BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Breast Feeding => Topic started by: ~ Vik ~ on May 21, 2010, 12:09:34 pm
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Continued from http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=133596.435 :)
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Thanks Shannon, we're not completely done, but it's really close. She did ask this morning though, but it was really quick :)
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jumping on to wish you the biggest congrats Sylvie xxx
One day I think we're not too far behind you and then come the weekend we are back to three long feeds again per day.....
S x
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Jashn is 14 months old I feed her morning and night but off late she wants to feed at night as well or rather wants to feed ever rime she sees me
is she addicted to milk or is it an emotional need
How do I know?
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Sounds like she needs reassurance to me, Richa. Have there been some changes recently (going back to work, new house, etc?)? Maybe you could offer a special thing you do that is not nursing at those times - I've had good luck "doing stickers" together.
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My spot :)
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Quick question - I still BF my 14 month old at bedtime. She's a thumb sucker before falling asleep (for naps and bedtime), but since I dropped the am feed, she's doing it more - like in bed in the morning - before we get up, we bring her in bed with us, where she lounges around sucking her thumb....I thought maybe it was because that's when she used to feed (we dropped it without issue though).
Other times of the day she thumb sucks here and there when she never bothered before.
Any similar experiences??
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Marilyn, might be more developmental (world is getting wider) rather than a weaning thing??
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Will she ever wean? Am beginning to get impatient! every time she sees me milk is what she wants it's getting too much
need some hugs to keep it going!
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Hugs, Richa!!
Sorry I don't have a better suggestion. I never did demand feeding at Jashn's age, but in general I think you need to say something like "mama's milk (or whatever you call nursing) isn't ready yet" (does she understand a timer??) and then look for a distraction. Just get through as many moments as you can without 'resorting' to nursing. If she understands parts of her day, you could say "not yet, but we'll have milk time after lunch/after your nap/after Grandma goes home" etc.
You can do this. More hugs for a clingy LO though - that's exhausting even if they're not wanting to BF!
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DD went through phases where she asked a lot, then all would go back to normal. I found while teething and developmental stages where she'd get more SA, she wanted to nurse more.
I thought DD was weaning, but she's back to asking in the morning. She asked for and evening feed as well a few times within the last week. I was really surprised I had so much milk in the evening since it doesn't happen very often.
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opps my spot - DS just up. I will be back.
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Thanks shanon will try this out .
Sylvie funnily no teeth but can't say about a gs !
But it's terribly exhausting !
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Just posting because I need to do something productive instead of sitting here crying! My 17 month old DD was still having 2 BFs a day - in the morning when she comes into our bed before getting up and at bedtime. However, over the last few weeks she has a been a bit hit and miss about how much milk she actually wants, and in the morning is happy to accept a cup of milk instead (on the rare occasion that we sleep in and I'm rushing to get ready for work). Tonight at bedtime she was doing lots of delaying tactics - getting down off my knee, pretending to let dolly have milk instead (so cute!), asking for a book, flicking my boobs and laughing (not so cute!) etc. Anyway - my husband went to get her a cup of milk instead, which she happily drank and then let me put her in her cot, pat her back and off to sleep she went (she's usually asleep or nearly asleep when I put her in her cot). I've been bawling my eyes out ever since as it seems I have to face that this is the end of our breastfeeding journey :'( :'( :'(
A friend of mine's LO did exactly the same at a similar age and never asked for milk again - although she didn't offer it to him. Her rationale for that was that it was better to take the hint then and stop when he didn't seem so bothered rather than encouraging him to continue and then having to stop when she wanted to. Baby led I guess - but I just wasn't prepared for it! I also don't want to give all those disapproving people the satisfaction that my 'big girl' really is a big girl! :(
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has similar experiences .....
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I'm back and joining in.
DS is just turning one this week and still having 4 BF on a normal day although this week he is unwell with an ear infection and has been wanting it day and night. I am going back to work in 5 weeks and wondering how he will cope. Not sure how to drop the feeds though as he pretty much helps himself. Hoping maybe when I am not here all day he will just forget it?
He is not putting on much weight lately and not sure if it is because he eats only a little and has lots of milk still.
Am aiming to keep bidaily feeds for another year or so.
Not been there yet Knockout but hugs to you. Maybe you can keep offering the am feed when she is in bed....
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knock0ut, I thought DD was weaning a little over a month ago, I know how you feel, hugs. There was no warning, she just stopped asking the regular feeds. Then I just started offering, she'd take a few gulps then go on and be her busy self, but next thing you know, she's back on asking her usual morning feed and has asked a few times in the evening. If you're not ready to let go and you're ready to take her lead later on, keep offering and see what happens. She may just be going through some independent stages.
Khalam's Mama, have you tried offering a cup/sippy of milk or something during meals. This is pretty much how we started DD. So this way, your DS won't go thirsty while you're not with him. It'll be easier as well when you're not there, he won't be thinking of mama's milk. As for weight, don't worry as hey do slow down at this age. DD didn't put any weight for a long time, then she had a huge GS and gained 4lbs in 3 months, so she's back to where she should be. I would say just as long as he doesn't lose weight. It could be that he's a bit more mobile and to busy to stop exploring. Hope the ear infection clears soon.
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Thanks for the support SylvieA. I decided last night that I would just go with her lead without being too suggestive about how she should carry on BF, so this morning I had a cup of milk at the ready. She shoved it away, tried to lift my top up and demanded 'milok' - I was so relieved! So we're back on it for now. We're never happy though are we - I'm now starting to panic that she'll still be wanting the boob when she's 5! Oh well :)
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Good news knockout.
I asked at the HV today about weaning some feeds to just 2 a day and she said "he is really at the age when he should be moving to fresh milk anyway!" I was like "what about the 2yr national guidelines" and she just shrugged and said it was up to me. No wonder more women don't breast feed longer. I will have to start offering milk in a cup. He has water in a cup but doesn't drink lots. I guess he will when I'm not there maybe.
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Darn HVs - I remember when my LO was about yours age and she lost a TINY bit of weight. The HV told me off for not giving her puddings after every meal and within the same conversation told me I should be weaning her off the boob milk. When I reflected it back to her and asked 'so you're saying I should be giving her jelly + ice cream instead of breastmilk?' she just went red and did the shrugging thing. Useless!
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hi there....
It is unusual to feed beyond a year, lets face it...not many of us do it. I have two pg friends (with first babies) and they think I am such a weirdo still feeding Emma.....they haven't even tried BFing yet and already have such preconceptions....
mind you, so did I...I really wanted to get to a year with both.
I DO think that after a year it is quite a different thing and the more successful breastfeeders after a year are usually those who co-sleep or at least give the breast as a comforter/on demand....my two never did either of these things and were well down to 2 feeds by a year and getting most of their nutrition from solids for sure.
this is why I am not expecting my feeding relationship to go on much longer with Emma....she is an independent little madam (did poop on potty for the first time yesterday) and is now having a DF (by my choice) a lot of the time around an hour after she falls asleep as she is refusing the breast in the evenings if there is too much going on or she is too busy getting her teletubbies to sleep LOL!
I am delighted to have given my children the benefits of bfing for as long as I did and will be sad when I feed for the last time....
hugs to all }}}}}{{{{{{{
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We never did co sleeping more than once or twice for a few hours those first few exhausting nights. We are still on 4 feeds here but I just cut to 3 today for the first time in preparation for my return to work. Ds will not take the boob when he is upset so it isn't really a comfort thing. Not sure what he sees in it - he just loves it so much I do not know how I will get him off it!
I am going away in october and when I said i would have to make some plans around the breastfeeding my friend was like "but surely you won't still be feeding him then he'll be 16MO!" and I was like "err yeah I was planning to actually"
At the weekend we had a picnic and my sister (who was BFing my nephew at the time) was asking one of my friends if she was still Bfing and she looked horrified and said "NO! she is 18MO!" It is so funny how it is seen. My husbond comes from Kenya and his sister (who still lives there) was still BFing at 2.5yo and no one batted an eye lid at it.
Do any of you still feed in public? At what age? We do but it is starting to feel more conspicuous.
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It is unusual for most but shouldn't since it's such a natural thing. I think only in the modern world that people think of it as taboo if you go past 6months. They have this sexualised image about breasts and can't get past what they're really for. I'm the only one in my family that breastfed my kids (aside from my sister which is breastfeeding her 3rd child, but I don't think she'll go past 6months, and I don't think she would go that far if she didn't have me as influence) and my family do look at me as being weird as well. It's sad really, as humans are meant to take their mothers milk as long as they need. Here's an article I've read, really interesting. I think it's someone on this site that had posted it. http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html
Anyways, if someone would of told be so stop breastfeeding, I think I would of given them some facts and benefits. Yay, for both of you for sticking up to what you believe.
Khalam's Mama, you just posted. DD never asked for a feed in public past a year, but if she asked and really insisted on it, I think I would instead of having an impatient thirsty toddler. I have a friend that does all the time and her DS turned 2 in May, but they are the co-sleeping kind of family, so a bit more granola than me. I still let DD co-sleep if she wakes in the middle of the night and can't be settled, but she never starts the night with usand never has past 3mo.
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Here's another interesting article http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/norma_jane_bumgarner2.html#1276810342
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Important to update !
J , has been much better the last couple of days , and she is less clingy , oh what a relief!
I guess ,it was a mix of GS , and being ill and havign strangers at home. things are far more settled, and we are back on feeding 2times a day.
18 months is what i know i can make it to , beginning to want my body back to myself, tired of the big boobies ! hehe
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It is rare that I feed in public but I sometimes do at playgroup. The other dy I was with my sisters who have babies (13MO and 6MO) and are both still BFing and we happened to all be feeding athe same time and a new Mum arrived and asked "is this the BFing group?" in confusion. She did praise us when we explained that it was the under 5s playgroup and it was just coincidence. Neither of my sisters cosleep either.
DS has been managing to go well with 3 instead of 4 BF's. He still keeps asking for a NF though (which he hasn't since 9MO) and I am not sure if it is because he has been ill or because he is missing it in the day. He is eating more in the day though so should be making up for it. Not having loads of water though so maybe I should push that more?
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I am planning on breastfeeding over 12 months as well, or basically until the LO just is not interested anymore or I want to stop. But I was wondering what you think of breastfeeding until a new baby is arriving? We are not pregnant now but are thinking of having another one and I was wondering if I should give my breasts a break. :) Bf feels pretty comfortable now, but the first 6 months were horrible a lot of the times and I am not sure if this will happen with the second one. Hayden had a bad latch even though nobody could fix it and his mouth just started to fit better the bigger he became. So I am really tempted to wean before the second one arrives. Plus I feel a bit weird of having both babies bf at the same time.
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Do you ladies find it harder and harder to feed in public?
I have a bf-ing cover and when I use, ds just thinks it's time to play peek-a-boo and when I don't he doesn't want to lay down to feed and wants to sit up and look around!...also, I've recently been letting him sometimes have feeds while sitting, so if he doesn't want to lay down, I'd let him sit on the couch and have my breast out,so that he's come over and help himself..lol..isn't something very comfortable though ::) :-[
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J dosn't want to lie down and feed any more, so these days i have to do exactly what u do , adam's mum.
but i did get the feeding pillow out again, and these days its become sort of a play to lie on it and feed,
but yes the interest level in feeding has come down drastically, she is now feeding more and more , for assurance than out of hunger.
but the positive is that she is beginning to gain weight fast! what a relief, we were stuck at 8 Kgs for 6 months !!
richa
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gosh, its so so long since I fed in public...like a year ago I feel LOL!
We've been down to 2 feeds and now one feed only at bedtime....
I never fed on demand and simply give Emma cow's milk in the am which she now guzzles as good as anyone....
Emma was always a terrible terrible feeder in public even at 3 and 4 mths old. I always had to have a dark sheet covering us both. I remember probably a year ago in a public picnic area (was there again this weekend) sitting on a deckchair and trying to feed her. It was hopeless...
Since we went to 7,3,7,and df around 7.5 mths every feed has been in the dark in a quiet room and if I couldn't manage this then with the dark sheet I carried everywhere.
OMG Emma is so so independent and really ready to give up with bfing....she even tells me "nooooo" or "nie" when I offer and I have to slip into her room an hour or so later and feed her in her sleep around 2 or 3 times a week.
Its really time to finish for me....will drag her to 9th July to get to 18 mths but she's so so much more independent than Oscar that it kind of feels "weird" that she's still a "baby" - she feeds herself totally independently, tries to dress herself and is now telling us when she is doing pee pee and has been for a few months for poos. We've already had great success with potty for poo poo!!!
But, she's my last baby and we fought so so hard for bfing to work in the beginning with low or no weight gain, tongue tie etc....and I just don't want it to end. In saying that, she is very cuddly and loves snuggles anyway...Oscar only snuggled or cuddled at this age for bfing....so at least I will still have that.
sorry for the whinge xxx
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DS is a nightmare to feed in public. He constantly gets on and off to look around. I try to feed in his room after naps and I never offer the breast in public but if he is adament than i do let him. We are still at 4BF's a day but sometimes less if we are out and about. Sometimes more if he just wants a quick drink. I'm back to work 15th July so it will cut down then to 2 or 3 I guess. We are also stuck at 10.5kg for months now but I figure he is so active. Maybe it is because he still has lots of milk and less food? DS also likes to feed sitting up and sometimes even asks while he is sat on the potty but I draw the line at that. We are also TTC so I am hoping thia will not affact my ability to continue feeding him. It was really rough the first month or so but I am hoping with some expoerience I will be able to get it right more quickly next time.
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after a year I think the average weight gain for a whole year is 1.5kg....Oscar always gained in spurts and then nothing in the meantime.
Emma's weight is more gradually growing but she is a fantastic eater and always has a great appetite.....she is now around 12.5kg and was 11.5 at her 1 yr check up.
S x
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DS has been this weight since about 8MO. He has dropped two lines on his chart but no one is worried and he was a real chunk.
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Same here abt the weight, ds actually put on only 1 kg from 9-12 months, but the pedi really assured me, saying that some lo(s) may even lose some weight @ this age.
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Zoe was the same for weight. She only gained 1lbs between 10(18lbs)-17months(19lbs). She's now at 23lbs@22 months. I really think it has to do with them getting busier, and losing the baby fat. The Dr was not concerned because she was happy and healthy looking.
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hi guys! DD is only 9 m/o but i plan to nurse her until she weans herself (hoping around 3 y/o)
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hey I wanted to pop in and say goodbye!!!!
Emma has been self-weaning since around 16 mths and by 17 mths we were down to one kind of dream feed as she was refusing the breast even at bedtime so I was waiting for her to fall asleep and then picking her up and having her latch on in her sleep, just to get to 18 mths LOL!
So I finally fed her the last toddler dream feed on Friday 9th July so at exactly 18mths old!
Since then we haven't looked back, she is loving full fat cows milk and now that I haven't been limiting it at bedtime she's even happier!
And we've had a major language growth spurt in English since we've been in Ireland :-))))
Love to you all
Siobhain xxx
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Biiiiiiiiiig applause for making it to the 18 months Shivi :-*
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Hi guys, DS is only 7mo but I also plan to BF until he self weans hopefully around 2yrs but I'll be happy if we get past 1yo and I never have to use formula.
A few people (who have never BF'ed) have already asked me why I am still BFing after 6mo when the government in the UK recommend EBF until 6mo. I have to point out that is just EXCLUSIVELY (i.e. no other food and drink until after that) then it is recommended until 2yo or beyond along side other food and drink. Someone today talked to me as if she just assumed I was trying to wean him off BM and was surprised when I said I wasn't. Why should I use an artificial copy of BM when I can produce it myself (for free!)?
I respect others' personal decisions and wouldn't want to offend anyone how wants to or has to use formula but I think it is such a shame that the norm in our cultures has become to chose to feed babies formula rather than BF. BFing past a certain age has become taboo when it is the most natural thing in the world in my eyes.
Glad you ladies support entended BFing as well.
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it is the most natural thing! i personally will never give DD cows milk...b/c thats interspecies breast milk...its just too weird for me. so i plan to BF her as long as she needs to and then she wont need any other milk (although we drink a variation of coconut milk) but the point is all species need milk until x amount of time and you're baby knows what time their body physically needs your milk until. modern day society for some reason feels babies should never have it or only need it 3 months or 6.
i read an article that said in the 1920's in the US babies were EBF until 2 y/o and they weaned at 4-6years old. that was the norm not so long ago...
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That's really great that you so believe in breastfeeding. It is the most natural thing. Why else do we have breasts? I wish I would of had the support and knowledge to extend bf my first child(DS). I had started weaning way to early, then to realize I wasn't ready, and had learned all the benefits of bf, so still pumped and continued till 8mo. But, DD is almost 2yrs and still going. I thought she was weaning at one point but she started asking more again. Now I love to educate people that asks why and if I'm still breastfeeding, but most of my family don't say much anymore.
The thing about BF in the earlier days, is there was not much formula to give and it was by prescription only. It should still be that way and women should not be given a choice in hospitals, and should be given loads to read prior to having a baby. I know of some that don't bf so they can come and go as they please, kind of selfish in a way, but I know it's their choice and if it's an educated one, it's fine. But when I decided to have children, I knew my life would change and that sacrifices would have to me made and I loved every minute and I don't feel like I'm missing out because I couldn't come and go as I pleased.
anielasmommy, interesting that you don't use cow's milk. We don't use a lot here, but it's in our culture to have it. I use it a lot for cooking, and we eat loads of cheese. We do organic though as I'm afraid of all that's given to cows. My kids aren't really into drinking milk, but they'll have it in cereal and a cup before bed. I was really afraid they weren't getting enough until my Dr pointed out that cow's milk is for cows and that we don't really need it if we have a varied diet. I don't drink it myself and never really did, even as a child and I'm healthy and not missing anything.
Anyways, keep it up. You're all doing really good for your LOs the natural way ;D
And Shivi, way to go, you did great and lucky that both your LO self weaned. And you have more than 2.5yrs of accumulated BF ;D
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thanks Sylvie! 2 mths short of 3 yrs!!! She just wasn't interested anymore ....
Mine love milk. So do I. We also buy organic. I am Irish, we Irish love our cows and their milk....
I honestly honestly think it would have been impossible for me with either of mine to have gotten to any way close to 2 yrs and I think this is due to personality and feeding "method". As I never fed "on demand" but always had Tracy's routine in mind I never allowed either of mine to use the breast for soothing only early on and then they never looked for it when older....
But my kids love milk.....xxx
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I never really thought about not drinking cows milk but when you put it like that it does sound rather weird. I love milk though and all dairy products. Is it that different to eating meat and eggs etc. do you think?
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i eat meat and eggs which i think is fine. i am an omnivore i just chose not to drink another animals BM. i think cows milk is for cows period. not to mention how they get the milk...i've done some research and i just don't agree with it at all..i mean idk i just dont support it and kids nor adults NEED cows milk so i just choose not to have it.
i think at least healthwise fermented milk (cheese and yogurt) is at least better for you..but i still dont use any of those things. i mean if DD wants to eat cheese someday i will let her...
anyways i am afraid of not comfort nursing b/c i dont want her to wean early so i try to feed every 4 hours but im not too strict with it. she eats at 3hrs sometimes and that is ok with me. especially with SA going on. she loves to nurse. i just feel its more than about food.
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Having seen some of your stories about self weaning I am also afraid if I cut the comfort feeds (we have one NW after 9-10hrs of night sleep before he goes back to sleep for another 2hrs ish). I was looking to cut this but hate the thought of him no longer needing it ITMS? Anyway cutting it was meaning he was awake for 2hrs from 5 or 6am which I am not happy with. Not when I know he will be back asleep within 10mins if I feed. If he sleeps through it I will happily not feed but while he is waking I think I will just let him have it.
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Hi all
Sorry to butt in here. I think it's best all around if we keep the discussion to extended nursing rather than the alleged evils of the dairy industry. There are many many Mamas (including me) who could be offended by these comments and would wish to clarify the facts here; and that would only lead to more discussion and lead us further off topic.
So, extended nursing! Well done to all!
I BF for 2 years. I didn't comfort feed from a few months old and never had any issues with early weaning. I think when they wean is down to a number of reasons, particularly their personality. Comfort nursing, IMO, is giving them a prop which at some point you'll want to undo. There were occasions where it helped me - a hysterical NW here and there. My DS would have nursed much longer if it had been his choice: I've no doubt he'd be nursing now if I didn't get dressed quickly in the morning!
Happy nursing ladies :)
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Our night waking is really the only comfort nursing I do and even then I think he is genuinely hungry because he is used to feeding at that time but it also just helps him get back to sleep. And we don't do a DF. All our 4 daytime feeds are for food/drink only. And he sleeps independently (awke in cot, left alone in room etc.) for all naps and BT so it's not really a prop as such I don't think. I am hoping as the night waking has moved later and later over the past months until it is where it is now at between 5am and 7am it will just continue to get later until I am happy to get him up for the day. As we do an 8pm BT I would really want a 7am or later wu. We normally do a 8am or 8.30am WU and start the day ATM. This suits me and we still get a 2hr AM and 1.5hr PM nap so it seems to suit DS too. What can I say he is high sleep needs I think. LOL.
I am going to a 60th wedding anniversary party this weekend and I would be interested to see what all my aunts and uncles who are all 60yo+ think about extended BFing. It bet they have different ideas to today's generations of young people.
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They will :) My parents and their friends love asking me questions and reminiscing. They really didn't get the same support as we do now!
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sorry if i offended anyone = )
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no offence taken xxx
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Group hug all :-* :-* :-*
And back to extended nursing ;D
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I'm actually starting to worry if I'll make it past the next month...
I BF DD until exactly 8 mths old but was hoping this time to feed at least past 1yr old. But I've just gone back to work and I don't have a set work schedule. I can never garantee that I'll be home for his first feed or last feed of the day (I might have to leave the house at6am one day, not be home until 11pm the next). Plus, I can't pump at work. I mean, I'm out and about most of the time and I'm not too sure I would feel comfortable to pump in the car ;D
The first week has been ok, since I've managed to be home for at least one of his feeds (plus he woke up at night a couple of times due to his reflux and wanted to comfort feed), but I can see we'll have a problem... So upset about this!
I think I know the answer to this question but... Do you think if I feed once every couple of days my milk will dry up?
xxx
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HI Tay
Hugest hugs }}}}}}}}{{{{{{{{{
Do you mean you leave 6am one day and aren't back till 11pm the next?
S x
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Sometimes...
But more likely leave at 6am one day - back by 6pm, then be home the next morning but not come home from work until 11pm.
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That's tough Tay. I think lots of people do 1 feed a day for quite some time. Could you just do as many feeds as you are there for even if sometimes that is the first and sometimes the last and sometimes more on your days off? Perhaps you could pump when you get in at 11 for example if you haven't done a feed that night for example?
I went to the pub with a big group of my mum's brothers and sisters all in their 60s and 70s and DS needed his 3rd BF of the day. I just discretely popped him on the boob at the table. A couple of the ladies were saying "oh look he's feeding, ah isn't that cute." Other times they just didn't mention it, I think it was such a non-issue for them. They all went on about what a big boy DS is. He's 20lb plus. DS was rather distracted and didn't take as much milk as he normally does throughout the day. He also STTN so was only getting his usual 4 BFs and not his extra early morning one. As long as we are in the room alone he seems happy to feed lots
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I've gone back to work recently and I keep getting invited out but I feel like I don't want to go else I will miss DS's last feed and working fulltime I don't get to see him much either. People look a bit odd when I say I have to get home to feed him. even though I work in a hospital they just don't seem to recognise it is recommended to keep feeding him this long. I don't mind. I feel proud to say I am still feeding him. I feel a bit like they think I am odd though. DS loves his boob though. I cannot imagine him weaning like ever. I don't fancy going much past 2yrs though.
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hmm well you never know how you will feel once you get there! lol
if you feed every day one feed at the same time you shouldn't lose that milk...but it may not be that easy for you...those are wacky hours with children! is it like you and DH switch "shifts"?
they have ac adapter pumps for the car. why do you feel weird pumping in the car?
on another note...i was feeding DD at the mall and a young woman walked by me and said that's disgusting...like really? DD is only 10 m/o i can imagine what i will get when she's older. i hate living here not many people seem to accept natural parenting and feeding.
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i was feeding DD at the mall and a young woman walked by me and said that's disgusting
Wow! How very opinionated and ignorant of her. It's really none of her business anyway. What did you say? Is that normal for where you live? It seems pretty drastic. I've only really found a few people seemingly not knowing where to put their eyes (even with my sisters feeding their babies who are over 1yo) but that seems really aggressive.
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Gosh if she finds it so disgusting to watch normal people doing normal things maybe she should time her outings for when there aren't people around!
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That's tough Tay. I think lots of people do 1 feed a day for quite some time. Could you just do as many feeds as you are there for even if sometimes that is the first and sometimes the last and sometimes more on your days off? Perhaps you could pump when you get in at 11 for example if you haven't done a feed that night for example?
Yes, I'm trying to do this, at least one feed a day. And so far so good. (Plus I'm secretly enjoying him waking up at night looking for a feed...)
Never thought of pumping... That's an idea... (although I'd have to buy another pump since my one was in the bag that never arrived, but that's another story).
why do you feel weird pumping in the car?
I don't know, just the think I would feel very vulnerable, on my own in some carpark...
on another note...i was feeding DD at the mall and a young woman walked by me and said that's disgusting...
I never had to deal with anyone being as rude as this! And DS is a big boy! I found people just tend to avoid looking.
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where i am love to comment! you should hear the things i get told. one woman threatened to beat my ass for taking out my breast for DD to nurse in front of her 3 y/o!
i dint say anything to the woman it not worth it im actually dealing with anger problems ATM and i know i would have lost it on her...
people are soooo ignorant here its terrible...i can not stand it seriously...
