Weaning to Get Pregnant

I got pregnant twice while breastfeeding, it certainly doesn't offer birth control protection.
As far as night weaning, I did something similar to what DC did :)

I got pregnant TWICE... while breastfeeding. But one ended up a miscarriage in the 2nd month.

A woman CAN get pregnant, while breastfeeding. It is NOT a birth control.

Your son... is weaning himself... since he only nurses at night. That is hardly much at all.

My daughter, self-weaned at about 2.5 years old. But she was nursing a lot more than your son is.
STILL... I got pregnant.

I also co-slept with my kids.
STILL, I got pregnant.

Or, you can let your son, sleep somewhere on the floor of your room... that is also what we do with our kids.

My friends... who had kids 2 years old and older and still nursing (but more frequently than your son), put Band-Aids on their nipples and told their child "Mommy's milk is broken...." or, "Mommy has a boo-boo..." and they said that worked real well. They kept the Band-Aids on... (reapplying of course), until they felt comfortable that their kids forgot about it.

All the best,
Susan

I night weaned my son by sleeping in another room at night and letting my husband sleep with him. He was mostly comfort nursing at the time so it was actually pretty easy. His Daddy gives him his bath and then they read a story and fall asleep together. The very first night when my son woke up, of course, he looked for Momma. Since I wasn't there, Daddy had to do. He fussed for a minute or two and then snuggled up with Daddy and went right back to sleep. After the first two or three days, he never even fussed for me. He had all the comfort he need from Daddy. It took about 2 months before I could sleep with him again without him asking to nurse. But then it was a breeze. It took 3-4 months to start my cycle again after that. I was still nursing during the day so if you're not, maybe yours will come back sooner. I had one period and then got pregnant!! Good luck to you!

I was in the same boat about eight months ago with my then almost two year old. We also co-sleep and nurse mostly for sleeping and at night. Everyone's body is different but I did get my period back in April and by June was pregnant. If you are still enjoying nursing and it is working for you and your little one then I wouldn't suggest any drastic measures to wean because you may still get your period while he is nursing. You can try to divert his attention with other things during the day for anything other than nap time. I'm still nursing and six months pregnant. She still needs the closeness and I'm ok with it since I've had no issues with preterm labor in the past. I don't think I've got any milk left but she still wants it for comfort and I'm still enjoying the closeness. Congratulations for being a great mommy for nursing this long! You have done him a world of good.

I weaned our son at 18 months because we wanted to have another. (He was only comfort nursing during the night! I was barely making ANY milk.....) We also co-slept so when he wanted to nurse and tried to lift my shirt I gave him a teddy bear and hugged him and said lets just snuggle...... He only tried a couple times and then was over it. Just snuggled up and fell asleep! After about 3 nights he started sleeping through the night for the first time!!!

It still took us over a year to conceive after weaning......... We just had our baby 2 months ago and our son is 3 1/2. (We did have a miscarriage at 11 weeks before conceiving our baby though.)

At this point I am guessing your son is just comfort nursing. When he wants to nurse, find another way to comfort him with a soft blanket and snuggling close. When I weaned my son from night feedings it only took a few nights and then he was happy with the snuggling instead. Good luck!

:-) LOL I don't know what they told you but my son was 9 months and I was still breast feeding him when I got pregnant with my daughter. And believe it or not I still breast feed him for at least 5 months after.

Breastfeeding does not usually keep you from getting pregnant. My first son was 10 months old and breastfed exclusively when I got pregnant. I continued to breastfeed him until my 2nd son was about 3 weeks old.

