How to stop the breastfeeding???

It sounds crazy but about 60 years ago the only thing that got a cousin of mine to quit was summer heat. There was no air conditioning and when it got real hot he would take a cold bottle.

hmm. I am not really sure. I am about to go thru this myself I think. (snif) I will be anxiously awaiting the answers.

I'm nursing now but my daughter is going to be 9 months tomorrow. My oldest I didn't wean until she was 2 and I just told her that they were broken. I remember it being harder for me then it was for her. I think the thing that gets missed most is the one on one time and contact. When our children are nursing they have us all to themselves and it's so comforting and loving. So maybe you need to create a time that mimics that. Reading books or just snuggling without nursing. Good luck to you and your a great Momma for going this long!!

Maybe you could start out by pumping some milk and putting it into a sippy cup and giving it to the baby. At least the milk will taste the same. Or have Daddy give him the breastmilk in the cup. Then gradually add regular milk to the breastmilk until you are using all regular milk. You can try cuddling while giving the sippy cup. I had to wean my youngest daughter from the breast due to needing to have tests with injected radioactive material and needing to take medicine that I couldn't nurse while taking as it might hurt the baby. She was only 6 months old and wouldn't take a bottle at all. The doctor said when she got hungry enough, she would take the bottle. I had to wean suddenly due to the radioactive material I had to have injected for the test. So, I couldn't relent and let her nurse a little to wean her gradually. She refused to take a bottle at all for about 2 days and I cried more than she did! Then when her Daddy was holding her, she latched onto the bottle nipple like she was starving and drank out of the bottle from then on.
I had weaned my son directly to a cup when he was 15 months old. I weaned him somewhat gradually and he gave up nursing quite easily.

definitely try warming milk to give to him. I actually start mixing half milk and half hot water at a year old. And then over time I add more milk, less water until they are used to the flavor and the cold. If he takes a bottle have someone else feed him, but at that age, he should adjust okay to a sippy.
Good luck!

This is what I had to do last July with my now 2 year old. It was difficult but after being persistent he finally got the idea.

Day 1... Offered the sippy cup every time he came to me for nursing... He would throw a fit and cry, I would then hold him, give him his sippy cup and sing twinkle twinkle litte star.. when he proceeded to lift my shirt I told him no we are not doing that anymore.. here is your sippy cup..

the rest of the days i just kept that up and about day 3 we were in a new routine .. although he tried to pull up my shirt for a couple weeks after that, the episodes became less and less..

Now what was the hardest was he was still waking up at night for feedings... He still wakes up at night and climbs in bed with us, but knows that he does not get nursed.. The first few nights were the hardest as all he did was cry and cry... I gave him a sippy cup and sang the song to him until he was calmed down again..

I wish the 2 of you the best of luck and congratulations on sticking with nursing as long as you have.

Good luck with the weaning. It's easier for some kids than for others. I introduced the bottle early on and when it was time to wean off the breast, my milk supply was going anyway so she didn't get much. You are at a much different stage so I can't help you much. The suggestions here sound good though.

thank you everyone~im still trying =crossing fingers= ill let yall know on the progress!

Two suggestions from a mom who breastfed two children with a friend breastfeeding 3: introduce a sippy cup and don't relent; second is go away for three days and leave the child with a friend, family, something other than you. Your supply will decrease and the Mommy will-power to stop increases. The child will have to come up with something else to get a drink because the child will not go without a drink. Go ahead and get rid of the nursing bras, wear dresses that don't button, and wear inconvenient clothes. Nights will be the worst, probably, but most of all be strong. If your significant other is around, use the bed time for this little one to take a walk, go grocery shopping, something to get you out of the house and make the child go to sleep without nursing. At 15 months, my daughter decided she needed help to go to sleep at night. We had to do the crying it out in phases -- staying in her room next to her crib patting her back; the next night standing next to her crib but not touching her (actually a few nights like this); then slowly moving toward the door each night. By the final night, I left the room, she cried a little, but I went to the bathroom to take a bath, or just sit there reading a book. Most nights I had to set a timer to tell me when 10 minutes was complete. If I could make it to 10 minutes, usually she was just whimpering or not even making noise. I had to do this to finally break her from nursing for comfort, then going to sleep with help, and I have to do it every now and then when we travel. I do have a 4 year old, and he knows to just stay in bed for a little while and she will go to sleep. It's hard, but make sure you spend plenty of time together snuggling, with all clothes on, and no nursing. You will have your body back to your own, your child will develop independence, and your other children will not be as jealous of this special touch time you have with the youngest while nursing.
You can do it, but you have to be stronger willed than the child. Good luck. I thought I'd be asking you as a four-time mom for advice. You can do it!

