How to wean my 18mo off breast feeding?

Question

Hi, any mommies with experience on this? My 18mo is very reliant on my boobs and refuse to take the pacifier / milk bottle from young. I’ve been direct latching her. It was a lot of convenience at the start but now I am finding it so hard to wean her. I am currently pregnant and I definitely don’t have much milk supply. She is obviously addicted to comfort latching and not really because she wants to drink milk. Any ways to this? I get cramps from her latching which is not good for the current pregnancy. And I latch her pretty often during the day / through the night..

Gary Txc · Answer

Can speak to lactation consultant

Cherlyn · Answer

At 18 months, she should already understand the word “no” well. So tell her no when she asks to latch. It’s going to be hard. There will be a lot of screaming and crying. My LOs both rejected the bottle, so my husband spent weeks training them to drink from it. At 18 months, she has other options like straw bottles/sippy cups/normal cups too for milk. Your husband can help you wean her off by doing the milk feeds/patting her to comfort her at night when she’s demanding to latch. My friend also used bittergourd (took some juice to put on the nipple so her LO was turned off). That helped her. As hard as it is, cold turkey will be the fastest way to wean her off, and you can continue to show her love/comfort her with hugs and kisses. Hope you’ll get through this soon..