At the end of my boob... er rope!...

[JungleMama]

My youngest son (turning 2 on the 25th of feb) still breastfeeds, he eats normal, drinks normal milk from a cup (we only use sippy on trips, less mess) but still wants breast! To the point where he comes up and lifts my shirt ANYWHERE! I love breastfeeding cause it gives me and him that special me and him time, but I can't keep doing this it makes me feel like his personal milk machine. :embarrassed:

I want to know if its okay to take him off breast now (he is the only one I've been able to breastfeed) and how I go about weening him off. I don't want to start a big breastfeeding hoobabaloo about how so & so is a better mommy for weening baby off sooner or later... I want him off now if possible and need tips and support please. <3 thanks!

 

[mom2many]

There is no reason you can't start with a few manners. First limit where you will do it, after he get's the hang of that limit for how long, count out load so he understands the countdown and when the time is up, time is up. You will have to help him learn some other coping skills and it will probably be met with a little resistance but in time he will get the hang of it.

I like this method better then cold turkey, it's a lot less "traumatic" for the little ones. Heck a lot less traumatic for the momma also

 

[stjohnjulie]

I totally agree with m2m. Manners to help limit when and where it's ok to breastfeed, and wean him. Cold turkey is hard on everyone!

I stopped breastfeeding my first son on his first birthday, but there was a lot of prep work that went into it. By the last feeding it was down to one minute on one side right before he went to bed. He hardly noticed that we stopped. I also sang him a lullaby while I fed him right before bed while I fed him. I did that every night from the time he was 6 months old or so. So when I stopped breastfeeding, I would still hold him and sing the song before bed. Made for a gentle transition with still part of the routine to rely on.

I will have to say though.... I know he missed it because about a week after I stopped, he started sucking his arm. Not his fingers, the fatty part of his forearm! He did this until he was about 3.5. Had a big callous!!! And it looked funny when he did it. I guess that was the part of his body that was most like a breast He never did try to breastfeed after I stopped, but he found a way around it to still get that comfort he got from suckling

 

[Jeremy+3]

Just teach him some manners, practice at home so when you go out he doesn't mess about with your clothes, all of ours have tried to at some point, you just have to stop them as soon as they start. Then just let him wean himself.

 

[mommy_emma]

I have the same problem, I cannot wean my 3yo off breastfeeding! It's literally anytime, anywhere. I've tried countless times to stop her, nothing works. I've tried gently weaning, giving her other things instead of breastfeeding, even cold turkey!

My 3yo acts like a baby anyway. Bottles, baby food, nappies, dummies, potty... I can't wean her off them! She's as stubborn as an ox. I had no trouble at all with my older two, managed to wean them off easily at 1/2 yo.

She will, like JungleMama, lift my top up for breastmilk. I can't take her in public without her needing breastmilk, she won't take it from a bottle, just from the breast. How do you wean stubborn children??

 

[patiencepie]

Try having a special time or place.Make a goal to only nurse at a certain time for example. My daughter was still trying to pull my shirt off at 3 and I was real calm about explaining to her that from this day forward we were only going to nurse at bed time. She was annoyed but it only took a few days to get her to wait till bedtime to get her special time. Then it was only a few weeks before she started to fall asleep without it and we were done! Just be calm, matter-a-fact, and smile and distraction is good too. Tickle them or play a silly game to get their mind off the boob! They will be stubborn and focused on getting it but try to have the energy to carry through to the goal each day.

 

[MummyLovesYou]

This was what my 7yo was like when she was about 2. What I did I got her to a point where she had milk at breakfast, noon, middle afternoon and evening.
I introduced a fun one-on-one activity at the time of the afternoon feed. She could choose the activity from some choices. She did choose milk at first but I simply said that it wasn't an option. I gave her some really fun things that she liked, and on Wedsnesday she could choose a big one like swimming or soft play.
With the other times I made a velco chart with pictures to symbolize the different times. Then I said thats when you get milk. Then after a few days I said no more noon milk. And I took off the noon picture. Then the next day when she normally had noon milk I made sure she was occupied so she wouldn't want it. She didn't even think of it. Then after a few days later I took off the morning picture. Then a few days after that I took off the evening picture, and made a big thing of packing up all the breastfeeding stuff and putting it up in the loft. That was how I weaned mine. It helped me a lot.

I agree with you, the one-on-one time is nice and creates a good bond but you can do that other ways. Maybe doing activities with just you and him, letting him pick.
Once you've worked out how to wean him off, if he mentions it randomly say he's a big boy now, he doesn't need milk, and dismiss it casually.

Hope this helps!!

 

[momof4gyrlz]

Oh man I feel your pain!!!!! I finally got my 2yr old off my boob, it was getting out of control! She would do the same thing pull it up in public or when I was dead in the middle of a conversation. There was no teaching her manners, when she wanted her baba's she wanted them.
So I had to make the decision to break her. At first I tried to just nurse at nite time, but that didn't last very long cuz then she wanted it when she was napping. So I had to just break her cold turkey!!
It was hard, but just as hard as it was to break my other girls off the bottle. It takes alot of patience from both of you. t's neen about 3 months now, and she still sometimes wants my baba's.........I'm pretty firm and she knows they are "broke". Good luck
I think you just have to get ready for some long days and nights and just stop him completly.