Do some of them *really* just wean themselves?

[Rivka]

For the third night in a row, my 2.5-year-old has asked to have Daddy put him to bed. He hasn't asked to nurse first.

 

We were already down to only nursing at bedtime and on days that we both happen to be at home for his nap. (I'm at work four afternoons a week, and sometimes on the other days he falls asleep in the car driving home.)

 

Could he really just be... weaning himself? This boy has really, REALLY loved to nurse, and I thought weaning would be the most awful battle. If he weans himself, it will be like Christmas! It will be so awesome!

 

Can it really happen this way, even with a toddler who LOVES to nurse?

[Parrothead]

Yup. Dd weaned herself at 11 months. :glare: I bought formula for a month and she wasn't great with a cup so she went to a bottle for about 3 months.

[Firestar Academy]

They can. my daughter was just over 3 when nursing stopped. it was all her. She LOVED to nurse. seriously, I thoguht she was going to nurse For.ever.

 

It really was so gradual for us, I can't remember the last nursing time. but she turned 3 in december(was nursing) and in early may I had the next baby (not nursing).

 

Robin

[Slartibartfast]

Yes, I think a 2.5 year old could self-wean.

[NicAnn]

Yes, self weaning is normal and healthy for older toddlers. My Dd basically weaned herself at 2.5, after she moved into her own bed in her new room. She just had too many other exciting things on her mind to nurse at night.

[Ellie]

Yes, they do. :001_smile:

[SBMama]

Both of my girls weaned themselves. DD1 was only 18 months, and I was 5 months pregnant with DD2 at the time. She was perfectly fine with it, but I was so sad! She even declined every time I asked her if she wanted to nurse. Now, DD2 LOVED to nurse. She never took a bottle or a paci. Nothing but the real thing for her! ;) At about 2.5 she just kinda stopped asking. It happened more suddenly than I expected, but I was ready. I guess she was too!

[ChristusG]

DD#1 self weaned at 27 months. But I believe it is only because I was pregnant with DD#2 and the milk changed taste and was probably drying up too.

 

DD#2 did not self wean. I weaned her right after she turned 4 earlier this year. I'm pregnant with #3 and nursing became very painful. She was only nursing at bedtime then though.

[Paige]

All of my kids have weaned themselves. Eventually, they simply quit asking to nurse. I have never needed to do anything to help the process along or encourage them to wean other than making sure they have plenty other sources of food.

[Mandamom]

Only my 3rd child weaned himself. The first nursed until 4.5, the second until 3 (both I had to wean) and the third decided he was done around 16 months. He never really cared for nursing like my girls did. It felt very odd to be done so early.

[elise1mds]

My DS weaned himself at 11 months. He was far, far too busy to sit down and nurse when he could be up running around. I had to give him a cup (he refused a bottle) just to keep him hydrated!

[Night Elf]

My youngest dd, the one I breastfed the longest, weaned herself around that age too. She started favoring her dad for most things, including bedtime stories. We just figured she was getting closer to him after being attached to me for so long.

[LaxMom]

My 10 yo weaned herself right after her first birthday. I was crushed.

 

They boys both just "forgot" how at the same time, when they were 3 1/2.

 

Yes, they can and do.

[DarlaS]

Yes.

 

My last weaned himself right before he turned two. And he was the last. :sad:

[Shellydon]

I had 2 that self weaned and 2 that I weaned.

[Mommy22alyns]

Both girls weaned themselves. Becca at 16.5 months; I was pg with Sylvia and my supply naturally dwindled as she was going down to 1x/day. Sylvia self-weaned at about 7 months; she had been supplemented from birth with formula as she was a sleepy jaundiced preemie who gained slowly. So my supply never got built up as well as it did with Becca. :sad:

 

Sylvia also weaned herself from nightly "snuggles" and sleeping with Mommy.

[ktgrok]

Yup, that is how my son did it. Once we were down to a couple times a day he fell asleep on the couch watching tv. I didn't think anything of it. When it happened several nights in a row I realized I couldn't remember the last time he nursed. It was that easy. Of course, he was more like 3.5 years old. But he also had some special needs. I think my daughter will wean earlier than he did.

[Sara in AZ]

This gives me hope for my almost 3 year old!

[Mrs Mungo]

When my son was a bit over 2 he crawled in my lap to nurse, said "yuck" and wanted to be rocked instead. That was that!

[chepyl]

Both of mine self weaned around 22 months. I was going to wean my oldest, we were down to one time a day, at bedtime. I was sending him to my parent's house for a week. But he weaned himself the week before while we are my family reunion.

[Garga]

My oldest self-weaned at 22 months.

 

I weaned the youngest at 26 months, but it was very gentle, over a many month period. He never even seemed to notice we stopped.

[faithfull]

All four of my boys have weaned themselves. At 15, 16, and 17 months.

