eats a wide variety of other foods (when she feels like it).

As for the closeness that she may be missing, you can try substituting there too. At night I am shortening the nursing sessions, but I add a cuddle and an extra song after. During the day we read a lot more books with her in my lap. Lots of snuggles.

We are down to mostly just 2 times a day now, though it varies a bit depending on how much we are out of the house. 

ETA: DD is also sick and has been attached to my boob almost non stop the last two days. So far today she's hardly eaten anything. I hope both of our LOs are feeling better soon.  

sbartschke

I weaned DS at a little over 16 months. What worked for us was warning him we were almost done. I explained everything that was going to happen. "You can nurse for 3 minutes then you can have milk from sippy and mommy will snuggle with you" then I would warn him "In 1 minute we are going to be done then you can have sippy and snuggles" then "Ok all done nursing, now sippy and snuggles". My DH thought I was nuts explaining everything to him but he did really really well with it. He fought it a couple of times wanting to nurse longer. I shortened the nursing time over a week or 2 then told him we were just going to snuggle and have his sippy and he has not asked since that night.

MrsCodeMonkey

MrsWindyCity:

Sorry. : When I weaned, I made DH put Z to bed and go to him if he ever woke up in the MOTN. It was hard, and Z screamed and cried like a maniac, but was back to normal very soon. I just didn't trust myself going in there because I knew I'd break and nurse him.

I wish we could do that. DH works and I don't, so I've been dealing with all wakeups....fun fun. He tried once on the weekend and the screaming was so bad. She now cries Mama and my hormones are a mess and I give in.