Considering weaning at 5 months - not sure

[EBentley]

LO will be 5 months next week.  For the past month, he has been a terrible nurser.  He used to be great, we never had any problems, not even any pain in the beginning.

He's popping off, crying after, unable to be coaxed back on, etc. I know why:

1) The world is interesting to him now and he wants to look at everything.  I haven't found a position that will remedy this.
2) My supply is down (I've had supply issues on and off the entire time even though I pumped q2h when he was in the nicu - not a preemie though- and only pump now on the 2 days I work per week.  He's on the breast all others.)

All of this is just a vicious cycle.  With supplementing, he eats 4 times per day and once at night, sleeping 7-11 hours at a time.  If I don't supplement or supplement less, he's up 2-3 times at night.  A lot of the breastfeeding advice I get is to nurse him q2h, which isn't realistic for his age.  I really don't think that's a good idea. 

i hate to wean, but BF isn't really enjoyable anymore and I don't want to pump all day. 

[EllenS]

Many people can do mixed feeding long-term.   We had to supplement for low supply in the first 6 weeks while I pumped to get supply up, and always kept a daily supplement bottle.  DD is now 13 months and we still bf.

You are in a frustrating stage, a lot of people experience the same things at this age (we sure did!) and often it passes. 

For the distraction, have you tried a darkened room or laying a blankie or burp cloth over baby's face to minimise the visuals?  That helped us.  I have heard a "nursing necklace" is also good for this, so baby has something to play with.

You can also try galactalogues like "more milk plus" to boost supply.

I like pp's suggestion of taking it month by month to see if it's just temporary phase, because after all once you stop, that's a fairly permanent decision (tho some people succeed in relactating).
But ultimately, you have to do what works best for your family and feels right to you

Hugs!

[lilmonkey]

Hugs to you.  It is a tough call.  I considered weaning when ds got too distracted to feed properly.  But with the support of dh, I decided to postpone it and re-evaluated on a monthly basis.  I have also started to supplement with a daily bottle hoping that when I'm ready it would be easy for ds to do 100% ff.  Well it's been 3 mos and I still want to bf.  Take one week/month at a time.  Set small goals and if you still feel that weaning is the right answer then jsut do it.  YOu can't let other's opinions affect your self worth as a mother.  You are a great mother no matter how your lo is fed.

[Minibird]

Trust your instincts - only you will know what is right for you and your lo

With my DD1 I started introducing solids at six months and carried on bf, gradually reducing the feeds down to morning and evening, finally dropping the evening feed at 13 months.  I had intended to wean to ff, but DD1 had other ideas!

With DD2 it felt right to start introducing solids at 5 months, but I still hope to bf for as long as DD1 did. 

Just as long as you are regular with your feeds your body will keep producing that milk - and the other advice you have received is right - just take it a step at a time.  The more relaxed you are, the easier it will be to keep bf as long as you want.

[First Time Mom]

I agree with pps and only you will know when it's the right time to wean. My dd also went through fussy stages but know it does pass and things get back to normal should you continue bfing. Best advice is to take one month at a time, I never put a due date on bfing and we had our challenges and we went 18 months. Things I found helped- wearing a necklace to keep her hands occupied, no tv or music or people around, and no toys in view. I found dd nursed better laying down (she was less distracted) so when we were home I'd take her up to our bedroom. I didn't find a blanket worked, she wanted to play with it and cover her head, but it works for some. I never pumped (wasn't able to for some reason) so I did nurse more frequently when she was at that distracted age, it was easy to go back on routine afterwards.

Good luck with what you decide and hopefully you'll get some additional ideas for positions, etc., to be able to continue.