How Do I Stop Breastfeeding - Virginia Beach,VA

It sounds like right now you need your son to learn to get himself through the night w/o you. I used the technique called the "sleep lady shuffle" from Kim West's book "Good Night, Sleep Tight" to help my 11 month old daughter stop waking and asking for feedings through the night. She sleeps through the night now and when she wakes for the day, I'll nurse her. I also nurse for naps and bedtime, but only until she's sleepy. Then I shift her to my chest, burp her, and lay her down. She hated it at first, but the it helped her put herself to sleep. Now (it's been about a month and she'll be 1 in a couple of weeks) when I lay her down, she just sighs and settles in and sleeps ALL NIGHT. I enjoy the morning, nap, and night feedings now that I get a full nights sleep. I'm very glad I invested the $10 to get the book. Good luck!

Why do you want to stop nursign so soon? Keep giving him breastmilk a few more months. You will then have a very healthy and happy child. I nursed my son until he wanted to qwit at age 2and a half. AF

Don't think I'm a horrible, mean person for saying this, but you've got to stop giving in. You know you need to stop using it as a crutch, so stop using it as a crutch. Your little boy won't like it, but he'll figure it out in no time at all. Our babies are a lot smarter than we think.
Lay him down to sleep while he's still awake. Again, he won't like it, but no child ever cried themselves to death. Go in there a couple times and soothe him but LEAVE HIM IN THE CRIB. Stop waking up to nurse him. He does it because he knows he'll get the soothing and because he doesn't know how to get himself back to sleep without it, NOT because he's starving to death. He won't like that either, but he'll figure out that when he cries, nothing is coming, and he'll eventually learn to stop waking up for it. And by 'eventually,' I mean a few days, not long.
I think everyone does it differently depending on the child, but when I weaned my daughter I went to nursing her in the morning when she woke up and at night before putting her to bed (awake! ;). I then cut it down to only at night, and then just stopped doing it altogether (and she didn't even seem to notice - but all babies are different). I don't remember the interval of time between each - maybe a week or so. Really it's more how you feel about it.
We mothers love to make our babies happy and we hate it when we have to contribute to their displeasure. Unfortunately, discipling them takes discipling ourselves to do what is the best for them (even though they may not like it!). It's hard listening to your little one cry when you know you have the cure, but he needs to learn to sleep. You know this, and so you've got to step up to the plate to do what you know will be the best in the long run.

My son was almost 2 when I stopped and yes I am a sahm. It got to the point to what was more important his teeth or keep going. ( at the night time feeding) I always started with one feeding so the 2 night time ones I would start with. I always told him it's all gone. Then once I felt he had a handle on that one I moved to another time like bfore bed and nap. I would tell him again it's all gone. I hope it works and GL

I really like the book, "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler." To stop breastfeeding a toddler gradually, you don't offer the breast and you don't refuse. This really works. This makes it harder to put the baby to sleep but allows them to wean on their own. Some 15 month olds are ready to wean but many others, given the chance, will keep nursing. Stranger anxiety kicks in at this age and all babies regardless of how they are fed will be clingy. That will pass. Distraction is the way to wean at this age - my kids were happy to head outside rather than nurse when they were ready to wean or I could offer a less healthy option like ice cream (not that I recommend the ice cream weaning plan).

One thing to consider is that this winter might be tough for flu and other illnesses. Nursing is great for warding off serious illness as you share your antibodies through your milk to your child. Even if you wean to one feeding a day, you will have milk production that can ramp back up (milk supply is very responsive to increased demand) in the event that your baby gets sick and wants to nurse all the time until he gets better.

My boys woke up at night until they were two years old - I think it is a neurological developmental process. They didn't get to that kind of sleep where you could move them easily without waking them until they were older. You can try teaching the difference between day and night and also counting to reduce the length of feedings.

Good luck.

Try googling "dr jay gordon" and nightweaning. Good luck!