Has anyone weaned earlier than they expected to because...ms

[Tru's Mommy]

your baby is SO distracted by your other child, the t.v, the dog, the switchplate on the light, the speck of lint on the florr...EVERYTHING!

Rowan will be 7 mo. in two days.  He's on a 4-hr schedule with solids 3x a day plus snacks.  He's a good eater, especially solids.  He typically nurses at 7 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and bedtime (around 7 p.m.)  BUT, the middle two feeds are SO difficult sometimes because he'd rather do anything but nurse.  It is hard to find a quiet spot in house as my 2.5 yo. is usually running around being a typical wild boy!  Rowan is SO interested in his surroundings.  Even if I can get him to nurse both sides, it's like he's just hurrying up so I can put him back down and he can be back to the business of playing.

I wasn't 100% sure I'd breastfeed him until he was 1 year-old like I did with Tru.  However, I thought I'd stick it out longer than this!  Also, it seems like we're trying to head out of the house, it's feeding time, Rowan doesn't take a good feed, than we're in the car and he decides he's hungry.

Emotionally, I don't think I'm ready to wean.  But, what about doing bottles for the middle two feeds when he seems the most distracted?  He takes a bottle just fine and will even lay on the floor and hold it himself.  That way, if it takes 30 minutes to finish it...FINE!

Also, he's back to waking up 2x a night for reasons I'm not sure of.  Usually he gets fed one of those wake-ups because after several attempts, it's the only thing that gets him to stay asleep.  I'm wondering if he just isn't getting enough calories during the day because he's not nursing as long or with as much gusto.

I know the decision is mine in the end, but I'm curious to know how other moms have handled this.  Asking my 2.5 yo to be quiet or stay in other room is completely unrealistic.  He's doing all he can to be a good boy while I put Rowan down for his naps, lol.

THANKS!
Tru & Rowan's Mommy

[E&J's mommy]

Hi there,

I nursed dd for 7 months and then decided to wean her. With ds I had hoped to do it longer. I just didn't seem to produce much milk and dd gained weight slowly until solids started but ds grew but seemed hungry all the time. I started supplementing which I kind of regret now but at the time I was tired and frustrated and just wanted him to get a good feed so I could have a break. Anyway, before I knew it he was dropping night feeds and we were down to 4 or 5 feeds a day with 2 bottles, 3 bf at only 4 months! I remember the last time I bf him. He barely latched for five minutes and then cried because he was hungry but wouldn't latch again. I cried because I wasn't ready to wean him but I knew then he was done and have given him bottles since. I'm not saying that you should wean but this is just my experience with weaning earlier than planned. I even spent the weeks while my milk was drying up checking to see that it was still there and wondering what were the chances of starting nursing successfully again! Such strange emotions for me, I attributed it to hormones  Anyway, good luck.

Joanne

[GraceKellysmom]

Hi Lady! Nice to see you! 

What I did with Grace was find something to keep her occupied when I heard Max waking up on the monitor. I'd plug in a video in the playroom, or sit her up in the highchair with crayons and stickers. I would nurse Max in the quiet living room. Don't know if that will help?

7-8 months is the second hardest time of a nursing relationship. A lot of babies "wean" at this time because they have a nursing strike. They decide they want only finger foods too - so you can see it for what it is if it happens. I would just keep offering, keep offering, keep offering. Even if you can just get a latch on and let down 4 times per day, you can always supplement with a bottle if that is what is working for you and your supply won't totally suffer for the feeds he does want.

*Most* babies will get back on track with the keeping offering. I was sure Max was going to wean early, he wasn't interested either, and yet we are still nursing at 15.5 months!  :shock:  He got to a place around 10-11 months where it was just once before bed and once in the early am. Occasionally he will ask for it after his nap now.

You'll have to update us on how sweet "baby" Tru is! A cutie-pie toddler?

