using neem oil to wean..has anyone tried this?

hi friends,
my son is around 14 months now and i think it is time to start weaning him coz he nurses only to go to sleep(afternoon&night) so its more of a habit and he wakes up 3-4 times at nights&wants to nurse to get back to sleep....now this is slowly starting to take a toll on my health coz i never feel rested completely...afternoon as well as night i have to keep on nursing him&it leaves me no time to sleep peacefully!!!as a result am not able to wake up on time in the morning&its spoling my entire day(to top it hubby thinks i'v becum lazy so not getting up!!! ) my weight has also reduced drastically....moreover he thinks i'v becum a mean mom trying to deny my baby his birthright coz i want to sleep .so am am really confused???? what should i do?i heard neem oil can be applied and that will help in weaning...has anyone tried this?one of my friend also suggested 'kadukai' so thinking of trying that...how to handle baby when he cries in the middle of the night?

Hi Vidhya,
It is safe to try with neem oil.
Infact I had purchased to try them on, but my son left it with lemon juice itself.

Good luck,
Punitha

Hi Vidhu,
I weaned my younger daughter with neem oil and it worked. That is a safer option

Originally Posted by vidhukumar

hi friends,
my son is around 14 months now and i think it is time to start weaning him coz he nurses only to go to sleep(afternoon&night) so its more of a habit and he wakes up 3-4 times at nights&wants to nurse to get back to sleep....now this is slowly starting to take a toll on my health coz i never feel rested completely...afternoon as well as night i have to keep on nursing him&it leaves me no time to sleep peacefully!!!as a result am not able to wake up on time in the morning&its spoling my entire day(to top it hubby thinks i'v becum lazy so not getting up!!! ) my weight has also reduced drastically....moreover he thinks i'v becum a mean mom trying to deny my baby his birthright coz i want to sleep .so am am really confused???? what should i do?i heard neem oil can be applied and that will help in weaning...has anyone tried this?one of my friend also suggested 'kadukai' so thinking of trying that...how to handle baby when he cries in the middle of the night?

Hi,

I think you should try to do the best within your physical limitations. I don't think husbands completely understand the pain we go through while breastfeeding. It is very easy for them to make insensitive comments but I am sure if they had to breastfeed they would not even survive for a month. So don't give a damn about your husbands frivolous comments on breastfeeding.

I also have a 16 month old son. He bites me during nursing and of late he wakes up very frequently in the night for nursing. This spoils my sleep cycle and I end up waking up late and tired. I have gradually stopped all his feeding now I only have to stop his night time feedings. I am going to wean him off as soon as I can. The only thing I am afraid of is whether I have to get up and get his sippy cup in the night. I think that will be more disruptive to my sleep.

Kavya.

Hi Vidhya,

My problem is exactly the same, even my 14 month old baby gal has the similar habits,sleeping only after taking the feed n waking up 2-3 times at night to feed n then fall sleep,as a result my routine is also disturbed n i never get proper sleep either at night or in the afternoon. Infact i was also wanting to know that is neem oil safe to wean my baby ?? All the moms,pl suggest/advise on tips to how to wean my baby.

golden

Hey ladies ,

I was also in the same boat as you guys, i can understand that breast feeding is wonderful, but very stressful for ladies, no proper sleep...... My god.

Hey, to all the ladies there, try or start to giving formula or bottle milk, at least in the night time so that at least we get good sleep in the night time. The day i switched to formula, i felt very relieved .

And don't stop feeding your baby all at once, it very difficult for us as we may get lumps, so do on a daily basis & then go on for two days once etc....By doing gradually then the baby will also forget it. They may also ween.
bye
rose

Hi ladies,
i just came back to update you guys about my weaning mission......well guess what? it was a total FAILURE!!! 1st i tried weaning him with 'kadukai'.(a herbal medicine)...no use.....then finally i tried neem oil.....he just thought for a split sec &then happily started sucking on the neem oil!!!!....i used the neem oil not just once nut for many days.....he is not bothered!!!so i am at a loss now!!!!dont know what to do!!!!rose, i started him on formula from his 6th month (alternate breast feeding&formula when he goes out)and now he has graduated to whole milk since his 1st b'day(he is 15 months now)....its not that he doesnt take the bottle!!!!he does!!!but to sleep&in between his naps he wants to suck only frm me!!!! dont know what to do!!!any more ideas?

Hi Vidhya,
I have a daughter who is 16 months old now and i was experiencing the same as yours. When i went for her 15 months check up, i asked her doctor about the ways of stopping breastfeeding. She suggested that i would be able to do better with another person, here only with my husband. I first wanted to stop her all midnight feedings. So the first day whenever she woke up i offered her water or milk in her sipper cup instead of my breast. She threw everything i gave and screamed for my breast. The doctor has warned me that if give in onetime, kids will make it a practice and the next time they will cry for longer and louder to get what they want. So i didnt encourage her. The doctor also suggested weaning will work best if i am not around. So i went and slept in another room. Whenever my daughter woke up my husband tried to pacify her and make her sleep. Initially she was searching for me, crying out loud. But slowly things improved, now she sleeps through the whole night. She hardly wakes up in the night and even if she wakes up she doesnt cry for my breast anymore.
And one more thing i started doing was i no longer wait for her to fall asleep in my lap. As soon as she is done drinking milk, i put her down. At first she cried, but i distracted her by telling stories. It helped. Now i stopped her afternoon feeding also, by telling her stories. She will sleep listening to it. Now i am feeding her two times a day once early morning and at night before going to bed, planning to stop those also in another 2 months.
This is what i did to wean her so far and it worked well. Try this with the help of your husband. Make your baby sleep with the father for few days. Better to start during weekends, so that they will not complain of losing sleep and not able to work. All you need is persistence. At firstyour baby will make a huge scene, dont ever give in, though it might be difficult to see them cry.

Take care. Feel free if you have any more questions.
nalini

hey nalini,thanks a lot!!!am gonna take my hubby's help this weekend itself!!!your idea of starting during weekend is good!!or my hubbys 1st excuse would be i have work tomorrow!!!!i hope i succeed this time.....i will update you all in a few weeks.

Hi Vidhya,

That is a good suggestion by Nalini. I went cold turkey with my daughter when she was 14 months. I more or less had an idea that she was using for comfort more than for milk. So one friday afternoon, I stopped and waited for her dad. He took care of her that night (she had stopped waking up in the night for feeds long ago though) and I continued not nursing her saturday and sunday. she seemed not bothered at all. She is 15months now. Also it is very important for you to be mentally ready to wean. I feel it is more about moms than babies - we cannot stand if they are crying! Both my kids let go in half day.....no planning, no weaning slowly etc, Is it just me? My husband hasn't stopped teasing me that I was forcing them :)

Also try and do this around a long weekend...with Easter coming up, it will be easier. Good luck.