weaning a toddler

[kosh]

I'm BF my 27 month old. He still has 3 feeds a day (morning, afternoon and bedtime) and how many times he wakes at night
I am not in a rush to wean - I enjoy it very much and I know that he gets nutrients and a lot of comfort, but I worry he will never stop. I am ok BF for another year but not much long after that, so I am concerned true self-weaning might not happen for us, and I will have to 'encourage' him. I don't want to do anything drastic though.

For those who have been there - could you tell me your experience? anything in particular that worked (or didn't work) for you?

thanks!

 

[Rachel_C]

My youngest is still BF (she's 2 years 9 months), but I did night wean her. It didn't affect the frequency of her day feeds but she has been less reliant on the boob in general since then. She *likes* her morning and bedtime feeds now but if I wasn't there or I had to say no, she wouldn't be too bothered. I think if I do decide to wean her fully, it won't be too difficult and I imagine that over the next year she'll gradually forget about it more and more often - sometimes she will forget about her morning boob now, which was unheard of 6 months ago.

Night weaning could be a good way to go, if you decide you want to do something to encourage him to stop. I used Dr Jay Gordon's method and although night weaning can be dramatic, it really wasn't for us so I think LO was ready to sleep through (and I certainly was!). I think it was a good step for us so could be an option to encourage some boob free time

 

[Maxy1]

We used Dr Jay Gordon for night weaning as well. I ended out 'weaning' DS at 22 months. I guess it was weaning. I just moved his BF's around a bit, so they were in different places and at different times. Then I kinda did 'don't offer, don't refuse'. I never offered. If DS asked, I would ask him if he was thirsty and when he said yes I would ask him if he wanted some milk instead, then I would give him a sippy cup of milk. He quite liked the sippy cup cos it meant he could keep playing and doing what he wanted and have a drink. It only took a couple weeks before he would ask for milk rather than boob.

It was very easy, which was very surprising for me, because DS was such an avid BF'r. It was really good timing for us. If he hadn't been ready I would have kept going and tried again in a couple of months.

 

[Kellen]

We are currently using Dr. Jay Gordon's method for night weaning... mostly for my sanity. DD was waking up every 2 hours and demanding a feed. Now she goes down at 8 and I do a dream feed at 11 and she sleeps until 6:30 or 7 (7:45 if I'm lucky!). I have no plans to wean her from day time feeds right now as she is only 14 months, but now she knows and understand that other people can help her go to sleep and it is a huge relief.

Good luck!