[Annie Laurie]

My 7 yr old was a nursing addict and self-weaned at 3 1/2.

[AngieW in Texas]

My middle dd weaned herself, but I was pregnant at the time and I think my milk changed.

[gardenmom5]

Could he really just be... weaning himself? Can it really happen this way, even with a toddler who LOVES to nurse?

 

yes - I had one who weaned herself, and two who didn't care at all when I cut out feedings.

obviously, it can happen that way becuase it would appear your toddler is weaning himself. If he has some big upset, it is possible he might regress, but then go back to weaning himself.

 

just enjoy it.

[Ecclecticmum]

To all my kids, nursing was the best thing in the world. DD5 stopped just before DS was born. DS4 stopped abruptly when my colustrum came in from DD (his face said it all, it was priceless lol). DD2 stopped before christmas last year (so just shy of 2yrs), she was just randomly doing it, then it got less and less and less, till finally even with mutiple offerings/cajolings, she didn't want it anymore. I don't think any of my kids (unless I am mistaking round dates etc) made it up to 2yrs, they always stopped just before it. Would of been nice to make it upto 2yrs with one of them, but oh well.

 

For some reason I still have milk though. :001_huh: Considering its been over half a year since she stopped, I find that very very odd. There's the odd time that I will leak, but if I squeeze, milk definately comes out. Maybe scientists should study me to help dairy farmers :lol:

[MamaSheep]

My ds cut me off cold turkey when he was 11 months old and it suddenly dawned on him that nobody else nursed, everyone else used a cup all the time. I was pretty sore for a week or two, but yeah, they definitely can wean themselves.

[nmoira]

I cut DD the Younger off on her fifth birthday, and more than two years later, she still talks about missing it.

[Sasharowan]

I've had 3 that weaned themselves. Oldest turned 1, tried milk, a week later was done with nursing. Dd was an avid nurser at 9mos. and started refusing to nurse, turned out ds10 was on the way. Ds10 stopped nursing at 9 mos. also. He like a sippy better so he could watch the older 2. Ds5 nursed until 21 or 22 mos. and I decided he was done, like it or not. It was too hard for me to nurse a toddler and keep up with the rest.

[twoxcell]

Yes they can. My youngest weaned himself at about 18 months. He was just nursing at bedtime, skipped it a couple of nights one week, and then the last time I tried to nurse him he said all done mama, all done. He never asked to nurse again after that.

[hsmamainva]

Yep! All of mine self-weaned. The first 3 all weaned around the age of 2 1/2. My youngest nursed until she was 4 1/2. It seemed like she had nursed forever at the time, but now it seems like it wasn't that long at all.

 

As the old parenting adage goes, "The days are long, but the years are short."

[melissel]

Yep, my youngest did it at around 26 months or so. We were already down to bedtime nursing only, and she just...stopped. First she said no when I offered, but still asked at least once a night. Then she stopped asking entirely. She sucks her thumb and has a blanket, so that helped, but she was never the dedicated nurser that my oldest was.

[Rivka]

Thanks for all the encouraging examples!

 

On balance, I'm glad we've done extended nursing, but I have not loved every minute of it and I'm ready to be done. But he's going through a lot of change - his nanny of two years left and we hired someone new, and we're going to be moving this fall - and so I wouldn't have initiated the change myself.

 

How awesome if he does it himself! He is also asking for a big boy bed.

[2_girls_mommy]

Yes, my long term, loved to nurse, never took a paci or anything else just quit asking about a month before her 3rd bday. It was just a gradual process. We were down to naptime and bedtime, then it was just naptime, then she quit asking.

[tabrizia]

I've had one self wean and one I weaned. DD self weaned around 22 months when my colostrum came in while I was pregnant with DS. I was also fairly sick with the winter yucks, so I didn't notice at first. I was kind of sad at her weaning because I did want her to go for a bit longer at least.

 

DS1 was weaned by me at 3 1/2 when I was around 15 weeks pregnant with DS2. I just couldn't tandem 2 while pregnant anymore. He still wants to nurse now almost a year later, and talks about it. If I hadn't been pregnant I would have let him continue till he stopped on his own since he was only nursing once a day or so at the time I weaned him.

[tiredmommyof8]

Yes some of them can self wean. I had one that just gradually stopped nursing after she turned 2.

[RahRah]

DS just refused to nurse anymore when he was 11-months old - totally freaked me out - but he was done, on his own, nothing I could do to change his mind....he just went straight to a cup and goat milk. I'll see what baby DS does in the coming months.

[Peela]

My two tandem bf- she was 5, he was 3.5- they literally had a discussion together in the bathtub, and they went cold turkey- together. I was ready...but still it was a grieving process. I was so surprised that my younger at 3.5 decided to stop with his sister- I was sure he would still be bf at 8!

