help me gently nudge dd towards self weaning

[poppy283]

Dd is almost 2-and-a-half, I also have a ds who is 6mo.

Dd just feeds at bedtime, but I'd like to gently encourage her to stop.

Any advice/experiences would be gratefully received :)

Thanks in advance!

[rubyslippers]

i don't know if you can nudge unless your DD is receptive to it

how much does she understand? Will she wait for a feed if you tell her to?

my DD was a hardcore feeder and i went cold turkey with her when she was three which honestly was a breeze - however, I had built it up for about 6 months and i did have an older, rather than a younger sibling who wasn;t being nursed

can you try rewards? reducing the time of the feed?

[rubyslippers]

if she only feeds at bedtime can you try taking her to buy a new cup for her milk to have instead?

[poppy283]

Hi Ruby, thanks for your replies, I was thinking about a special cup. Only thing is, she won't drink any other milk.

How did you build up to it? I suppose i'm asking how did you talk to your Dd about it?

[rubyslippers]

maybe she will drink special big girl pink milk (ie with a drop of food colouring/!)

i started when she was about 2.5 years as i was fed up of feeding

she was starting pre school at 3, so i started very gently by explaining when she was 3 and at school there was no more milk from mummy

that's because she was a big girl and going to school

We talked very positively about it and she was very excited

I said my boobs were broken when it came to it and actually had plasters on them - you may not be able to do that if you are still nursing tho

I gave her the last feed the night before her birthday so built up to her getting loads of presents and no more milk

she was very easily distracted by her birthday and a bag of haribo!

honestly it was really fine - it was slow tho (the build up)

[poppy283]

Ok that sounds good, i'm not in a hurry really. I'm just nervous and don't want to upset her!

Thanks for your advice

[rubyslippers]

you're very welcome

i can honestly say i was preparing myself for a terrible weaning experience but it was so smooth and i cried more than she did!!

good luck