I now have 3 kids and breastfed them all until they were 20 months old. I think the older they get the harder it is to ween them - especially if they co-sleep as mine all did. The way I did it was to slowly to cut down the amount of times I would nurse. Also I would try to offer milk and water throughout the day so they would never get so hungry or thirsty that they would get to the point of no return:). Also when they would ask to nurse I would go straight to the kitchen and get them some yummy chocolate milk. Or if I was somewhere else I would try to find something to distract them. I think for me my kids would ask to nurse sometimes simply because they wanted my attention so if I read them a book or did a puzzle with them they were satisfied. With each of my kids I learned so much - especially what not to do. With my first I would always nurse him to sleep in my bed so weaning him was horrible. Especially since his little brother was nursing all the time. First, we put him in his own room to sleep which was just across the hall but you would have thought it was across the universe. After he got used to sleeping there my husband would do his nighttime routine. There was a lot of crying but I feel like we didn't do things right to begin with so there was no other way to do it. With my other kids, I did 2 things differently which made weening soooo much better. First from the time they were born I would feed them as soon as they woke up. Also I would nurse them about 30 minutes before bedtime - not right before bedtime. Another thing I did differently was that they had a crib in our room. We would put them in their crib awake at bedtime and naptime and if they woke up in the middle of the night we would get them and put them in our bed but they would take all their naps in their space. One more thing I did with my last was once she was using a sippy cup I would give her a sippy cup of water every night. That way if she woke up in the middle of the night she would have that and wouldn't need to nurse. My last child was so easy to wean it was kind of sad for me especially since I know she will be our last. I would just tell her no and find something to distract her.
It sounds like you may have done things they way we did with our first. It is really hard to wean them but I would suggest a crib or pack-n-play in your room and maybe giving him a sippy cup of water to keep with him. Also when he wakes up I would have your husband comfort him and I would leave the room. If you still want him in your bed I would consider having you sleep in another room for about a week so when he wakes up your husband can comfort him and he won't be begging for you. Good luck. I know it is tough and expect some crying but if you stick with it it should take about a week.

You are not getting pregnant due to another reason. Breastfeeding has nothing to do with it. If you are getting your period - which you should have been way before now while still breastfeeding - then you have the capability to conceive.

You may be a bit overweight (a very common reason some women cannot conceive), have something in your diet that isn't as good as you may feel, or not getting enough activity.

My second child was 3 1/2 years old and still nursing up until I was 2 months pregnant with the third child. You don't have to wean! Your milk production WILL change as the pregnancy progresses and that may initiate your toddler to wean on his own. I initiated the weaning process because my breasts during pregnancy had gotten increasingly tender and nursing my toddler was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Otherwise, I would have gladly nursed her until she weaned herself. And I had no problems getting pregnant while nursing.

I actually got pregnant with the second while nursing the first. I had one very slight period and I guess that was all it took. The first kind of weaned himself while I was pregnant with the second. Either he didn't like the way it tasted or my supply went down. They are 20 months apart. Good Luck!

Put him in his own bed, and find some other comforting activity other than nursing. Slowly transition, but most of the time (at least with my kids) they transition easier than I did.

Our older son was 9 months old when we conceived our second, and he was still nursing, so you may just need to time your togetherness for optimum output! We (I, actually) used a basel themometer, measuring temp by mouth each morning before getting out of bed. It was like a science experiment!
You do prob need to wean your older, since eventually you'll have another mouth to feed! I'd try skipping one night a week, then two nights, working up to every other night and so on. It's more of a comfort thing, so keep cuddling at night so he doesn't miss the closeness. Dad could comfort him at night, too!
You could tell your son that cosleeping is for the weekends only, so it's a special time, and other times a cot on the floor of your room could help him realize he's not missing out. A big boy bed may make him excited to sleep on his own, too! Let him help pick the sheets and stuff if you don't already have that.

I got pregnant with my 2nd child (after 5yrs unfertile and shots with my first) while I was still nursing my first child. I never had a cycle and was almost 12wks before I found out I was pregnant. I never had symptoms and my breasts were never sore since I was still nursing. But it happened while I was weaning to 2-3 times a day. You can still get pregnant while nursing especially only once a day. As for the co sleeping, you might have to get creative to get the TIME to make the baby. hehe Good luck!