Hi,
My daughter is 16months now and I would like to start weaning her. Some of my studies say to let her wean herself. I was ok with that but I just don’t think I can do it anymore. What are some ways I can start this process without it being a dramatic experience for her?
Cheers
You should wean her one feeding at a time. If you are feeding her 3 times, morning, afternoon, and evening, then start with the least favorite feeding, usually the one in the afternoon. I explained to my son that breastfeeding is something we do in private now that he’s a big boy, he accepted that. After a few days you can try to eliminate another feeding. If it’s the morning feed, distract her with something else when she wakes up. When I got the feeding down to twice a day, I was quite happy to keep it that way. Unfortunately my son when to grandma’s house for a few days, he didn’t miss it much. We pretty much stopped after that. So if you are desperate to quickly wean your child off that last 1 or 2 favorite feeding, sending her away for a few days may do the trick.
Hi there kraezykat,
I’m no expert and have only had one child. We did start to reduce the feeds as joan did, but I was finding the last bit hard. Then when talking to a friend she suggested I stick plasters on my nipples and tell him that they are sore. Well we hadn’t used plasters at all, so the next time he hurt himself I stuck a plaster on his leg or toe (can’t exactly remember) and said how sorry I was that he was sore. Then did the plaster trick on my nipples and it worked! The week was awful!!! Not so much for him, but for me. I almost gave in and went back to feeding him. I then discovered cabbage leaves. You line your bra with whole leaves and change them every two or so hours! You would have to try it to actually believe me… Then about two weeks later, he came in while I was changing and asked if I was still sore. I said I was much better, but that all the milk was finished. He wanted to check! So I let him. He did that about three times then was fine with it. We let him know that he is a BIG boy now and that milk is for little babies. Even now he still tells me that. Hope it works out for you.
TABS