Comments on: Weaning on two (or three!) different timelines

By: Eva

Eva — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:20:42 +0000

At about 2 1/4, my son started weaning. At first he was really ambivalent — he would say no, I would say fine, but then when he saw his sister nurse he would want to… and then sometimes not want to. At some point, he just stopped. My daughter showed no signs of stopping, so for a few months it was just her nursing, and he never wanted to. Finally, I had a 4 night work trip and at over 2 1/2, explained to my daughter I was going away, and when I came back my milk would be gone. She asked the first couple of nights I was back, but then was fine. I think weaning on separate schedules definitely worked best for all 3 of us!

By: Mama Mama Quite Contrary

Mama Mama Quite Contrary — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:29:34 +0000

This post couldn’t have come at a better time. My almost 16 month old twins are still nursing and I am starting to feel ready to wean. I have the same problem though– one daughter who LOVES to nurse and one who would likely wean on her own if she didn’t see her sister breastfeeding. I have no advice, just commiseration.

By: Barbara Manatee

Barbara Manatee — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:57:58 +0000

I BF my twins and each weaned at different times. My son weaned himself around 8 months b/c he preferred the bottle (faster, easier) at that point. He was already getting picky on which side he preferred so he’d gone to only eating off one side…and then within a few weeks, gave up all together. My daughter went to almost 13 months. She was still nursing but her lack of attention was driving he crazy! She was down to 1 or 2 sessions by that point and she would play around more than she ate…so I finally made the decision to stop then. She was a bit frantic the next night or two but thankfully was ok by the 3rd night. I worried I’d made the wrong decision at the time though.

My 3rd son I BF until 15 months. He only nursed 2x a day from 11 months on and took a cup just fine but he did NOT want to give up his morning session. He actually chose bedtime stories over nursing around 14 months and then we started offering him a cup of milk in the mornings at that point which he angrily smacked away for days and still nursed. My husband tried to take him in the mornings then and some days he’d take the cup and other days he’d still hit it away and come look for me. We kept trying and then suddenly we realized that he’d taken the cup a couple days in a row and not asked for milk from Mama. He’s 17 months now and part of me is glad to be done but part of me is sad that I’ll probably never nurse again. I enjoyed it with all 3 babies.

By: Dianna

Dianna — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:31:21 +0000

oh boy!
I’d love to wean my guys (26 months old), but I honestly have no idea how to even begin.
I’ve done the don’t offer, don’t refuse, but seriously, I have some boys who would nurse all day long.

I’m going to try to get on more of a schedule with them, and then try to start cutting out some feedings. Phew. It’s hard work!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:35:17 +0000

I weaned my girls at 18 months in a situation that sounds fair similar to yours. I had one daughter that would nurse all the time as much as I would let her and the other one only wanted to nurse when her sister was nursing, but she still wasn’t that into it. They were starting to wrestle and torment each other because of the difference in their interest in nursing and it started becoming very unpleasant. I was done. I cut them down to just nursing when they woke up and right before they went to bed, and then talked with my pedi about it because they weren’t showing any signs of losing interest. He recommended ripping off the band-aid and just stop nursing them all together and using the pump to relieve myself as needed until my production dropped. He thought it would make for a pretty bad week, but that it would be over sooner rather than later. That’s what we ended up doing, with lots of help from Dad during the first two weeks during regular nursing times. I also never went near our glider. It was a rough couple of weeks and we all cried at different points, but after about four weeks they stopped asking altogether and we’ve replaced all that nursing time with cuddle time reading books in the glider. It was nothing like the weaning experience I thought I’d want, but I was really ready to be done and it has been a good thing for the three of us. Congrats on making it this far and good luck with whatever you decide to do.

By: Cristal

Cristal — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 21:53:43 +0000

Our boys were done around 12 months. We started supplementing around 10 months because I couldn’t keep up with the demand and once they got used to the ease of bottles they really weren’t interested in nursing. So by one we were ALL ready to be done and one day I just stopped.

I have had friends with older twins that found a way to break up the normal routine, one even went away for a weekend, to transition them away from nursing at scheduled times of the day.

Good luck and congrats on making it this far nursing two!

By: Jungletwins

Jungletwins — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:16:01 +0000

I’m so impressed you made it 18months- wowser! I wish I had advice for you, but I only lasted 7 months, and my girls were never very good at nursing (that’s preemies for ya!), by the end it was mostly pumping anyway. So I’ll just say congrats and well done on making it this far, and good luck with the weaning.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:55:58 +0000

I weaned them at 12-13 months. I was pleased to have BF them, but also ready to be done.

Once I dropped a feeding, that was it. I also never tandem fed them, so when Idropped one’s bedtime feeding, I had Daddy do his/her bedtime story for a few nights—maybe 3-5. We dropped the day ones first, them evening, then morning. It was probably over in a couple of weeks. That said, it was really ME pushing them to be done—-I think if I had left it up to them, I might still be BFing. (They are three).

By: Lara

Lara — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:17:57 +0000

I let my two self wean for the most part. One of them weaned at 15 months or so and the other nursed until 26 months. I did not find it was in tune with their motor development but my guys are very motor driven.
As for dealing with one still nursing and not the other. The one not nursing usually sat with us with his sippy cup while we nursed, so it was still a cuddling time for all three of us.
I was not in a hurry for them to wean. I knew that I was most likely not having any more children so my breastfeeding days were limited. It was definitely easier though once one weaned!