Need to wean...Mom is exhausted!!

[pokatobug]

Hi guys,

I have an 18 month old daughter that refuses to give up the boob! She even walks up to me, lifts up my shirt and says "boob"?
Hasn't been too much of an issue except when she is teething or just feeling extra cuddly. Lately though, all she wants mommy for is boob and it's like every half an hour. If I say no and offer her something else, she loses her mind and cries for what seems like hours and is just cranky and miserable.
I work full time so I have to get up early to get us both out the door on time for Day home and work. When she is teething all she wants to do is sleep with a nipple in her mouth, unfortunately fake nipples just don't cut it for her. She would never take a bottle or soother even when she was tiny. I can't keep up with the schedule she wants to keep and I'm beyond ready to wean her completely off the boob. She has become way too demanding to the point where we used to be able to go out all day without nursing and now she is regressing back to wanting to nurse outside the house again. She eats anything and everything we eat so she's not really doing it for nutrition, more so for comfort I think.
I have sent her to stay with her grandparents for 2 over nights in a row and she was completely ok, but when she got home she was right back to asking for boob and getting cranky when I said no.
My question is how have other mommies gotten their boob addicted babies to give it up?

Thanks mommies!

 

[pokatobug]

No one?

 

[bdb84]

I do not have a whole lot of advice because my daughter weaned herself at 2, but my best friend worked FT outside of the home and had this very issue with her son. He was perfectly fine throughout the day, but once she stepped foot into the house, he would demand to nurse. She would tell him to wait so she could change, use the restroom, etc, and he would throw the loudest of tantrums. She ended up going on a weekend business trip, and when she came home, she told him that her boobs no longer made milk. He still would ask, but she would just tell him they were no longer working. It's been 4 months for her and he still asks from time to time, but she just tells him the same thing and replaces his love of nursing with lots of extra cuddling.

 

[missk1989]

Do you co sleep? The only way we could wean was to get him in his own bed first. He still woke at least twice in the night so we weaned him off slowly. I also worked full time so He was feeding first thing in the morning, after nursery, before bed and at least twice in the night. I got rid of the after nursery first by making sure I had a snack to hand before I walked in the house. Literally as we walked into the house (together as I collected him from nursery) I would say "look what mummy has got for you". Make a big deal of it so he really wants it. Then get changed into something that does not allow boob access. Also avoid giving him a cuddle as hard as it is or sitting him on your knee as it just encourages it. After a week he stopped asking after nursery so we moved on to night times. The first time he woke up I got DH to go in and settle him. The second time I went in and fed him. When he stopped waking a second time I started saying no to boob when he woke up, occasionally sending in dh so it wasnt an option. He didnt put up a massive fight for this one surprisingly. He tried but I just said "boobies are sleeping, mummy will cuddle you". when he had stopped feeding during the night we moved to the morning feed (leaving night feed to last as it was the biggest source of comfort). Instead of bringing him to bed when he woke up I got him up and dressed and then gave him breakfast.
At night time I first moved the feed to before bath rather than before bed for a few days to reduce the comfort association. After about a week I started reducing the feed and then one day decided it would be the last. I thought it would be really emotional but then he bit me
Bed time was difficult and I could not have done it if he was still in my bed. Dont get me wrong it wasn't easy, there were plenty of tantrums. I just had to be strong. He still doesnt sttn and is still obsessed with my boobs 15 months later but he sleeps much better doesnt associate me with feeding anymore.

good luck

 

[pokatobug]

Thanks so much! I will keep trying, I just need to put up with her crying a little better I guess

 

[pokatobug]

We don't co-sleep so much, she has her own bed but when she wakes up at 4 am I generally take her to bed with us and she nurses back to sleep for a couple hours.
I have begun the full weaning process as my ob has suggested that I not be bf her while we try to figure out why I'm not getting pregnant yet. We are down to just going to bed feedings and over night if she wakes up, but lucky for me she's been sleeping from 8:30pm to about 6-6:30am. We then get up and go get some milk and a snack to munch on while I make breakfast. Worked the first day, but today is day 2 and she woke up at 4:50am demanding boob. There was a 20 minute fit that we had to wait out but eventually she realized that she wasn't getting anywhere and calmed down. Didn't ask for boob for the rest of the morning (hopefully a really good sign). It looks like I can give her a little bit of apple juice after work and that keeps her off of me until bedtime.
Now for the night feed....I am going to leave the house for a while after bath time and hope my husband can get her to bed. We are going to try this one this weekend and see how it goes. She has been away from me for 2 nights in a row and had no issues so hopefully it won't be too bad.
Fingers crossed!!

 

[Kanichen34]

I was the same as missk1989. Greeted her at nursery with a cup of water and a snack for in the car seat. Started saying things like 'all gone' when she finished a feed, so when she woke in the night I'd just say it was all gone because she'd drunk it all earlier - she seemed to accept that. Morning feed was the last to go and because my supply had dwindled so much she was tantrumming for more at the end of a feed anyway! So I just went cold turkey and handed her a cup of milk instead. We had tantrums for a week or so and I had to be careful to not let her see my boobs as I dressed or showered but all is fine now.