my youngest is 17 months and is still nursing!. i want to wean him, but throws these fits as if the world is ending that carry on for hours. any advice on how to ease this process.
2007-04-28 02:50:01 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
At this point he should mostly be nursing for comfort and habit. Most of his nutrition should be coming from table foods. If this isn't the case, make it the case. If so, then you need to help him gain comfort other ways. Before usual nursing times, play with him on the floor (stack blocks do a puzzle etc) and be sure to include a lot of hugs and kisses and pats and other physical affection. Have a sippy cup of juice or cow's milk handy and offer it to him in the middle of playing. Keep him distracted so he doesn't notice that he is drinking from his cup instead of nursing. When he gets around to asking to nurse, he will already be full and so you can shift the focus to cuddles instead of nursing. Hold him in his usual nursing position and tickle, kiss, cuddle and wrestle. He will keep taking little nips for awhile but if you keep this up, the nursing will be lost to cuddling.
The nighttime nursing before bed is harder, many people say to tackle it last, but I tackled it first and my son didn't feel the loss as much as he could still nurse during the day. I made sure his tummy was full (snack and cow's milk). I moved my nursing chair out of his room and we did our bedtime routine (if you don't have one, make one). I handed him a tippy cup full of ice water (with the valve in, of course) and put him in his crib with his cup and his favorite stuffed animal. He started to cry and I went in and pickd hum up and gave him lots of hugs and kisses then put him back down. He just gave up after a few minutes and went to sleep.
Hope this helps
2007-04-28 04:15:05 · answer #1 · answered by Momofthreeboys 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Congratulations on nursing this long! I know it's a lot of work, and you've really done the best thing for him. Extended breastfeeding (breastfeeding past 12 months) has SOOOO many nutritional benefits.
But, if you are ready to be done with it, the best way to ween is by cutting out feedings, one at a time. If you have one or two mid-day feedings, start by cutting one of those out. When he seems to have forgotten that one ever existed, cut out the morning feeding. (It's easy to distract with food and toys in the morning.)
It sounds like your son still wants to nurse and still gets something out of it. You could consider cutting all feedings but one, if that worked for you. The bedtime feeding is usually the hardest to break away from, and you could keep that one for awhile longer if that worked for you. It was provide additional nutrition for him... acting as a "vitamin supplement", sort of. It would also help boost his immune system. And, it would bring you two together for some additional bonding every night.
2007-04-28 10:00:15 · answer #2 · answered by KristenCO 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Is there any reason you need to stop nursing? There is no special reason for babies to stop nursing at 12 months, in fact, it is proven that extended nursing is beneficial to mom and baby. My aunt nursed her kids until they were three, and my daughter is 11 months and I don't see her weaning anytime soon either. If you feel you need support check out your local la leache club.
2007-04-28 10:00:20 · answer #3 · answered by dolly 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Start offering him a sippie cup with his meal. After the meal, at night, or whenever you decide, nurse him. As he gets used to the cup, gradually lessen the nursing sessions.
It would have been best to start him on a cup earlier so he can get used to it, but definitely don't do it cold turkey. Especially for a boy!!!
2007-04-28 09:55:51 · answer #4 · answered by kelly4u2 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hope he has started eating other meals. In this way, it'll be easier. You dont have to stop all of a sudden. Do it gradually.
Gradually is best. For you and baby. Start missing one meal at a time. When he/she adjusts to the missed one, give a few days, and miss another.
For mine, I stopped giving her during the day and only gave her at bed time and nap times. later, I reduced to only nights and then stopped altogether.
It's so easy this way. For baby, she's already getting used to not having it and when u finally stop, it won't be shocking at all. she'll just miss it for a couple of days and forget it. For you, it'll help u not to have engorged breast to deal with. Your breast will have less and less milk as baby sucks less so when u eventually stop, it won't get too full to be uncomfortable. this is what I did and it worked greatly for both of us. Hope it works for you too
2007-04-28 10:09:12 · answer #5 · answered by sholly 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you may want to wean him slowly....if he can understand that you will feed him after bath time, or during story time or however....maybe that will temper the tantrums a bit!
2007-04-28 11:54:17 · answer #6 · answered by motherhendoulas 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
let him cry. if you want to stop then stop. this is why doctors say to stop at the first birthday
2007-04-28 09:57:31 · answer #7 · answered by kleighs mommy 7 · 0⤊ 9⤋