A Time To Wean

I'm planning to wean my almost 2 year old soon. And to imagine that he took 2 completely whole months before he learned how to breastfeed directly, now he won't let go. He is extremely attached to his milk bottle cum pacifier ie ME! Gosh. This will be a hard time for both of us.

So here I am, reading up all the literature, forums etc on weaning and a few things that sounds practical for me to try are:

• Don't Offer, Don't Refuse
• Start with the middle of the night one first by offering water instead (gosh, this will be hard on lil' ole me cos its so much easier to just feed him and everybody goes back to sleep soundly. Now, I'd have to get up to get the water and thats sure to keep me awake for at least 1-2 hours after that as I often have trouble falling back to sleep after getting up at night. I haven't tried offering water before but I have tried just patting him back to sleep but it does not work. He'd sit up and point to the breastfeeding pillow and if I still didn't get the message, he'd go and drag the pillow to me himself and cry very, very hard. Aiyoh! Susah loh!)

Hubby says I have to not only wean him off the "pacifier" but I'd have to make sure he gets other sources of milk. Haha. Now, why didn't I think of that? Silly! So far he has rejected the formula milk. He loves drinks, any form of drinks and takes all of the fruit juices I prepare for him but when it comes to formula milk, he turns his face away in disgust and tries to spit it out. Susah loh. Susah.

Last night I tried to offer him some again. At first he looked delighted when he saw that he also had a bottle similar to his sisters. (He loves to copy her in everything that she does) but after taking one sip he takes his hand and tries to push the bottle away but at least he didn't look as disgusted as before. Hahaha. Thats a start. I'll continue offering him for awhile and hopefully he'll get used to the routine and the smell and taste of it. We'll see.

Right after this strategy, I will drop the morning feeds first as its easier to distract him then. The naptime and bedtime one will be the hardest. My Girl was so easy to wean, it went like a breeze but somehow for My Boy, I have a feeling its going to be a lot harder. Wish me luck!