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I pumped daily 2 or 3 times in work from when Oscar was 4 mths. Psychologically I had to be behind a locked door with the blinds pulled....also felt so so vulnerable and would get maybe one quarter of the usual pumped amount otherwise.....
As for feeding in public, I never minded doing it and nobody ever batted an eyelid when I did but I stopped fairly quickly with both my spiriteds as they were forever bobbing on and off come 4 mths and wouldn't get a good feed so I would go to someone's bedroom if visiting friends or family and darken the room and otherwise, I carried a black sheet with me and covered both me and baby with it as they were/are sooo nosy that they needed all other stimulation blocked. THIS got more comments from Polish women than the fact that I was feeding in public. Also as I followed an EASY and dropped the 11am rather than DF first with Emma I was doing 7,3,7,DF from 7ish months so there weren't that many opportunities to feed IN PUBLIC iykwim as one was just after waking, another after nap, another before bed....
S x
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Not that you should have to hide away Kami but are there not breast feeding rooms in the malls there? Here most of the bigger baby shops like Mothercare and department stores like John Lewis have special rooms with comfy sofas and changing tables as well as sometimes high chairs and bottle warmers. Don't know what your DD is like but DS gets super distracted so feeding him in a busy mall just would not be an option (he would be popping on and off exposing me every time someone walked by like 20 times a minute!) so these quiet rooms are perfect. I know where they all are in my local area.
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I was going to say the same as Cadies mum, in Brazil I would feed absolutely anywhere, because I know people are ok and won't mind (and won't make comments or give me looks).
I know people here in Ireland are more conservative, so I try to chose a quieter, more out-of-sight place (some cafes have great seats, out of the way).
Probably if I was facing the sort of comments you are I would try to find even more hidden away places.
Probably for the same reason why i would have a bit of an issue with pumping in the car - feel very vulnerable when feeding my LOs. But that's just me, I know quite a few women who would be more gutsy!
;).
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The last few days K has been waking for a feed early in the morning then going back to sleep. I don't know if this is because I am back at work and he is missing out??? When you other ladies fed after 1 yr old how many feeds did you do? Iget 3-4 in but the middle ones are usually only 5-10mins. I time them after food if possible to make sure he still eats well but do you think this is too much at this age? What od you do when they ask and it is not really time/practical? I try to distract but it only works short term.
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they have those rooms at toys r us or babies r us but thats all. if you knew me IRL you would know that i dont give a dam what they think! haha i am PROUD of nursing DD and i will put it in who ever's face if i have too lol
to me nursing is the norm and it should be so i try and look at it as if i am "enlightening" the people around me who are obvs. too immature to seperate breasts from sexuality. also i am only 22 so i feel like i am advocating for the young mom everywhere that it is NOT weird to nurse you're baby!
K's mom i think that could definitely be the reason! i personally dont believe in limiting milk so i would say if he wants it nurse him.
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Hey guys!
Just dropping in to ask if it is common, for milk to dry up during pregnancy? I am afraid that may be what is happening to me, I seem to be running quite low... I have heard toddlers often wean during their mothers pregnancies, but I haven't heard of this, and to be honest I think I would actually be more okay with that. He just still seems so needy, and I hate to rush him, but he will nurse and nurse (keep switching sides) and I think he is barely getting anything! any advice? he is over 16 months now, but I was planning on letting him continue at least a few more months, and wasn't ruling out tandem. Thanks!
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yes its normal but you should try and continue to dry nurse until the baby comes and you're milk is back, then you can tandem. here is a great article on nursing while pregnant: http://www.llli.org/NB/NBJulAug00p116.html
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I remember having issues during the first trimester. I think the flavor changed too as DS1 decided he was done nursing rather suddenly (but I had already weaned down to just one big feed in the am when we were TTC). It was good for both of us though. Tandem works for some moms, but now that my new little one is here, I'm really glad BFing was totally off the radar for my toddler.
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:( its such a hard decision! I mean I don't want to make a decision that I will regret, and I really did think that not going with tandem might be easier, but he is still kinda young and sooo attached to his girls ;) and I really don't want to force him to wean if he isn't ready, I mean gentle encouragement is one thing, but this would have to be more than that. but on the other hand, Its starting to hurt to dry nurse like this (he only gets a few minutes of milk and isn't satisfied), and I know that I do need to start thinking about the new baby just like I did for him when he was that age. make sense? I don't know what to do...
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Have you seen this thread FrenchWife?
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54357.0
Seems there are several people in your shoes.
they have those rooms at toys r us or babies r us but thats all. if you knew me IRL you would know that i dont give a dam what they think! haha i am PROUD of nursing DD and i will put it in who ever's face if i have too lol
to me nursing is the norm and it should be so i try and look at it as if i am "enlightening" the people around me who are obvs. too immature to seperate breasts from sexuality. also i am only 22 so i feel like i am advocating for the young mom everywhere that it is NOT weird to nurse you're baby!
Go girl! I also feel proud to nurse in public and have done it loads of times in restaurants, pubs, cafes and malls.
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Ditto CM
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Hi ladies! My ds Graydon will be 12 months on August 17th, so I guess I will be considered to be "extended nursing" after that. My ds bf until she was 18 months and that was hard as she had a milk protein allergy so I had an adjusted diet, with ds, he has reflux but no allergy so it's been easy until recently, supply seems down.
For those of you at/over 12 months, how often does your lo bf?
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Happy B-day to Graydon :-*
We're now down to 2~3 feeds a day, but we have days when he's not really interested and would only feed from one side.
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We are down to 1 feed a day , feel sad , but i guess another month or 2 and i will be done !
But yes finding a way to continue giving the emotional assurance is something we will be working on , any suggestions?
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I really hope we can go to 18 months (or even longer if he wants) but it's such a struggle with him, any tips for keeping him interested in bfing? Lately (aside from the 2 morning feeds) it's such a struggle to get him to bf. He has no teeth but is teething like crazy so wants to chew on his paci instead of feed. He has turned into a short snacker in the afternoon, so I put him on more often, which drives him nuts, but how does a 2 minute snack maintain supply?!
How did you ladies introduce cow's milk into their diets? Did you find your los bf less once drinking c's milk? We never did cow's milk until 18 mths with my dd, due to her allergy, so it's all new to me.
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We still BF 3-4x a day. Was aiming 2 but DS is quite insistant.
K always feeds better in a dark room when tired so straight after naps is always good. He can do 1min only if in a light room which is more interesting.
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Its really hard to continue when they are not the cuddly/insistant type - BTDT twice LOL!
We kept the am and pm for a long long time ONLY with Oscar, from around 12 mths he was ONLY doing this (this is all they NEED at this stage anyway, nutritionally, but some LOs need a lot more emotionally). I took fenugreek when coming up to AF (mine came back at 10 mths with Oz when we dropped the DF and at 13 mths with Emma) and kept my water intake good and supply didn't seem to suffer. Dropped to one feed at 14 mths as he was sleeping so so well (it was June and we were moving him gradually to a summertime 9-9 schedule as I don't work July and Aug and it meant not waking him for his 7am feed while I was still in school). And then he slowly but surely self weaned.....at 16 mths he said enough is enough and
With Emma, we dropped to 2 feeds around 12 mths as well and she started refusing the am feed around 16 mths and then finally started fussing with the pm feed a month or so later. I continued to bf her in her sleep around an hour after she fell asleep (a DF for self-weaners LOL) just to get to the 18 mth mark.
I really wanted to get to 20 with Emma....but didn't....and it felt silly DFing her in a way, when she didn't "need" it emotionally or nutritionally.....but when it was just for me and a silly record/date thing in my head!
Best of luck x
Siobhain x
ps. I intro'd cows milk with both of mine once they were no longer taking the am feed (they had been having cows milk on their cereal already since 12 mths).
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Marian, time flies. 1yr already. Zoe turns 2 tomorrow. As for cow's milk, both kids here never really liked it. I always give Zoe a bit before bed, she'll take one drink, then wants to nurse instead. She's even come to me with a sippy of milk in hand and demand to bf instead, so I guess it depends on the child. Zoe really loves mommy's milk better, and not sure she'll ever wean now ::) Funny thing is she'll ask for "lait" (milk) and taps my breast, she'll drains it then asks for the other. She's so greedy that one side is not enough. And welcome to the extended BF thread ;D
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Siobhain, I think that's so sweet that you were bfing her in her sleep just to go longer! I wish I could bf Graydon while he slept, but he wakes immediately if I move him. He just doesn't like that feed before bed too much! I may try to give him dinner earlier to see if it helps.
Sylvie, wow I can't believe Zoe is turning 2 already!! The time goes too fast. I may do the milk very slow with Graydon, maybe starting with a sippy at the end of his meal, adding sippy to each meal over a week. But if I see he cuts back too much on the bfing I'll slow it down. I'm a tad concerned if his reflux is milk related. He does fine with cheese and yogurt but Milena did fine with those 2 items after 13 mths but not milk until later. You're lucky that she's still wanting to bf and take in so much!
I've read lots lately about moms not wanting to bf in public once los are past 6 months and especially if they are around a year old or more. It's funny how the attitude out there is "breast is best and you should bf a small baby BUT if you bf past the norm then hide the fact as it's not needed or normal". Personally, I don't care what other people think about me bfing him, I used to care more, but somehow I'm over it now. LOL, I remember a friend of mine that was bfing her 3 year old, she'd bf her at the drop of a hat, the slightest fuss from her dd and the boob would come out. One day we were walking up our street, back from the park and her dd wanted to be carried as she was tired. My friend instantly dropped to the ground, swooped her into her lap and started bfing her, right on someone's driveway ;D ;D. She did all sorts of APing and at 5 I still think the dd doesn't STTN. I gave her my BW book once but she obviously never opened a single page.
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Funny how they're all so so different...
Emma now cuddles me and points to my breasts and says "mama milkies?" I say, yes that's where mama's milk was...and she says "yep, all gone milkies...and runs to the fridge and points...milkies!!!!".
Oscar had three milkies - mama mlelk (he still uses a word in between milk and the PL mleko LOL), shakey shakey milk (he still likes warm toddler formula, at least he did last winter LOL) and moo-cow milk.....bless them all!!!
So happy for you that you got to 2 and are still going Sylvie xxx
Good luck Marian x
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DS is funny now when he wants "boobie" (might have to call it something else for when he can say it I think LOL), he pulls at my top and opens his mouth whilst leaning towards my chest as if he is going to sup it right through my bra. I can't help but laugh at him.
I know what you mean about not feeling so comfortable feeding in public once they get older (and DS is only 8mo!). It's such a shame. I was actually quite pleased the other day when we were in a cafe for lunch and DS was too distracted to accept his BF. He had a sandwich instead and had his BF later. We do 4 or 5 BF each day BTW.
I am finding it more difficult to wear clothes that allow discrete BFing now the warm weather is here. I nearly always have to pull my T-shirt up and expose my belly. Which is not lovely and flat especially when I'm sitting down. I just feel too exposed pulling the top down and having the breast out completely. It was much easier in the winter when I could do layers and pull one up and one down. Although I saw a lady at the mall the other day and she literally was wearing a small tent which she erected around her and the LO with canvas and poles so she could BF on a bench. Such a shame she felt the need to do that. I'm not that self conscious thankfully.
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she literally was wearing a small tent which she erected around her and the LO with canvas and poles so she could BF on a bench. Such a shame she felt the need to do that. I'm not that self conscious thankfully.
I was not self-conscious at all but also did this with a big black sheet, particulary with Emma as she was such a distracted feeder from the get go and particularly from 3 mths. Oh how I dreaded going out with her. On a plane at 3 mths and then again at 6, 9 ,12, 15, I had to literally "dress" Emma and I in a black robe for her to get any sort of feed and then APOP off to sleep. I am so jealous of those of you whose LOs would feed anywhere, anytime...regardless of whats going on around them. Mine were never "in love" with my boobs/mummy's milk....rather just liked it to quench the hunger.
Would have loved one of those tents LOL!
S x
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I never used one of those tents or cover anywhere, was way to awkward with it. My LO didn't like to be covered. DS was a refluxer, so was no fun, especially in the beginning as I had an overactive letdown and he was also lazy so made to much mess and fussing. Zoe, after 6mo she was way to wiggly, but we still managed to feed in public but it had to be a nice quiet spot. Now she doesn't ask unless we're home, and never asked with a full house. Besides, if it's family, no one feels comfortable with a nursing toddler other than my mom and sister. My brother and dad, well they always left the room or it ws time to go home as soon as I said I had to feed, not sure why. Funny because my grandmother bf all her boys, and the last one was about 3 when he weaned, so it's not like my dad never seen it done before being one of the oldest.
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Hmm, maybe that was it Shivi, I never thought of the fact it could be for the LO to block out the world. Her LO was small though, like maybe 8wks or something.
DS certainly won't feed any-old-where now, not since about 3mo. He will have a short feed for which he pops on and off at every sound in a quiet corner of a restaurant or pub for example but not on a bench with people walking by. Well not without popping off to watch them all pass by each time anyway so it wouldn't be worth it.
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I couldn't imagine using a tent type thing to feed, Graydon would start laughing and stop feeding. He would think we were playing hide-n-seek. I think your middle area is less exposed than you think when you lift your shirt up, I have some pictures that dh took when dd was in the wading pool and I was in the back feeding Graydon and you can't see a thing! Their body covers your middle area so not much is really exposed. I could never do a pull down from the top to feed in public, I would feel way too much exposed that way!
I'll have to think of a word to teach Graydon for when he wants to bf. Now he just screams, grabs and tugs the neck of my shirt, and tries to latch on through my shirt. Must come up with a more subtle way for when we're out in public.
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i just call it milk lol. i say Aniela would you like some milk? (when shes fussing and i know shes hungry) and she puts her head on my breast and gives it a cuddle like yes mama haha i love it
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Hi ladies! glad to say i'm joining your club. My DD2 turned 1 end of July.
I came on to find out how many day feeds you were doing, but I've now read all posts and i can see it's varied, so i'll just do whatever feels right. At the mo it's a minimum of 3 feeds, sometimes 4. But i've noticed that when upset she wants to feed, think it's for comfort more than anything. I'm not going to deny her that.... she's just too lovely :)
I'll be introducing goats milk to her when i'm ready to give her alternative milk. I may add it to her porridge first.
Ali
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hi waffler! congrats! we will be there shortly!!
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Hi waffler, I haven't "seen" you in a long time, I guess I've just missed you on the boards! Welcome to the thread! Just curious, is your dd allergic or sensitive to cow's milk? I'm curious as I'm nervous to try cow's milk with ds as my dd had a bad milk protein allergy and ds had bad reflux (which potentially could be related to milk).
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First time mom : dd1 had a Slight intolerance to cows milk so put her on goats. Dd2 had intolerance in the first few months of bf. So just to be sure I will put her on goats.
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I may just hold off a while on the cow's milk for ds, he's bfing well and is now drinking water from a sippy, I need to ask our ped about the reflux and if we need to continue the meds, if the reflux is not over (and I don't think it is) then I'm holding off.
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Hi all, jumping on here as dd will be one in a couple of weeks. She still BF 3-4 times a day and 1-2 times at night! She's never STTN.
I'd like to BF till age 2 (or as long as she's interested) but I really want to cut those night feeds. Problem is she really seems hungry. Last night she woke at 11, I tried PD for an hour, she finally passed out, only to wake up ten minutes later so I fed her. She then fed again at 5 a.m.
I'm thinking of getting some goats milk because she loves her sippy cup and drinks tons of water, so maybe she'd go for the milk and hopefully -?- not want to BF at night. What do people think of this? She does eat lots of solids, but she hasn't gained much in the last few months.
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Welcome Sparrow. Not sure about the goat's milk. Do you mean you would offer her the sippy at night when she wakes?
Does she go to sleep independently? Maybe post on the props board if you think she is using the BF as a prop to get back to sleep.
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Oh, what I meant was I was thinking of giving her goats milk during the day instead of water, to up her milk intake during the day in hopes she'd stop wanting it at night. She falls asleep independently for naps and BT, but for her NWs I usually BF her to sleep. I do think it's a combination of habit and hunger. I was hoping upping her calories in the day would solve the issue but I think I need to work at it from both angles. I found out this week that she doesn't like goat milk, almond milk, or coconut milk so I'm outta luck with that approach anyway!
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At one I would up solids rather than milk esp high calorie ones.
She may be hungry if she is used to feeding at this time. I wuld use the pupd as you did but you might have found the second time it wouldn't have taken an hr. If you are going to commit to the night and stick with it. Can your DH/DP help with NW as she won't expect the feed from him? Ds always settles much quicker for DH.
We were on holiday last week and DS was supping for all he was worth.
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Ladies, I'm having a terrible time bfing the past 3 days. Graydon is teething (he now has 2 top ones that have broken the skin) and is fighting bfing all the time. He will bf when he wakes in the morning but not for very long and he will bf before bed decently. During the day, he will struggle to get off and is hardly taking anything yet he's not drinking any water out of his sippy. Today I gave him cow's milk in a bottle because I was desperate and he drank about 2.5 ounces. I make his food so it's pretty thick- it's not like the baby jar food that has lots of water, so I can't figure out why he won't take in anymore liquid. I'm really worried that my supply will be gone, I pumped last night and only got 2 ounces (mind you it was late and I was really tired).
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I went through a period where K seemed to be losing interest. I think teeth definitely do that. Are you medicating for the teeething pain? Maybe try feeding when he first wakes in the dark room so he is less distracted? Remind me how old he is? I can bearly get 2 oz with pumping these days so that may not mean anything. Can you try feeding before nap when he is tired to get some extra into him?
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I figured out what our problem was, he seems to hate nursing for the 3 days before my "time of month"- he's fine on the first day of, but just not the 2-3 days prior. I've noticed a pattern now the past few months. All is back to normal now and he's back to nursing around 4x a day. It's funny how my supply seems to dip the few days prior too, it wasn't like this with my dd- she hated nursing the days of, not the days prior.
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Oh I heard something like that. I only had 2 PPAF so haven't seen a pattern. Glad he is back on the boob though.
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My supply definately dips , but havn't seen a pattern.
also need suggestions on how to keep my supply up, though we are at the fag end of our BF, with DD reaching the 18 month mark ( i had taken the target) but the off and on feeding , has led to a drastic fall supply.
will fenugreek tea help ? any other tastier suggestions ?
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I started taking the Fenugreek in pill form, there's no taste to it. The one I have is to be taken 2 pills 3x a day and you're supposed to smell like maple syrup but I didn't hit that point as I stopped taking day 3 when Graydon went back to normal nursing. Back when G was younger and I felt a dip in my supply from time to time I drank more water and ate lots of oatmeal, I swear the oatmeal helped!
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Thanks ftm
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I have done the fenugreek capsules and oatmeal too. And staying hydrated really helps me too.
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Hi there ladies!
DS turns 1 in a few days so I thought I would hop on board. :) DS is still doing 4 solid feeds a day..sometimes 5, but reading through all of your pp it looks like ~4 is the avg ard this age. My question is how/when did you ladies start dropping down feeds?? Was it active weaning on your part or did you find that your LO just stopped showing interest? If so, what age did you go down to ~3? DS doesn't seem any less "interested" in any of the feeds although I was able to push out the afternoon one a little by offering a sippy of fermented milk smoothie type thing after his nap. He only takes about 100ml though. He's not a big eater and snacks don't really distract him so much. Anyhow, happy to be on board and among all of you ladies who stuck it out this far :)
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My ds (now 13 mths) has only 2 really good bfs in a day and 3-4 additional "drinks" of bfs. I increased it because I really don't want him on cow's milk just yet and I don't want to offer too much water (he's only on the weight charts at 25%, up from 15% earlier though). The 4 middle feeds are sometimes only one side, I get the milk into him whenever I can, which can be hard with everything being a distraction! It's working for us and he's napping and sleeping great with no wakes. I don't want him to wean prior to 2 if I can help it and for us, the way to do this, is to limit drinks other than bfing.
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Joining in here as well. Lots of people seem to be wondering about the drop from 4 to 3 BFs/ day as well... which has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. I find my main issues is that it's getting harder when we're away from home. At home, no problem because I can lay down. When we're out, it's so hard because he's distracted. If I know I'll be out, I plan to give a bottle of EBM, but I'm almost done my frozen supply and don't want to re-stock...
All that to say I'm looking at how to wean one of the daytime ones. His 10ish feed is the one that usually gets screwed up if we go anywhere so I've been playing with the idea of doing cow's milk instead. For example, today I was out so I took a bottle of cows milk with me and when 10 rolled aroudn I was nowhere I could BF (outside in the cold) so i gave DS the bottle and then finished off with some BF when I got to a place I could sit inside. What do you ladies think of this approach? I figure that will be gentle for my breasts and I can increase the amount of cows milk and eventually not offer the breast at all at that time. DS has no issues with dairy, btw. And I'd like to move to a cup (which we do at meals) but the bottle is still cleaner for now... not sure what you think of this either. I always give a snack after his 2ish BF to get him to dinner. I don't feel I need to do a snack at the 10ish one because we eat lunch early (around 11:30) so he can have his nap. Also not sure how much milk to offer... If I do EBM, he does about 5oz. That seems like a lot of cows milk but he's tiny (15th percentile) so I'm not worried about him gettign too fat off of it :)
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Stephanie, that sounds perfect if you want to wean his 10am feed. I would sub the same quantity of the cow's milk (so, 5 ounces). Adjust if he doesn't drink it all. Alternative would be yogurt or cheese snack at 10am. I do find they're nice and flexible at this age for feeds! If I'm out where I can't bf (same reason- too cold!) I always make sure I have cut up cheese, crackers, or even fruit- something to offer him to tie him over until we get to where I can feed him.
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Thanks, Marian. That sounds good. I'll let you guys know how it goes :)
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Hi! I'm joining in here. DD is 13 months and still BFs 3x in the day and usually once at night. My supply has definitely dropped over the months and the last few times I have tried to pump I got nothing! We are presently on a non-dairy diet which has helped her SO MUCH with sleeping and gassiness, getting her used to soy milk instead of cow's milk.
I'm just interested in hearing others' experiences as everyone else I know who bfs had weaned by this age. :-) I'm hoping to keep bfing until 2 years, will be dropping the 3rd day feed sooner or later when I go back to work.
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Hi LucysMommy! Welcome! I've been thinking about how long I want to BF and now that we're at the 12 month, I know I want to continue but not sure for how long. DH said he'd find it weird if DS was still BF when he could ask for it. Not sure when that would be, maybe around 18 months? Anyone in that situation/been in that situation with an older LO? Not sure what I think about that. Another year doens't seem all that long if it's only 2-3 feeds/day.
I did a bottle of 3oz cows milk at the 10am feed and then BF a little after. Only drawback was that he only did one side (to be expected, I guess) so I was lopsided until the next feed! I think cold-turkey might be a more 'attractive option'... Or my breast will figure it out. i don't want to pump the other side because that pretty much defeats the purpose. Maybe I'm still inwardly not sure if I want to drop the feed entirely and that's why I'm all over the place with my decision :)
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Stefanie there is no need to drop the feed if you don't want to. You can always carry on until Aiden self'weans if you prefer.
BTW I know a 15mo who points at his mum's chest and says "boob" in the cutest voice. So it might not actually be that long before he can ask for it. I don't think it's weird. It's probably just because your DH hasn't seen it done. Most people who still feed when they can ask for it are probably doing it at home without people around, especially if they just do it on WU and BT. It will be a gradual process with your DS asking for it. It's not like one day he won't be able to speak, point etc. and they next he'll be able to say "can I have a breast feed mom?". I would see how he goes. I always thought I wouldn't do it once he could ask but now I see it done with my nephews who are 16mo and 17mo I think nothing of it and plan to keep at it until 2yoish.
We're still on 4x BF/day so can't help you with weaning to 3. I will hopefully get some ideas for when we do though.
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For those going from 4 to 3 feeds...
When I dropped one of the day feeds, instead of bfing before morning and afternoon nap, I offered her a little snack before each nap and did the bf a little while after lunch. This was at about 12 months. She didn't mind at all as I offered her some snacks which she really loved. Eventually I found the am snack unnecessary as DD has such a big breakkie. So now she bfs at WU and BT, after lunch, and usually once in the night.
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The bottle of cows milk worked well today, though I was pretty full by the afternoon feed :) I feel that going to 3 feeds will work well for us as we are often our during that feed and getting a BF in is hard on the go. I'm home for the afternoon one because it's right after DS's nap. The bottle (or sippy) or a snack means that DS will get something in his tummy and I won't have to stress about finding some place quiet where I can potentially lie down (I've done it in the mall in the BF room, but would have been a little embarassed if someone else had come in!). Cadie's mom, I don't think it woudl be too weird for him to ask for it either; nto sure why DH finds it odd. Probably pictures the, "Can I have a breastfeed, mom?" scenario rather than a simple point or something :)
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Hi guys! Just a warning Whatbit - my DD started to ask for 'milk' at around 12 months. Before she could say the word she would also stick her hands down my top or try to lift my shirt up!! She's now 21 months and wakes up every morning shouting "i need mummy milk"! She also excitedly shouts "boobies" whenever she sees me with no top on (thankfully this is never in public - I don't tend to walk around with no top on very much!!) We had an embarrasing moment at a farm recently when we were watching the cows being milked as she started shouting "cows boobies" - all very cute though!
We gradually dropped our day feeds when DD stopped asking for milk during the day, but we still do bedtime and morning. I really want her to self wean from those too but she's showing no signs, and as much as I love our special cuddles I'm hoping for her to wean around her 2nd birthday. I think 2 years is pretty good going?? Anyone else had to 'encourage' weaning at about this age?
