Weaning

[bluesstarz]

Maddi is now almost 13 months. I'm ready to wean. The night time feeding I have already cut out but she loves to nurse first thing in the morning and some time during the day. I tried this morning to cut out the morning feeding but she seemed to really want to nurse. Whats the best way to go about this?

[crystal555rose]

I have no real advice but I am curious what others will post. My son gets angry when there is no milk or when I kick him off for non-nutritive sucking. While I am pretty much ready to wean I am not ready for the fight that will ensue. At 20 months, it is just easier to keep on nursing.

Hopefully people will have good advice!

[Jacksmommy]

The morning nursing is a favorite of many babies. Milk tends to be plentiful then. Why not try to reduce the time spent nursing at a different time? Say if she normally nurses for 20 minutes in the afternoon, try starting to just reduce that session to 15 minutes. Maybe something like that would work better.

[bluesstarz]

She just seems to nibble throughout the day. I'm really getting frustrated.

[Jacksmommy]

Maybe pay attention to the time of day of her day time nursing sessions, and then decide which one to eliminate. If it's a hunger thing, maybe offer a snack like yogurt before she asks to nurse. If it's a boredom thing, maybe get out some bubbles to blow or go outside.

[bluesstarz]

Thanks for the advice. We are down to about nursing twice a day. I'm working slowly on and guiding her. I don't want to force her to stop if she isn't ready.

[crystal555rose]

I had some thoughts since you posted some more information (and I thought I had no advice!)...We are practicing "don't offer, don't refuse" which is a great way to encourage weaning but not forcing them to wean. We also started nursing in his room almost exclusively. He kind of started it actually, he will sign for milk then head to his room. It probably started since two of our three nursing sessions are in his room (morning and at night).

So if she is nibbling, you can try to get her to wait. I make my son do this all the time. I will say, " We can't do that right now because we have to finish this." If it is an activity in which I can include him then the redirection is really easy, "We need to get this laundry in the washer first, can you help me carry this? What a good helper!"

Just to let you know though, I have been doing all of these things for at least the last 3 months and we are still nursing at least 3 times a day at 20 months old. I am grateful that I do not have to pump and that I do not have to deal with nursing in public because he is a big boy and he can wait. I also feel like the teething (upper canines in particular) have lead to some discomfort that result in a lot more nursing. Maybe weaning will be more realistic when we get all the teeth in place.

Good luck!