By Kavisa Wood, IBCLC, Retired Milk Maker
With my older son, I took a parent-led weaning approach. First I dropped down to 1 breastfeeding session right before bed. Then after his 2nd birthday over a period of a month, I reduced the time of that nursing session until he could only nurse for 1 minute. We talked about weaning during the entire process.
Pros of this approach:
Easier to follow a timeline
Allowed my son some time to adjust to less nursing over a month
Allowed my body time to adjust to hormonal shifts
Cons of this approach:
Less input from my son about how he feels about weaning
Weeks of him asking to nurse and having to say no
Child-led weaning
With my younger son, I thought I would start weaning him at 2, in January. But between him still waking up in the middle of the night to nurse and me grieving the fact that this would be our last baby, I kept extending the “end date”. Eventually, over the summer he started showing less interest in nursing.
When I noticed he would breastfeed for 1-2 minutes and then run off, I started reading “weaning” books to him to start the conversation in August. Then, in September, after a few sporadic nights of him not asking to nurse at all, I set an “end date”.
Books we read: Booby Moon by Yvette Reid, Boobies Go Bye-Bye by Cyana Riley and Nikki Osei-Barrett, Milky by Tori Fletes, My Milk Will Go, Our Love Will Grow by Jessica Elder
Pros of this approach:
Allowed me to follow my child’s lead and needs
Only took 5 days after the last nursing session to adjust and that was more about learning a new night routine. Weirdly he requested the book “Click, Clack, Moo” about cows who go on a milk strike more than any of the “weaning” books.
Allowed my body time to adjust to hormonal shifts
Cons of this approach:
Took us 8 months
Unease around “Will this be our last nursing session?”
Need prenatal education, lactation assistance, or weaning guidance? Learn more NourishingJustly.com
Other resources:
Need to wean quickly: https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/resources/rapid-weaning
Learn more about weaning from the Institute for the Advancement of Breastfeeding and Lactation Education:
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