Weaning a Child That Is Almost 2... - Springdale,AR

I weaned my third daughter at age two because she was like a hummingbird. She would come up, pull up my shirt, take a sip and take off. It would go on all day! Needless to say, that was not convenient and it was a bit silly. So I came up with a plan: Every time she would come up for a drink, I would hand her a drink in a sippy cup. It only took about three days, and she was weaned.

If I were you, I would give up daytime feedings first because it will be easier to distract her by playing and whatever. I would wait a week to tackle the nighttime. Nighttime feedings are going to be hard, good luck! With a lot of cuddling, though and patience for a few days, the nighttime feedings can be stopped too.

I would highly recommend reading How Weaning Happens by Dian Bengson. It is filled with lots of great ideas on how to initiate weaning according to your child's personality and preferences. Plus there at tons of encouraging stories of how other mothers have gone through this process. Good Luck.

Hi...I can feel your pain and your daughters to. My daughter was the same way. She was going strong in breastfeeding and I had heard most kids wean themselves, but she never acted like she wanted to. I finally called it quits when she was 32 months. I thought it was going to be worse than what it was, but she did fine during the day. I was able to get her to sleep w/o nursing her, but that night. She cried for about an hour straight- maybe a little longer. The first night was the worst...after that I kept telling her it was all gone -that she drank it all. She did good w/me telling her that. She'd repeat me and say she drank it all. ha! She will turn 3 Sat and she is just now drinking cows milk some, but not alot. She mostly drinks water or juice. It will be hard at first, but it won't last long and she'll be fine. Good Luck!

Well,
my Son is 1 yr now and I have been weaning him slowly on breastfeeding. I jsut started increasing more solids and giving him a sippy cup, that way he feels full and seems to be content. But I still feed him in the morning and at night before bed. Hope this helps some. Also, when he is really wanting to nurse during the day, sometimes I make him a bottle and feed him really close to my breast. I think he just wants to be close to me, so try that and see if it works for you.

:)

E.