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2 years is VERY good going! Well done Knock0ut. I hope I can get close to that. DS already bangs his hands on my chest and buries his face in my cleavage when he wants "boobie". LOL cow boobies!
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I like the cow boobie comment :) DS doesn't really do anything special but I must admit that I call breastmilk 'mommy juice' and now he's started calling all liquid 'jus'- LOL! He gets very excited when I tell him it's time for mommy juice but no asking at this point in time!
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What do you do when you LO is sick?? Mine has been sick with a bad cold for the last week, so I've been offering to bf way more, like 5-6 x per day. She is definitely wanting it! I feel a little worried that we will have to slowly wean down again when she is better... I was hoping to be at 2 feeds a day soon but this might be a setback. However, I'm sure glad I know that she is getting the nutrition she needs through my breastmilk when ill since her appetite and want of water is way down.
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I woudl feed more when DS is sick. He even had 2 NFs for a couple nights when he had a virus lately. Like you I didn't want to refuse as I wanted to make sure he was hydrated and getting some nutrients he was missing out on by not eating as much. He easily went straight back to 4 BFs during the day and STTN.
I just went back to our normal routine and if he didn't ask for extra he didn't get any extra.
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Dd is now 19 months, any she dropped the final BF at 15 months.
We went from 4:3 at 11 months, dropped the after am nap feed first, and gave a feed after lunch, before pm nap. This was in preparation for returning to work.
3:2 - 12.5 months when I returned to work - just a sippy of milk to replace that before nap afternoon feed - didn't want to get her hooked on a bottle of milk that would later need to be weaned, and she didn't mind having the sippy at that time.
2:1 - 13.5 months when my parents (staying with us for a visit) were on temporary babysitting duty, because I then didn't have time in the morning when having to start a daycare drop-off.
1:0 - 15.5 months - dd was more interested in sucking her thumb and getting to bed than having a BF, which by then was down to about 2 minutes. And I don't think there was much supply there anyhow. Maybe that's why she lost interest?
The weaning was so gradual, I didn't notice the effect on my body at all. Ironically, I felt a bit more sad when dropping the 3 am feed (happy for the sleep, but it was a nice cuddle time), and then a bit later, the dream feed. DD is not a cuddly sort, so BF was our main source of this kind of closeness.
Looking forward to starting all over again - due in march.
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Oh well done Marilyn. What a great start you gave your LO. And good luck with doing the same with #2.
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Thanks for sharing Marilyn and good luck with #2 :)
A quick question. Did you ladies notice a change in your LOs BMs once they started on cow's milk?? I've been slowly introducing a little bit into a nighttime bottle and have noticed an increase in DSs BMs and a lot more liquidy texture. Sorry if too much TMI :-X He's also been waking up a lot more at night, but not sure if it is due to other circumstances or not. I'm wondering if I should limit it, but he's been fine with follow on milk. I have a lot of allergies myself, as an infant I had to be on some sort of meat based formula and still have an allergy to soy milk, so I'm a little worried that DS may also be sensitive and I should hold off. Thanks for any insights :)
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I don't give cows milk as a drink as Cadan is still too young but we do use whole cows milk in his cereal as I found BM just got runny too quickly and he couldn't eat it like that. I didn't notice any change in BMs and they certainly weren't liquidy.
How long has it been going on for? Could it just be a bug he has picked up? If not maybe he does have intolerances. Perhaps stop the CM and see if it clears up then try reintroducing it and if it happens again that's a good indication it is the CM causing the dodgy BMs.
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Well done Marilyn, I hope to do a similar gradual wean with my DD.
gogomama - after starting DD on cow's milk we found that she did have an intolerance to dairy. She also had many bms each day and lots of night wakings. About 2 weeks ago we took her and me off dairy altogether and since then she has been sleeping much better and having a better appetite. I also started adding about 1 teaspoon of ground flax seed and a capsule of probiotics to her cereal each morning. That has helped her bms become much easier to clean up iykwim! The doctor suggested we give her fortified soy milk instead of the cow's milk as I am still nursing, and to continue giving vitamin d drops. It's also important for me to take a calcium supplement until I go back on dairy. BTW I was recommended to go off dairy for 4 weeks, then slowly reintroduce one type of dairy per week to see what DD might be able to tolerate. I was told these intolerances often go away around 2-3 yrs old.
HTH!
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My dd is now almost 5 but when she was a baby she had a milk protein allergy and I couldn't have any dairy. Around 13 months she started to get over it and was able to digest yogurt, then later cheese, then around 18 months regular cow's milk. They do tend to be able to tollerate one before the other, with milk being last.
Graydon broke out in a full body excema rash when I first gave him cow's milk at 12 months so we stopped. I tried again 2 days ago and no rash, but I noticed he gets congested from it immediately after and it lasts for up to an hour. He isn't fussing or anything from it so I'm continuing to give it to him but only about 2oz into his cereal (mixed with 2oz frozen breast milk).
Anyone's lo not really drink much liquids other than breast milk? Graydon takes the 4 oz milk in his cereal then drinks about 2-4 oz of water in the afternoon and that's it- all other liquid is bfing.
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Can cow's milk create constipation in anyone's experience? Maggie is just about 14 months and I give her a cup of whole milk instead of BF a few times a week, usually at the end of the week (Thursday or Friday) when I have meetings in the morning and then again on the weekend if we want to be out and about. By Monday, she's constipated, poor little thing. How do I combat? I don't have time to pump enough to offer sippy of breastmilk instead of the whole milk, but worry that offering only water in place of a feed will backfire in hungry/missed naps.
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OMG, so I decided to stop giving DS whole milk and this morning I poured the rest into a glass to finish myself. As I was about to drink it, I got a big whiff and noticed that it just smells FOUL. I feel so horrible, I have been giving him spoiled milk, no wonder his little tummy has been upset! The expiry date isn't for a couple months, but it must have been left out or something. I just feel so so terrible, poor little guy :( :(
Writely- I read that the constipation when starting cow's milk is pretty normal. It's something to do with the proteins being more difficult for digestion.
Lucy's mommy- Thanks for your post. It was really very helpful. This may sound completely daft, but why are you to go off of dairy as well if she was fine before she started the cow's milk? Was it creating problems while EBF as well?
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Rachel -I have definitely heard that cows milk can cause costipation in children, especially if they have an intolerance to it but maybe even if they don't. Could you give water to drink along with a solid snack like fruit, cheerios, a small sandwich etc. rather than milk? Cadan only drinks water at the moment apart from BM and I don't plan to change this for as long as I can.
Gogomama - was it fresh milk you were using? I am just wondering as in the UK cows milk lasts a week or two max so having an expiry date of a few months is unusual to me. Anyway, you never know the milk might have only just spoiled and not been so bad when your DS took it. Surely he would have refused it if it smelt and tasted that bad?
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Cadies Mum- Here we use mostly UHT milk, which basically means its sterilized at a higher temp. so can last for up to 6 months, if unopened. I really hope you are right and it had just gone bad :( I was mixing 1-3oz of it with follow on milk so that's prolly why DS didn't really notice the taste or so I think. I also give him fermented milk from time to time which also has a kind of sour taste so maybe it didn't catch him as so strange :-[ Needless to say what I thought was an allergic reaction was most likely his body reacting to spoiled milk! Will definitely be smelling all bottles from now on!
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Oh UHT, yes we get that here too although I don't really like it myself as it tastes very different to the fresh milk we use here. It's funny how in every other country I go to (on holidays etc.) the milk tastes so different. You would think a atural product would be more similar. Must be the processing I guess. And just what you get used to.
It's getting annoying now that DS will skip a feed if we are out as he gets so distracted. Even at home I have to feed in a room with no other people or sounds like radio/TV. Even the cats can't be around or he is bobbing on and off to see what's going on. I am off out to meet a friend for lunch in a busy restaurant. I am going to let DS take his nap in the buggy on the way. I am sure he is going to refuse the feed when he gets up as it will be too busy. I might have to go early and plan to hide out in the baby change to feed him first.
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Hi gogomama, about me going off the dairy... looking back over the first year of DD, she was always very fussy when nursing as a newborn, and never a good sleeper. The doctor had told me her fussiness when nursing would go away as she matured, and that I needed to let her cry it out at night so she could learn to sleep independently. I never felt right about trying that. I just thought she would grow out of it but she never did. So basically now I think she has always had the milk intolerance and I didn't realize it until I started looking into it myself. And it got worse when I gave her cow's milk, yogurt, etc. but it was hard to notice what was causing the problem since she has never STTN and always had lots of night wakings.
Since going off the dairy there has been a great improvement in her sleep. I am hoping to start introducing dairy back into my diet gradually after we have both been dairy free for about a month. I also plan on going down to 2 feeds a day at the end of the month so she won't be having as much of my breastmilk then either.
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Hmmm... hadn't really noticed a difference in BM with the cow's milk (5oz at his 10am feed now and in cooking) but he has had some softer BM that I just attributed to what he's been eating. I'll have to watch now and see if it's always after the 10am feed. It's not runny or anything, just soft.
Gogomama, don't feel bad about the milk. I gave DS a foul bottle of EBM once- poor guy! He was fussing a lot and I couldn't understand why so I tried it thinking it was the temperature- blech!!! That was the worst taste ever!!!
Cadie's mom- have you tried using a cup to feed him if you're at a restaurant? DS will gladly drink from a cup if he sees other people doing it and I think that I'll be moving towards a cup for his milk soon (right now he gets water or smoothie or soup in his regular small cup). Just thinkinhg maybe it would be somehting he might enjoy even with all the distractions going on.
Marian, DS is offered water after each of his meals. Sometimes he drinks it, sometimes not. Usually it's about 2oz or so at each meal. That plus the 3 BF and 1 bottle of cows milk is what he takes in during the day to drink.
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Thanks for the idea about the cup at restaurants Stefanie. He drinks water from various types of cup and today at the restaurant he drank orange juice - which he hadn't had before - through a straw. It was mine but he kept bugging me for it til I gave in and he loved it. It wasn't diluted so I only let him have a little bit. I think I may try to take some EBM in future. It's just such a hassle as I don't pump regularly anymore. I used to pump every night before going to bed and use it in his foods but gave up. He didn't like the cereal runny like it turned with BM after a few minutes and I kept getting blocked ducts so I stopped in the end figuring he must get enough from hgis 4BFs every day. Doing it now and then for the occasional cup should be OK though. Today while we were out he skipped his BF when he woke at 12 and had his lunch instead but took it when we got home about 2.30pm. I'll probably try to squeeze in another BF when he wakes and then give him another at BT.
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Hi Ladies - DD just turned one and it occurred to me that we are now officially part of the extended nursing group. :) l am relieved to read your posts as DD still nurses 3-4 times a day - at wake up and then before both naps and bt. She doesn't actually fall asleep nursing - but she INSISTS on it so strongly that I keep giving in. I don't feel so badly now that I've read up on this thread but I would like her to take a bottle of ebm from dh now and then! sigh... thots? should i try to wean the before nap nursings? i'm pretty sure it's just a comfort/settling thing but i hate to deny it unless in the long run it will be detrimental in some way.
looking for some more info on the nw from cows milk? dd has been drinking water since about 6 months so i mostly offer that between meals but have been offering more whole milk the past 4 weeks or so with meals. i thot she got a cold at nursery but she still has the sniffles several weeks later and is congested and is still waking several times at night even tho I've all but weaned the night feedings - the first waking i can usually get her to just lay back down, the second one she takes a good long drink of water. but i'm wondering now if the congestion and nw are from the milk? the congestion makes sense but why the nw? just hoping for more insight. since doing wiwo we're doing so much better with naps and bt but i can't figure out the nw...
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DD had bad night wakings which came back about a week after we put her on soy milk, so after 3 weeks of soy milk the dr. suggested trying goat's milk instead of soy or cow's milk. We started that about 6 days ago. Also when she wakes at night now, which is usually once in the early morning hours, I do a 'GW' type method to help her go back to sleep - basically I sit on the floor by the crib and talk to her, tell her to lie down, find your paci, go back to sleep, etc. until she settles down. I wanted her to learn to go back to sleep without being picked up or especially being breastfed in the night. The first 2 nights took over an hour of crying. She was really mad. The 3rd night about 10 minutes of fussing, then she slept through the night the last 2 nights. There is more about GW and wi/wo out on the toddler sleep board. It's hard to know if it is an actually intolerance to milk or soy, or if it is just coincidentally happening at the same time that she is learning to sleep by herself. The dr. thought that if it was truly an intolerance that there would be more symptoms than night waking. DD got sick a few weeks ago and I did nurse her a few times in the night to help her.... guess she didn't want to give that up now that she is better.
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I have stopped DD's daytime feed so am now just feeding her at wake up and bedtime. She is so clingy now during the day! She keeps asking for milk and I give her her goat's milk and she just pushes it away. Poor doll. She is now waking up again in the early morning hours asking for milk... it takes a while to get her back to sleep until her real wake up time. How long did it take your LO's to adjust when you dropped a feed? It makes me sad that I am not bfing her in the day anymore, but as I am anticipating going back to work soon I thought it would be better for her to adjust now while I am home to give extra cuddles.
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Of course it is up to you Lucysmommy tbut I hought I would just share that my sister BFs my 16mo nephew even though she is back at work full time. On work days he BFs at WU and when she gets home. On non-work days he BFs in the day as well. It's like he thinks when mummy isn't there it's just a given that he has a cup of cow's milk or other drink. But when mummy's there he can have a BF. It works well for them so maybe if you don't actually want to stop the day feed it is something you might like to consider? If you want to drop the feeds in the day that is of course fine too. I have no experience of this though so can't help you there, sorry.
How old is your LO BTW? Would she have another drink if she isn't keen on goat's milk?
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With my first lo I did the same, I went back to work when she was 13 months and we continued bfing in the morning, as soon as I got home, and before bed, then on weekends we added one extra "snack" bf during the day. We did this until she was 17 months and self-weaned. Ds is now 14 months and my work now is quite flexible so we bf whenever he wants to. As a result he's not drinking cow's milk yet (but now has some in his cereal) because I'm hoping he'll want to continue bfing longer.
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An update: DS is down to 3 BF/day plus one bottle of about 5oz of cows milk and it's going well for us. I still have some EBM int he freezer to use up but decided I would save it in case I need to miss one of the other feeds rather than using it up for the feed he's already on cows milk. The morning feed is his best. The BT feed is getting really short. He's all over teh place, flipping his body, sitting up and then falling back over to grab my breast... I'm thinking this might actually go first rather than the afternoon feed because of his apparent lack of interest, but I might be wrong. If that does happen, do you think I should do a snack or something to help top him up before bed? He's got an early BT and eats only 1.5 hrs before bed... just wondering.
I'm not back at work either, so I don't have anything to offer in way of advice, Lucysmommy. Sorry.
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Whatbit..we have a similar thing at night. I actually switched this feed over to cows milk for exactly that reason. He seems to be more willing to take the bottle as he can move around with it. If hes not interested at all, I would probably give an extra snack before bed, maybe a yoghurt or cheese or something so he can make it through the night.
I think we will be down to 3 feeds soon, DS is eating less and less for the afternoon feed. He has also started biting and playing around with the boob a lot more than before. He only has two teeth so I'm new to the whole biting thing but man does it hurt!
Inoella, I seen a post on here I think by Henry1, describing congestion and milk allergies that had some good information. Let me look around and see if I can find it, but definitely think that they can be connected. Did the cold start around the same time as the milk? Maybe try eliminating it and seeing if anything gets better. Found it..heres the link to that post.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=180137.msg2045765#msg2045765
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thanks gogomama - (btw - love the new pic - sooo big! :)) - i'm just confused cuz she lived on cottage cheese and yogurt since 6 months but then just before 12 months when we started whole milk she got this stuffy nose. gonna switch to soy milk for now but keep up the yogurt - she barely eats anything so i can't imagine cutting out yogurt!
whatbit - your DS must be in touch with my DD as she is doing the same thing at night. last night after the first side she was just kind snuggling - which is nice - but i said "Ok - one more minute and then we'll ready a story - do you want to read a story?" and she unlatched and sat up and pointed to the book pile. I wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad? :-\
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Stefanie - Do you think Aiden would take the milk from a cup or bottle? Either cows or expressed breat milk before bed? Otherwise I was going to suggest a yogurt as well. Or some cereal. Cadan already does this mucking around as well. I normally go up to my room with him early and let him climb all over the bed in between BFing 4 mins here and 2mins there etc. I normally just stop when I have counted about 10mins in total. I wondered if it was UT or OT but he does it when both. His new thing is to slide off the bed feet first on his belly and then laugh standing holding on to the bed. It's very frustrating.
Jaci - Have yo ustarted putting your central heating on lately? DS, DH and I all got stuffy noses around the time we put ours on. I think itcan be very drying and also cause more air movement as the hot air rises and so moves dust etc. around in the air. Just an idea.
DH does BT here and Cadan is always happy to say goodnight to me at his bedroom door and closes the door in my face after I steal a kiss on his cheek! Good thing I'm not easily offended eh?
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Ali - can't believe I didn't think of that one! Thanks! We had just started using heat when I first wrote and although she's still a little congested it's not nearly as bad - we do use a humidifier. (a cute froggie one that she has to say goodnight to ;D). DH used to trade nights with me off and on and she was fine with a bottle - i just need to try it again and get her used to it... such creatures of habit, eh?
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Lucysmommy I am currently working fulltime an djust feeding before and after work and on days off. Sometimes K sleeps late and goes without in the morning and as long as I am not there he doesn't seem bothered even though when I am there he asks constantly. At this age the milk is more a drink than to sustain them so as long as they get a couple of drinks there is no need to suppliment with CM esp if they are eating other sources of calcium. I actually heard babies between 1 and 2 who drink lots of milk can be deficient in vits and minerals (esp iron) as they don't eat enough other things so I don't worry if K misses feeds.
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Hi All, reading through pp's and marking my spot.
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Thanks for all the comments. I'll keep doing what I'm doing... trying to get DD into goat's milk so she can have that when I'm not there to bf her. After 14 months, I feel like I need to have more freedom, to even go away for the night if we want to. I haven't had many other people take care of her so I'm not sure how she would do missing a bf especially in the evening. I don't get anything when I try to pump anymore.
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I went away for the weekend (1st time) recently and K stayed with DH and just went without the BF those days. Sometimes he had CM but other times just cereals at BT and yoghurt/cheese in the day. They don't need milk per se at this age (just some source of Calcium) so as long as she won't be upset it won't matter too much. K was supping with avengence when I go back still. I couldn't get hardly anything expressing while I was away. K still asks for BF lots when I am home but he knows he doesn't get it when I am not around and is ok with that. He saw someone BFing the other day when I was at work and said "boob" and pointed then held his hand up to get picked up like he wanted some but she said "you get your boob from Mummy don't you" and he just nodded and carried on playing.
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Awww... Khalam is so cute :)
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Thanks for all your stories. I feel better about continuing to bf DD... I guess I felt that I needed to slowly wean her to gain some more freedom but I think she will be fine when I am away.
Does anyone know or have any experience - how many nights have you gone away from your LO while still bfing? I'd like to go away for one or two nights but I'm worried my milk might go away if I'm gone for more than a night. I never get anything anymore when I try to pump.
Does anyone know how long it takes for milk supply to disappear?
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I did 2 full days in August and pumped at DS's normal feeds. One or two nights shouldn't do anything to your supply as long as you pump. I wasn't getting anything when I pumped but because I was actually missing those feeds, I got about 6 oz each time. I took bags along and was able to keep the milk in a freezer so I could bring it home and not have it go to waste.
I'm not sure about how long it takes milk supply to disappear but I do know it took my body about 5 days to adjust when I switched from 4 to 3 feeds/day. I was leaking all over the place and felt really full again but not in pain like when I dropped the night feeds or when I used to miss a feed.
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Oh Stefanie I remmeber the first time Cadan slept through to 5am when he was 8 weeks old and how uncomfortable I was. I ended up getting up at 3am and pumping for a couple weeks and could easily get 5-7oz in 10-15 mins! Unfortunately he started waking for feeds again (think it had just been the 8week jabs) so I was able to stop. I occasionally do 3-feed days if we are out as he won't feed in public (too distracted) but didn't really notice much difference apart from being slightly more full for the next feed.
KM went away recently didn't you...?
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I never notice a difference in comfort, etc. when I miss a feed with DD now. When she was an infant I would have CRAZY leaking and no problems pumping but now... nothing. I guess I could bring my pump with me and give it a try. Maybe after missing more than one feed I'd have more luck?
It seems to show me that DD is nursing mostly for comfort, which is fine too!
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I went away for 3 nights recently. I only managed to express less than an oz each day even after 3 days. I am pg too so was really worried my milk would dry but it was fine when I returned. I used to have to get up in the night and express or be really uncomfortable when ds was younger and easily get 6oz in 5 mins but now nothing really. I wasn't full at all even after 3 days. I know it gets harder to pump after 7 or 8months asyou make the milk on demand so baby might be getting loads but you get nothing when you pump. My friend recently gave up bfing and took 3 weeks for her to stop making milk - her lo was 11mo.
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Yes I was going to say as well Lucysmommy that not being able to pump is not an indication that your LO isn't getting milk. It is really common after 6mo to not be able to pump even though your LO is getting sufficient milk. As KM says it is because the milk is made on demand and your baby is MUCH better at stimulating that on demand production than the pump. The pump was better for getting the milk that was made in advance and stored in the breasts until needed back when DD was a wee one. Now the pump just can't "trick" your breasts like it once could.
I wonder how much I could pump now? I haven't tried for about 3months. I need some to take in a sippy for a wedding we are going to on next week as I think I will need to have a least one feed in a busy wedding banquet and there is NO chance of DS supping there. Plus I will be wearing fitted clothes that are not BF friendly.
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You best start saving up that milk now Ali.
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Good to know ladies! Thanks for the info.
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just need to tell someone ---- i'm so happy my baby is growing up but i'm sad that now that we aren't nursing before naps she doesn't want to cuddle either!!!! :'( when i take her up to her room and put her sleep bag on she points to the rocking chair once (where we nurse at night) and then when i say - no nursing now - she points to the crib and pushes away. i still get hugs when she wakes up, but i really enjoyed just that quick one minute snuggle before putting her down in the crib.
just needed to share...
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Oh hugs Jaci! That must be hard. Do you use music at all? Maybe you could introduce a slow dance as part of your winddown?
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What I have started doing with my LO, is after her diaper change and story I hold her 'like a newborn' horizontally and sing her a lullaby and gently walk/bounce her like I did when she was a wee one. She wouldn't let me hold her like this for ages, but once she is wound down and has her soother in she lets me and her eyes get sooo droopy. Just for one song then into the crib, and I like it because it's like she's my little baby again.
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Aw Jaci..lots and lots of hugs :) I do something similar to LucysMommy and sing a song and tickle his nose..he seems to like it. I do think that all the LOs go through their independent phases though. She may be down for the cuddles in a few weeks...DS has been having the opposite issue the past few days. Hes been a little under the weather with a runny nose, but he's been comfort nursing more than he ever has before. It feels like every time I sit down hes pulling at my shirt and he will drink for a few seconds then turn away.
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thanks so much ladies! so nice to know you're all out there loving your los the same ways! :) I'll def. try the slow dance/song idea! and thanks for the reminder about independent phases - i just feel sad (and a little terrified!) cuz she's already sooooooooo independent! such a big little girl. :)
today we were out for lunch and i was hoping she would make it home so she could nurse before the pm nap (still doing that but down stairs and not technically part of the wd routine) but she fell asleep just a block from home - not kidding! - i still can't believe i managed to get her out of her car seat and into the crib while still sleeping! i'm guessing she'll be demanding to nurse after this nap!!!
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Hi ladies! Not much new here, still bfing about 5x a day and only drinking about 1-2 oz of water in a sippy (plus now taking 3-4 oz of cow's milk in his cereal). I'm still pumping at night, but only getting about 1-2oz, have lots of bags in the freezer in the basement. Graydon is not a cuddly baby, especially in the day. He will even scratch at my face or pull my hair if I try to pick him up while he's motoring around. Night time he's a different baby though, after his bf he throws himself in my arms so he's laying back like a small baby, stares into my eyes, sticks his paci in, then reaches up and hugs me and pats me on the back (as if to burb me)! It's quite funny really.
Any of you still leak after all this time? I still have to wear the leak pads, and I'm getting tired of it. I don't recall leaking like this with my dd. It's mostly at night time but I don't trust myself in the day so I wear the pads 24/7. When Graydon was young I leaked like crazy, sometimes even through the pads, I know I didn't leak like that with dd. It's funny I guess how it's different with each lo.
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he throws himself in my arms so he's laying back like a small baby, stares into my eyes, sticks his paci in, then reaches up and hugs me and pats me on the back (as if to burb me)!
AWWW! so cute! :)
i still leak on whatever side she isn't nursing on from the let-down. but i leaked so badly before that i still wear them 24/7 too!
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I don't leak anymore but I only bf 2 - 3 times a day. I don't remember when it stopped... it's been a long time since I wore pads. Sometime last spring? It was so nice when it stopped, then I didn't have to wear a bra to bed anymore.
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I'm same as Jaci, def still leaking. Also, don't know i this is TMI but when I go w/o the breast pads my nipples get really irritated from the bra..don't know why but sice bf they always seems to be sticking out, so the pads help with that too :-X
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Hi all, thought I'd jump in here, we're still on BF 4x a day... DS turns 1 next week! Can't believe it really. Anyway just wondering when and why you decided to cut a feed? DS is eating really well, pretty much anything you put in front of him, has big drinks of water after each meal AND BF's 4x a day! Seems like there is no slacking off in the eating department yet, although I have heard this is what happens after about 1yo. Have any of your LO's slowed down their consumption yet? Or is that only evident in that they aren't BFing as much?
