any advice for weaning a 2 y/o who does NOT want to wean?

[corinne76]

We successfully night weaned for the most part. DS now sleeps til about 4 without waking to nurse. I normally just nurse him back to sleep to avoid teh screaming, since I need to be up shortly after. I know, I need to be tougher and not give in.
anyway, his daytime nursing is out of control now. He's also super clingy and wants to be with me all.the.time.
I would like to completely wean him, but he will not go easy. Any advice? He's not really verbal and doesn't understand complex stories and stuff like that

[tibeca]

He has become more clingy because of the night weaning. If you want things to go smoothly with no crying and no clingy-ness, then you need to slow down and let him adjust to the new "normal" of not night nursing. Weaning now will only amplify his behavior.

[corinne76]

Originally Posted by tibeca He has become more clingy because of the night weaning. If you want things to go smoothly with no crying and no clingy-ness, then you need to slow down and let him adjust to the new "normal" of not night nursing. Weaning now will only amplify his behavior.

yes, you're right. The super clinginess started right after night weaning. he wakes up wanting to nurse more, and nurse longer (not a whole lot more frequently, but for longer periods of time) during the day.
I will stick with the night weaning and try to get him to sleep past 4am so I dont have to get up at such a horrible time and continue nursing him through the day

[mama2cntrykids]

(((Hugs))) to you. I have a 22 month old, who I'd at least like to cut back on nursings with. It's not happening. She is SO not ready at this point, which is hard b/c I am ready to slow down.

So, I can totally understand how your feeling. My dd won't even cut back at night without crying forever. I can't leave her with dh when it's naptime/bedtime either, b/c she will just howl with him. Sigh...

[mrseum]

I just did this. Ds2 will be 2 on the 25th. I decided on night 1-4 to nurse before bed & once in the middle of the night. When he woke up (countless times) I walked him & shushed him.
Night five I nursed only before bed. He easily goes to sleep for his nap now but bedtime is a little more difficult. He sleeps a little better depending on teething.
It's been two days since I nursed him & now I actually feel quite uncomfortable!! :/ I have to express once in awhile. Goo luck mama- I thought I would NEVER get him to sleep!

[mommyandjude]

Just curious, do you mamas co-sleep still? Trying to see if there is a difference between that and babies wanting to nurse at night.

[firemommaof1]

I'm there with you mama... only not completely weaning. My DD is almost two and I just cut out (except one ) night nursing. We were co sleeping half the time and she was in her crib half the time. It's right by our bed so it's slightly difficult.
I cut out all but one of the night nursing and she did get a little more clingy during the day. After a few days we adjusted to the new normal and now I think I'll take away the one night nursing to get a full night sleep! I nurse for bedtime and naps and I'm fine with keeping those. It's the nursing all the other times that I could let go of and be happy. I love to comfort her but it's not always convenient to whip out the boob these days. Lots of judgement cuz of her age even tho she's still pretty tiny. Anyway no big advice for you mama. Just saying I'm basically in the same boat and maybe just let the new normal sink in and then continue on the plan.

[qsefthuko]

The clingyness may also be partly the age. My son is almost 22 months. He has recently gotten very very clingy. As in I used to be able to nurse him to sleep and get up to get things done. Now after I get up he is awake looking for me and crying after about 10-15 minutes. I am not even attemptting to slow him down let alone wean him.

[qsefthuko]

For weaning what I have seen help a lot is to get baby outside busy playing. Don't offer to nurse. Frequently offer other things to drink. Don't go inside unless necessary. Baby becomes too distracted and busy to demand to nurse as often. Slowly baby begins to ask less often. It isn't a fast process but it is relatively tear free.

[tibeca]

We family bed, so there's 5 of us in the bed. 2 Nurslings. Only the 8 mo gets up to nurse in the night. DD2 night weaned without encouragement at 14 months.