https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:29:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1843386 Sun, 31 Aug 2014 09:37:36 +0000 MadamBabyFever 1843386@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was apparently a bit Of a boob monster as a toddler, i would just crawl into my mums lap, where ever, whenever, pull her boob out and get comfortable. Family friends and relatives just LOVE bringing up this anecdote at gatherings. They Tried weaning me off and cold turkey but i just wouldn't give it up. In the end my Mum went away for a week, and when she came back i was no longer a boob monster ;)</p> <p>Good luck no matter which way you go, i hope you manage the gradual cutting down you want :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1843191 Sat, 30 Aug 2014 21:14:03 +0000 Anutka 1843191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I recently cut back from morning, multiple times a night and bedtime to just bedtimw with my almost 2 year old. Basically it was a lot of talking about how we only have milk at bedtime and at night you can fall asleep without it.</p> <p>We also went from co-bedding to her own double bed, I stay with her until she falls asleep and usually spend half the night there after she wakes. Even with night weaning, she still wakes up once or twice a night, but will go right back to sleep with cuddles.</p> <p>The night weaning took 3-4 days. The first night she cried for about an hour, I just talked to her and comforted her with cuddles, signing, back rubbing. It was pretty brutal with her screaming "oh noooo mama, titya (russian for boob) a dodo (french for sleep)". But it got better each time. And after 3-4 days, she would just cuddle to fall back asleep. She will still occasionally ask for it, but is ok when I refuse. A big help was for me to wear tshirts with high collars to bed so she can't reach :P</p> <p>Eta: For now I love that we've kept one session and I am able to keep nursing for emergencies. For example, she really only naps in the stroller and the other day it was just not happening, she kept playing with the canopy and got her finger caught. By the time I got her home she was in full blown hysterics and nothing I was doing was calming her. So out came the boob and she was asleep in minutes. I will miss the boob magic one day! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1843004 Sat, 30 Aug 2014 15:20:00 +0000 Jess1483 1843004@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoyfulKiwi: My little guy was only about 18 months when we had these sorts of conversations. I was actually really surprised how well he responded/how much he understood.</p> <p>The other day my mom was watching him at her house. She put him in his PnP and he started to fuss. She said "no fussing. sleeping time." He laid down and went to sleep (and she's a big softy, so he usually gets her to pick him up and nap with him.) They "get" more than we give them credit for, I think (he's 21 months now). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1843001 Sat, 30 Aug 2014 15:15:48 +0000 bpcmarj 1843001@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One day, randomly, at 27 1/2 months she didn't ask at night and then again in the morning she also didn't. So I went cold turkey and told her my milk was all gone. Got her a special cup for almond milk (which she would NEVER drink before) and it went really well. She was fine, I was a crying hormonal mess. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842807 Sat, 30 Aug 2014 10:14:44 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 1842807@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoyfulKiwi: she's one, but we're nursing 3x a day and I have no idea how to even go about stopping. She just loves it so much haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842802 Sat, 30 Aug 2014 10:05:55 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 1842802@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@pinkcupcake: thanks for sharing your experience. That's what I'd like for it to be - gradual and without a huge fuss. My husband puts him to sleep 1/2 the time right now (even though I still nurse him). Maybe I'll be "gone" from the house a few nights and see how he does without me home?</p> <p>@Baby Boy Mom: I know - the co-bedding is a real wrench in the plans! I feel like it's a "chicken or the egg" situation - if we stop nursing will he stop waking up at night &amp; need to sleep with us? If we stop sleeping together, will he stop waking up and nursing?</p> <p>@Kemma: most of the time, it's just a comfort nurse as a way to fall back asleep. He falls asleep on his own now at bedtime, but has a harder time in the MOTN. When I've cut nursing short before, he has ended up asking for water, so maybe I'll keep a cup by the bed at night.</p> <p>@Mrs. Oatmeal: I'm glad I'm not the only one! I'll let you know how it goes when I finally do something!</p> <p>@Jess1483: I really like this idea, because we already talk to him about a lot of things in that way. I was nervous that he wouldn't be able to "understand" in the middle of the night, but I think talking about it throughout the day will help. I feel like i do need to steel myself for a few rough nights.