Weaning 2 Year Old from Breast

Hi Kellie,
This is tough for both of you! I just stopped myself, and it took some time. First we took away nap time feeding, and that was tough enough. The naps stopped for the first few days, but then she began falling asleep on her own. Night time was a bit harder, but it really took only 3 days and it was all done. She cried for about 5 - 10 minutes, but then fell asleep. She sleeps better now than she ever has. You can do this, and so can he! Just a few days of patience, and he should be fine!! Best of Luck!

Hi Kellie, I changed my bra from a nursing bra to a tight regular underwire bra with a full cup. It made it harder for my son to lift my bra. I also wore tight shirts (like button up, not skin tight spandex) to make it harder for him to even lift my shirt. I told him that he was too old to nurse anymore. He still asks every once in a while - it has been about four months since he was weaned completely, but I just tell him no and that my milk is empty. Initially, it was hard to tell him no because I wanted to ensure he was eating enough because my child is small (both parents are small nothing to do with milk supply). I'd have great success and would be dried up in about a week, then cave and let him nurse and my milk supply would be back, then we'd cycle through it again. If you are truly ready to quit nursing, put your breasts on lockdown. Make them really hard to access and tell him no. It is really hard, so don't beat yourself up if it takes longer than you think! Good luck!

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Try to distract him with other activities during the day. Tell him "just let Mommy finish making this sandwich" or "Mommy's making dinner right now" or "why don't we build a tower with your blocks." I'm still nursing my 27mo at bedtime, and we're both happy with that decision. I've heard that it's much harder to wean boys because of their attachment to Mom, but eventually kids will wean themselves. I'm kind of nervous because I know the benefits are endless for as long as mom & child are enjoying it, but I don't really want to nurse a 3 year old. The bedtime session is usually the last to go, so see if you can at least distract him during the day :) Good luck!

And good for you for nursing twins!!!!

Get the book "The Nursing Mother's Guide To Weaning" by Kathleen Huggins. Distraction is the best technique and she recommends doing it in spring/summer when you are outdoors more with lots of activities to distract. You may as well keep giving him your antibodies so he doesn't get sick the rest of the winter: -) That's the bright side.

I tried to go cold turkey with my son but that just didn't happen so I stopped nursing during the day except for nap time and bedtime. Then I took away nap time and then bedtime. I waited about a week between each step. It was HORRIBLE but he was so incredibly attached to the breast that it broke his little heart. I decided that it would be okay to offer him a bottle of water/milk or watered down apple juice. He would push it away, throw it and ask for milk. He finally took it out of exaustion. I wasn't too happy giving him a bottle but he just couldn't let it go and he needed that sucking comfort. I only allowed the bottle for another month so he never became dependant on it. I began cutting the nipple of the bottle so the water flowed really fast and he decided he didn't like it and never asked for it again.

Good Luck!

Hi Kellie,
I'm going through the same with my two year old boy and found that: cutting out nursing's I can 'insist' on skipping helps-- so no nursing before bed or nap, since we're a cry-it-out family. Other than that I just say, 'No, not now' or 'Would you like some water?' He seems to be getting the hint.

Yes, power stuggle is the right term. You need to win the struggle though. You are the Mom, and if you give in to his demands you are setting yourself up for discipline issues later. Be strong and consistent and he will fight you, but you need to win.

Dry up your milk. Tell him a week or two in advance that now that he is 2, he is a big boy and mommy's milk will be going away soon. Remind him that sister is already a big girl and encourage him to drink from a cup when he asks you to nurse. To dry up the milk you need to take a day away from him and put cabbage leaves in your bra for 24-48 hrs. If he throws fits, let him try to nurse and keep telling him that the milk is all gone. Eventually he will quit asking when he realizes that the milk really is gone.

It's kind of a harsh reality, but it seems to be the only way to do it. This is how my friend handled it with both of her babies who nursed until 2 yo.

Good luck!

Here's how I did it with my daughter. We set a time, a place and planned like crazy. We talked about the day when she would stop nursing and what it would be like ("what will you do when you want mama time?" "When I want mama time we will do art together or have a tea party"). We talked about the different times she wanted to nurse and came up with alternative plans ("if I'm feeling sad, we can have really nice long hugs") and then we made the day a party. She got ice cream with sprinkles and her friends could be there too. Because we noticed that the night time nursing was the hardest one to break, we came up with a new night time routine and stuck to it. as we got closer to the date, we nursed less and less. We counted the number of seconds she could be on the breast, working from 10 down to 1 (the day before the party). We haven't had any regression. She still wants to touch some times, which is fine by me, but the touches are becoming more infrequent as time passes.

I hope this helps!

Just tell him mommy is out of milk and offer him a cup of milk or juice instead. Be persistant and he'll stop asking.

Hi Kellie,

I asked the same question a week ago! You may be interested in the responses I received, as well.

http://www.mamasource.com/request/11430334332774907905

Both "The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning" and "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler" are great resources. My oldest three kids weaned when they were older than two and for us it was a slow that atarted with slowing increasing limits to nursing, such as we only nurse at home. Only in this chair or the bed. Only beofre and after sleep etc... With my second child I let her control how often but I controlled how long. I would slowly or more quickly count to ten or sing the A, B, Cs at my comfort for how long. With our daughte rwe also went to the toy store and picked a small gift, had it wrapped and then she chose when we would have a weaning party and have a special treat and she got her present (she was older though). I've known moms who have worn a swimsuit to bed to wean at night so they won't give in when they are tired. My third child weaned right about his third birthday and I found that I had to spend a lot of time standing up, especially when he was tired because as soon as I sat down he wanted to nurse. He still asks on occasion and I just offer to hold or snuggle him and he is usually okay with it. My youngest weaned on her own at 16 months.

My son is 21 mths old an I just stopped nursing him last weekend. I was like you and didn't know what to do because he would get so upset when I would tell him no. Then my older daughter got the flu and she couldn't have milk for a few days and it just hit me! My daughter would cry and I still couldn't give her milk because she would throw it up.
So I told my son he is now a big boy, I gave him a sippy of milk and said now that you are a big boy you drink milk from a cup and we don't nurse anymore. He gave me a dirty look and dropped the sippy and said nurse, nurse! I told him no more nursing you are now big and I have no more milk for you. He didn't like that and cried for about 10 min, then he got his cup and cuddled up next to me. At bed time I thought it would be the worst, but I think he liked that he could see the books I was reading him better now that he didn't have my big boob in his face, lol.
He has asked me a few times but each time I tell him I have no more milk, your a big boy now and he then asks for a cup. It was surprisingly easy, I don't know why I waited so long to try!
Good luck, just stick to your guns!

Distraction, and more distraction. You have to establish a routine feeding of 3-4 times a day instead of on demand and then slowly get rid of each feeding, usually starting with the morning one -but don't use nursing to put him to sleep. You need to establish a good bedtime routine, bath, stories and a night time song usually works pretty well.
So I weaned my girl at 21 months and the last month was pretty much only once a day at around anywhere from 4-6pm and then when I felt like I was done (because they never are -she still asks me for it) I would just give her warm milk sometime around dinner and when she wanted to nurse I would just play a game with her or let her watch a special show and then she slowly forgot to ask and after awhile didn't expect it anymore. The hardest part is establishing a routine instead of on demand and you can do that by just putting them off until each feeding and then let them actually eat instead of just using you for comfort. They learn that hugs can be just as comforting and warm milk in a sippee cup is nice too. You can also tell him he is big now and 2 year olds don't need to nurse anymore because they have teeth and can eat food! GOOD LUCK!