I want to stop BF

[Diana1981]

Hello. My son is 10 months old and Im ready to stop BF at all. Lately because he is teething, hes been nursing until falling asleep for naps and bedtime. I dont want that. I want him to fall asleep w/out a prop. I just started the gentley removal so we'll see how things go. Does anyone has tips to stop bf at all.?

[EllenS]

I don't have any weaning tips, as my lo dropped feeds on her own.  I do know that you can stop the habit of nursing to sleep without giving up bf.  It's your decision of course, but it is not an all-or-nothing thing.

[Samuel's mum]

I agree with Ellen.
If you wanted to give up anyway using gentle removal is a good first step. Then bring nursing further back in your routine so it's no where near sleep. Then think about which feed you want to 'drop' first. At his age he'll need either a bottle or sippy of formula milk to 'replace' it. Doesn't have to be at the same time in the day.

[NoelleChristine]

There seems to be a lot of people asking this question.  With my first three kids I weaned from breast feeding fast and early, which I would NOT recommend either now.  I'm still nursing my 9 mo. so I don't yet have the experience of weaning on older baby.

If you wean now you'll need to replace those breast feeds with formula till your DS turns 1.  After that you can drop those feeds totally if you'd like and replace those with snacks.

If I were to wean now I'd just start with a feed at a time, probably with a mid-day feed and go from there slowly depending on how well my lo was handling the change.  Maybe change a feed a week or so.  So, depending how many feeds a day he's having it could take a month to complete. 

I totally agree with the PP that you can stop the habit of nursing to sleep without giving up bf.

I know it's not always an easy decision to make.  You've done an awesome job to make it this far so remember that too!

If you decide to keep going, post on the props board and I'm sure they can help you with the nursing to sleep association.


N~

[EllenS]

The other reason to drop feeds slowly, of course, is to avoid engorgement which can be quite painful. 

[Mommymac]

Dropping the evening feeds first worked for me, at the end I was nursing only in the morning and then only every second day. My son was 14 months at the end. Take your time and the child won't have a break down and your breasts won't get too sore.

[carly-g]

We got into a AP nursing to sleep habit when ds and dh were taking turns being sick.  I didn't want to give up breast feeding, so I have been working on changing the habit, and it has been a long two days, but ds just went to sleep in his own crib with only 5 minutes of light fussing. 

I would definitely try to change the habit but keep the bf if possible, if not, you will have to break him of expecting a bottle later.  Seems like more work to me!

Good luck!

[Diana1981]

Everything is wonderful now! There are no more night wakings and no more bf until falling asleep! I tried everything in the Baby whisperer`s book and nothing really work until I had to leave town for a couple of days. I left my son with my mom and sister and he forgot bf at all! The first night he did cry looking for me to bf, my sister gave him a bottle, he fell asleep but still woke up a couple of more times. It was like these for two more nights and now, after one week, he sleeps thru the night without waking up or without a bottle! Now he takes a 1 1/2 hour nap in the morning and cat nap in the afternoon....
In my case, since I tried everything and nothing worked, I had to stop BF at all and since my milk supply was low I did not have much trouble with my breats.

[carly-g]

Yay for happy momma and happy baby!!    So glad that you got everything figured out.  Bf is wonderful, but not if it is not right for you & your family.  (and great that you didn't have any trouble with your breasts-- I am worried about that for when we stop!)