Weaning 2 years old

[bbl_ks]

I am nursing a 21 month and 3 weeks old boy.

Plan to wean off at 24 months.

I am worry it will be a hard time for me to wean him as my husband is not helping at all in child caring.

As breastfeeding is based on demand, I have never refused his request to nurse at anytime, anyhour.

But now his demand is a bit bothering to me. He keeps coming back to latch for awhile then go off and come back again.

And also before, during and after meal time and nap time. He still awake for nurse during night.

My social life is disturbed. It is impossible for me to go out for a meal with friends sometime. Although the timing is arranged so right after his meal time, he still comes to me and ask to be nursed for few time during.

I decided not to nurse him between meals. So I offer him snack every time he comes to me for nursing.
I am worried will this affect his fixation. Instead of wean him off he is addicted to snack.

I decided not to nurse during meal also. So he will cries for 10 minutes then he stop and continue his meal. Am I too cruel or give a lack of security because ignoring his cries.

I am so so stressed.

Can anyone give me some advice.

Thank you.

Lim

[Jacksmommy]

My child comes to me to nurse after meals also. It's only for a few seconds and then he's done. I think it just helps to settle his tummy. I would suggest you reduce one nursing session at a time. If he's crying for 10 minutes about wanting to nurse, that may be a session to keep until he's more ready to give it up.

[Firemom]

I think having a brand new sibliing, is a little unsettling for your older child. He sees the attention the baby gets and the nursing the baby is doing and wants to make sure he gets the same.

In a few months things should go to more normalcy once he is used to the new baby being on the scene.

[Sassafras]

bump

[rjrambrocio]

My son is 30 months old son nurses all day long on command. I thought I was the only one who had a child that did that. I really want to wean him because every time I sit down he comes and tries to nurse and it is a problem especially during the night. He is very attached to me and every time I even mention weaning he gets extremely upset.

[kohlby]

Being on the go helped me cut my son down. Partially weaning him was far more exhausting than just nursing him, but I wanted to get pg so it was important to me. What I did was to be on the go from the second we woke up. We'd go to the park, do errands, or just play in the toy isles at K-mart. I found that he took a "no" to his nursing questions MUCH better when we were out and about.

With both my kids, I told them that nursing is for when we're lying down. I did this because they nursed at bedtime and naptime and during the night. I felt they needed those comfort nursings the most - plus I wanted sleep! (I do still do what I call "emergency" nursings which are during the day when one get hurt). Because I limited it to lying down times, it was easy for them to make the connections. Both would still ask during non-nursing times and I'd act like they were making a funny joke and we'd go get something to eat from the kitchen. This was much easier with DD, since she nurses mainly for food. DS nursed mainly for comfort, which is why we had to stay out of the house as much as possible for months!

Instead of telling your kids that you're weaning them, tell them that they still can nurse. But tell them that there are specific nursing times, with the occassional nursing emergency. "Later" is a much better word than "no."