[jennc123]

wow, this is what i am going through as well, i hadn;t thought maybe it was a nursing strike, bella is nursing horribly!  I am in the process of weaning her mostly because I am ready to have my body back etc..anyway i nurse her in the am before breakfast and then at lunch and then at 4pm and then she gets a bottle at bedtime, and i have been trying to phase out the dreamfeed.  I have been having trouble with the noon and 4 pm feedings :cry: , she just would rather do other things, she will nurse for 5 minutes and then wants nothing to do with me or a bottle.  she is learning new stuff right now so i figured that was part of it?  so is  a nursing strike normal at this age? and should i continue to keep trying to nurse her???

[annamum]

jennc123,

Your baby is exactly in an age when they go through nursing strikes. What moms take as a weaning process on a part of the child is not really it, a baby finds other things too interesting to stick out with nursing. Besides, 5 minutes may be easily enough for her at this age. My dd was a super fast nurser, she was always done in 5 minutes since she was 7 or 8 weeks old.

Should you wean or not, this is completely up to you  . I always encourage moms to keep offering breast and the baby will eventually go back to nursing and we have had quite a few moms here who succeeded with that. If you want to persist and keep nursing, we are here to offer you tips and our experience. The key to that is offering, pumping so your supply will stay on the same level and offering again. I know that it sounds like a big hurdle but a nursing strike usually lasts 1 to 2 weeks and a baby generally starts feeding better after that. In my opinion it is so worthy to continue nursing, there are numerous health benefits for your baby and for you too. In fact, the longer you nurse, the smaller chance of having a breast cancer for both of you and so on.

Either way, I can understand your wish to have your body back  :wink:. Just wanted to let you know that we can help if you need us  :lol:.

[jennc123]

thanks annamum, I do plan on breastfeeding for at least another month, I am going to slowly wean her not all at one time.  I haven't had to pump yet because she is still nursing , just not for long periods of time.  i won't give up yet, i get depressed when i think about it so i will continue to be persistent with it.  thanks again

[cofourcade]

Sometimes at that age, they start getting distracted very easily and it seems really hard work to get them motivated to breastfeed. Have you tried to go in a room that is quite dark and with no distraction? It works well with most babies.

Good luck to you!

[stressybessy]

Hi tru's mommy,
just thought i would post this as I too have a boy named Tru, aged fifteen weeks! Ive never heard the name anywhere else and thought I was the only one but obviously there are other people with such great taste in names!!
nicki x (mum to baby Tru and Hope 2yrs 4mnths)

[jk]

I am so glad to see I am not the only one having trouble at 7.5 months with breast feeding.  My baby Damien has been easily distracted since about 8 weeks but would usually still nurse but lately getting him to feed is a nightmare and turning into a battle.  He is on three solids a day, but was doing 7am, 11am. 3pm and 7pm breast feeds plus demand at night - anywhere between 1 and 3 feeds (yuk!).  But I tried everything to get him to nurse - no solids, dark, quiet room etc.  The only thing I can do to get him to feed is to do solids at 7, 11 etc and then nurse just before sleep -yuk!! All I can hope is "this too shall pass"

Jo

[jk]

I am so glad to see I am not the only one having trouble at 7.5 months with breast feeding.  My baby Damien has been easily distracted since about 8 weeks but would usually still nurse but lately getting him to feed is a nightmare and turning into a battle.  He is on three solids a day, but was doing 7am, 11am. 3pm and 7pm breast feeds plus demand at night - anywhere between 1 and 3 feeds (yuk!).  But I tried everything to get him to nurse - no solids, dark, quiet room etc.  The only thing I can do to get him to feed is to do solids at 7, 11 etc and then nurse just before sleep -yuk!! All I can hope is "this too shall pass"

Jo

[CanadianMom]

You could try using a "nursing necklace"  it is like beads and small toy like things basically on a string that the baby plays with while they are nursing.  Sometimes helps to distract themfrom the distractions. 
L