[mama2cntrykids]

Wow, I'm suprised at so many that self-weaned. I nursed all four of my kids. All of them I've had to wean myself. None have given it up willingly. I weaned them at 16, 17, and 27 months.

 

I can't forsee my current nursling giving it up on her own. She LOVES it! My other three were devestated when I weaned them. I think I will try to let dd go for as long as she'd like. We'll see how I feel in another two years:tongue_smilie:.

[KidsHappen]

I had one that self weaned, one that had to wean in an emergency situation, and three that fought it tooth and nail. Every child is different but yes some can and do wean easily.

[Miss Marple]

Yes, all of my boys weaned themselves at about 6 months - the time they really began to eat solid foods. They never nursed for comfort unlike all my nieces and nephews. Weird. They were terribly offended if I tried to get them to nurse after that.

[Joanne]

2 of mine self-weaned.

 

The other I weaned.

 

They were all years old. ;)

[twoforjoy]

DS nursed until he was 26 months. I remember, right before he turned two, calling my mom and crying because I felt like he was NEVER going to wean. He had no interested in cups, he wanted to nurse all the time, and I was feeling really resentful. Then, like a month later, he just really dropped off how much he nursed. After a couple of weeks, he was down to just his morning nurse. I started offering him a sippy in the morning, and without any battles, he took it. I could not believe he weaned so easily, given how often he was nursing just a little earlier.

 

I weaned DD when she was 10 months. I was pregnant, my supply was really low, and it was extremely painful to nurse. And, she wasn't very happy. I'd been supplementing with formula for a few weeks, because I hadn't been able to make enough milk at that point to satisfy her, and she loved her bottles. She was weaned in about three days without any fussing or complaint. But, she was an all-business nurser from birth, so as long as she was getting her food, she was happy, and as soon as she'd had enough, she was done. She was a finger-sucker rather than a comfort-nurser.

Edited August 23, 2011 by twoforjoy

[happypamama]

My DS1 weaned himself, but he was pretty old by the time he did. My DS2 has probably weaned himself, and he's not quite three. With all three of my older children, my next pregnancy killed the milk supply and led to at least partial weaning, and for the boys, they really didn't nurse much even after the new baby arrived. I am kind of sad that DS2 is probably weaned, because that is young for me. But he's happy and content, and he likes to snuggle with me (and the newborn) or DH when he falls asleep, and he's a well-adjusted little man, so clearly, he got whatever emotional benefits of extended nursing that he needed (and he's darned healthy, and he did nurse a lot up until he was two, which is my absolute minimum, for the health benefits), so I can't complain too much. (I was totally up for tandem nursing, if that's what he wanted, even though I personally don't care for it -- newborns and toddlers have very different suck patterns, and it kind of drives me nuts.)

[Mallory]

All children will eventually wean on thier own. For my children it was much, much later then for these posters.

 

Nightweaned on thier own first born to last born (my children never sleep through the night)-

almost 4 years

just after 3 years

almost 5 years

2 1/2 years Hooray!

 

Completely weaned on thier own-

5 1/2 years

4 1/2 years

5 years

 

my current 3yo is still going strong (but almost always sleeps all night). I have been nursing for almost 12 years, most of that time tandem nursing. While it has been great, I am ready to move on to the next stage of parenting (oh wait, I've almost got teenagers, maybe I'd rather have nursing toddlers and preschoolers....)

[Julie in Austin]

Yep. All three of mine quit right at a year.

 

I have no idea how to wean a baby. :001_smile:

[8circles]

I wish my little one would wean himself already. I'm tired of it.

 

Yes, I've heard that they do. I would think more likely the older they get so 2.5 would not be surprising.

 

I hope its a Merry Christmas for you! :D

[jenL]

Both of my boys weaned themselves. One at 11 months, the other at 14 months. I was surprised by it too, but they truly wanted nothing more to do with me.

[Momof3littles]

I encouraged DS1 who was 5. My 4.5 yo is still nursing, as is my 17 month old. I've tandemed twice, and been nursing continuously for 7.5 years. I am kind of hoping my youngest doesn't go to 4 or 5. Eeek.

 

I can't believe I've been 2/2 so far on kids going quite late.

[mothergooseof4]

Ds 9yo weaned when I was pg with dd. He started crying everytime he latched on so I don't know if he wasn't getting enough or if it tasted bad, but he was NOT HAPPY about it. He cried when he wanted to nurse, but wouldn't nurse. I don't know if that would be considered self-weaning because it was not his idea.

 

Dd weaned all on her own at 19 months. She was only nursing at bedtime. She crawled up in my lap one night, latched on, swallowed, and then looked at me with shock like she couldn't believe what she was doing. She detached and fell asleep. After that she would just crawl in my lap and get drowsy.