How to wean an 18 month old who doesn't drink cows milk or take a bottle?

[mmommy]

DD2 is nursing just twice a day now, but it's killing me. She wakes at 4:30 am to nurse (because I have to get up for work 2x/week at 4:45 to get to work, and she doesn't understand its only ok to wake up so early on those 2 days :)) She also nurses before bed. I can't fall back to sleep after the morning session, and being back to work, etc, my days are just getting too long and I'm turning into a very cranky zombie.

We're in a small apartment. She shares a room with DD1 (4) and I'm terrified of just leaving her to cry in her crib, because the only thing worse than being up with her at 4:30am is being up with both of them at that time. And on the days that I do have to leave for work, DH would have to handle the two of them. While he's an awesome dad, mornings are not his forte.

DD2 has never taken a bottle, doesn't use a pacifier, and doesn't care for cows milk. She does have a soft puppy she loves on, but that doesn't seem to be enough to get her to go back to sleep when she's expecting to nurse.

Our Ped isn't concerned about the lack of cow's milk as her growth and development are fine and she eats a wide variety of foods. But I'm wondering if there is something we could be giving her to drink that might help fill in the nooks and crannies in her belly to keep her sleeping longer.

Are we just going to have to CIO?
And how do you deal with a toddler pulling on your shirt and asking politely "nurse please?" At 4:30am I just don't seem to have the wherewithal to deny her.

Any ideas?

[123LuckyMom]

I didn't totally wean DS until he was about 2.5, so with him it was pretty easy to prevent the shirt lifting and asking. We sang a song about how he uses a cup because he's a big boy, and it worked. My only experience that might help is the way I weaned DD from night nursing. I would go in to nurse but do so for shorter and shorter periods of time. I went from letting her have both sides until she was done to pulling her off after 10 minutes, then 6, then 4, then only one breast. I wanted to make sure she wasn't actually hungry. After I had gotten to 2 minutes on one breast, I stopped going in. She did continue to wake, but then I knew we were dealing with a different issue rather than hunger. Her eating of solids did increase as we cut down on the nursing.

I have a friend who leaves a sippy cup of water in her child's crib, but I've never done that.

[mmommy]

Thanks. I think the shorter feedings and sippy are both worth trying :)
I never had to think about any of this with DD1. We started her on cows milk at 12 months and she self-weaned at 13 months. I never thought I'd be nursing so long, and while I know its healthy, etc, I'm just so exhausted. I'm trying to remember that while it feels difficult right now, it's really just a blink of an eye and she'll be older, so I should enjoy the closeness while I can.

[123LuckyMom]

Thanks. I think the shorter feedings and sippy are both worth trying :)
I never had to think about any of this with DD1. We started her on cows milk at 12 months and she self-weaned at 13 months. I never thought I'd be nursing so long, and while I know its healthy, etc, I'm just so exhausted. I'm trying to remember that while it feels difficult right now, it's really just a blink of an eye and she'll be older, so I should enjoy the closeness while I can.

That's a great attitude, but at 4:45am, the only closeness I'd want is with my pillow! Good luck!