I want to stop breast feeding, need advice

[avamariessmom]

My daughter will be one next week and I want to stop breast feeding, but I'm not sure how to do it gradually. She eats 3 meals a day and drinks from a sippy cup, but will only drink from a bottle when I'm at work (3x week). At this point, I'm not sure if I should bother trying to give her the bottle and just focus on the sippy cup. It just doesn't seem like she'd get enough milk with just a sippy cup. I've introduced cow's milk to her last week, and she likes it. She also still wakes up usually twice each night to feed. I really need some advice.
Thank you!

[Samuel's mum]

I think you should be prepared for this to be hard - for you and for her. This isn't just about milk, it's also about emotions and comfort. If you can avoid using a bottle then I would stick with a sippy cup and make sure she is eating lots of calcium rich foods. I think the first step is to night wean personally. If you day wean first you may find she just wakes up more times at night to compensate. Have you got the BW for toddlers book? There's some good stuff about nightweaning in there. You'll need to make sure she is falling asleep using the breast as a prop so she needs to be settling herself back to sleep after a feed. Have a look at this sticky on gentle removal: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52857.0

When you've completely night weaned you could try lots of extra hugs and cuddles and then begin to tackle daytime feeds. Most people find the very last feed to go is the 'favourite'. The whole process usually takes weeks (months for some) if you want to be gentle. Have you got someone else who can support you with the nightweaning and comfort her and settle her without you nursing?

Finally, are you confident this is what you want to do? If you aren't fully committed to weaning this is going to be much harder when she is very upset at 4am. I'm asking because some might say the subject you choose for your title of this thread is rather telling... Freudian slip?

[avamariessmom]

I can't believe I wrote "start" instead of "stop" in the headline! I just fixed it. To be honest, I'm not 100% committed to weaning her just yet. I'm still trying to figure this all out. I thought about keeping the night time feeding, but know what you say is true - she'll have me up all night to compensate for the missed daytime feedings. Things are already bad enough - she wakes up at least twice a night to feed (not just snacking either). I've tried offering her more food/feedling during the day, but it hasn't worked. Any ideas? My other concern about keeping a night time feeding is that it will be just as hard, if not worse, to wean it later down the road. Thank you VERY much for the advice. I can't wait to read the article tonight.

[JacobMarksMummy]

I think that youi'll find she might more interested in eating more in the day if she hasnt eaten at night for a few nights. I'd be prepared for some tough nights. Some people find a cup of water and a hug works best but if she's as attatched as you seem to think then it might be best to try pu/pd. If you want advice on that then I'd post on pu/pd boards as I'm not an expert. If your dp/dh is on board then it might be easier for the first few night for them to go in as then temptation isnt right in your face IYKWIM?

I'd second being sure your ready to wean because if your LO isnt willing then you need to be v.commited and it can be very hard when they are sobbing for milk all night /day long. You might find that she will drop the feeds herself if you leave her a few months longer, you know your LO best. My DS just recently weaned himself and I've found that just as traumatic as my friend that has finaly had enough and decided to wean her 18month old booby addict. Nursing is such a personal speacil thing I'd take some time before you come to a decision, how long do you want to continue nursing for?. As for weaning later some would argue its better to do it before they 'know' that they love it and what it is, others would argue that any child in thier own time will outgrow the need to nurse. HTH