garddwr Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 So the breastfeeding thread has me thinking about my current challenge and I thought y'all might have some advice. You'd think since this is my fourth child I'd have ideas of my own, but honestly weaning not my strong point. DS is 19 months, I'm two months pregnant and exhausted. I have breastfed all my babies for extended periods, I think the earliest I weaned was 23 months, and one went almost 4 years before being fully weaned. I know lots of women who say they lose their milk or kiddo loses interest in nursing when they are pregnant, but my babies are apparently getting enough of something--either milk or comfort--to just keep going. I have tandem nursed twice, but really don't want to do that again (yea, that's what I said last time...) DS6 was the easiest to wean, I just told him he was too old to nurse anymore and he never asked me again--he was the 23 month old. Both dd's were over 3 years old when weaned, and I just had to talk to them about it and be firm. My current nurseling is not very verbal yet, I don't think I can just reason with him about it. I'm hoping to gradually get him used to getting most of his nutrition from food (he still gets a lot from me) then cut back--but like I said, I'm really not good at this. Especially when it comes to night-time nursing. Anyone want to chime in with experience/ideas? TIA, Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 First, my husband took over nighttime duties around that age, even though my kids were a little older when they weaned. I think that actually helps things a lot. For daytime, keep them busy, offer lots of snacks and drinks. If they want to nurse offer to do something else instead-read a book, play playdough, play blocks, take a walk, go to the playground, etc. Good luck. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 :grouphug: No advice. My son is 2 1/2. My husband cannot help consistently at night because he travels so often for work (overnight). My son still occasionally nurses at night. I'm pregnant too. Lol. I feel your pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 First, my husband took over nighttime duties around that age, even though my kids were a little older when they weaned. I think that actually helps things a lot. For daytime, keep them busy, offer lots of snacks and drinks. If they want to nurse offer to do something else instead-read a book, play playdough, play blocks, take a walk, go to the playground, etc. Good luck. :grouphug: Unfortunately my husband can't help much at night, he has to be up at 4:00 every morning to get to work, and he turns into an absolute bear if he is tired. Night time is the hardest, because he nurses for comfort. He will let me sing him back to sleep sometimes if he hasn't fully woken up. Lots of snacks and activities during the daytime is definitely a good thought. --Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zookeeper Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Trying to wean my 2.25 ds. With all the others, I've been about 4mths pg at this time and they weaned themselves. But we're not pg and he's not making it easy! We're down to 3 times a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extendedforecast Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Weaning is my least favorite part of breastfeeding. What's worked best is reasoning like you said. I told DD that it was all gone a couple of times and she got it. With my oldest I stopped cold turkey on the advice of my OBGYN because I was pregnant with my second DD. That was an awful two weeks of non-stop crying, and it still makes me mad that I blindly did what the dr. told me to do without researching a more gentle way. WIth DD2 at 18 months, I dropped the number of feedings using distraction to about twice a day. Then after a couple of weeks I dropped another feeding and finally the last after another couple of weeks. I made our days very busy and interesting in those first few weeks. All in all it took about six weeks to wean. I am down to 1-2 times a day with DS, but it's harder to cut him off completely when I have DD still nursing. I'm hoping he'll wean himself before he turns four. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Trying to wean my 2.25 ds. With all the others, I've been about 4mths pg at this time and they weaned themselves. But we're not pg and he's not making it easy! We're down to 3 times a day. I am in the same spot. I had nightweaned by now the other 2 as I was pregnant and it happened naturally. Now, I want this baby nightweaned but I don't want to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 With my older three, weaning just sort of happened when they were ready. But with kid #4, I had to emergency-wean her unexpectedly at 18mos. I went in for what was supposed to be day surgery. Due to complications, I ended up being admitted to the hospital and pumped full of definitely-bad-for-baby drugs. So no more nursing. How did we do it? According to DH, DD cried a bit at night when I was gone, but let him rock her to back sleep after getting her a drink of water. Once I was home, I just wore my shirts tucked in and told her "no more" every time she tried to nurse. Little DD wasn't happy about it, but I had to stand firm because I was still on the meds. I wasn't about to nurse her if it would hurt her, KWIM? I definitely didn't let her cry but we had to substitute rocking and being held for nursing because there just wasn't any choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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