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Need help with weaning toddler

MrsNash37212MrsNash37212 member
in Attachment Parenting

I've posted before about my 11-day trip to Africa I have coming up in less than 3 weeks. DS is almost 21 months and I've successfully got him down to nursing once in the morning on my right side and to be honest, it was pretty easy to redirect him and get him over nursing to sleep. However, he is holding on to this last nursing session for dear life. Some days I can tell him we're not having num nums today and he's fine, but most of the time it is a complete and total epic meltdown. Even feeding him breakfast and taking him outside doesn't work. He just keeps begging for it and flips out and sobs until I finally relent. Does anyone have any ideas to get him/me through this? I'm going to be in a tent in the middle of the bush - really not conducive to pumping and dumping to relieve the pressure. And these no-storage room A cups aren't helping anything! Tips, please??



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Re: Need help with weaning toddler

  • Emerald27Emerald27 member
    When no alternatives will be acceptable to DS, you could try setting time limits for that session. Tell him he can nurse while you sing a song and he has to be done when the song is over, or until you count to some number. Then over the course of a couple weeks, sing the song faster or change to a lower number.

    This is a tough one because you don't have much time. Try to keep it as gentle as possible, and don't stress yourself out or feel too pressured. Will you be able to hand express some while you're away? It's possible that when you get home, DS may want to nurse again some to reconnect.
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  • Temp123197812503460Temp123197812503460
    If you want to do it I think you need to be consistent and not give in when you say no, distract him, do other things etc. but if you let him scream and then nurse him then you are teaching him if he screams them he gets to nurse. He is frustrated because he wants something and he can't have it, I don't see it happening without some tears.

    But if you don't want to deal with the crying i'm not sure i understand why you can't pump and dump either with a small manual or hand expression. If you only nurse once a day and not even every day I don't see what the big deal is. And likely he won't forget about nursing before you get back.
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  • MrsNash37212MrsNash37212 member

    Thanks for the input, ladies. I could pump and dump, the problem is just that pumping never seems to help when I get engorged. I'm really worried about getting over there and having a big, painful plugged duct and no way to really relieve it short of heading to the nearest Maasai boma and asking them if they need a baby fed, ha! Another layer on the issue is that DS is milk protein intolerant and I've been dairy free for over 20 months now. My company really isn't set up to deal with that particular dietary limitation, so I would be coming home with "contaminated" milk for at least a couple of weeks until it was out of my system.

    I will try singing or counting and see how it goes. He usually clings to me when I try to cut him off, but I clearly need to buck up and deal with it.

    It's so tough because I'm not really ready to give it up, either, but it is what it is at this point. The trip used to seem so far away and now here it is and I've been sticking my head in the sand for too long :(



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