I'm not leaking or pumping, but things can still get a bit uncomfortable if we miss a feed.
Jaci - Sad to hear you're missing the cuddles :( I'm not looking forward to that myself.
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Hi Cathy - we decided that we wanted to get DD AND me ready in case I went back to work (I am an unemployed teacher). So around 12 months we cut 1 feed and 13 months another feed so now DD is 14 months and having 2 feeds a day. She adjusted pretty easily, although I do give her another feed during the day if she's climbing up me asking for it :-) It's hard to tell if she is consuming less though I don't feel as strong of a letdown.
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Hi Cathy! I think we're all over the place here - every LO is different! :) My DD is still bfing 3-4x a day but I don't think she's getting much - this morning she was acting needy so I offered an "extra" bf - she only tried for maybe 1 min. before moving on - wasn't patient enough for the let down! :)
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Hi all...
I am looking to drop 14 month old DD's 5-6am feed as I will be going back to work in about a month.
Our usual routine is, DD is standing up in her crib crying out for me, I go in and bf her, put her back in bed and she goes back to sleep until about 8:30. She STTN otherwise, her last bf is at about 7:15.
I would be alright with pushing back the feed to her wake-up time, and then after she is used to that, just offering her breakfast and sippy of milk instead.
We have just got her STTN about a month ago for the first time consistently since birth and I don't want to have major sleep disruptions, early wakings, etc as we are all finally getting decent sleep. Any ideas on how to do this GENTLY!
I was thinking maybe decreasing the number of minutes that I let her bf and then doing GW?? That is how we dropped her other night feeds a few months ago.
Jolene
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If it worked before. it may work again. It probably is a habit/learned hunger rather than a true need to eat at that time so reducing the time may help.
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Reducing the time may prolong the agony perhaps. A 2 minute feed might still satisfy lo's want for mommy time, especially if hunger is not the real issue. Is there a gentle way when the final break is made from some feed, to none?
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Is there a gentle way when the final break is made from some feed, to none?
In our house it's called "bed time with daddy". :) I went out for the first time last Sat with "the girls" (yippy!_ and DD did just fine with DH. She refused the bottle but did drink milk from a cup. So we're trading BT duties this week to get her used to going to bed without nursing. 2night I offered her a nurse downstairs before bed but she really didn't want it. So off to bed with daddy. She was fine...
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We went for Cadan's 8mo health review today (yes at nearly 11mo) and the HV looked shocked when I said I was still BF him 4x a day but just about to cut this to 3x. She actually asked me if he was eating solids as well. Of course he is!She obviously does n'tknow about the WHO recs to feed 4x until 10mo. Don't know how many times she thought I should be feeding him.
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I just went for DS 12mo apt and DR. didn't even ask about milk anymore but I told her we were doing 3x/day BF and one cup cows milk. She's pretty pro formula... Wish you asked, Ali. I'd be curious to know!!
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Well Stefanie TBH I'm more interested in what the WHO says rather than one HV. I have yet to meet an HV who is working to the recommended gov policy rather than their own opinion which tends to be based on anecdotal evidence of what was done in the olden days.
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I totally agree, Ali. Just would have been curious to hear what she figured Cadan 'should' be doing in the nursing department. I'm sure my DR. thinks I'm odd because even when DS wasn't gaining a lot (reflux issues) she kept wanting me to put him on formula and I told her no that I would pump and give him EBM if I had to! There were never any issues with my milk supply and he started gaining weight after the reflux was under control...
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At almost 20 months no doc supports BF!
However, had a quick question. I will be away for 2-3 days , this is the first time that I will be away from her and BF
What do I expect?
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That depends. Has she taken EBM from a bottle or cup before? If not, it might be a bit of a challenge. For you, it might mean some discomfort. When I went away for 2 days when DS was 10 month old I was BF 4x/day and still got really engorged around the times I would have been BF. I pumped and was able to store the milk to bring home. DS took a bottle with EBM but didn't drink as much as I thought he would but he did do 4x/day, just less. He seemed really happy to see me when I got back! If you're just doing 2x/day you might not notice much discomfort at all. I would still suggest pumping a bit to keep your breasts stimulated since it will be a few days. Have a great time away!
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Richa - the one night I was gone DD didn't want her bottle at all but she was perfectly happy with her sippy. I'd take a pump tho - if you have one - to relieve any soreness you might get.
Looking for a bit of advice: I've been trying to wean the (multiple!) night feedings and it wasn't going very well - she would keep pointing to the rocking chair where we sit to nurse. So 2 days ago I moved the rocking chair out of the room (got the idea from another thread). She nursed happily during the day but the past 2 nights she has refused the bt bf. And at the same time she STTN the first night and made it until 4:30 last night/today. I'm a bit confused! Am I to assume she's sleeping better without the bt bf? I always assumed we would keep the a.m. and p.m. bfs the longest and I'm kinda sad about about it. I'm wondering if she would take the bf if i moved the chair back - quiet calm environment... but then again i really really need to wean these night feedings... any thots?
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What about trying to do the bt bf lying down maybe in your room? I thought you were trying to get her to bed without nursing?? It's hard to let go of those times isn't it? Could she be getting confused about it?
I think with the night feedings, you just need to be firm and consistent... don't pick her up, just talk to her from beside the crib. It takes at least 4 nights of crying but in the end they are fine. They are not really hungry at those times, it is just what they are used to.
With the time change last week, DD was waking up at 5am again to nurse so we decided to push it back to no earlier than 7am. First night she woke at 5, took an hour to get back to sleep, slept until 8:30, second night she woke at 4am, took about 45 minutes to get back to sleep, and she slept until 7am, third night she slept straight through until 7am. So it really does work! They can understand a lot of what you are telling them at this age.
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I thought you were trying to get her to bed without nursing?? It's hard to let go of those times isn't it? Could she be getting confused about it?
Yes, and yes. That's why I was trying to nurse her outside of the room so she could nurse, then stories, then bed. But she just read stories on our bed, refused the bf and actually asked to go to bed. :)
when she woke up at 4:30 today I got her to settle 4 times but she would wake back up 15 min. later. What does that mean?
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Hugs Inoella! I am down to AM and PM Bfs and I almost cry while i am feeding him thinking about all of this ending. But I am not rushing!
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Hugs Jaci and Roseola.
I have also been wondering about weaning the BT BF. Has anyone done this whilst keeping the other feeds?
Our BT BF is the worst and it is really starting to get me down. I do it in my bed (as we do all ur feeds) in the dark but Cadan just feeds for a few mins and then wants to crawl around the bed, slide down on to the floor, climb on the bedside table, stand up against the headboard etc. It is taking me 45 mins of mucking around to get about 8 minutes of feeding into him. And lately he keeps biting me and laughing and hitting me. I pull him in to me and put him down for a few moments. The other day he did it aboput 12 times and I had to give up in the end. The few times I have stopped the feed and just put him to bed he has woken about 45 mins later and wanted to feed. I am wondering if I could keep his first two feeds at WU(7.30am) and after his first nap(1pmish) and then do the 3rd after his 2nd nap around 5.30pm and then just do dinner at 6.30 and BT at 8pm. Has anyone done anything similar? It isn't ideal as it would mean I would have to make an effort to be home for the feed earlier as sometimes we are at my mum or my sisters. I hate the idea he is weaning. But he is still keen for the 1st and 2nd feed so I don't think he'll be dropping those any time soon.
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Well today she has a fever and nursed more often than usual so not sure what will happen about 2nite.
I'm only sort of sad about the weaning - I know it's good for her and it's super handy for sick days cuz at least I know she'll get that for nutrition! ::) But I won't miss the day time ones - I was just surprised the NT one would go first...
Ali - if it were me i'd just bf when i could and supplement with a snack other days. i never cut a feed dramatically - some days she would take it, others not. Has your DS woken at 45 min again? Since 45 min. naps are UT for us I was just wondering if it might that rather than a hunger issue? Just a thot.
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Hi Jaci,
With the 4:30 wake up and resettling several times, did she eventually go back to sleep for awhile or did you end up nursing her? My DD did that too during the first few nights... I'm not sure but I think it might be some 'learned' hunger that she was just used to being fed at that time. Once her body adjusted to eating properly during the day maybe that's why she stopped waking at that time? It's tough because it made me second guess myself, like does she have gas or teething pain, etc. But I think really it was just habit and once that habit was broken she was okay.
I see on your next post that she is not well today, maybe there was something to do with that. I am so glad that I am still bfing so DD can get the best nutrition when she is sick. And it is so comforting for them. I know when I am sick I still want my mom to come and take care of me, and I'm 30! hope she is feeling better soon.
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Ali - if it were me i'd just bf when i could and supplement with a snack other days. i never cut a feed dramatically - some days she would take it, others not. Has your DS woken at 45 min again? Since 45 min. naps are UT for us I was just wondering if it might that rather than a hunger issue? Just a thot.
I usually do 3xBF on the occasional 1 nap days we have anyway and if he has a big lunch. But I was trying to cut it to 3 more consistently now he is almost 1yo as I don't think he needs all 4 BFs.
Sorry I'm a bit confused about the 45min Q. We normally do a 2hr-2hr15 AM nap and a 45min PM nap. I often have to wake him from both or he would sleep too long and it pushes BT too late. I don't think it is UT or hunger just that it is just a CN for him and not a full, long nap like he takes in the AM. He used to do 2hrs Am and 1.5hrs PM but I don't think he needs 2x long naps anymore. Is that what you meant? Thanks for you help.
My question really was whether anyone else dropped the BT BF before the other 3 as to me it seems like that is one you would keep the longest no?
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BT BF is def still one of the two we have kept.
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The few times I have stopped the feed and just put him to bed he has woken about 45 mins later and wanted to feed.
I was just referring to the line above - if he's waking up 45 min. after BT. But WOW! I wish we had such good naps - we're doing a lot better but never over 1.5!
Can I just say I'm so so so so glad I stuck with BF!!! Ella is still sick today and super fussy and needy and asking to nurse way more than she has in months and my amazing body - ok boobs! - is just ticking along no problem. :D I just think that's pretty cool. And it's such a comfort to know I have this amazing way to comfort my daughter and give her the nutrients she needs. Go BF mommies! ;D
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Oh yeah I am with you now, sorry I was thinking naps. No he hasn't woken after BT for a while now and sometimes STTN even on a measley few mins BF at BT.
Cadan is also sick with a chest infection so had 2x NWs at which I fed him last night which he hasn't done for months (or since 4mo regularly). his little throat was so sore and hoarse. It was nice to be able to soothe him with a BF. Have been sticking with the 4 BFs the last 2 days since he is sick and not eating much (except strawberries!). He has anti-Bs now so hopefully they will kick in and we can get back on track.
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Can I just say I'm so so so so glad I stuck with BF!!! Ella is still sick today and super fussy and needy and asking to nurse way more than she has in months and my amazing body - ok boobs! - is just ticking along no problem. Cheesy I just think that's pretty cool. And it's such a comfort to know I have this amazing way to comfort my daughter and give her the nutrients she needs. Go BF mommies!
Jaci I was feeling the same way last week. DS had two days where he literally ate no food and just BF for what felt like every hour. It is really nice that there is some way to get the nutriants into them.
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Can you imagine what we would do without the bf when the little ones are sick?? We would ALL be so unhappy!
I need some advice/help... my plan to wean DD from her early morning bf has failed miserably. The first few nights were ok, some fussing and then she went back to sleep until a reasonable hour. The last 3 nights, she was up at 5:45 (her usual time to nurse) and then won't go back to sleep! I have gone in her room and tried to settle her until 7am when I have gotten her up for the day and done the first bf. Her naps are all wonky now, I think she must be OT but she won't nap for more than 30 minutes. I've been experimenting with different naptimes and bedtimes to see what we can get. She was on 2 naps before and I think she must still need 2 naps since she is now getting 2+ hours less sleep at night over the last 3 days! Where to start??
We had such a good routine for the last month, now I have messed it up! Dang! :-) But at least I'm not back at work yet.
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Could you send DH in to settle her instead of going in yourself? That worked for us. Or try W2S. I've never done it myself, but I've hear good things... Hugs!! It's never fun when they get wonky!!
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I would try W2S if the early morning wakes are not working for you. Back when my dd was a baby I did W2S for extending her morning nap and it worked wonders for us but you have to get to them before they wake up and just sort of nudge them ever so slightly to get them to 1/2 open their eyes then go back into a sleep. My dd took a paci so when her eyes would 1/2 open I stuck the paci in her mouth and she would drift off into a very long sleep. We had 30 min naps turn into 2 hour naps.
Anyone's lo refusing other liquids to drink? Graydon is now 15 months and will still not drink water or milk. He will take some from a sippy as he knows how but he will then laugh and dribble it all down his shirt. In the end he's not drinking anything. In a day he takes about 3oz of whole milk in his cereal and that's it! As a result he's still bfing 4-5x a day as I don't want him to go without any liquids. I don't really care if he doesn't drink cow's milk but I want him drinking the water. I don't mind bfing this much as most of the drinks are quick drinks and I'd love for him to go to 2 years if he wants, but I want the water in him!
Any of you getting comments about bfing at this age? I was very surprised at my sister today, she came over to visit and was there when Graydon got up from his nap and I bf after his nap and she was surprised and said "wow, he's quite long for his age... He seems pretty big now.... I can't believe you're still bfing him at this age, when are you going to stop?". Meanwhile, she knew my dd bf until 18 months (though dd only bf am and pm at this age).
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Yeah I think some people just don't get that BF is not just for newborns. I have had comments from friends and work colleagues who genuinely thought it was only advised to BF until 6mo (getting confused with EBF I think), who thought you had to stop when babies got teeth, who thought it was not "right" to feed once they can ask for it (even by pulling on your shirt/pointing) and so on. My answer to all these people is that the WHO recommend BF until 2yo and beyond so that is what I am aiming for if DS will have me.
Plus like you say lots of LOs over 1yo only have BFs at WU and BT which are probably in the privacy of their own home so it just isn't something you see very often.
And Cadan will drink water from a sippy, Doidy (with help), open cup and straw but only in very small quantities. I just offer it at each meal and he takes what he wants. It is only maybe an oz or two each day though so I would worry about leaving him without BFs.
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I don't know what to say, Marian. Will he take juice diluted with water? I started giving DS water ith his meals when he was 6 months and he still gets it at meal times. he takes it in a reg cup now or a sippy. He will take his cows milk in a sippy (was only in a bottle up until a few weeks ago).
I've run into a few people with the whole only BF until 6 months idea. Other than them, I haven't received too many comments. Just a few people who ask when I plan to BF until. My answer at this point in time is, "I don't know. It depends on DS." I'm aiming for 18 months and we'll go from there.
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I haven't tried diluted juice, I don't want him getting used to the sweet taste, I sort of thought if he did like it it would be that much harder for him to drink water or milk. Again today at snack time he sucked it in and dribbled it down his chin laughing. His shirt got soaked and I didn't bring a change of clothes.
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Marion - Ella had reflux and hated sippys for a long time (didn't like having to lean back to get it) but for some reason she took to a straw sippy. Worh a try... She also didn't like cows milk at first so I tried soy milk and she liked it a bit better. After a while I just switched back to cow's milk and she was fine with it. But when all else fails I let her drink from my cup - she LOVES it. I hold it ofcourse but it's a sure fire way to get her to drink more. ;)
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So sneaky, Jaci! But it's true. Whatever you have, your LO will want it evne if what she has in front of her is exaclty the same...
I understand about the juice, Marian. I don't give Aiden juice either, except the odd bit of orange juice very diluted!! If Graydon would take it you could then slowly reduce the amount of juice in it until it's just water.
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Graydon is now drinking from the sippy! I was quite sick with the flu for a few days and though I still nursed him it wasn't as often so he did drink from the sippy. I guess all the other times when he would suck out liquid and then drool it out, he wasn't thirsty enough to drink. Maybe I should cut one of the bfs out at his age now.
I think we have a cow's milk issue here. I have been giving him cow's milk in his cereal and ever since we started he has been having these crazy acidic smelly diapers and he's been having about 4 dirty diapers a day. Yesterday they were almost green. He has not been fussy and he has not been sick at all so I'm sure it's the milk. DD had severe milk protein allergy and Graydon had severe reflux from birth to 8 months so I'm not surprised. Yet another reason I'm so happy that we continued bfing to this age of 15 months and that he bfs as often as he does.
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DS will drink loads if he thinks it is someone elses drink. I usually just get a drink and put it on the table near me an dhe assumes it is mine and asks for some (signs). He does love an open cup and could drink independently from it earlier than I thought he would. i don't bother offering CM's as it is not good they get too much milk at this age so if BF 2x or more there is prob no benefit to extra CM. K did strat drinking much more when I went back to work and so BFing in the day stopped. Maybe you should cut all CM and see if the superpoops clear up then you will know forsure. Thanks G for BM.
If people ask when I plan to stop BFing I usually say "it's recommended until 2 so I've no reason to stop before then" and most peolple say "is it?" really surprised. It also says until 2 in the Qu'ran so lots of our family will accept that as a good reason. I do avoid feeding in public though because DS is so on/off it is too hard to be descreet.
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I took him of the CM today to see if there's a difference, even though it was such a small amount it doesn't take much.
I still bf in public, I guess I forget he's now a "toddler" and quite long when he lays on my lap I just don't think much. Nowadays it just usually in bfing rooms (there everywhere here) as it's now too cold to bf him outside at the park. I think the only non-bfing room place I feed him is the library but it's in the kiddie section and I could care less what people think, especially since we're the ones doing something that's recommended iykwim.
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I hope Graydon is feeling better for the no CM.
I don't care what people think either and I would BF if he really wanted it but I'd rather keep my breast from full exposure if possible. K often pops right off and points at it saying "boob" and I say "yes" and then he goes back on again. Cute but it does draw attention. I happily BF at the dinner table when my extended family are around - we are very pro BFing in my family. All 3 of us sisters are BF toddlers still. Funny because my mum never did.
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LOL that he stops bfing, points, and says "boob"! though I can see how that would NOT be funny in public!
The no CM doesn't seem to be making a difference, his poops were the same today so I'm wondering if he's teething. I'll keep him off the CM just to be on the safe side for at least a few days to be sure.
My evening supply seems to be quite low, I guess from being sick last week when I didn't pump at night, I pumped last night and barely got an ounce! Not sure if I should just keep doing it anyways or just let it go. Gray is now 15 months and I have a good supply in the freezer. The only reason I started pumping when he was a baby was to have milk to mix with his food and purees that I make. Other than the cereal, I really don't need it anymore I guess. He seems to be taking his regular evening feed.
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Cadan likes soya milk, would Graydon go for that do you think?
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I might just try soya milk. Graydon had 4 poopy diapers today :(, 3 were one after the other all in the morning. By tonight his poop diaper was dark, which was the blueberries he ate with his breakfast so his food is going through him fast now. Still the acid smell to them too. So thankful we're still bfing!
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When Cadan eats a lot of fruit his poops get very acidic smelling.
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Oh no, really? Graydon has been eating more fruit, he loves pomegranites, blueberries, and apple sauce. Gee, now I am wondering if it's the fruit. Today is good so far, he had only one small poop with a normal smell.
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I don't worry about it though. the fruit is acidic so it makes sense to me that the poop should be too. Most foods Cadan eats come out only partially digested at the moment. I just figured his gut is still maturing. Whenever the poop is black I know he;s had blueberries.
Looks like we are going to drop the BT BF soon. He just isn't interested. It is a fight to get him to take 8 mins and takes about 45 mins to do it. I am thinking of pumping and seeing if he will take it in a cup. I haven't pumped for ages so not sure if I can even get anything.
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Hello girls!
I'm very excited to be able to join you! DD2 was 1yr about a week and a half ago and we're still BF happily :D I'm so pleased we've made it this far as I had a hard time with DD1, due to lack of support and knowledge mainly, and at 9.5 mos my supply had totally dried up due to bottle preference and she was done :( I had really wanted to go to a year, and now that I'm at one year with DD2 I can't imagine giving it up for a long time yet as we're both enjoying it so much still and it is so easy most of the time that I can't see any point in stopping, especially when I know how good it is for them to carry on. I'm at home full time atm and will be for a while (Swedish maternity leave is awesome!) so don't need to worry about weaning feeds or pumping. Such a difference to last time (in UK) when I went back part time to work at 4mos, struggled to pump enough to give her BM only and had supply issues and bottle preference problems all the way through really. When I think about it, it wasn't bad at all that I made it as far as I did with our issues and no support. This time I have had so much more knowledge and haven't even bothered about pumping/bottles at all, just focussed on the BF and it's been so great! ;D
I'm getting to the stage now where some people have started to question my decision to carry on BF, and I don't have any friends who BF a toddler, so am very glad to be able to be part of this thread and look forward to chatting with you all :)
//Vick
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Congrats Vicku. What an acheivement with your first and second DDs. Well done.
i shouldn't officially be here yet but here I am. Only a few weeks and I can be a bonafide member.
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Welcome! Vicku! Great job on the BF (both times around!).
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Welcome Vicku!
And sad Ali that Cadan is giving up the BT BF. :(
We are still BFing 4x a day and I am thinking about trying to cut them down to 3x a day but really not sure how now! Today before both his naps DS pointed to the feeding chair and leaned towards it (thats what he does when he wants me to go in a direction) ::) so I take this to mean he was wanting a feed both times...
Now that he's actually asking for it i'm even less sure how to start dropping one!
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I'm that same way Cathy! She always points to the chair and whines quite demandingly!!! But she only really wants to nurse when she's sleep these days and the past few days she's been hungry for breakfast just 30 min. after the morning BF so I don't thinks she's getting much - although I still feel the let down. During the day if she does want to nurse when she's not that sleepy she usually gives up if the let down takes too long - so impatient! ;)
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And sad Ali that Cadan is giving up the BT BF.
Well last night Cadan took about 2mins BF at BT so after he was in bed I pumped and got just over 3oz in 40mins. I had it ready to offer tonight if he didn't BF but he did 7mins straight off which is not far off his 8min norm so I didn't need to offer the EBM.
We recently dropped to 3 BFs from 4 so we were just feeding AM, after 1st (or only) nap and BT. So it was the feed before or after nap 2 that went. I just offer a snack of yogurt and water instead and he doesn't seem to miss it at the time. He has just started waking at night sometimes again though and usually having 1NF so is really still having 4 BFs in most 24hr periods! I am just waiting for him to be completely well again after his chest infection and then I will wean that NF if it doesn't disappear on it's own. I have never really weaned NFs before at the one he was ahving just got later in the night until it was his normal WU.
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Well in saying that, we actually only did 3x BF today. We all woke up late and DS had a one nap day and somehow the meal times were such that he wasn't into a 4th BF (i did offer) and so we just skipped it and did dinner slightly early and BT slightly early as well because of the "short" one nap day.
DS doesn't like yoghurt, he eats ANY other kind of dairy product except yoghurt. He's had a few tastes in the past and every time it turns his stomach bad and poos go all funny, so we're steering clear for now.
I've been giving small amounts of cows milk in the afternoon, no pressure, just to see if he'll have some and give him an opportunity to get used to the flavour by itself (he already has it in his porridge etc) so that's something i guess. But DS drinks so much water during the day already!! He loves his sippy, wants it all the time during meals and in between, he probably drinks 7-8oz each day of water if not more. (plus BF's!!)
So when you're dropping BF's are you aiming to replace them with cows milk or just water and more solids? I'm not sure whats recommended at this age...
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Thanks for the welcomes! :D
Cathy, maybe it'll happen naturally as he goes to one nap? DD also loves her sippy of water and takes probably about 5oz a day. I haven't given anything else in it yet and I only offer it at mealtimes and sometimes after a nap but I'm sure she'd take more if I left it for her to get anytime.
And Ali, I know of someone on here who's LO wasn't interested in the bedtime feed anymore so she would put to bed without, then do a sort of DF at 9ish and get a good feed in that way. Carried on like that til 18mos. Was also thinking it may be temporary and he'll want it again later on. Do you think it could have anything to do with OT that he doesn't nurse well at BT? Sometimes DD seems too wound up/OT or simply too tired to take more than what she needs to take the edge off the hunger, then she'll go to sleep and wake for a feed after a couple of hrs.
We've recently gone to 4x daytime feeds gradually over the last month. Before it was 5x still! She is a very small little girl (only 7.5kgs/16lbs10oz at 1yo and has always been small and had slowish weight gain) so I've always been keen on her having as much milk as possible and didn't rush to get rid of any feeds. Last few days I've noticed her 3rd feed has turned more into a "snack" or drink though so she may drop that one soon too. Still doing nightfeeds here too... We're doing BLW and she's still not eating a big amount so am a bit apprehensive to cut milk feeds cos of that, but then maybe she'd take more solids if she took less milk... not sure on this?? Anyone else done/doing BLW?
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hi ladies,
just wanted to chime in and offer you all support. I bfed mine for 16 and 18 mths, worked ft from 4.5 and 7.5 mths respectively but in a school so have plenty of holidays.
