Self Weaning?

[jacksmummy26]

Just got a few questions on this if anyone can help?

When does this usually take place cos i thought it didnt happen til 5 years or something!
Does it just happen suddenly or does baby gradually take less and less milk till it runs out?
Is it easier than weaning baby off ourselves?

Many thanks in advance! x

[Monika aka annamum]

Hi,

Here is a link that you might find helpful: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/index.html

Generally, babies don't self wean before well after one year old, on average this happens between 2 and 4 years. If you mean child-led-weaning, it is usually very gradual and takes a long time so the mother usually doesn't notice too drastic difference in drop of nursings per day. It comes down slowly to one nursing per day, usually before bedtime and then a child will skip that one, too. I know children who self-weaned at just two and they were nursed on demand all their life but there are also those who wean much later. There has been actually some research and according to it the age of human weaning should be somewhere around between 3-5 years, here is a link: http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html

But children can accelarate their weaning due to for example mother's next pregnancy when the milk taste changes or dries up, however not always, some toddlers will suck even when there is no milk there.

[Nikki~Nathanamp;Danielle]

I believe that my kids self-weaned, but it wasn't completely child-led in the sense as Monika has described which is what I think is the true meaning of it. Because my kids weren't demand fed but were on a loose EASY schedule, I had them down to 2 feeds by 12mths - then in their own time they dropped the final nursings on their own (13 and 14 mths) - possibly because I hadn't demand fed and therefore the nursing had mostly provided nutrition instead of a demand-comforting to them (just guessing of course), also our nursing sessions were always 5-10mins for both kids as I had an over-active letdown when they were newborns so I wonder in their case whether nursing didn't provide comfort for them the same (dunno) - I did/do lots of cuddles in place of the nursing at other times. I did the no-offer but no-refuse after 12mths.

[jehoffman]

I think my ds just self-weaned-he absolutely refused to nurse last weekend-and will not nurse when I offer-he will be 10months next week-not sure if it is a strike or if he is really done-it is a little earlier than I expected!

[Mrs. Gravy]

It's VERY unusual for a child to self wean at 10 months.  According to kellymom.com, babies who self wean are usually 18-24 months old at least, are getting most of their nutrition from solids, and do so very GRADUALLY.

It could just be a nursing strike.  Is there any chance your milk supply is low?  Could you be pregnant?  Sometimes during pregnancy the taste of the milk changes.

Keep offering the breast often.  Make sure you're available to nurse whenever baby wants to.  Try to avoid nursing according to a schedule for the next few days, just to make sure your supply doesn't totally dry up. 

[Monika aka annamum]

jehoffman,

Mrs.Gravy had a good point, this sounds more like a nursing strike to me, too. Keep offering and in meantime pump to keep your supply up. This usually doesn't take longer than a couple of days, sometimes a week but if you are commited you can have your baby back to your breast after some time. Babies on a nursing strike will often nurse when they are drowsy, you can try just before he wakes up from his nap or even while he is napping, some sort of a dreamfeed during a nap. Try also taking a bath with your lo, they find it often irresistable to be around mom's naked breast  .

... possibly because I hadn't demand fed and therefore the nursing had mostly provided nutrition instead of a demand-comforting to them (just guessing of course),

Nikki, I think you are absolutely right here .

[jehoffman]

Thanks-I really appreciate your feedabck-
I have been pumping and offering-but no luck-not sure about being pregnant-I haven't had AF at all-but I thought it would be returning since I had cut back on the pumping/nursing.

Thanks for your help!

Jen