HELP!!! Ready to wean 1 yr but...

[ceci75]

My dd1 is 4 days shy of her 1 year birthday.  I have been trying to hint to her that her breastfeeding days are numbered.  Sometimes we can go more than 8hrs without a breastfeeding, and sometimes 2 hrs.  I am so ready to stop so I can get back to work but she is not very happy with the idea.  Actually she cries, screams, and hollers.  She has never, never liked formula and although I have given her cow's milk, she doesn't drink it much.  Her bfast, lunch, and dinner feeds are not great either. The only thing she can eat all day long is chicken!  I'm afraid I just have one picky eater on my hands .  I don't know what to do.  Also, I'd be happy to continue the night feedings but she wakes up 3, sometimes 4 times during the night.  And that's another problem, she doesn't know how to self soothe and go back to sleep by herself.  Any advice would be so appreciated.

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Hi there and welcome

I'm sort of noticing 3 issues here:
1. Weaning from the breast.
2. Fussy solid food eater.
3. Night wakings.

For the latter 2, I'd suggest checking out the solids' board and the NW board for some ideas.  As for the weaning, at a year old, there's no need for formula, and if she eats a balanced diet, then there's no need for cow's milk either.  Although it sounds like she's not cooperating with a balanced diet!  Does she drink other things than milk?  Will she drink breastmilk if you pump or express?  Does she like things like yogurt? My girls always enjoyed smoothies - a mix of yogurt, some fruit and maybe milk or juice as well.  Does she like colourful straws to make it more fun?  I also found that if I was drinking or eating something, it made it more interesting to my girls.

What's your daily routine like?  Are you nursing her at any regular times during the day (or night)?  It might be easier to drop some feeds if she's used to a routine and knows that she'll get some at regular times. 

And finally, any thought of continuing to nurse just once or twice a day?  I know I continued with morning and night feeds for months - until after 2 years.  It can be very do-able even when working full time.

[cooch]

try distracting a daytime BF with a snack that she enjoys.  My babe is 11 months and BF morning and evening, and sometimes afternoon after a nap, he finally sleeps through the night too so no more night feeds- they are old enough they should be able to sustain through the night if they're in-taking enough calories during the day.

[Erin M]

Adding on to what Erin said, I'd work on one feed at a time too - if she's sometimes going 8 hours between feeds and sometimes 2, just pick one of the feeds to start with and focus on getting rid of it - maybe you could be out of the house when it's usually time for the feed or engaged in something else.  Decide on what sort of schedule you're going to go with and stick with it!