I desperately wanted to get to 18 mths (well, 2 yrs, then 20 mths -to have a grand total of 16+20mths=3 yrs) and for the last 6 to 8 weeks of my feeding relationship with Emma (until my mum told me to get a grip LOL and that I had given her "all she wanted") I was doing a kind of goodbye-bfeeding night feed. I always DF from the breast with her, dropping it eventually at 10.5 mths so we were used to this set up earlier in our bfeeding days anyway and I just simply went back to it. She was having a sippy or open cup of cow's milk in the am and also a little in the pm, around 2 or 3 oz (I found these transitions - all of them, from BLW to cow's milk drinking to current toilet training - much easier due to the big brother being the role model for EVERYTHING) and was happier to go to sleep after this and a cuddle....so just to get to 18 mths really (it was summertime as Emma is a Jan babe, I might have gone on longer for the immunity if it had been autumn or winter) I got her back up asleep and got her on the breast easily (as she'd been used to this from before I suppose) and kept up these long and calm feeds for the last bye-bye period.
Hugs and big congrats to all for your achievements in bfeeding!
Siobhain x
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Vicku - Yes I would say less milk leads to more solids, that's why Tracy suggests dropping the DF at 6-7months so it doesn't interfere with solids uptake. We only did purees for a very short time, I was keen to do BLW as soon as i found out about it and started finger foods as soon as DS could manage. He loves his food, i've never put on any pressure, offered lots of variety at each meal, and we're now having fun learning how to use a fork and spoon (for meals that require it).
But DS didnt seem to have any problem having 3 meals a day plus all those milk feeds so we kept up the DF till 10months or so as well, and only dropped it when he seemed to be going through a "not very hungry" phase - and went cold turkey (after I'd already being bringing it forward to about 9pm anyway)
I still want to keep up the WU and BT BF's for as long as he'll take it. It's just the daytime ones i think there is so much going on and it would be nice to have a little more freedom for myself during the day. :)
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And Ali, I know of someone on here who's LO wasn't interested in the bedtime feed anymore so she would put to bed without, then do a sort of DF at 9ish and get a good feed in that way. Carried on like that til 18mos. Was also thinking it may be temporary and he'll want it again later on. Do you think it could have anything to do with OT that he doesn't nurse well at BT?
Possibly could be OT but could also be UT as we are in the midst of the 2:1 with naps and our last A is too short really. But he still does it when OT as well. We never kept up the DF as it seemed to give NWs so I'm not keen to do a DF now I don't think.
Sometimes I think he just knows that as soon as he has this BF he is going to bed and is just trying to delay it. But maybe he is too young for that. It was been OK again tonight and he took 7mins nicely. It could also be that dinner is often too late or he eats from mine and DH's plates after he has had his dinner so I am experimenting with doing dinner earlier and then not feeding him anything in the hour before BT BF.
He actually had 4x BFs today as the middle two were out (in a restaurant and a petrol station) so were only 5mins max.
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Ali - I experimented with a short a.m. and long p.m. nap yesterday so DD was more rested at BT than she has been in a long time. She did still take the bt bf but not nearly as long as usual and stopped all by herself and then pointed to the books. Cute, really, but made me think of you. I guess as we continue the 2-1 transition she'll be following your DS and drop that feed first.
We've been working on dropping the NW bfs that past 2 nights and I'm surprised at how well it's going! Today she made it all the way from 7 p.m. - 5 a.m. Then nursed again at WU at 7 a.m. (both times only one side so I figured it only equals one feed??) Still wasn't interested in breakfast tho. ::)
Cathy - my DD has never been a good eater and stll BFs 3-4 x/day but I introduced cow's milk a bit here and there by 12 months and now I give it to her with breakfast and dinner. She too loves her sippy and drinks water and diluted juice all day. Yesterday I did take away the sippy about 45 min. before dinner and she ate a lot better than usual so I'm going to have to watch that! But I've heard that as long as they get plenty of calcium rich foods you don't necessarily need to replace BF with cow's milk oz per oz.
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I found K was too OS for the last feed and was fussy with it. Do you feedin a dark room alone? This really helped K. Then we do change and teeth with just a dim light to keep the mood. I think K tries to stall the BT feed to stall BT too so I say if you don't want any we can just go straight to bed and then he changes his mind quite quickly!
I went out last night after work so K missed his BT feed and this morning he fedfor over an hr, probably just suckling really but he was making up for it I guess. Let me laze in bed for longer so I just went with it. Normally he is pointing down stairs and asking for his nan or his dad after his feed.
After 1 I would definitely be replacing feeds with solids not CM. They only need the calcium at this age so a couple of feeds is likely enough esp with other sources from a balanced diet.
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So E has decided she only likes the right side...??? ??? ::) ???
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Hugs, Jaci. That's no fun. Is she teething on one side or something all fo a sudden?
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both of mine much preferred the left over right. Oscar ONLY fed from the left for the last month to six weeks - only fed him at bedtime at this stage till he was happier without.
Emma preferred the left from very, very early. I had to start from the right when she was very hungry and also started the DFs and the later DF style feeds from the right....
Huggles, hope it doesn't make you lopsided....
S x
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Cadan definitely prefers the left side which produces more milk but will take the right side and just feed for less time on it. BT BF was OK again today.
What are you doing with the declined side Jaci?
We do feed in my bed in the dark, just the two of us but he is happy to slide around the bed in the dark!
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Graydon always preferred the left, I pumped extra from the right to maintain supply.
Looks like we are done with feeding in public. Graydon now likes to hum while he's feeding and it causes too many people to stare. He hums the entire time he's feeding, it's sort of funny actually.
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Sienna also has a favourite, the right, and it's also the one that produces the most. Sometimes she's not keen on starting on the left anymore but mostly she'll take it but never feeds for as long on that one.
LOL at the humming ;D Sounds cute! I'm not keen on feeding in public anymore either, it gets harder and harder and she's usually not interested if there's stuff going on so it sort of feels pointless to try ::)
S is getting her first two teeth (one up and one down) and hasn't been interested in feeding during the last two days at all (but is VERY interested in the night ::)). wondering if she's trying to drop to 3 feeds or if it's just a teething issue ??? We've only recently gone to 4 feeds from 5 so I would expect her to stay at 4 for a bit longer. Hope it doesn't affect my supply... Those of you who have older babies, did you find your supply decreased easily at this stage if you missed feeds? Maybe I should get the pump out?
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Funny how they all have favorites :) DS also favors the right, right from the beginning. Its most likely bc I had to wear a breast shield on that side in the beginning as he couldn't latch properly on that side, but even now w/o the shield I always feel a lot fuller on the right side.
Vicku I find we go through a lot of phases like that also. I thought for about a week that DS was going to drop to 3 feeds, but we are still staying strong at 4, sometimes 5:) I find that my supply is pretty steady and adjusts fairly quick to his preferences. I returned our pump back to the pharmacy at 10 months and haven't used one since. :) I would guess the lack of interest is due to teething, but we still only have 2 teeth also, so not too much experience on that front. Could also be shes so active during the day that she doesn't want to be bothered to feed and is making up for it at night.
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LOL at the humming! ;) I haven't fed out and about in ages - after about 6 months she was simply too hyper and curious!
I haven't been lopsided in ages either - I guess it just sorts itself out. I think she's just weaning herself - she really didn't ask to bf today and didn't really want to in the a.m. (after a nice bf at 4:30 a.m. ::)) and only nursed in the late afternoon cuz I offered. 2nite I started her on the left side and that's all she wanted - didn't even want her fave. :) I'm torn - I don't think she would even ask anymore during the day but I know it's good for her so I keep offering. But at the same time I'm kinda looking forward to going down to just the a.m. and p.m. bfs. Sigh... she's growing up too fast!!!!
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Jaci - I agree, growing up waaaaay too fast!! :(
Vicku, we've got 8 teeth now, the last 3 all cut through at once right during/after DS was sick. He did go off BF's for a few days while sick (he was so lethargic) and I think my supply did drop, but it also came back quite easily because we were doing more frequent feeds while he was sick and recovering. I think my supply is more adaptable now, dont get engorged so easily but still seem to be able to supply enough when needed. Phew! :)
I wouldnt bother pumping either, but you know yourself best - some people might need to I'd imagine...
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I'm down to 3x/day and still have lots of milk for those feeds. In fact, I even leaked this morning! So strange... has been ages. We're really consistent about those three but he's really starting to play around at the pm feed so we'll see...
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Not sure if this is the right place for this question: I'm still dealing with the 4:30/5 wake and nurse. Then she doesn't always want to nurse very long at wake up but either way - short or long nurse - she's asking for breakfast about an hour after wake up. Most insistently I might add! But then she'll only eat a few bites. Today - after a fairly long wake up nurse - she only ate a few bites of yogurt and bread pudding. Not sure what that means. Is she not really getting much through bf anymore? Should I try to hold her off for breakfast until later? that will be tough cuz she just gets cranky. hmmm...
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Hi again Jaci :) We are still doing a really similar thing, with DS doing one early AM nurse around 4 am then again on wake up. Problem is that if I do BF on wake up also, breakfast is pretty much ignored and refused until about 2-3 hrs later. It's interesting that Ella is so keen on the breakfast. What I found helped was giving breakfast first and then offering the BF after that as kind of a top off, maybe doing something like that would help? I think that BF now isn't really the all in one "meal" it used to be under 1, but now is more like a supplement to regular food. Still important but not as filling as it used to be. HTH.
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Hey Jaci and Gogo, we do a similar thing (although not as early as you Jaci! I've been working at pushing that early morning feed later and later) today it was wake and BF at 6am then back to sleep for another hour till 7:15am and then wake up and breakfast at about 8:15.
That gives us 2hrs between BF and solids breakfast.
I find this works quite well, it's a good amount of spacing and he always eats plenty of breakfast (usually 1 piece of toast, 1 bowl of porridge (about half a cup) and sometimes half a banana but that depends upon how hungry he is and that can vary day to day)
He's usually demanding breakfast by that point too!
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When we have a NF a few hours before WU Cadan still BFs well on WU but not quite so long (say 8 mins instead of 12). We then get washed and dress and it's 1.5hrs later by the time we eat breakfast. Breakfast is actually our biggest meal of the day and he'll eat a largish bowl of cereal (150ml whole milk) and a slice of bread with marmite and sometimes some fruit. Could you distract her a while Jaci so she doesn't think about breakfast?
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My DS must have a crazy metabolism ( whis I did too!). He eats 2 eggs with cheese, toast and cream cheese, fruit and avocado for breakfast and is only 30th percentile for weight. He eats well the rest of the day and gets 2 BFs.... Should I be worried?
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Should I be worried?
Heck no! :) Be glad and enjoy!
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I think we may be starting toward full BF weaning, but I also never expected to make it past a year with Maggie, since my boys only made it to a year. Maggie's almost 16 months. She will take or leave the 2 possible day time feeds, which leaves AM and PM only. In the past, when I got down to 2 feeds a day, I seemed to lose production, so we'll see. I'm torn between giving at least one feed during the day (we're also switching to 1 nap instead of 2, so I think I'd offer after the 1 nap only) to try to keep up production given history. . . and to just switching to whole milk all the way. . . She happily happily takes a cup of milk, and in fact had 3 cups of whole milk today with no daytime feeds. Growing, growing, growing. But, who knows. . . maybe she'll continue the AM/PM for a while, too.
Just had to share!
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Well done on making the 16mo Rachel, that is a great acheivement.
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Good for you, Rachel! You never know witht the am/pm feed- could still be a while!
I was going to post and complain about the pm feed for DS- he had a week of pretty much not drinking and simply throwing himself around on the bed. Then all of a sudden he's back to drinking... not a lot, but about 5-8 minutes worth...
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Rachel, we have just moved properly to one nap and I'm thinking about going from 2 middle of the day feeds (about 11am and 3/4pm) to just doing one as she's not that interested most days. Especially for the late pm one she usually just takes a quick drink/snack and sometimes refuses the second side. Am torn between doing it before or after the nap though :-\
If you did just carry on the am and bt feeds and supply dropped too much, you could always take some fenugreek or other galactagogue to get it back up. Maybe not drop both feeds at the same time either, gradually weaning them might be better for supply to adjust to what you want and need?
We've just come out of a few weeks of teething... her first three teeth are out! :) The first one was a top one and it's so sharp! It gave me a sore on my L nipple and I couldn't feed her the same way as usual for the bt feed (do it lying down on my R side and feed from the L lying on my R too) but now it's healed and we're back to our usual way :)
I was wondering, do your babes 'ask' for milk or do you offer? Or a mix? Sienna never asks but has started to get VERY excited when I ask her if she wants "milkies" LOL sooo cute I nearly die each time! ;D
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Cadan rarely asks as I offer at the usual times but a few times lately he has asked at dinner time for some reason. He bangs my chest with both hands and comes at my cleavage with an open mouth. It's quite funny. I always give it is he asks.
We are doing one long 3hr nap 12.30-3.30 most days and we do BF after the nap. It does mean the 3 BFs are not evenly spaced but Cadan only feeds well when he has just woken up. I did actually do an extra BF before the nap today as he had lunch early but he only took about 4mins. He only took a couple minutes at BT again. :(
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Aiden doesn't ask, but he gets super excited when I tell him it's time for some 'mommy juice" and if he's on the floor will run tot he bedroom. In the am he wants nothing but me when DH goes to get him up and I'm pretty sure that he associates waking up from the night with nursing...
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Isaac asks sometimes, he either runs to the nursing chair and bangs on it, or if i'm holding him he leans towards it and points. Occassionally if we're not in or around his room, he points at my chest and says "pipple" which is what he does after he's finished having a feed lately (pulls off and looks at the nipple and says "pipple" with a cheeky smile) ::)
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Hehehe. Pipple :) Thats cute Cathy.
DS has a special cry for when he wants milk, that he has been doing for about 6 months now. He just recently started pulling on my shirt also, but that is not as often. I always offer the am and pm feeds but wait for his lead on the mid day ones unless we are going out then I will offer. I hope to start doing the "don't ask, don't refuse" method in the next month or so.
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Haha! Pipple... DS always looks at mine when he's done feeding with this funny little expression and then pokes at it. That's when I tell him BF time is over!
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So we are on a dont ask , dont refuse basis , for a few months ,now , but am regulary asked for when am back from work and when she wakes up in the morning. Both of them are emotional requirements as i see them , and hardly last more than 4-5 mins.
She asks of "boo boo" hehe, not sure where she got that from.
so she will point at the one she wants !
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:) Love hearing about your cuties!!
I'm in pain :( After the left boob healed and nursing became painfree on that side, it started on the right (and worse!). Now my right breast has a sore on the side from the top tooth rubbing. It was agony to feed last night and this morning so I started using Lansinoh again. Anybody else had this problem when teeth came in? I'm not sure if it is a latch issue that needs me to do anything or if it will sort itself out ??? Don't have any experience of nursing with teeth but have read about it that you may need to work on the latch again. Just not sure how I'll get her to co-operate with that :P She just wants to do her thing LOL Any tips or experience girls?
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never had an issue with teeth Vick and mine had 16 each by the time I stopped LOL!
any tiny nibbling for me was a sign that they were done and just using me to comfort suck....
you may need some re-latching work it seems.
big hugs
S x
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Ouch, Vicku!! Big hugs! I sometimes have issues with DS but it's totally latch-related- I can see teeth marks close to my nipples and it usually happens when he's really OS and wiggly. I found laying down to nurse helped because he could move his body around and stay latched on ok. Are her teeth just coming in? Could also be that she's not really sure what to do with them yet too. DS went for a few weeks where he had his tongue sticking out all the time- I guess to feel where the tooth was coming in- and those were the worst for nursing. Now that all his front teeth are in it's ok even though he's teething again.
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Are her teeth just coming in? Could also be that she's not really sure what to do with them yet too.
Yes, I think this may be it, and hope she does figure it out soon! This pm she was really fretful and I had a look and two more top teeth are making their way through the gums! That'll be five teeth in one month... Was biting me several times during the bedtime feed just now too, eventually I gave up and said no more milk before bed. She was upset but fell asleep a while after. Awful pain from the sore, feels like the first week after she was born all over again :P
Sorry for moaning :-[ Just need to vent a bit.
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I had a period when some teeth were cutting when it was really uncomfortable and I though it wa sthe beginning of the end for us but it did get better again after a few days. I do find if I stuff in as much boob as I can he has to keep his mouth wider and he can't press as hard and it is more comfy.
K is definitely less interested than he use to be. Sometimes in the mornings he asks (signs) for breakfast rather than his BF but he still asks in the evenings and occasionally i the day. He rarely says no if I offer though.
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Is your sore a milk blister, Vicku?
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Thought I'd update. . . still going, just AM and PM, now for almost 2 weeks. Seems fine!
With the exception of a Saturday short nap when she woke up crying and drowsy. I brought a cup of milk, as she's been having with the Nanny, and she took it for a minute, pushed it away, and said "MILK! MILK!" (it sounds oddly like a combination of MILK and BOOK, I have a hard time distinguishing these two words!); I tried a book, that didn't help; tried the cup again, that didn't help, and she said "MILK! MILK!" and pulled at my shirt like she was about to tear it off. Whoa! I guess I figured out what she wanted.
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Justing popping on to say "so long" - Ella is officially weaned from mommy! For lots of reasons I decided to go cold turkey and although I felt really guilty the first night she did great with DH and her sippy and didn't even ask to nurse by the second day. I'm proud to have nursed for 14 months and feel good about where we are now.
Congrats to you all for keeping it up. Happy Nursing! :)
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I'm proud to have nursed for 14 months and feel good about where we are now.
:)
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I'm proud to have nursed for 14 months and feel good about where we are now.
OK - "nursed my daughter"... lol! :)
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Congratulations!
(I smiled at the post. . . It took me a minute. . . but, ha! ;))
I've been flirting with the cold turkey idea. . . AM/PM nursing still generally going well. . . . but the lure of the sippy grows . . . .
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Congrats Jaci on 14 months! I am planning on dropping either the Am or Pm feed when DS turns 14 months but am having trouble deciding which. He really seems to enjoy the Am one and is so relaxed for it. The Pm feed can either be relaxing or stressful as sometimes he wants to sleep and get in his crib instead or may bite if he does fall asleep.
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You know what's funny, Jaci. I didn't even see that until you re-posted! My smiley was for your success :)
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My smiley was for your success
:) I know! It just hit me when I read just the one line. :)
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Well done for the 14 mos Jaci! :) Hope to see you around the boards :-*
Is your sore a milk blister, Vicku?
It is more like a cut from the razor sharp top tooth rubbing against the base of the nipple. Saying that, it is MUCH better now, almost healed :) I was searching for info on teeth and latch etc and found some that suggested holding your breast with the thumb on top and 2-4 fingers underneath, then press into the breast with the index finger to make the nipple point downwards. It worked a charm! Got the nipple away from the tooth and erally improved the latch to get more boob in her mouth :) She's also learning to adjust her latch herself now. It's harder doing lying down nursing, like we do for bedtime feeds and night feeds, so still working on that. Why sit when you can lie... :P LOL The biting is also much much better. She caught on quickly that biting wasn't accepted and today I've had none! :) Hope it continues like this.
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That's great to hear, Vicku!!! Hope you heal super fast and that her latch only continues to improve!!!
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congrats on the 14 mths Jaci xxx
good news Vick! In almost 3 yrs total nursing I never learned how to feed lying down.
S x
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We use to do lying down nursing in the early days but as I was usually in company it wasn't really practical to lie down a lot of the time.
Cadan has an upset tummy so is on 5x BFs a day (up from the 3 we had just dropped to) at the moment and eating very little solids. And he has started asking everytime by banging my chest and saying the "b" sounds.
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Hugs on the illness Ali! Emma got a bug around the same age last winter and even her poops went back to infant-style bfed poops much to the amusement of my paed. I thought it was fairly normal to expect that to happen....hd a thread on it at the time xxx
vibes for Caden and hurray for mummy's milk - the best at times like this for toddlers too....if only my toddler would have taken it a BIT longer.
S x
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Well his poops ARE back to a kind of chicken korma style.
He nursed loads today at around 7 different times and kept asking for it, even in the middle of his dinner. Poor thing. I am so glad I have something healthy and nutritious I can offer him when he is off all else. There is no way he is dehydrated even which the runs.
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Hope Cadan feels better soon :) Its great to still have BF when they are sick, you know that they are getting some nutrition in when they are not eating/drinking anything else.
Quick question..has anyone ever had a plugged duct before? I got one for the first time last week and it was such excruciating pain. Anyhow my question is since then I feel that my supply has gone way down..how long does it normally take to get back to normal? Its still pretty sore, but I thought it would bounce back quicker especially since DS is constantly wanting to nurse bc he's not getting much when he does. Any experiences?
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In almost 3 yrs total nursing I never learned how to feed lying down.
I never did with Lois, but this time the nurses in hospital encouraged I had Sienna in bed with me ALL the time for the time I was there (good I think! And probably part of the culture as about 50% co-sleep here, so great to be taught a good and safe position in hospital :)) for the bonding and the BF, so was taught some really good tricks and a great position to feed newborns lying down where you can't roll over in your sleep :) the midwives were soo nice and I got really good BF help here.
Btw it's nice that you still pop in here Shiv :-* :)
Ali, I hope Cadan is getting better. Sienna is also ill, and suffering with her teeth, so hasn't been into her solids either. I totally agree with it being nice to have something else to offer when nothing else is wanted and S also BFed about 7 times the other day. I just fed whenever she asked as I like that she's getting both extra fluids and anti-bodies to help her fight the cold.
She has started 'asking' now I suppose. Moans and whinges if I sit down and when i pick her up she pulls my shirt ::) If I ask if she wants 'milkies' she gets REALLY excited LOL Not so keen on the shirt pulling so I would like to teach her another way of asking. Not sure if she'll learn to say milkies for a while yet so maybe I should start signing 'milk'? anyone else do that? It would be so much more discreet when in public and better than shouting and shirt pulling :P
Quick question..has anyone ever had a plugged duct before? I got one for the first time last week and it was such excruciating pain. Anyhow my question is since then I feel that my supply has gone way down..how long does it normally take to get back to normal? Its still pretty sore, but I thought it would bounce back quicker especially since DS is constantly wanting to nurse bc he's not getting much when he does. Any experiences?
I've had blocked ducts several times this time round. If it's still painful try always feeding on that side first for a day or so to ensure LO drains that breast as much as possible. Also because the baby milks the breast with his tongue, the area under his chin is drained most efficiently at each feed. So try feeding in a position where his chin point towards the blockage. Could mean you need to ba a bit inventive ;) I once fed S with her lying on my bed and me in the all fours position over her LOL Worked though! :) Leaning forwards positions also help the milk flow faster so can help too. Also massage, warmth and pumping helps. I've found taking a hot shower and gently massaging my breast and then hand expressing a bit helps me when I get blocked ducts. HTH Do you feel the supply is less in just that breast, or both?
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We do baby signs but not milk for some reason. Cadan bangs my chest (above the boobs) with one hand and says the "b" sound. Not that discrete either I guess but actually he rarely does it in public as he is usually too distracted.
I hope your soreness goes away soon. I think I had a blocked duct when on holiday back in June (never got it checked) and I found pushing on the sore area whilst feeding as well as massaging the breast before each feed helped. And warmth helps as Vicku said. I have these gel pad thingies from Mothercare than can be heated for just such occasions. They help with the blood supply I believe.
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has anyone ever had a plugged duct before?
I have- and it got infected! Blech! I was on meds for over a month! That being said, I kept nursing on that side a lot and actually found that after that I had (and still have) more milk from that breast than the other. So I'm not sure how to really answer your question about what is "normal". In general, the more your LO nurses or even suckles, the more your body should produce... it might take a few days. Lots of good advice about helpign to relieve pain and get the ducts unblocked here. You coudl also try hand-expressing or pumping but I always foudn DS managed to get things unplugged the best- just had to try all kinds of positions.
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So we have crossed the 21 months mark ! Wow guess am the last few moms around atleast in j circle. Of frds here!
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Thank you ladies for all of the suggestions on the blocked duct. I tried just about everything you all listed and it came out the next day, but was still really tender for a few days as is expected and supply took about as long to get back up as well. I think the source of the problem was that DS is starting to get his two top teeth in so his latch has changed a lot. I re-read what you wrote Vicku and am going to start trying the thing with the hands bc now even though the blockage is gone, I still have a lot of pain bc DS's teeth are scratching me when I feed. I feel like we are back in newborn days again :)
Also congrats on making it to 21 months Jashn's mommy :)
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Wow Jashns's mommy, that's awesome! :D
gogomama, good to hear the duct cleared without turning into mastitis. Yes, it does seem the teeth really changes things. We're doing fine and I'm not getting any pain atm but I did see some small teeth marks on my nipple yesterday, like the skin had been scratched off, so we're definitley still adjusting to new latch etc. Ikwym about feeling like you're back to newborn days again. It was awful to get sore nipples again after all this time of easy nursing :(
Sienna hasn't had an appetite at all last week. She's working on her first 5 teeth all at once so it's understandable. today I thought she looked (and felt) like she'd lost some weight though :-\ and that makes me a little nervous as she's already so little and has had quite slow weight gain. She has just started walking too so that together with not eating much might have made her lose. Idk for sure as haven't weighed her. Probably paranoid too as she's seeing a peadiatrician on the 30th for her slow weight gain and eczema, so suppose that is all worrying me a little. She's very happy and seems very healthy apart from the eczema that flares up every now and then. I don't feel worried about her but I would like to get some more food into her. I'm struggling to decide, now she's 13mo, if I should get as much milk in her as possible, or limit milk in order to get more solids in her to make her gain the most ??? Anyone else have any experience of this?
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Perhaps you can give her some higher fat foods like avacados. When our ped was worried about DS falling down on the growth curve I gave him 1/2 of one pretty much every day! How many feeds are you still doing? Does she eat a good amount in between nursing?