It sounds like you have more experience with me as I have just weaned my first child (she nursed until 15 months too). She was super attached to nursing. I slowly cut out one feeding at a time gradually over several days and kept her busy doing things she doesn't associate with nursing. I took her outside and on errands more often since she doesn't associate that with nursing. I also was very careful not to sit down in areas that she associates with nursing (couch, rocking chair, etc.) and hid the boppy pillow.

If you can slowly cut out one feeding at a time you will eventually be down to one or two times. Then, for me, it was sheer willpower over my toddler's. I tended to nurse her because it was easier than doing something else. I started wearing clothes that made it difficult to nurse and tucked my shirts into my pants and wore a belt so it was harder to get to my breasts.

She still wants to nurse occasionally and will sometimes try to pull at my shirt, but it is usually when we're running late for snack or something. It helps to always have some food and milk on hand whereever you are so you can offer an alternative as soon as your child wants to nurse. I found that if I preempted her hunger by giving her snack/meal earlier than she usually would want to nurse that she was less interested in nursing because she was full already. I would also let her drink from her sippy cup on my lap and give her a lot of extra attention while we were weaning.

My daugher was very resistant to using a cup so I would clap and act excited when she would use her cup and drink her milk. I also called "milk" in the cup something different than "milk" because she associated that word with nursing for a while (now we use the word milk for milk in a cup). Something else that helped was if I sat down with her while she was eating/drinking and gave her a lot of attention and also ate/drank something with her. She enjoyed imitating mommy drinking out of a cup and so would drink from hers too. We never could use a bottle because she had a sensitive gag reflex and it would make her throw up.

I think it took us almost a month to be fully weaned, but finally we did it! Whatever you do-- don't give in because they like to test your limits on this (like everything else). Pick a feeding that you are going to cut out and make that your "battle" and do not give in no matter what. Then when you're ready to cut out the next feeding, cut it out and make sure not to add in an extra feeding some other time or the one you already cut out.

Good luck! You can do it!

Also- I would never normally do this, but was so desperate that I did try it because my daughter hated the taste of regular cow's milk and my own milk was drying up so I couldn't pump -- my pediatrician suggested that some people give strawberry or chocolate whole milk (get mix and mix it with the whole milk) to help transition their child. I mostly used it just to get my daughter to taste the milk and see that it was sweet like mom's. You can slowly cut the amount you mix with the milk out so that your child will drink regular (non-sweetened) milk. Now we just give regular milk and she likes the taste of it just fine. You can also try giving other favorite liquids this way -- chicken broth, juice, water, etc.

Another thing we did was giving her a regular (non-sippy) cup and she seemed to like to drink out of it more because it looked like mom's cup and was more of a novelty to drink from than the sippy we'd been trying to push on her for forever. Now, she doesn't mind drinking from a sippy although occasionally she wants a regular cup.

I nursed my first until 22 months (and I was 7 months pregnant!) only because when I tried to start weaning at 14 months he was SOOOOOO attached to nursing. I learned then, that there is a window of time when weaning really is easiest ---- before they get so attached! My second was weaned starting at 12 months and completely weaned in about 2 weeks. I went cold turkey and only nursed him when i couldn't stand the pain of my engorged boobs! I am currently weaning my 11 month old, but started sooner so i didn't have to do the cold turkey thing. She loves her sippy and I have started introducing a little milk to her, just to get her used to it before my supply completely goes away. She is down to just a morning feeding and a right-before-bed feeding.

So, basically what I have found is that if they are not weaned around a year old to 13 months, they will become so attached that it is really hard to wean. I know this doesn't help you right now since she is already 15 months old, but you could just start cutting out a meal and get her down on the amount of times she nurses. Eventually she will be weaned. I HAD to wean my 22 month old because I was 7 months pregnant and it was giving me really strong contractions when he would nurse --- not good at that stage of pregnancy! So, I have found that we can do anything we truly want to do when the situation warrants it!

Oh, and the Nuby soft nipple cups I get at Wal-mart are so close to nursing that my 11 month old loves her sippy. She does the same sucking technique on it as she does on my boob, so I think that has helped her trasition so well thus far.

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