</p> <p>@Corduroy: If cutting out just the nighttime sessions doesn't go well, I think that's where I'll have to go next - stopping them all. I'm not sure how he'll react, but thank you for the "happiness after nursing". I needed to hear that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842648 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 23:26:52 +0000 Corduroy 1842648@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I described my daughter as a boob monster. When I dropped our after daycare nursing session she protested with biting and tantrums for weeks. I was terrified of dropping the morning and night sessions. Turned out she didn't even care about the other ones. When we dropped them all she stopped freaking out about the after work one. Good luck to you! LO will find that there is happiness after nursing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842622 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 22:10:03 +0000 Jess1483 1842622@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel like words are so powerful at this age. Maybe even make him a picture book. Tell him: "We are going to nurse before bed, and then in the morning when it's light. If you wake up in the middle of the night, we aren't going to nurse. Mommy will (sing you a song, give you a cuddle, whatever), but mommy will not nurse until morning time." Then when you do nurse in the morning, you can say "Is it morning time? Yes! So we can nurse now." Be really excited about this nursing session. Be very matter-of-fact about the middle of the night one. But be serious. And consistent. Even one time giving in is going to be difficult. During the day, ask him lots of questions: "Before we go to bed, are we going to nurse? YES! In the morning, are we going to nurse? YES! Are we going to nurse during night-time? No...what else can we do?" Talk about it during low-stress, non-nursing or bedtime related times, and emphasize how a big boy nurses twice a day (or whatever phrasings feels natural/works for him.)</p> <p>My toddler just kind of stopped nursing, but we had other middle of the night wake-ups, and going in and telling him "it's night-night time. Mommy sleeps now. LO sleeps now" was enough to get rid of them (after a few days). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842568 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 20:52:53 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 1842568@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842538 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 20:30:05 +0000 Kemma 1842538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoyfulKiwi: this might be a silly question, but how much milk is your LO taking on the motn feedings? Is he just having a quick suck or is he guzzling back the milk? My LO has only just started to STTN but I think she was genuinely hungry because she'd been dropping day feeds but hadn't increased her solids enough to compensate for the drop in milk (she's 22.5 months).</p> <p>Another thought could be to try having a designated spot for nursing so it becomes slightly inconvenient for your LO to nurse, or you could try putting him on a schedule so he knows when he can freely nurse but outside of those times he doesn't get access. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842527 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 20:15:34 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 1842527@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had my husband take over the morning routine for a few days to drop that one and at a later point had him take over bedtime again. After about a week I could takeover again without the expectation that he would nurse. As for the middle of the night, I need to not be sleeping next to my kids otherwise they want to nurse a lot. So I'm not sure how to handle that... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842496 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 19:34:56 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1842496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I tried to dry up when I stopped pumping at work and on weekends she still asked all the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842451 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:32:20 +0000 pinkcupcake 1842451@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We cut out sessions slowly. First we dropped the nighttime nursing sessions by having my husband put her to sleep and get her if she cried. (This was when she was around 18 months old) She was upset for a few days, but got over it pretty quickly and the great thing was, she didn't need to nurse to fall asleep anymore even if I did the bedtime routine. </p> <p>Over the course of 6 months, I just slowly tried to decrease the # of nursing sessions. My daughter was also a boob monster and would just come and tug on my shirt every few minutes :P I distracted her as much as possible. If she wanted to nurse, I would totally change the subject - start singing, dancing, whatever it took to get her mind off it. I also started leaving out milk or water in a straw cup and offered her that (I think sometimes she would want to nurse when she was just kind of thirsty). </p> <p>It took around 6 months, but she was weaned around age 2. It was very painless and I think because it was such a gradual process, it seemed very natural and she wasn't upset by it at all.</p> <p>Good luck to you :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weaning-a-toddler-boob-monster#post-1842435 Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:20:02 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 1842435@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son turns 2 in a few weeks and has never dropped his middle of the night nursing sessions. We nurse before bed and in the morning and I like those, but the 2am ones are wearing me thin. I tried to cut out the MOTN ones a few months ago and it was horrible for both of us, probably because we co-bed. I'd like to keep the before-bed session, but it feels like I may need to quit full stop. </p> <p>Did anyone else wean a toddler without a lot of turmoil? The other stories I read involved many days of tantrums. Should I cut it cold turkey? Maybe try to dry up completely so he knows it's "all gone"? Or should I try a slow weaning process? </p> <p>I'm so lost. I thought I'd be happy to nurse until he self-weaned and am not happy about cutting him off, but I'm also not happy with our nursing relationship anymore. :crying:</p> <p>ETA: I've been doing "don't offer, don't refuse" but the boy asks every time! </p>