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Hugs Vick }}{{
For starters, its normal after 12 mths to have very slow weight gain compared to pre 12 mths. My two had no weight gain issues as older babies (Emma had as a nb as you know) but they both slowed COMPLETELY after a year - regardless of whether they are good or poor eaters or bfeeders. Emma would have been the better all round (she is a continual "smakosz" as we say in PL - she has a passion for her food but in saying that, she has been eating completely independently since just after a year thanks to BLW and her stubborn "I'll do it myself" streak). So she LOVES food, says yum, delicious to EVERYTHING but doesn't take in as much maybe as Oscar did on his good days....
We are due our 2 yr check soon with Emma and I think she has gained maybe a kilo or at a push 1.5 in the whole year since turning one! But she is long and lean and is going to be (just like me, once upon a time LOL).
I think though that bfeeds are more so for snacking purposes after a year old. For me, the best way to ensure weight gain in my two after a bad tummy bug etc is lots of pasta with cream, cheese etc or baby cereals with full fat milk to get lots of calories into them. I also add avocadoes and olive oil into as many dishes as I can as they are both way down for their weight compared to their height. Around 50th for weight and 90th for height....
S x
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I would agree with above high fat solids are better than milk for weight gain at this age. K has put on less than a kilo in the last year since he started moving around so much. He never seems to stop eating though.
We are very variable these days, K either wants to feed for hours several times a day or goes without for hours and has only one feed a day. I am just going with the flow.
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Argh, I spent last night and today worrying about her weight and feeling like a bad mum and like I'm not feeding my LO properly ::) So glad I have access to so much info through here and have my own knowledge and strong belief in BF. So on the Swedish growth charts she has gained slowly from around 5mos. She's now 13mos. I checked on the WHO charts and she's followed her centile line perfectly (3rd :P)!! Yes, she's tiny. She was only 7545 grammes (16lbs 9oz) at 12mos LOL And only 67.5 cms (2ft 2.6in) tall. Sigh.. so glad I checked the WHO charts and I will take them with me to the appointment and show them. After all I trust those growth charts more as they're done on breast fed babies and shows ideal weight gain, not just an average of babies, many of them formula fed. She was born just above 15th centile for weight and 3rd for length, so chubbier for length than average. Then she slowly dropped down the centiles until around 4mos, when she'd dropped just below the 3rd, but then she stabilised just above the 3rd and have (according the the WHO charts) stayed there. Looking at the length she has dropped slightly below 3rd so off the charts at 12 mos, but on the Swedish chart she's still following so don't think it's the length they are worried about.
How many feeds are you still doing? Does she eat a good amount in between nursing?
We are doing quite a lot of feeds still. Usually between 4 and 6 in 24 hrs :-\ We do morning feed, 1 or 2 daytime feeds depending on the day, bedtime feed and 1-2 nightfeeds. Kind of go with the flow.. She is eating 3 meals a day but the BFs are still her 'snacks'. She doesn't eat big amounts, but then she's not big so can't fit much in I expect LOL I've really focussed on her milk intake and done BLW but now after 1yo I'm just not quite sure whether to cut some feeds despite the WHO charts looking fine. I would prefer to allow her to self-wean, even in the night (if I can stick it out :P) but perhaps I should actively wean to one daytime feed and give one solids snack?
Still a little nervous about the doctor visit.. Bet they want to take blood as they will probably test for gluten intolerance etc (according to our health nurse). Sorry for writing a novel here tonight, but it's nice to have a place to come to chat about it.
How are all others doing? :)
Just went to post and read Khalam's Mama's post. I know avocados are full of good fats, can I have some more suggestions of good solids for weight gain? Always good to get new ideas :)
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We are back up to doing 4 day feeds and sometimes one or even 2 at night. He is feeding for much longer lately and I'm not sure if he is getting over his sickness bug still (although been better since Christmas eve), he has just got into bad habits comfort sucking or if my milk supply is dropping due to my current pregnancy. Our EASY has been all over the place due to Christmas visits etc and poor naps so I am hoping if I can get over the OT build-up he will start STTN again.
Today he ate a big dinner of lemon chicken and sweet potato over my sister's and then half an hour later ate 2 bowls of toddler musli she had made for my nephew who had refused dinner! I would have just BF him and put him to bed. Maybe I should start offering cereals as a supper before BT and just topping him off with a BF to see if that helps with the NFs.
Does Sienna eat cereals Vicku? They can be calorific and made with full fat milk. DS also seems to like pancakes and you can add all sorts of stuff to them. Plus full fat dairy like cheese and yogurt can be good for adding calories/fat.
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Not sure if that question was directed at me (or just generally I hope), I don't have any real knowledge on the subject, but I have heard bananas and full fat dairy products are good. maybe complex carbs for snacks. I found with K that he would ask for more BF if he was hungry but If I offer snacks and meals promptly (like 2 hrly) he is less likely to ask. HTH and some others will join in.
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I would prefer to allow her to self-wean, even in the night (if I can stick it out Tongue) but perhaps I should actively wean to one daytime feed and give one solids snack?
I also really struggle with this, but I am glad that I am not alone as I was thinking most of the other moms on here were down to 3 feeds at this time. I was hoping to do the gradual weaning route, but DS doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. He is still doing just about the same as Sienna..4 daytime and 1-2 nitefeeds. I am thinking that at this rate I am just going to have to go cold turkey on him someday :-\ I don't want to be confusing by refusing to feed sometimes and not others.
Unfortunately, I don't have any advice on the weight gain...DS has been pretty good in that department so far.
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definately cereals are a big one for weight gain but they have to be taking in decent amounts.
I did cereals at bedtime from 6/7 mths for "tea" and with the BLW we did a lot of tiny finger feeding with wholemeal cereals....
I really think that taking that many bfs in 24 hours HAS to impact on solids intake but I was one of the lucky ones who "got away" with no NFs from very early and was down to four feeds in 24 hrs by 7 mths with them both. It was a juggling act - KellyC on here gave me great tips for dropping the 11am feed in order to increase appetite for a proper lunch as they weren't so interested in solids so my two went from 7am bf to 8am brekkie and then an early lunch at 11.30, 3pm bf, 5pm tea, 7pm bf and 11pm DF - this routine till DF was dropped at 10/11mths, then the 3pm feed went of their choice (they were too busy, wanted to "talk" to me and play with me on my return from work rather than feed from me)....with Oscar at around a year and Emma around 14 mths.
I honestly don't see a toddler choosing to self-wean night feeds, particularly if for comfort rather than hunger, without some intervention. Self weaning the night feeds could be as late as preschool or even school years or later when we think about how other kids self-wean from their night comforts such as dummies, lovies and other such items and with thumb-sucking even later. And it IS snacking during the night which HAS to compromise daytime hunger. but that's just MHO and not based on any research or reading just on the kids I know who have bf well into toddlerhood (quite common in PL among the mums who make it to toddlerhood). But if mum and toddler and the rest of the family are fine with it then why not? It just might be an issue with appetite during the day.....
My boss fed her son till he was over 4 yrs and had to send him to his grandma's for a weekend to finally wean him - he was ONLY nursing in the night from 3 yrs old and would come to his parents bed up to 6 times from 11pm to 7am for a sip - of which there was very little left. He is now in his early 20s but she still talks about this and how much it upset him and her....her older two were "on a routine" but bf and weaned a lot earlier, around 2 yrs old as far as I remember....I don't really know whether she regrets that she weaned him so suddenly or whether she didn't let him decide....must ask her when I get the chance again.
S x
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Balkan and mediteranean yogurt are also great! I add it to smoothies and other stuff. It's 6%-10% milk fat and so yummy! :)
I don't know about the self-weaning at night either. It might be more of a habit than anything else... and I agree with Shivi that the NFs might be affecting the day feeds- both of BM and solids. I pretty much feed DS every 2-2.5 hrs whether it's a snack, BF, or a full solids meal.
At 12 months we were at 4 fedds/day and I chose to drop the mid-morning one because we were always out and he was too distracted to BF anyways. he now takes about 5oz 3.35% milk as a snack mid-morning instead and that works fine for us. Interested to hear what the Dr. says at your apt, Vicku.
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Vicku, I'm of the mindset that you just can't beef up some babies! With my first lo I was always worried about her weight gain, from the time she was weeks old until she was 2, she always ranged on the charts from "off" the charts to 10% max. She's now 5 and average height but slim. Both dh and I are taller and very small boned (so light weight). My ped always said "if she's happy and healthy, sleeping well, eating a variety of foods, having normal bathroom functions, then don't worry, all babies are different". She was never concerned about dd's slow weight gain and now, she is not concerned with ds (who is now 16 mths). Not sure where ds is on the scale currently, but I can see he is a slim baby.
At snack time have you tried to do both bf and a solid snack? I do with ds, I first offer a bf and he will usually just take one side and then he eats his solids snack right after. I find he eats the same amount of solids for his snack but he doesn't drink as much water from the sippy (which is fine, I'd rather him bf). As for weight gain I remember my ped saying that any extra calories up to 12 months should be in the form of bfing (or formula) and after 12 months extra calories should be from solids. I have tried (previously with dd and now with ds) increasing calories but I find if snack is higher calorie (ie cheese or higher fat yogurt) then they just eat less at dinner, if it's fruit and bf then they eat more at dinner. If I mix more calories/fats into dinner (more meat, adding avocado, or whatever), I find he eats a smaller portion as I guess it's heavier in the tummy so he feels more full. I find in the end, I can't seem to make them gain extra weight and I refuse to start stuffing them with crap like cake/cookies or McDonald's just to get extra calories into them.
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Anyone down to 2 BF/day? I'm already thinking ahead about the switch (in the next couple of months) and am not sure about which feed to give up. Morning feed will stay but he has one in the afternoon after his nap and one before bed. Usually he one after his nap is the better BF but it seems strange to me to cut ther one that he eats best at... anyways, wondering if anyone else is there and what your thoughts might be.
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We're still at about 4 feeds a day and Gradon is almost 17 mths. When my dd was this age we were down to 2 feeds, the morning and the evening, she eventually dropped the morning and then the evening one last. I would keep the strongest feed last and drop the weaker ones first.
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Stefanie, I'd also keep the best feed the longest I think.
Thanks Marian!
I have tried (previously with dd and now with ds) increasing calories but I find if snack is higher calorie (ie cheese or higher fat yogurt) then they just eat less at dinner, if it's fruit and bf then they eat more at dinner. If I mix more calories/fats into dinner (more meat, adding avocado, or whatever), I find he eats a smaller portion as I guess it's heavier in the tummy so he feels more full.
I have also noticed this. So far I've doen either BF or solid snack, but will try doing what you suggested. I would also prefer if she BF rather than taking a lot of water, as have no need to cut out daytime feeds due to work etc. Thanks for reassuring me about the weight gain once again :-* It's so easy to worry. After looking things up on the WHO charts her weight is actually doing well and she has even climbed some percentiles between 6 and 12 mos. Her length growth has been slower though and is now off the charts :P
I never updated after the pead visit, did I? Had some tests due to the slow weight gain/growth and her eczema. They did tests for wheat intolerance (Celiac disease), thyroid function, and egg-, milk-, cat- and dog allergies. Got a letter yesterday saying all came out clear :) so got to go back just for the eczema in March. She said smaller children usually find their centile (the one they eventually stabilise on) later than larger/taller ones, so wasn't very concerned.
Food wise Sienna is eating a bit better now too, so the worries have mainly gone :) She's popped another tooth yesterday so now have 6 :) Latch is getting better as I'm forcing her to take a bit more breast in and not allowing her to pull back, which she likes to do, so the sores are healing up and nursing has been pain free for the last few days ;D We're doing 3 or 4 feeds/day depending on what we do, if she seems interested or not.
So that was an update on us :) We won't be around on here for a while as going to UK tomorrow to visit family for 2 weeks. See you later :-*
PS. We've been BF for 14 months today! ;D
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We're down to 2 feeds per day. It wasn't soemthing I planned on doing but now that I'm pregnant I've been really tired and sick and for a few days DH was around and after Aiden woke up from his naps int eh afternoon DH would leave me sleep and just give Aiden a sippy with milk. And now we've been doing that for a week. The night feed is better now. Maybe because he really wants the BF by that time of night! But today he came into the bedroom at one point and was really upset, looking at the bed (I feed him lying down on the bed) and just started crying and pulling at the covers even though he'd just had his milk. Don't know if he was missing the feed or what, but I felt bad. :(
great job on the 14 months, Vicku!!! We're at almost 16 months over here.
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BF here for 19months now. Next LO due less than 3 months so not sure what will happen then but still fairly relaxed about feeding and how often. K is dropping percentiles still although more slowly now, though he was a chunky baby so maybe he is taking after his Dad now who is slim. K told me today that there was Juice when he was BFing. Not sure if it was the change in milk while I am pg or if he just thinks all drink is juice now. He has taken to asking for the other breast when he is feeding. Sometimes I think he is just bored but I do wonder if the milk is running out with the pg though there is always some there if I express a little.
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Hi K's Mama, I'm also pregnant and breast feeding (16 m.o.) and she's taken to asking for the other boob too! But then she'll want to go back and forth so I'm not sure what's going on with that. Do you think you'll tandem nurse?
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I am BFing (13.5mo) and pg too. Cadan has taken to asking for it all day. Sometimes at really inopportune moments. Like today we were in a meeting sitting in a big circle with the local council and a dozen mothers and fathers about our local playgroup closing down and he was banging my chest saying "buh, buh" (boob) and then cried when I tried to distract him. Thing is in a situation like that I know he will feed for a max of 10 seconds before twisting off my lap to run around so I really don't want to get my boob out for that.
How does everyone else deal with LO's asking when you don't wanna feed?
We are generally on 3x Bf a day, on morning WU, after his nap and at BT. I think sometimes he just asks when he is bored. I try to dstract him with another drink or food if we are eating.
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Ali- we do get that fairly often around here, especially with sickness or teething. During those times I find that the best solution is just picking DS up and cuddling for a while. It is often just comfort/ attention that he is craving. I've found distraction to be useless at this age as they can't forget their original aim for nothing! Interested to hear other replies though.
Is anyone on here taking the active weaning route? I am still doing ard 3-4 feeds a day here at 16 months and would like to get down to 2 in the next couple weeks. DS has had a couple days where he only did two but it didn't last long. Like I mentioned above the distraction thing doesnt seem to be working nor does offering food/milk in other forms. Any ideas or is it just to be expected that there will be a rough few days?
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Hi everybody, I finally came back here after being gone so long (just too busy), but I love this forum and just wanted to post again. Anyways, we are still breastfeeding too and expecting another LO in July. I think I will go with tandem nursing if Hayden wants it, but he just loves his bfeeding too much to give it up. I still have to get rid of the night feedings though since I don't want two LOs waking all night long. :) Hayden also had a time when he was jumping from one breast to the other, but I wasn't comfy with it so I told him that he has to finish one before he can get the other, and he is fine with it now. I think they just start to really appreciate the comfort when they get older and know they can ask for more now. Or there is less milk, which is also quite possible when pregnant. I heard of a mum that lost all her milk during pregnancy but her LO kept nursing all the way through until the new baby came. Not sure if that is for everyone, but I guess it really is more like a comfort thing now anyways.
Gogomama, sorry I got no real advice for you since I am not really weaning. I think you will just have to go through some bumpy days until your LO excepts that he wont get as many feeds anymore.
Congrats to all the new babies on the way! :D
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When I went from the 3-2 it was with DH's help. As in, I was napping and DH offered the sippy of milk. Can you try to drop a feed on the weekend and conveniently be gone during the one you want to drop and have DH look after it for the 2 days? And then on the Monday act like it's totally normal and offer the sippy/snack (which might go over better becuse it's food rather than a mommy substitute)? You might have a harder time that your DH did but after 2 days it wouldn't be so much of a shock? I think I would also try to do it over a couple of weeks... get rid of one then the other. Then again, some LOs are better 'cold turkey'. Whatever you decide, good luck!
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I am up for tandem nursing yes, I will see what K does. I have never really actively weaned feeds just offered other things. I Have to distract K with something quite exciting when he wants feeding at akward minutes.
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Hi Everyone. I actively weened the mid-morning and afternoon feeds, (one month apart) the way Stefanie said, with DH's help. I picked a time when DH would be home the most days in a row and he would get DS when he woke from his naps (when we used to nurse) and offer a straw cup of milk. It went really well. Good luck!
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I know I don't post often and my posts are not usually very long (terrible typer and speller) but I really need a place today to get everything out. Today will be the last time I BF my DS. It's been almost 16 months and I am so sad that this wonderful experience has come to an end. I BF today in the morning when he woke up, the last feed left to drop, and I actually took a picture, the best I could, on my own in bed while he was feeding just to remember the last time. I can't stop crying while I type this. I know that my DS is fine with it. He has woken up on the occasional morning w/ DH recently when I was working overnight, and he was really happy as a clam. It s me who is having the hard time. I am away for work next week and have been preparing for this day to come so that I could drop the AM 6 days b/f I left, and today is the day. It really hit home when I went to buy coffee today and realized I could actually use artifical sweetner. No one I know really understands how hard this is for me. My DH tries to be sympathetic, but I know he doesn't get it. I just love my son so much and I love the bond that BF fostered. I also loved the peaceful time that we spent together, which was truly golden as he is a spirited lil monkey. I just can't believe it over.
Thanks for listening.
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Oh Nini, I'm sorry you are so sad!! :'(
I think you have done a great job though BFing for this long!! 16months!! Well done. :D
I am also dreading the end of BFing my DS, it is such a nice peaceful and comforting thing to do with your LO, sometimes it is the only time of the day when I get to sit down and relax!
You will still be able to cuddle and enjoy your DS, and he may want more cuddles after you stop completely too, as I know this happened to my SIL when she stopped.
So nice that you have a photo to relive your memories by too, and you know the bond you have made will not be broken.
:-*
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Wanting to send some {{{Hugs }}}}} nini! You should be so proud of yourself for 16 months. I'm sorry it's been so rough, but I am sure like Cathy said your bond will continue to thrive in other ways.
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Well done and big hugs, Nini!!! I agree with pp but understand it must be tough :(
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Hi ladies, guess I can join this thread now that ds2 is a year old. I've just dropped his day feed a couple of days ago so we're feeding at wake up and bedtime now. I'm going back to work next month which is why I've dropped the day feed. Have been offering milk out of a cup with snacks and he's been taking a bit but not a lot. I'm already starting to panic about what's going to happen when I'm back at work though as will be working 8am-6pm with at least an hour travelling each side so if I make one of those feeds I'll be lucky. Will only be working an average of two days a week (sometimes 1 and sometimes 3) so any suggestions on what to do on the days when I'm at work and can't feed him?
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Thanks so much for your kind words and support! Reading your post really makes me know that there are women out there who understand. It was hard today when I would think about and remember that we are done, but luckily my LO doesn't seem to notice.
Congrats to all of you too! You are great Moms!
Stefanie - It's great to put a face to your name (and 2 such cute faces!) I think we started here on BW around the same time...don't know what I would do without it!
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We did- on thr spirited babies board, I think!! Big hugs to you again today, Nini!
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So crazy! and now we're in the middle of the last birth club. How time went by! Congrats on #2!
Kudoz to you and all the pregnant Moms who are still breastfeeding!
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Nini, I can so relate to you. I would also be absolutely sad to see this time pass! But I think there will be new moments now which you will really enjoy with your LO and that will make up for the lost ones. Plus you will always have it in your memories.
Karen, I think it will all work out for you once you go back to work. Remember that your LO is old enough to live without milk. If he doesn't drink cows milk there are always other sources of calcium. And I found with Hayden that he adapted quite well, so that he was rarely upset when I wasn't there in the morning to feed. He also started to drink more milk the less I fed him. What are you most worried about, that he wont drink his milk or that he will get upset about not being able to BF?
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I think that he won't be getting enough fluids. He hardly drinks any water out of a cup and if he won't drink milk either then he won't be getting much. Also the fact that he may be hungry although he eats so much food that's probably unlikely!
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I don't think he will be hungry, especially if he eats lots of food. Maybe try switching the kind of water cup from i.e. sippy to regular cup. Or you could try adding a bit of juice to the water, even though I am not much of a fan of this. If he eats a lot, try giving him a lot of juicy foods (melon, cucumber etc) for the beginning and see if he will start drinking more once he gets less milk. Maybe he'll learn that if he is thirsty, drinking water will make him feel better. If you are really worried about his fluid intake you could also try letting him suck on a clean and wet wash cloth until he learns to drink more water or milk.
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Thanks. I'm also wondering if the cups are an issue as well. As in, I'm trying to give him milk out of the same kind of cups he has he water out of and he's wised up and won't even try it now. Today I haven't even bothered offering him milk out of them and he started drinking water out of them. Maybe I need to try a totally different cup for the milk so he's differentiates the two.
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hugs ladies on all the later bfeeding issues }}{{
Half a year or more on from weaning Emma and she still drinks milk from one type of cup (straw type sporty sippy) and water from a typical avent sippy. She WILL drink both easily and well from open cups but if offered the wrong beverage from THE cup she will have a strop about it!!!
S x
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These LOs are so funny. Cadan will drink whole cow's milk from a normal sippy just like he does water or juice (or very milky tea if he's lucky) so hopefully we won't have any issues when the time comes. He has milk on his cereal plus yogurt and cheese most days so I don't bother offering him milk to drink normally. DH offers it on the rare occasions I'm not around.
We are doing 3 feeds these days, morning, after nap and BT. Today for some reason he didn't want to BF after his nap. I got it out and asked him and he said "nah" and shook his head. So I asked if we should go downstairs and find daddy and that is what he wanted to do. :( He did ask about an hour later and I tried to feed him on the sofa (we normally do it sitting on my bed) and he fed for about 30 seconds and then found something more exciting.
I don't actually mind weaning that middle feed before the new LO comes in Aug and it would be so much easier if he self-weaned that. I would like to keep the morning and BT feeds until he is 2yo next Dec if possible but I'll let him wean if he likes. :'( haha I think I would be more upset if I didn't have this new baby on the way to satisfy my maternal instincts in the BFing dept. ;) LOL.
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I was given a cup and plate set at my baby shower and there are a variety of cup/pottles/plates and utensils but all in a blue and red plastic. So I use the same shaped cups with a sippy lid, but I always put water in the red ones and milk in the blue ones. DS is happy with it like that, he knows what to expect when he takes a sip!
Just like if I say "potato" and put a piece of tomato in his mouth - then he'll spit it out, but if I say "tomato" and put the tomato in then he'll eat it! Obviously it all comes down to expectations... ::)
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Hi ladies,
I'm not sure if this is the right place to be. My lo is 20 months old..and I'm seeking advice on how to make that transition from breastfeeding when she wakes up to breakfast time. She doesn't drink a lot of milk from her sippy cup...so I bought some sippy cups with a soft spout and are a bit longer. Is this the right approach? I just need to buy some time from when she wakes up to breakfast time at 9am or so. (she wakes at 7:30, has bf bw 7:45 and 8...)
Have any of you BTDT?
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I haven't btdt Sarah but to my untrained eye that seems a long time for her to wait to eat if she isn't getting her BF. Is there any reason why you don't just do breakfast straight away when she gets up? I couldn't wait that long for my breakfast. But I am particularly greedy I suppose.
Would she just eat a banana or something similar if she isn't getting enough milk to keep her full until a later proper breakfast?
We are still doing WU and BT BF with an additional BF after nap on most days. We tend to skip the after nap one if we are out or have company when he wakes up as he is just too distracted to care.
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I agree. K is 21 months nearly and if he doesn't get BF like when I'm not there he would be climbing the walls if he was waiting an hour for breakie. If breakfast is some cereal including milk you need not worry about her not wanting milk from a sippy. I find K automatically drinks more when he doesn't get BF.
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Oh oh..I am breastfeeding her :) i'm wanting to wean her soon so I was wondering if there are any tips to getting her to drink her milk (not breastmilk) while I get breakfast started :)
Thanks though. Sorry if I alarmed any of you :)
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Hi girls and toddlers :D
I've not posted on this thread in ages, really missed you all but been so very busy :(
Sarah, I think it's a good idea to experiment with different sippys/cups to see which she prefers and will take the most milk from :) If it's more of a weaning question, you might get more BTDT experience in the weaning thread http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=124222.0 you could try there too. From what I've read here and heard from friends, most LOs start having breakfast earlier when they stop having milkfeeds, so it may be that she will want food earlier and have the sippy *with* it. Especially the ones that don't take a lot of milk. Guess it's a matter of trial and error to see what works :)
Well Sienna is 16mo tomorrow. TBH not much has changed in our feeding since 14mo, still mostly doing 3-4 feeds in the daytime, if we're out and about or have visitors we often skip a daytime feed too. We're *still* doing NFs though ::) I know, I know... Not had the motivation to wean them :P and it feels like doing that now will take a lot more energy than waking to feed quickly does... being a BW though I've known all along that if I get fed up of NFs I have the tools to change things, and somehow I think that has made me feel ok about waking to feed. Might not make any sense at all to you, but does to me LOL I mean that if these NFs were something I felt I *had* to do I would feel trapped, whereas now I've *chosen* to continue and it's working for us and I'm actually treasuring those snuggly moments just me and her :) (at least most of the time ::))God knows how long we'll continue this though... LOL
Is anyone else doing NFs still, or just us? Or is there anyone out there who let the LO self wean from NFs? In that case when did it happen/did it happen at all or did you eventually have to wean?
Hugs to Nini {{{}}} I can imagine it is sad when it ends but you will continue to build on that special bond throughout your LO's childhood :)
/Vick
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Hi Vicku,
We also still do a NF..it varies from night to night as to what time but normally between 3-6 and if he does do it I hold off on the morning feed until before his nap. I know he shouldn't be "needing" it at this age, but to be completely frank for me its a lot easier to keep it and go back to sleep in 10 min then to go through the trouble of weaning it. I always tell myself that this will be the week to get strong and buckle down..but it still hasn't happened :P Would be interested to know if any LOs have self-weaned the NF, though.
