Hi All,
My son will turn two in September. We co-sleep and I breastfeed him to sleep. I now plan to wean him at 2 years and am looking for suggestions to do it.
I did the "don't offer, don't refuse" routine, but knowing my son he wasn't going to wean himself very easily. So, i have now started refusing to nurse when he asks for it unless it is nap time or bed time. The good thing is that once he is asleep, I can leave the bed and he would continue sleeping/self soothe/have my husband shush him back to sleep-as long as he is in our bed. If I am in the bed however, it seems like he can smell me even from afar so every time he wakes up I need to feed him. If we put him in his crib, he wakes up crying all the time so it hasn't been a place for sleep for him. He doesn't mind the crib for play and discipline though.
I have tried increasing his cow's milk intake, but the moment he caught on that it was a substitute for the breast, he refused milk completely.
Coming to sleep routines, both my husband and I are not fans of any method that involves crying so ferber and all its variations are out the window for us. I do have a bedtime routine in place for him in place so much so that now whenever he is sleepy he himself will start his winding down routine..which will end with me nursing him no matter what.
The only place he will sleep without nursing is in the car seat or stroller if he is tired. We tried that for a while but he wakes up as soon as we take him out of it.
Lastly,am not sure how much telling him he needs to not nurse will work since he still doesn't talk. He understands instructions perfectly and manages to communicate things that he wants..its just the making of words that he is still getting around. However, since we are still not talking in words, I am not sure speaking to him about the nursing will work? I could be wrong though...
He is generally a very easy going kid..except that he gets very upset (understandably so) when I try to refuse to nurse him to sleep..
Thanks so much for reading and any advice you might have...
My son will turn two in September. We co-sleep and I breastfeed him to sleep. I now plan to wean him at 2 years and am looking for suggestions to do it.
I did the "don't offer, don't refuse" routine, but knowing my son he wasn't going to wean himself very easily. So, i have now started refusing to nurse when he asks for it unless it is nap time or bed time. The good thing is that once he is asleep, I can leave the bed and he would continue sleeping/self soothe/have my husband shush him back to sleep-as long as he is in our bed. If I am in the bed however, it seems like he can smell me even from afar so every time he wakes up I need to feed him. If we put him in his crib, he wakes up crying all the time so it hasn't been a place for sleep for him. He doesn't mind the crib for play and discipline though.
I have tried increasing his cow's milk intake, but the moment he caught on that it was a substitute for the breast, he refused milk completely.
Coming to sleep routines, both my husband and I are not fans of any method that involves crying so ferber and all its variations are out the window for us. I do have a bedtime routine in place for him in place so much so that now whenever he is sleepy he himself will start his winding down routine..which will end with me nursing him no matter what.
The only place he will sleep without nursing is in the car seat or stroller if he is tired. We tried that for a while but he wakes up as soon as we take him out of it.
Lastly,am not sure how much telling him he needs to not nurse will work since he still doesn't talk. He understands instructions perfectly and manages to communicate things that he wants..its just the making of words that he is still getting around. However, since we are still not talking in words, I am not sure speaking to him about the nursing will work? I could be wrong though...
He is generally a very easy going kid..except that he gets very upset (understandably so) when I try to refuse to nurse him to sleep..
Thanks so much for reading and any advice you might have...