Photo by christyscherrer, used by CC license. My son will be three years old in March and is still breastfeeding.
He is VERY persistent, and I’m having trouble weaning him.
The advice from family and friends (who think I should have cut him off a long time ago) and from the pediatrician is to make him quit cold turkey.
I fear that he might perceive it as abandonment if I forced him to suddenly stop something he loves so much, but I have no other ideas about what to do.
Does anyone have any experience weaning a [very demanding] toddler in a nurturing way?
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Comments on How can I gently wean my breastfeeding toddler?
Ok I’ve got a question. My two & a half year old is still nursing as well, only at bedtime. I am also pregnant & due in July. I’m worried to death about what’s going to happen when I am in the hospital & he’s got to stay at my moms. How is she going to get him down, what if he throws a fit on her? I’m worried to death. Any advice?
He will be ok! Most likely he will be busy and distracted and not as focused on you while you are gone. He is old enough that you can talk to him about it a little too. My ds was two when dd was born and still very very attached to nursing. He did fine at grandma’s while we were in the hospital. Not a tear or drop of sadness. The first thing he wanted to do when we got home was nurse, though! So I let him and his old schedule of 4 times a day (before and after sleep) quickly escalated to me feeling like I had two newborns :/. But we survived, I know he needed it. He finally stopped at 3.5 when we did a short countdown and went to pick out a celebration toy and had a little party. My first attempt at a countdown with him did not get carried out, I could tell he still was going to have a really hard time so we backed off and tried again later (counting down for things in general is his preferred method for any kind of preparation). Now that I’m pregnant again and dd was still nursing at 2.5, I could tell it was more just a thing of routine for her and she just weaned. With not as much milk, a week of busy, out of the house activity, her getting sick so not wanting to nurse if the milk was upsetting her stomach (don’t think my pregnancy cravings have been going over well with her digestion), and we just picked out her special weaning gift today. She has been great about it and I’m comfortable that she was ready. Had I just been on our regular schedule and trying to talk her out of nursing though, she would have flipped. And now she has finally learned to tell me if she is thirsty or hungry…I knew she knew! She just preferred to nurse if she felt either of them. Also, both of mine nursed to sleep. So ds stopped napping at 3.5 because of weaning….but could still fall asleep in a preschool setting. I think dd will keep her naps but we’ve been so on the go, only one has happened where I just rubbed her back to sleep. She seems to still need them and falls asleep much more quickly than ds…who has some mild sensory issues, food sensitivities, and wouldn’t eat food until he was 16 months old.
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Ok I’ve got a question. My two & a half year old is still nursing as well, only at bedtime. I am also pregnant & due in July. I’m worried to death about what’s going to happen when I am in the hospital & he’s got to stay at my moms. How is she going to get him down, what if he throws a fit on her? I’m worried to death. Any advice?
He will be ok! Most likely he will be busy and distracted and not as focused on you while you are gone. He is old enough that you can talk to him about it a little too. My ds was two when dd was born and still very very attached to nursing. He did fine at grandma’s while we were in the hospital. Not a tear or drop of sadness. The first thing he wanted to do when we got home was nurse, though! So I let him and his old schedule of 4 times a day (before and after sleep) quickly escalated to me feeling like I had two newborns :/. But we survived, I know he needed it. He finally stopped at 3.5 when we did a short countdown and went to pick out a celebration toy and had a little party. My first attempt at a countdown with him did not get carried out, I could tell he still was going to have a really hard time so we backed off and tried again later (counting down for things in general is his preferred method for any kind of preparation). Now that I’m pregnant again and dd was still nursing at 2.5, I could tell it was more just a thing of routine for her and she just weaned. With not as much milk, a week of busy, out of the house activity, her getting sick so not wanting to nurse if the milk was upsetting her stomach (don’t think my pregnancy cravings have been going over well with her digestion), and we just picked out her special weaning gift today. She has been great about it and I’m comfortable that she was ready. Had I just been on our regular schedule and trying to talk her out of nursing though, she would have flipped. And now she has finally learned to tell me if she is thirsty or hungry…I knew she knew! She just preferred to nurse if she felt either of them. Also, both of mine nursed to sleep. So ds stopped napping at 3.5 because of weaning….but could still fall asleep in a preschool setting. I think dd will keep her naps but we’ve been so on the go, only one has happened where I just rubbed her back to sleep. She seems to still need them and falls asleep much more quickly than ds…who has some mild sensory issues, food sensitivities, and wouldn’t eat food until he was 16 months old.