Some ideas for weaning toddlers are:
Wean gradually - often the "don't offer, don't refuse" works but slowly - in fact so slowly it may seem like a "don't wean" option!
Shorten nursings - OK you can nurse for two minutes. One mother I knew used an egg-timer - the child liked watching the sand move and knew he had to stop when it ran out. In fact, my children learnt to count down from 10 to 1 before counting from 1 to 10 because once I'd had enough of a nursing I'd tell them they had ten seconds to stop. They often came off at 3 or 4, like they were in control rather than waiting for me to stop the feeding at 0.
Postponement - I'll just do X and then I'll feed you. This usually gets easier as the child grows. Often if you are out you can say, "When we get home."
Substitution - Often toddlers nurse because they are hungry so offering food
before they ask to nurse can reduce the number of times they ask. I remember having to teach my son that food was for hunger not milk when he was about 27 months. He liked milk but I felt that I was being drained dry. I coped much better with a short nurse after a meal then a long one before a meal.
Distraction - children often don't ask to nurse if they are being entertained but ask a lot if they are bored. My toddlers would come and nurse every time I had a breastfeeding help call (I was available sitting by the telephone and they were bored because I was not paying attention to them). I think it is important to distract before they ask otherwise the distraction just feels like a "no".
Ideas for weaning an older chid are:
Negotiation with the child - maybe agreeing to stop on a special day - like a birthday. This, of course, takes quite a lot of preparation and discussion before the event.
Some mothers use bribery, although the word bribe has bad connotations, many mothers feel that it would be unfair to take away something precious without providing some sort of replacement.
Often children are not ready to wean themselves but they are ready to be weaned. I think it is important to watch the signs that your child is showing you when you wean. If he is very upset and crying a lot then maybe you have weaned too fast but if he is happy and only misses the nursing a little then carry on. It is usually easy for a mother to read the behaviour of their child and understand whether or not they can cope with the situation.
The book
Nursing Mothers Guide to Weaning by Kathleen Huggins goes into much more detail about these ideas.
This book can be borrowed from the La Leche League library - please contact Maggie on 2827-7475 or
[email protected]
Other books in our library about weaning are:
How Weaning Happens by Diane Bengson
Mothering your Nursing Toddler by Norma Jane Bumgarner
Best wishes,
SARAH
