10 mth on 4 bfs/day, mum ready to stop bf for good

[janet&p]

My 10 month old daughter is currently having 4 bfs per day, on waking, between meals as a snack and as a part of the night time routine. (Solids dinner, bath, bf, book, nappy change, bed).

I'd love to drop a feed and then another, and another!  I read in Tracy's book about using a pump to replace the bf.  I don't have a pump.

Has anybody been in a similar situation? In two months time I start working (only one day a fortnight), but it seemed like a good end of bf timeline to me. 

Can I do it? How?

[india's mum]

i've just finished weaning my dd from the breast a week ago.  She is about 10.5 months now.  i'm in the same situation as you, i return to work in January, so i wanted to have her weaned before then.  I started weaning her about 6 weeks ago.  I was bf her 4 times a day: early am, late am, late afternoon and before bed.  I started giving her a bottle instead of a bf about every 2 weeks ( a bit less for the last 2 feeds).  I figured a nice slow transition would be the easiest on both of us!  I has gone very well.  Just be sure to be snuggly and cuddly with her when you bottle feed so she doesn't miss the closeness.

I weaned her to formula so i'm not pumping.  But you could rent a pump from your local hospital or drugstore if you don't want to buy one at this point.  Hope that helps!!

[nicb]

I'm in the process of weaning my 11 mo DD for the same reason - going back to work in January. We were doing 4 feeds a day also. I dropped the 11am BF in mid-October. She didn't even notice. I offered her formula and a snack instead. For us, though, she refuses a bottle (has refused since 4 months), so I give it to her with a straw (she can use a sippy, but just takes small amounts). She still only takes 2 ounces at a time, though. I dropped the 4pm BF 10 days ago - same thing, she didn't even notice, and I offer her a drink and snack. She's now BFing twice a day (though she's often refusing one side at night, and morning BF is really quick), and taking about 8 oz formula during the day (about 2 oz with each snack, and an ounce with bkft, lunch and dinner, and another 2 ounces mixed in with cereal, soup or other food). So, its gone smoothly, but I wish I could get her to drink more formula since 8oz a day (of which only about 5 or 6 is in liquid form, the rest mixed into food) isn't enough for when I try to drop the am and pm BF's (which I'm not planning to do for a while, but seeing DD is showing less interest, it might be sooner than I would hope).
Nic

[janet&p]

Thanks so much for your information.  It is just so good to get an answer from people who have 'done' Baby Whisperer.

I'm going to introduce some formula to dd to replace the dropped bf and also offer her a bit with meals.  So we'll see how she takes it.

I've rung Health Clinic (I'm an Aussie) and they say 700ml /day is about the requirement to this stage.

I've been on three bfs for a week now and will drop to two when dd is familiar with formula. I'm planning to go slowly too, a few weeks at each step.

It sometimes seems a bit silly to be offering formula then cow's milk at 12mths, but what else can you do?

[india's mum]

just a note about going to a bottle:  when i first started substituting a bottle of formula for each bf, i was concerned because my dd would only take about 4oz at a time.  I realized that the reason was i was using #2 nipples (slow flow) and she just didn't have the patience to sit for a long time to drink the whole bottle.  I switched to #4 (fast flow) nipples and she now takes the whole 8oz.  Oops!!   :oops:

Hope it goes smoothly for you!

[janet&p]

Thank's India's Mum,

My dd just drinks the formula straight from a sipper cup in the high chair, hasn't missed the bf at all it seems.  It is a small amount though, but it is only day three.

Thanks again, Janet