It has been just over a week since I started weaning Maya from her before nap nursing session. The first few days were rough but I would say she is pretty much weaned now. The last few days she hasn’t asked to nurse before her nap and is fine when I lay her down in her crib. It seems to take her about 10-15 minutes to wind down and fall asleep. Most of that time she is just talking to her stuffed animals, although she does sometimes still cry for a few minutes.

I found the hardest days were day 4 and 5. She was really upset when I went to put her down for a nap and asked to nurse while crying heavily. She refused to be cuddled and didn’t want me to read her a story. I almost gave in. It was so hard to see her get so upset but I knew that it was time to get rid of this nursing session so I stood my ground. So when day 6 rolled around and she didn’t even ask I was amazed and so happy.

Our nap routine now looks like this:

• Find her blankie and give the kitties a kiss and a hug.
• Change her diaper and get her crib ready.
• Give her a big hug and kiss.
• Lay her down in her crib.

She usually rolls over and peaks through her crib to watch me leave. I’ll wave bye-bye to her and say “have a good nap sweetie.” We decided to skip the book for now. She just wasn’t interested in listening to a story and it only seemed to upset her more. She is happy to just lay down in her crib and talk to her stuffed animals until she falls asleep.

The next step in the weaning process will be the first thing in the morning nursing session. I’ll wait a few weeks before tackling it though. I’m pretty sure it’ll be a lot easier since I can distract her with breakfast, a nice big bowl of Raisin Bran, her favorite!