I have actually made the transition to CM for all of the daytime feeds and only do the BF now for the BT feed and NF, if there is one. Did everyone on here make the transition using sippy cups? We transitioned using bottles as the sippy,straw cup and open cup were a no-go and now I feel like I am setting myself up again for a hard time in the future weaning the bottles. Why does it have to be so hard? Sigh.
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I thought we self-weaned the night feed but it only lasted a couple months and then he started it up again when sick and wanted to continue after that. The NF just got later and later until it was after 7 so I just started the day even if he went to bed at 8pm and normally woke at 8am. We weaned the NFs with PD & WO at the turn of new year and so I haven't fed him at night in 2011! Hurrah! DH did most of the resettling and it took almost a week in total with the first 3-4 nights being the worst but now he STTN 9x outta 10 and when he does wake I can usually attribute it to OT, UT or sickness and although he asks for BF if I have to resettle him I just say "No, we don't have boob at night do we" and he doesn't ask again. He is normally happy with a cuddle or hand on his back.
I think we were lucky and never had a problem with the sippy. I offered one with water at every meal since he was 6mo and in between as he got older. He will drink water, milk, juice (very diluted) or weak milky tea from the same Tommee Tippee free flow sippy without batting an eyelid. We never switched CM for BFs though. I don't feel he needs CM to drink as he has about 200mls on his cereal every morning and some days for supper too. Plus he has a yogurt almost everyday and cheese as well. Not sure what the recs are where you guys are but here as long as they are getting enough dairy in foods and eating a balanced diet there is no rec to drink any quantity of milk past 1yo. It's about 600mls I believe if they don't have other dairy or BFs. We still do BFs 2-3x/day so I am happy he is getting plenty of what he needs.
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Sarah I find K will drink much better from an open cup than any sippy, which takes hims longer and he is really quite good at it now and is similar in age to your LO. I find if I just pour ir and put it on the side he will ask for it and drink it better than if I try to encourage him. I guess the forbidden fruit is always more tempting.
We are not doing NF Vick. We were down to one from about 4 months and at 8/9 months I actively weaned it (only took one night thank goodness and he STTN from then). When he is sick I sometimes feed him in the night a few nights if I think he needs the fluids or just feel sorry for him but one night of settling without feed and he STTN again luckily. I was just too lazy once he went into his own room. If you are both happy and getting enough sleep though good for you. I do secretly enjoy when K falls asleep on his boob before bed and i often have a good snuggle before I put him down. He can (and does) sleep independently though so I guess too feel like if I had to do it I would feel trapped but because I know if he doesn't I can put him in the cot anytime I feel ok about it.
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Wow K's Mama, sounds like he's a good sleeper to STTN after just a little encouragement :) Sienna was/is tiny and used to do several NFs for quite some time and I felt like she needed them for nutrition so was fine with them. Now it must be all comfort I'm sure, or at least learned hunger rather than a nutritional need. Weird thing though is she never feeds to sleep, has a dummy/paci (or several :P) and goes to sleep independently for naps. So it's not that she wakes to be fed back to sleep, she has a feed then goes to sleep with her dummy. I suppose it must just be a habit for her that she likes.
S isn't keen on CM at all. Only likes water in her sippy. Loves cheese though, and Greek yoghurt (10% fat!) :) There aren't any recommendations at all on how much milk they need here. Just recommend a balanced diet. I feel good that she's having plenty of BM still though, especially when she's sick.
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K is mostly spirited but textbook for most sleep questions luckily. I also tell him boobie is sleeping if he askes at the odd NW and he only asks once then I can settle in the cot.K will only sleep on his boob if he is v tired. I guess your LO Vick has just always known eating at night so like you say it is learned rather than nutritional. I do find at this age the power of suggestion really help and someone suggested sleep talking so you go in after she has been asleep for an hour or so and say in her ear something like, how much you love her and how proud you are and that she can sleep all night and have her boob in the morning etc. You don't necessarily have to then actively wean but might speed the process. I am going to try it with PT as soon as I finish work in a week for mat leave so I can't say it works yet from experience. I would be interested in any stories about self weaning NF as my sister is still NFing lots at 22mo and hoping it will happen soon.
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thanks vicku and ladies for your input. I find it really difficult to start weaning, not because I'm not ready or she's not ready, but because it's so routine and that's what we've been doing for 20 months. It's really time though..she eats well and I don't think she would miss. She's been self weaning herself well. So nervous for some reason though.
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Aw {{hugs}} Sarah! It's always a big step to change things whatever they are. A step into the unknown. Hope it goes well for you both :-*
Well Sienna has Roseola virus and has been off her food and wanting milkies all of the time ::) I'm sure she's had six BFs with the wake up and BT ones :o I've told her later a couple of times too but not wanted to refuse as I know it's good for her and with not eating at least I know she's getting nutrients and anti-bodies. Just noticed a tiny bit of her first molar at the back when brushing her teeth this evening, so that could have contributed to wanting to nurse a lot too. Suppose it'll be good for my supply eh? :P
I BF herin the doctors' waiting room today as she was so fussy and asking for it by pulling my shirt and banging my chest (::) no pleases and thank you's yet LOL) It was ok and I have a BF top so it's pretty discreet even if she stops and looks around every now and then, but I do wonder what people are thinking and sometimes feel a bit weird as it's not that common to BF a 16mo here. Luckily S is tiny (17lbs 10oz) so mostl people probably think she's a lot younger. I do wish it was more common though and 'the norm' rather than exception. I have had some very surprised reactions that I still BF :-\ Here almost everyone starts out BF but mnay many give up for various reasons, of course, before 6mo and those who do continue usually stop at about 8-10 mos even if it's recommended to BF for at least a yr. What are 'the norms' where you all live? Would be interesting to hear :)
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In England just under 80% of mums start out BF but that has dropped below 50% by 6wks and 25% by 6mo apparently. BF is more popular with mums over 30yo and those of higher professional occupations. Very few mothers do EBF for 6mo. It is certainly unusual for mums to BF toddlers over 12mo. I am don't know anyone other than in my own family who BF past 12mo. I am often met with a surprised "oh you're still BFing then?" on the rare occasions we feed in public these days.
Unfortunately lots of people don't have any BF'ing role models and see FF as "the norm" and BF as something that only hippies or Earth mothers do. LOL.
I was quite shocked at the figures actually. http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/ifs2005
Cadan had Roseola around 9mo. Has the rash developed yet Vicku? Cadan was much happier once that came out and the fever had gone. I hope she gets better soon.
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We still have some NFs as well, even though I am trying to wean right now cause I am pregnant and don't think I can handle two LOs waking all night. :P Unfortunately it isn't as easy as for K's mama, it takes a very long time and we keep getting set back by sicknesses.
I am not sure what the numbers are here in Canada but I don't think bf after 12 months is very common. I am definitely the only one at daycare and also sometimes feel kinda weird. But Hayden always wants milk when I pick him up and it is hard to say no. Sometimes he is too busy for it, but generally not. Then again I think that there are so many different parenting styles out there, it is probably rather us who think we might be judged than the people actually do around us. I always have more troubles replying to my mom's critic than to somebodies strangers. But my grandparents are super happy for me to bf so long. A Japanese friend of mine is completely comfortable to bf until 2 years or longer and cosleep. I think their culture supports it more than ours.
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Ladies , we are completing 24 months of BF next week !
Am ready to wean but she isnt ! More of an emotional requirement.
however with her off to play school from April, stories of how grown up kids in school dont drink boo boo ( she coined it , i didnt ! ) have been doing the rounds at home. Am hoping she weans her self.
Saying no, and distracting havn't worked much in the past. Making her all the more clingy.
So thats an update from me !
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Yes, Sienna's rash appeared yesterday. That's how we got her diagnosed. She's getting better but still clingy and whiney. Last night I did think about night weaning, some nights it gets to me now LOL We're going on holiday for a week beginning of April, so no point starting anything before then, but will think about it for when we get back. Not sure.
Wow Richa! 24 mos :D You've done very well. I hope the weaning won't be too tough. Does she drink any other kind of milk? Do you think she'll accept a cup instead?
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Well , have been trying to work on the milk in the cup, for a few months now , but without wean out , its making little sense. as she dosn't seem to have more than half a cup of milk in a day. after a lot of coaxing.
We are currently feeding ,in the evenings when am back from work, and mornings 6 ish.
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It's interesting Vicku that you get so many strange looks, because I have always heard that the rates of BF in Scandanavian countires are one of the highest, at least among Western countries. Here in France it is also not very common to BF after 6 months, but if I do tell ppl that I am still BF they are generally surprised in a positive way. I haven't fed DS in public though since he was really young so I can't say about the reactions from strangers.
Congrats Richa on 24 months!
I am trying to wean the last feed at the moment and am surprised by how engorged I still feel..I can't imagine how the mamas do it cold turkey!
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Congrats on your pg Manuela. When are you due? Before I was pg I was much more keen not to wean before 2yo but now it would make a lot of things easier if he self weaned. I enjoy our morning feed which is the longest at 20-25mins and gives me the chance to still doze when I am still tired. I would love to wean the after nap feed and not too sad if the BT feed went. It is the first thing he asks for when I get him out the cot from the nap though so unless there is someone else there to distract him I would have to upset him by withholding it which I'm not willing to do. I'll see how we are in a few months I think. I cannot remember the last time I felt engorged it has been ages.
Well done on reaching the 24mo mark Richa that is really great.
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Well Sienna has Roseola virus and has been off her food and wanting milkies all of the time I'm sure she's had six BFs with the wake up and BT ones
When Oscar and Emma had it we went back to nb type bfed poops even!!! Oscar was 9mths ish and Emma well over a year....its so, so great to be able to give them what they need at this stage and age.
In PL I know plenty of mums who bfeed beyond 2 yrs even...but they feed all night long. Don't know too many who got to 2 yrs without night feeds and/or comfort boobie in the night. Here its kind of all or nothing. Not much support to get started but if it works out, its demand feeding and kids constantly attached to mum's breast even at a much much older age....PL mums are shocked that I bfed my kids AND worked ft from 4/7 mths....like its impossible to BE AWAY from them and feed them. Never mind STTN at 10 and 14 weeks?!? LOL! Lucky me! But I put in the EASY work in the beginning, and it was FAAAAR from easy....
I fed well beyond a year but didn't talk about it unless someone else brought it up. Just in the same way a FF mum wouldn't bring up the specific type of bottle/formula she is using.....I never had to feed outside the bedroom after a year-ish (or even earlier, due to high distraction, with Emma in fact....but that's another story).
My friends in Ireland are only NOW having babies....there its like the UK, much more common among older, better ed mums. Not much support there either. One friend of mine fed for a month, had given up completely at 6 weeks and was disgusted when I told her I was still feeding when (heaven help) my kids had teeth! They each had 16 before we stopped LOL!
Anyway, big congrats Richa on 2 yrs. Would have LOOOOOVED to get that far with mine but they had other ideas!
S x
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Hope your lo feels better Vicku. My daughter got that too - so scary to see that type of rash peppered on their little bodies :(
Congrats on reaching the 2 year mark, Richa :) :-*
Weaning is going so so...she's definitely drinking more milk. I offer one breast (used to do two) and then we sit and read some books with a sippy cup. Not so bad :) And then a bf at night.
going to give it a week? hehe..so nervous..then I'll try to wean the breastfeeding in the morning.
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Hi everyone!
How's it going Sarah?
We've had a tummy bug in the house :( They've all had it apart from me (and hopefully I'll stay well! Fingers crossed!!!) So poor Sienna only just recovered from Roseola and then got this vomiting bug :( I must say I was very happy to be still BF her, even more so with the vomiting than the Roseola, as she'd BF and drink water but couldn't take any food. She got over it much quicker than DH and DD1 too, don't know for sure if it was cos of taking so much BM, but it seems to have helped :) and unlike DH and DD1 she didn't get any diarrhoea either.
How's everyone else doing?
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Vicku...it's so awful, isn't it? Seeing them go through so much and unable to do anything but wait for the illness to run its course? I felt so awful with the Roseola virus...it just looked so horrid! :S I hope your angel gets better.
Thank you for asking :-* We're two days of no breastfeeding in the morning. She happily does her night time feed - I think she feeds longer at night if I'm not mistaken. I feel really good about the wean. It definitely wasn't as scary as I thought it was. We just read a book as she drinks her sippy cup. Some days she takes 100 ml and some days she takes more.
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That's great Sarah! :D
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Congrats on your pg Manuela. When are you due?
Thanks Ali, I am due end of July. I am undecided whether I would like him to self wean quite yet. In theory I wouldn't mind tandem feeding, but I am a bit worried that it might get too painful cause my breasts are pretty sensible. Well, since I am not going to actively wean him anyways we'll see how it goes. We have had some success with the night weaning and I am really releaved that it actually went fairly smoothly so far. I am still feeding at around 5 am though, that's the next thing to go. We are also having more days of only morning and BT feeds cause he is a bit too distracted at daycare now to want a feed, and I am not really sad about that. But, as you said, I love the morning feed. Way better than having to get up right away. ;)
Sarah, congrats on weaning the morning feed. And Vicku hope you are done with sicknesses for now in your house.
Does anybody know how much cows milk is too much milk? Hayden finally caught onto the taste of it and is now gobbling it up. He keeps usking for more and yesterday I think we overdid it a bit cause he didn't eat much all day long. It's so hard to say no though, he keeps grabing a cup and running to the fridge to get more milk. I think I will have to do some distracting soon, I am planning on giving him no more than 3 cups a day. Going from one milk addiction to another one. ::)
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Does anybody know how much cows milk is too much milk?
I think twice a day 8 oz would be the max...but I don't know. My two also would drink milk over anything else but I limit to am and pm. Oscar was/is a pickier eater so with him I had to be extra-careful. Emma is a great eater, ever since starting on solids really but if she was to drink more milk than this it would also affect her appetite.
S x
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thank you Manuela ..and congratulations on your pregnancy! That's fantastic :)
I'm not sure about the ozs ..but I think two cups would be more than enough? I just googled it and one site said no more than 350 ml (12 oz). I guess it depends on your lo's appetite, like shivi said :)
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Thanks Sarah and Siobhain, looks like I will have to do some more distraction to get him off the thought of milk for a while. ;)
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Hey there girls, I guess we're on the way to weaning soon as well:(....and now I'll want another baby..LOL
Adam now has a cup of milk when he wakes up from his nap, so at least he's used to the idea. I plan to start this week offering only one side for the morning feed and then supplementing with cows milk.
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good luck Yazzie...it'll probably go smoother than you think :)
Vicku hope your lo is feeling better.
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Since i finished work to go on mat leave last week DS has been boobing with avengence. He just asks all day and is on there for ages until I distract him. I try ti distract him lots and often it works but sometimes he gets very fed up. I am hoping it is the novelty of having me home and will wear off but if he carries on when the baby comes i will be exhausted. I don't want to wean around the baby coming so he doesn't feel like the baby has taken it. I went to the dr the other day and when i got back I told K she had made a referral to boobaholics anonomous for him and he agreed to give up the boob soon. I don't know if he really meant it though. He also keeps getting his bears and saying they need milk from the boob. Maybe i should ignore it more so he is less focused on it???
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Hi K's Mama,
Sienna also asks a lot more when we're at home, in fact whenever I get near the sofa these days she wants it ::)
Wow, I can't believe you're so near your due date! ;D That's gone fast! I wonder too if K can sense the imminent change and want more comfort cos of that? Does he know there's a baby coming? How does he react if you say no? Maybe it'd be good for him to get used to sometimes having to wait a little? Since he probably will have to quite a lot when the baby is here. So if he asks you could say 'later' and do it in 5 or 10 mins so he learns that sometimes he has to wait but that he will still get his milk?
Sienna got better quite quickly from the tummy bug but started teething soon after and is working on two molars at the same time now. Cranky cranky :-\ and sleeping very badly. She wants to nurse lots at night, and I've got sore again from her teeth :( Ugh... sometimes I get a bit fed up of these blooming teeth. It seems every time a new tooth is appearing her latch changes and I get sore in one place or another. Hope this time it'll go away quickly.
We're going on holiday on Sat, so no point changing anything til after that but I *may* finally bite the bullet and do some night weaning. We'll see :) We're working on cutting down the day feeds so that on most days she'll have 3 feeds instead of 4. Going pretty well and she seems to take more at the pm feed and at bedtime on 3 feeds. Only problem is on quiet days at home... the bl00dy sofa! ;) :P
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Teeth are annoying. K got up to 16 by about 15mo and it was as you said each new one caused a different latch. He hasn't had any new ones now for a while and I am relieved.
I do as you say and do make K wait sometimes like if I ma eating or today we were half naked about to get in the bath when he asked. Sometimes I just say matter of factly "well Mummy's eating at the moment" or "well we are having a bath right now" and that is the end of it but sometimes esp if he is tired he will cry like his heart is breaking. I do stick to what I say though so he doesn't keep throwing his tantrums. He has had less milk the last 2 days so I hope it is working. I am glad I am not still doing NF's as I really need my sleep these days!
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K's Mama (I've forgotten your name :-[) I can't imagine what it must be like being PG and BF and am really admiring anyone doing that. I imagine nightfeeds would be out of the question for me as I was so so tired the whole PG.
I hope it continues to work so he takes less milk happily for you.
We're off on holiday tomorrow. My right nipple is so so sore :'( It's been two weeks now and it's just getting worse so I've decided to give that nipple a day off today and tonight to give it a chance to heal. Don't fancy feeding during the trip tomorrow and being in agony. I can't seem to get her to latch better :-\ I might have to hand express some later as this breast is my naturally higher producing one too. Not wanted to not feed on that side as been worried about affecting supply but now I just have to give it a break. I hope it won't affect my supply badly! Anyone got experience of not feeding from one side for a while at this age? She's 16.5 mos now.
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K did bite me when he 1st got teeth and I had to go 24hrs not feeding that side and supply was fine. I only expressed what I needed to to not be engorged and it healed really well in that time I was surprised it was so quick. I do find with the teeth if I stuff in as much boob as possible it forces K to keep his mouth open and not dig the teeth in. This esp helped when they were sore at the beginning of this pg. It is not too bad feeding while pg. I am tired but it is the only time K stays still so in some ways it gives me a rest. I am starving all day thou!
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at this age Vick, my two were on their jolly way to stopping feeding altogether...so we were down to one side only (their preferred, the left) period.
also, my kids never bit me...or at least only tried to nibble at the end of feedings, which was by accident or in Oscar's case, a cruel joke....he used to laugh! They both had 16 teeth by the time they self-weaned...but then they were never the type to want to "soothe on the boob" so perhaps its the non nutritive sucking thats causing the pain rather than the feeding per se?
Big hugs on the pain, hope it heals and you enjoy your hols.
K's mum- best of luck over the coming weeks and months xxx
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I am getting sore boobs BFing while pg but as KM says it actually gives you a rest. I love being able to laze in bed for an extra half hour in the mornings whilst Cadan has his morning BF all snuggled up in his sleep nest. :)
We are in the process of weaning the after nap feed. I am doing don't offer, don't refuse and he hasn't been asking that much. Sometimes he will ask later in the pm but then he'll only feed for literally 10 seconds then get down. We are still doing the morning and BT feeds. BT is about 10mins normally.
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I am doing better stopping the day feeds and sticking to the am and BT feeds until about 5pm then when DS starts to get tired he asks. We even went to playgroup today and he saw someone else BFing and he pointed and said "boob" and I felt sure he would ask for some but he didn't.
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I think we're coming to end girls!..I'm shocked, ds is almost 2 months shy of his 2nd b-day and so far he's losing complete interest and when he does feed it's for literarlly a sip!..this AM he had a quick feed and in the PM we cuddled, I put him to bed and that was it!!
I'm going to start a post on this, but how did you girls manage or plan to manage the transition to a cup of milk, ds doesn't seem to have the patience to actually sit and drink a whole cup, we still use a sippy though.
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Emma still isn't a big milk guzzler almost 8 mths on from her self-wean. She drinks maybe 4 or 5 oz am and pm but eats SOOO well incl lots of calcium rich foods that I don't tend to worry. I prefer this over Oscar who'd still eat cereal and milk over everything else.
Self weaning can come all of a sudden....so big gentle hugs for that Yazzie and well done for giving Adam the start you have given him xxx
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Thanks Shivi :)
I will try, I do worry he's not getting enough Calcium, however he's big fan of cheeses and yogurt so hope that can weigh things out.
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*hugs* Yazzie from me as well. Now that I've weaned her from her morning feed, she seems to really want the bedtime one ::) Oh boy.
Does Adam like to read books? Z doesn't really drink a lot of milk in a few minutes, but over a half hour she'll sit and drink and read with me in the morning. Or in the car. Or anywhere where she's distracted. :)
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I guess our issue is that Adam's attention span in like zero ::)..LOL
I will keep trying though, he now is officially done with night feeds and I'm keeping the morning ones till we get the milk issue resolved...my baby isn't a baby anymore :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
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hugs Yazzie ...it's hard when they start growing up!
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Yazzie, that is interesting if it is all of a sudden. A is the same age as k and I am now hoping he will self wean in the next couple of months because it was my plan to stop at 2yrs and now with no 2 on the way I feel bad to do it actively.
K will still drink a cup of milk and like pp says better when distracted. I often give him a drink when he is sitting watching/helping me prep breakfast and he drinks it quick, or in the buggy he loves to drink. They really don't need that much milk these days esp if he eats yogurt and cheese and cereal and other calcium rich foods. K also likes to drink the milk from the cereal bowl (after eating the cornflakes for e.g.) so I add a little extra sometimes.
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I'm shocked that it happened so suddenly, I was just setting plans for how I'll wean and then buuuuuuuum!!!...I guess they really choose when to stop!
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Hugs Yazzie.
I think we are now down to the morning and BT BFs only now. I only give one in the day if he asked and I can't distract, which has been rare the last week.
I love the morning feed and would be sad to lose that. It is 20-25mins and he is still all dozey. Plus it gives me extra time to wake up before it is all go. For the BT feed he keeps saying no when I offer before our BT routine which is exactly as we have been doing for the last 10mo at least. But then after he is in PJ's and ready for bed he asked for it. Then he will take a massive feed up to 30mins. It is a little annoying as it means I have to brush his teeth again and I also worry his nappy will be wet soon after he goes to bed but I think it is worth it to get that longer feed into him. When we were doing it before the BTR it was 8 mins tops.
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Enjoy it Ali, Cadan really is still young. We were down to two feeds from when A was 12 months old actually.
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Well maybe I spoke too soon. Cadan refused his morning BF for the first time ever today! He had done a poo when I went to get him from his cot first thing and by the time I had changed it he was more interested in running around and said he didn't want it. It is normally the first thing he asks for. I hope he isn't weaning and it was just the poo that threw him. I offered a few times later in the day but he said no to all. He took his BT BF as normal though so hopefully it was just a one off.
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Hmmm, Cadan refused his morning BF again this morning. :o :( I really am starting to worry he is weaning. It was always his best feed of the day at 20-30mins. Daddy was home this morning and he was more interested in waking him up from the bed beside us. He did ask for a feed when we were both in the bath after breakfast but only had 3x 30seconds or so then lost interest.
He did feed at BT but due to a ridiculously short 25min nap in the car today (his only one, he normally does 2.5hrs) he feel asleep 15mins into the first side. He never does that. He even stayed asleep while I carried him into the cot which he never does either. Meant we didn't brush his teeth again after the feed too, although DH had done it before. I guess we shall see if he is interested tomorrow morning. I hope so. I felt really sad this morning. :'(
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hugs to you Ali. It is hard when they decide to wean themselves. It sounds like you really enjoyed that time with him in the morning..
I used to keep her occupied with random things..phones ..just to keep her there ::) ;D She's really needing less and less of her bedtime feed...which is great but so weird since we've been doing it for so log.
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Well today Cadan did want his morning feed although it was only 13mins rther than the 20 something it normally is. Then we were out longer than I expected this morning at a christening and he asked for another BF before his nap. Since he hadn't eaten lunch as he normally does I fed him and he fell asleep! Becoming a bit of a habit lately which is strange as he had gone months without falling asleep feeding until just recently. Then he only slept for 45mins and woke up screaming. Asked for more BF which I gave him and he fell asleep again! I let him sleep in my arms fro 30mins as I fell asleep myself. Later found out it had been a poop that woke him, opps! Then he had his normal BF for BT and went down independently to sleep.
So from 1 feed in 24 yesterday he has gone to 4 BFs today. Strange boy. So looks like he is not looking to wean just yet. FX.
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Hey Ali,
Hayden's feed numbers per day vary a lot as well. There have been times when I thought he would self wean cause he was too busy to think about BFing, but a couple days later he was back to feeding regularly or even more. I really think it depends which mood they are in each day, if they are really distracted and if they feel well. BFing isn't that important anymore that he can easily go without it, particularly since he drinks a lot of cows milk, but then it still is a comfort item he likes to go back to when he feels like cuddling. Just wait and see where it all goes to.
Good luck K's mom for everything coming up.
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Thanks Manueli. K is still a little boobaholic when we are at home. He has asked several times lately when out and when I say not here he just runs off happily which is at least good. I couldn't handle the constant feeding if it was at playgroup, shopping, the pub etc as well as home.
Hope Cadan keeps supping a bit longer for you ali. I wonder if he doesn't like the taste as much/the extra work if your supply has dipped with the pg? maybe at the end when it picks up again he will be back with avengence like K.
