Please no judgement. I just need advice from mums who have been there. I am wanting to wean my child from breastfeeding. He will be 3 in September and I never thought it would go this long. He does not feed during the day, but to go to sleep he does and throughout the night. The problem is he is waking so frequently no one is getting any sleep. He co sleeps with us and I have been trying to cut the feeds shorter, but he will scream the house down if I don't let him feed. He will not go to sleep for anyone else either. Thank you for any advice.
4 Replies
It's time to hand nights to dad for a few nights. It's going to be tough and there are going to be a couple of really long nights. But your child will go to sleep without you eventually.,
My son was 3 1/2 when he weaned i tried earlier but he did the same and cried. I just kept trying but never pushed him. He will stop when ready i would keep telling him you start kindy next year so you need to stop booby soon it eventually clicked and he stopped cold turkey.
Bandaids on the nipples tell him they are empty now time to be a big boy with a cup of water now you will be in for a rough couple of nights but do not give in best of luck
I found weaning very difficult with both of mine, but to be honest it was actually a bit easier when I left it a bit longer. I know that's just my own experience, and it'll be different for everyone. But I had a terrible time going cold turkey with my first one when she was about 2y3m. It was awful - the screaming, the unsettledness overnight, and the fact I couldn't sit down at all when she was around!!! I had to stand up pretty much all the time so she wouldn't see me sitting and instantly glue herself to me for a feed. I was pregnant with the second one at the time and the nipple tenderness was extreme, I just couldn't handle feeding her anymore. Then with the second one, there was no pregnancy to motivate me to wean completely... so it lasted a bit longer. I tried at about 2.5, she wasn't open to the idea at all. Tried to distract her and help her sleep in other ways, and all the rest, but it wasn't until she was about 3.5 that she was able to be properly talked out of it. I could say 'I'm busy, I'll sit down soon, here's something else to eat/drink/do until then' and then I'd draw it out. And she'd understand that I wasn't saying no, I was saying just 'not now'. And she was okay with that at that age. Eventually the milk supply dropped off almost completly, as the feeds got less frequent, and she stopped needing it overnight as she found other ways to be close and feel comforted without a boob. She was all done sometime between 3.5 and 4 (it was so gradual I coudn't pinpoint the last feed!) Maybe just wait a bit longer until you can reason with your little man, and just hang in there by telling yourself 'it won't be forever!'. It's tough and exhausting, but you're doing a fantastic job xo