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Yeah maybe KM. I have tried asking him if there is milk but he doesn't seem to be able to understand what I mean yet. I also saw 2 openings on his top gums today where his canines seem to be finally cutting through so it could have been that too. Or maybe that is why he is back on it since yesterday. We did 3x BFs today, morning, after nap and BT. The after nap one was 30mins which is really long for him, so maybe it is the teething. He had woken screaming and was hard to calm down even with a cuddle.
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Hi girls, we're back! :D
Glad to say that my poor nipple healed very quickly when I gave it some time off :) I didn't feed on that side for about 30 hrs and no bad effect on my supply. I did leak a bit on the aeroplane though :P ;D
Hugs Yazzie!! {{{{{{}}}}}} It is bittersweet when they grow up.
Ali, I hope C carries on for a while yet. It is very possible that both the PG and his teething is affecting things. We can also have very varying days, from only wake up and Bt feeds to that and another two or three! feeds in the day.
They both had 16 teeth by the time they self-weaned...but then they were never the type to want to "soothe on the boob" so perhaps its the non nutritive sucking thats causing the pain rather than the feeding per se?
Sienna really isn't the type to comfort suck much either. She has her beloved dummies for that, and is a very fast BF'er. We never have a feed last longer than 10 mins tops, so I don't think it's non-nutritive sucking that's causing us problems. As soon as she stops swallowing (when the milk flow slows) she's off and wanting the other side, or finishing the feed.
It's nice to be back on here :) Not felt so good about being back home though, a bit of the holiday blues I think, but it's cheered me up coming on this thread again and reading all your posts. VERY excited for you KM, it's so close now!
I'm off to bed to get some sleep as YES we're still waking several times a night ::) It's got to stop soon!! Will be back to devise a plan LOL
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Cadan did 3xBFs again today so I think we are OK for a while. His teeth I saw cutting through seem to have disappeared though ??? I have heard they can do that but it is as if I imagined them.
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Just wanted to pop on and say hi. DS stopped wanting to BF a little while ago. One morning, poof, that was it. No more mommy juice :( Sad but I was glad he chose to do it himself. 17.5 months proudly breastfed!!!
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Well done Stef that is great.
My sister who doesn't BW has always BF'd her DS to sleep. He still wakes up to 5x a night and has to be BF'd back to sleep. He will be 2yo next month and she has decided enough is enough. She told him her boobies are sore and she needs meds from the dr to make them feel better so he is going to have his milk from a cup and just have mummy snuggles. He didn't say anything when she said it but has been going to sleep with her just sitting in the room after a snuggle and has not asked for a BF once!!! I find that amazing that a LO who was SO dependent on the boob can be weaned so easily. She is only on day 3 but feeling strong. He's still waking about 3x at night but just having a snuggle and going back to sleep.
We are still doing 2 or 3 BFs a day when he asks which is currently always when he wakes for the day and at BT and sometimes when he wakes from his nap.
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Well done Stephanie! ;D It must be great to have him self-wean. I hope Sienna will do that too. How many feeds a day were you on before he stopped wanting it?
Ali, that's an interesting story about how your sister's DS just acceptad that explanation :)
Sienna has had Rotavirus and is just starting to eat properly again. When she was ill she didn't have any food, just milk. I was once again very happy to have my milk to give to her, and thanks to nursing she didn't get too dehydrated despite vomiting loads first two days with some diarrhoes (sorry TMI) then days and days of diarrhoe, bless her. She's lost weight though so am working on fattening her up. I've started taking Fenugreek to boost my milk supply too, and have noticed her taking longer feeds. Better for me with longer feeds than more feeds like she was wanting :P
The nightweaning I had loosely planned for Easter weekend went down the sink though :-\ ::) and the weaning from 4 to 3 daytime feeds hasn't progressed much either, so we're still on either 3 or 4 daytime feeds plus usually 2 nightfeeds. Saying that, she did two 8 hr stretches for me prior to getting ill. Fingers crossed she'll start doing that again soon and that it wasn't just tiredness from starting to get ill.
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Poor Sienna.
My nephew even STTN to 5.20am last night and then went back down for another 2hrs after a drink and cuddle. It really is an amazing transformation.
I was in the shower when Cadan got up this morning so DH got him up and then by the time I was ready and saw him he said he didn't want a BF when I offered. He did have 3x small BFs before and after the nap and then at BT. I normally try to distract him from any requests before his nap as it is normally a distraction tactic but we had guests over and I needed to calm him down and make him forget all the fun he had been having so he would go to sleep without a fuss. It worked!
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big hugs and well done on 17.5 mths Stefanie....its great that your DS self-weaned....and even better for you, you'll have another LO in no time at all so you can get started again!
Hugs Vick on the rotavirus }}{{ Emma never really got as sick as anyone around her, to this day. And when she had D&V (wasn't rota though, I think, as she had the shot for that as a tiny LO, though I don't know how long that shot works for) or swine flu (at 14 mths and at 6 mths) she really wasn't bothered by them at all. I just found it so funny that on going back to 6 or 7 feeds a day her poops became NB like again!!!
Thats a whopping amount of feeds she's taking though, wow! 6 in 24 hrs! Last time my two did this they must have been 3 or 4 mths old, apart from being sick around a year old, like I said above.
How is the solid intake going, apart from now after Rota? It sound as though Sienna is getting enough nourishment to get her going in a short 10 min BF that it keeps her going all day.... My sister's daughter is the same, just with cow's milk. She prefers not to eat, almost at all right now at 25 mths. She's always been a poor feeder though, BF FF or solids....
Hugs to all }}{{
S x
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Hi Ladies ,
So we weaned about a month back , when i took my trip out of town.
I got back in 4 days. She still asked for her "boo boo" , but i told her that i gave it to another baby, who is very young ,and needs it now to grow as big as she has grown.
She still loves the boobies , and wants to be held close , and ofcourse the snuggles are being asked for.
but its nice to have bf her for 24 months!
but now am happy to have my self to my self !
richa
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Well done on the 24 months Richa! ;D That is a very long time to have given her your milk and you should be proud that you continues for so long. I bet it is nice to have your breasts back to yourself too.
Yeah shiv, 5-6 feeds still. Occasionally it's 4. I've not actively weaned any just let her take the lead, until now when I'm trying to cut out one daytime feeding. She doesn't need it, it's just for comfort really I think. I think I have quite a small storage capacity too, so not been wanting to cut down and affect my supply badly, which happened with Lois.
She still eats solids really well actually. And while the milk intake has sort of stayed the same for ages, her solids intake has slowly kept increasing. The milk is more of a liquid snack/drink for her I think and as she's a small girl I think it's better that she's drinking my milk (with lots of good stuff and calories) for her thirst, than to quench her thirst with water. It's more a practical thing that I want to cut to 3 dayfeeds. Not always practical to feed a toddler out and about :P
She's much better now from the Rotavirus and is eating like a little pony to make up for the days of no food :D
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Vicku, he was down to just the morning feed when he stopped. We had been doing morning am and pm but two weeks prior had stopped the pm because he didn't seem t want it and was wiggling like crazy and just chomping.
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Congrats Richu! What an accomplishment!!
I'm hoping to stop in a month...we're moving in two months and I don't want to stop bfing AND move AND get her settled to a new place ...
Not sure how I'll do it...hoping she'll lose interest in the next few weeks!!!
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Sarah, could you do the don't offer, don't refuse route? Or does she ask lots?
I have never heard of rotavirus Vicku but I'm glad your LO seems to be getting over it.
We are still on the 3 feeds a day. The after nap feed I thought we had almost dropped seems to have come back about now unless I'm not there. We have been staying in lots as I have been sick so we are having 3-feed days more often than 2-feed days. That is OK with me for though.
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I could...but it's the before bed feed. She just expects it...she signs for her ;D Gawsh I'd wish she'd have more milk from her sippy cup.
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Sarah are you only doing the BT feed now or more feeds?
Happy to report that we've had great success doing 'don't offer, don't refuse' for the late am feed that we've been in the rpocess of dropping for a while now. Since she's got better she's mostly not asking for it and we've only done one this whole week :D
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just the BT feed :)
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Hm, not much point doing "don't offer, don't refuse" then if she always asks for it :-\ Does she take milk from a sippy? Would she accept that from someone else as a substitute?
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Hi everyone, I'm new to this thread. Breastfeeding my 17 month old on waking and before bed still (but not to sleep). Want to stop when I get back from my hols in a couple of weeks, without reading through 26 pages is there an FAQ I can look at before I steam in with questions?
TIA :-)
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Hi and welcome! There is a weaning sticky and a weaning FAQ that may be helpful to you :) I'd post links but am on my phone and haven't figured out how to so hope u can find them.
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I think these are the links Vicku is referring to in case you didn't find them Spodnic.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=157385.msg0#new
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=124222.0
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thanks for the links! I should probably post on there soon ;D
Vicku - she is not a milk guzzler! Her sippy cup filled from the morning can last her to lunch..and that's putting some in her cereal or oatmeal if she wants some. *shrug* Soo..that doesn't make it easier!
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Hi there :) I finally get to join you ladies!
E was 1 last week and I'm pretty well done the daytime wean but not sure if I'm ready for the nighttime/early morning feeds yet. My supply drops quite a bit in the evening so she gets a 3oz top up and then whatever nf's and ew feeds as necessary. I'm happy to do it, although we're still struggling with her reflux and what I'm eating.
In this past year her and I overcame a ton of bf'ing issues and I've come to really enjoy it. During the day, she couldn't care less how she gets her milk (soy milk as she's allergic to dairy and 'something' in formula), but at night - she holds out for the bf. Thankfully it's not a prop as she goes back down awake. I think she's taking a lot of comfort from it with her teething.
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Hi Vicki *waving* ;D Welcome to the thread and congratulations on Bf for a year!
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Hi girls, it's done, I weaned Adam at the beginning of the month!..it was really gradual and not intended as I had hoped we'd last till June, we did follow the don't offer, don't refuse route and it seems to work, so although I sometimes had the urge to feed, I had to resist so as not to mix A up.
Since we weaned, I have noticed a major rise in his milk intake and he sometimes even asks for it, how would have thought..LOL
I miss having a tiny little breast fed baby though :(
@ Sarah, I'm a PM away if you need any help or support hun :-*
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Hi extended BFers,
I've posted a separate message in the main board but just wanted to ask you, since you're probably the people who'd know, would a 13 month old be signalling weaning by biting? He's a very gentle person otherwise so there must be something specifically about BFing that makes him bite. Though he goes over to the BFing chair, asks for a feed (morning and night) and is very happy at the indication that one is coming. Then...chomp... Am very confused by it all. It's so emotional as well as everything else!
Thanks for any ideas or experiences you might share.
x
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Not sure, but could he be teething and so bites?
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Anne, I was also wondering whether he could have gotten some new teeth lately and be in need of modifying his latch now. What does he do after he bites? Is he happy to not feed after?
Cadan seems to have found a new passion for BFing. He is now taking 20-30mins to feed at BT when we had previously been down to 5-8mins. I suspect he is using it as a delaying tactic for going to bed but when I finally insist that is the end and we go brush his teeth he is OK to go to bed so I'm not sure. We are still feeding at WU for the day and sometimes after his nap too if he asks, which he tends to if we are home alone. Otherwise if he naps in the buggy or there are others around he is not normally interested.
At the weekend we were on an underground platform with about 20 strangers as well as DH, Dh's BF and his fiancee. I think Cadan was tired due to a short nap out and about and he uncharacteristically decided he wanted to BF. He started banging my chest and yelling "boobies!". The more I tried to distract or refuse the louder and more urgently he screamed it. It was so clear what he was demanding and I got the giggles because I was actually quite embarrassed. Managed to distract him in the end anyway.
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I know when E was teething on the top I got some nips. Even when she asked for the feed.
Ali - too funny
Well I decided to wean last Saturday and it went exceptionally well. She happily took her bottles and I had no issues at night until I noticed the hives. In a cruel irony, she had started developing an intolerance to the soy milk she's on :'( Been struggling with the Dr since yesterday to refer her to get her on HAF as she's allergic to dairy and I decided last night to go back to bf'ing, although with now a limited supply after not bf'ing for 2 days. She was only getting morning and night feeds for a month so there wasn't much there anyhow, and now I'm putting her on before every bottle and using the bottle as a top up.
I'm pretty sure I want to be done. I'm happy to continue until we get her on a HAF but I want this to stay positive and not frustrating. The night feed/early morning feed is rather nice as she's focused and quite drowsy but the daytime she's simply too nosey. As soon as I can get her on to the HAF (whenever I can get some), I'll look at weaning again. But for now, I'm bf'ing and here :)
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but the daytime she's simply too nosey.
My two were like this. We had to feed in the dark, in the bedroom. With Emma it was actually from very, very early. A spirited baby with a spirited brother meant for disaster in milk intake otherwise~!
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Oh Vicki, that's too bad that your weaning success didn't work out. Looks like really bad timing. I hope the next try will be more successful.
I am getting a bit frustrated with all the feedings too. Hayden is becoming more and more demanding and wants to feed longer and longer. Plus I think our morning feeds lead to short nights cause he doesn't go back to sleep once he fed but gets hysterical if he doesn't get one. And often he wants the feed way too early for my liking, like today at 5.30am after only 7.5hrs night sleep! :o I would totally attempt weaning now but we are moving at the end of this month and expecting another baby at the end of July so I don't know if this is the good time. I would definitely not get very far with don't offer, don't refuse cause he asks for it anyways. We'll see how it goes...
Ali, Hayden does definitely take longer feeds at night just to stay up longer. But he gets really annoyed if I make him stop earlier. I actually can't remove him myself anymore cause I am always scared he'll bite if I try to, so I generaly ask him to remove himself and hope for the best. It usually works if he has fed for long enough already.
We are really bad in the morning. Cause he wakes up so early he and I are always super tired and often go back to bed to have a long feed even after we got up and had our first feed. It's probably not a very good idea but the easiest way for me right now. Sometimes we are over an hour in bed feeding. :-[ I just can't even think of attempting to wean the early morning feed yet.
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Manuela, I love our early morning feed too. Luckily Cadan is normally up around 7.30am but I still love climbing back into bed and snuggling for another 20mins or so. I would hate to lose that just yet. The thing with Cadan's BT feed that makes me think it is delaying tactics is he will pop on and off and try to have a conversation (limited of course) in between. He'll do things like stoke my top and say "nice" or squeeze my nose and make it beep like DH often does with his. It is quite funny sometimes and if I laugh he does it again and again. If I suggest we go brush his teeth and go to sleep he latches back on or says "boobies". I feel like he doesn't really want to feed but just wants to delay BT. Sometimes though when he does latch back on he will have a good 10mins more without coming off so then I feel like it was worth it. I try to factor this mucking around into our timings now so we start getting ready a little earlier.
Vicki, hugs on E's problem. I hope the HAF introduction goes well. Having a baby that is allergic or intolerant to a big food group would be my worst nightmare on the BFing front I think so I really admire you mamas who deal with it so well.
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Well we got the haf and started it today. It's diluted with the soy milk as I don't let down for a pump. Pretty sure we're done now. If she asks to go on during the night/early morning I may let her, knowing there's not much there now. She doesn't have interest if there's nothing there so I'd guess she'll stop asking within the week. Thankfully she's a cuddly baby so she snuggles right up with her bottle. I'm glad she finally takes one, so I can get my cuddle time in that I don't get with not bf'ing now iykwim.
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Hugs and well done Yazzie on the weaning! :) {{{}}}
Vicki I hope the HAF introduction is going well.
Ali, DD also does the nose beeping game LOL too cute, but sometimes annoying too, like when it's bedtime ::) Then I tell her my nose is sleeping :P
We're doing well here, nothing new really. Oh, we've past 18mos now which was my next goal after getting to one yr. Feels good :)
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Thanks Vicku :-*
She's completely weaned now and last night she sttn for the first time ever. Her reflux has all but vanished and she's a happy little girl. I miss the bf'ing, but it's for the best and I'm just really happy that she got all of the benefits of us getting to the year. She was so patient when we struggled and we eventually got there. She's quite the cuddler so I'm not really missing out on those, and I'm the one who does the bottles and although she holds the bottles quite well when sitting I put her in the same bf'ing position so I can emotionally 'wean' if that makes any sense.
Thanks again everyone for all your support. Wish I could have stayed bf'ing for longer and stay on this lovely thread, but it was just our time to be done. I now see bf'ing as a wonderful gift not just for the lo but the mother too :)
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I now see bf'ing as a wonderful gift not just for the lo but the mother too
Couldn't agree more :)..Adam still comes up to me every now and then asking to feed, so I tell him 'you're a big boy now, let's go get your milk or let's get you some juice'.
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Definitely a gift for mama too Vicki. :) :-*
DH was putting Cadan down for his nap today and I was downstairs with my mum. Apparently C asked for "boobies" so DH called me on the house phone in the kitchen
DH: Is this the boobie hotline?
Me: No, he doesn't have boobies before his nap
DH: Oh, he's telling me otherwise but OK.
Hang up. 10 seconds later the phone goes again and I answer to a tearful Cadan crying "boobieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees" down the phone!
How can a mama resist that eh?
I know some people who say LOs are too old for BFing when they have teeth or can ask for it. ::) Imagine what those people would think about DS calling me on the phone to ask!!!??? :P
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Omg Ali that made my day. I'd tell them if he was asking for a bottle as he normally had one before a nap most people wouldn't blink.
E still asks in the early morning but gets a cuddle on my chest and she rubs the skin on my arms. We both like it. I think we both still need the skin contact :)
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He never has one before his nap (not for the last few months). Sometimes he asks but I tell him he can have one when he wakes and he is normally OK with that.
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Vicki, I think it's lovely you can still have the skin to skin contact and cuddles. My DD2 is also very cuddly and it's lovely :) DD1 at that age (spirited) usually couldn't stop long enough for a cuddle. Likes them now though but awh I LOVE those baby huggles :D
Ali, that is hilarious! LOL I just read it out loud to my DH. He jokingly asked after your last sentence "How old is he? 16?" ::)
Have to share too... Sienna is obsessed with Peppa Pig and has a Peppa Pig soft toy that she takes to bed. She's shared her dummies with Peppa for quite some time now (takes it out of her mouth, holds it to Peppa's snout and makes sucking noises). Tonight at bedtime she was even more generous and shared her "milkies" with Peppa. Unlatched, got Peppa and put her snout to my nipple and made the same sucking noise LOL I burst out laughing and she started to "explain": "Pappa Piiig, ahah ooo mikiii" as if to tell me she was only having some milk, what are you laughing at? ;D
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Haha Vicku. Tandem nursing with a pig eh?
Even I (a strongly pro-BFing person) would have a problem with nursing a 16yo!
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Hi all, I've had a go through the FAQs etc, at last. We're back from holiday so now I'm going to start weaning 18month DD. Never took a bottle, now has a sippy cup in the day. We are down to 2 BFs, one morning, one evening. I guess I will cut the am one first. Offer some milk in her cup instead. Usually if she unlatches and starts to get off the bed I don't let her come back on as that's my understanding she's finished (and trust me she is finished proper drinking), she normally goes mental but I stand firm.
I will also have to make sure I am clothed too. Have some milk in a cup with cuddles. Does this sound ok? She would understand if I say "milk is all gone" but I don't think she'd like it lol.
I am a bit nervous about this as she can be very clingy, I want to be firm without being mean. I do want to stop BFing soon though, to promote her (and my!) independence. She doesn't ask for boob and otherwise has been a poor milk drinker since day one, which is why I've carried on so long, so I'm at least getting mummy's milk into her.
Nighttime I think will be harder as that's how she chillls out before bed. I think I will have to switch her routine a bit and introduce another book upstairs, in her bedroom, instead of a BF in mine. She is better pm, after 10mins, some drinking, some sucking for comfort, she will come off and ask for her dummy before I put her into bed.
So am I missing anything here? Thanks ladies.
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Hi Spodnic..
One thing that worked for us (Emma was also a poor milk drinker, BF or otherwise) was a straw cup. She liked the sucking so much thro it that she really started to take more than an oz or two. She now drinks a lot less than her brother at 2 yrs (or even now, he'll have two cups after tea, she might almost finish one, no more than that).
Well done on the 18mths xxx
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Agree with the straw cup, made a world of difference for us too !
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Could anyone post a link to the kind of straw cup you've been using? I'm thinking of getting one too to get s used to having milk from a cup. She'll only take one or two sips out of a free flowing cup and even though I'm not done BF yet I'd like her to be able to have a substitute so I can be away from her more than a few hrs.
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http://canpolbabies.com/pl/produkty/produkt/430-bidon-sportowy-ze-skladana-rurka--/term:Bidon%20sportowy%20ze%20składaną%20rurką%20%20/page:1
this is ours - a PL brand but very popular in other countries as well I think. I tried to get Emma to drink from Avent range as I had all the bottles/handles/beakers etc ready to go with new valves and tips (the white soft, green hard and yellow sporty but this was what she wanted).
If you have trouble finding it, I can help!
S x
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Just wanted to share that today at playgroup a young mum was BFing her baby quite indiscretely (which is fine) and Cadan walked up to her and bent over to get a better look. He was standing there gawping at her and then pointed and announced "boobies". I hustled him away to play elsewhere and leave the mum in peace. hehe.
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Ali, you got the funniest stories ever, seriously. It's just so cute when they start understanding so much around them and are so straight forward with whatever they are thinking right now. Hayden sure loves his "boobies" too, you should see him getting excited when I tell him that we are finally having milk. Yesterday he ran so fast into his room to put his cow's milk cup on my night stand and to get ready for mom's milk that he tumbled all over his feet. He looked like a little canon ball, don't know where he's got that sprinter personality from. ??? I really enjoy our feeding times right now cause he is rubbing my big belly the whole time and imitating how the baby kicks and pushes in there. And I told him that the belly will grow and grow and grow, so now he imitates that too with his hands. I think he is always thinking about the new baby when we feed. There is a baby picture for him to look at during feeding and when he couldn't see it once cause my DH turned around the box where it's printed on he got so upset and couldn't feed cause he kept repeating: "Baby! Baby! Baby!" I had to turn it around and now he is all happy again. :D
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Too cute about the baby pic Manuela. Cadan is funny but I tell ya DH has a lot to answer for for teaching Cadan to ask for "boobies". Before that it was an ambiguous "bu" (boob) at best.
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DH has been teasing Hayden by touching my breasts while he is around. He is a bit of a jealous type cause, in his opinion, I am HIS mom and therefore nobody is allowed to touch me. ::) Anyways, now Hayden does the same thing: when I have him in my arms or when he is close and I am sitting on the ground he will put his little hand right on my breast and look all challenging up to his dad. DH also taught him to spank my bum. Seriously, what's up with those guys? ;)
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I weaned Jashn about 2 months ago, she still remembers boobies. She still thinks she owns them and calls them her boobies he he.
And asks for them once in a while. I so miss feeding her now.
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In two and half wk k Wil b two and i am ready to wean now i think as he is still too demanding and i dont have the time now i have 2 under 2 and i only planned to make it to 2yrs. I am sad and dont know where to start.
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Hi folks,
just thought I'd pop back and say that the biting crisis subsided. I did intervene (mostly by watching and catching him pre-chomp!) but mostly I think it was teething, with teeth coming at the front.
Meanwhile, I have another question. He's really poor at drinking other milk, though does well on water. I'm hoping to get him to take something else on the occasional night, so I can go out or indeed work! Has anyone had any success with one night a week? And should I be thinking of replacing a drink with a drink or could we offer him another small snack maybe? Any suggestions welcome.
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If i am not around k gets offered a drink of milk sometimes hot which he takes better else he just goes without and eats a snack. They dont need the milk past 1 as long as they have a balanced diet so if you go out and he has nothing it wont hurt. K started drinking more milk when i went back to work and he got less milk from me but if drank little before.
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Awh hugs Richa and KM {{{{}}}}
Glad the biting stopped AnB. Agree, a snack and water should be fine :)
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Just wanted to pop by and see how everyone is doing. Have you made any plans regarding the weaning yet, K's mom? Is he still so demanding? Maybe, I know it's probably not the best idea, but could you offer him some other yummy drink like diluted juice or a fruit tea as substitute for the milk? And tell him that he gets the big boys drink whereas the baby gets the milk cause it can't have the other drink yet?
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We are still feeding but only in the morning and before sleep. I have been strict about other times. The offering other drinks works until he has drunk it then he wants milk too!
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My milk supply has already dropped due to the PG, so DD has been a bit frustrated and asking more often again. Atm we're just hanging in there and seeing what happens... She's getting more teeth too so had another period of worse latch but it is getting better now. In general I'm still really enjoying feeding her though. It's out special cuddle time in otherwise very busy days :)
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Glad you're still enjoying it Vicku.
We are still doing morning and BT feeds. Not planning on weaning before DS2 arrives in <7wks so I guess I shall be going tandem!
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Glad to hear it's working out for the most part. K's mom: too bad he knows better. ;)
Vicku: hope the latch doesn't stay painful and your LO gets through the low supply period if you want her to.
We are also going tandem and will see how it works out. Ali, do you have any ideas when you would want to wean DS or are you planning on self-weaning him?
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We are also going tandem and will see how it works out. Ali, do you have any ideas when you would want to wean DS or are you planning on self-weaning him?
I will let him self-wean hopefully. Right now I am thinking that if he is still feeding at 2yo I will probably try to wean him, softly, softly though. What about you?
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Almost the same here. He will definitely make it to 2yo unless he decides once the baby is there that bf is not for him anymore, but very unlikely. So once everybody got a bit adjusted I think I will try to wean him, first softly and if I get really annoyed with a bit more pushing. Not sure if soft weaning will go anywhere, he loves it so much. ;D
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As we're nearing 30 pages I will now lock this thread.
Please continue to chat here: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=212311.new#new :)