WEANING thread...Come and share your experiences and offer support.

[sofiasmommy]

Oh good to know! THANK YOU!! She loves cheese and yogurt...if I let her that would be all she would eat all day long! HA! So, I am hoping she likes the milk! We are going to try it next week! Wish us luck!! Sad to be about done with bfing...but looking forward to getting my body back to being mine!! KWIM???

THANKS!!
KATI

[jennyb133]

Hi Kati!

I introduced the sippy to DS at 6 mos. he was drinking water from it in between BF.  At 9mos. I introduced yogurt & cheese, he did fine with the dairy. We were down to 3 BF a day too. Morn., afternoon, & bedtime. I introduced whole milk just in his cereal at 10 mos. So at 11 mos. I dropped the afternoon BF & gave him whole milk in his sippy & he did fiiine with it.

Now he only has Morn. BF upon waking, & BF at bedtime.  The rest of the day he has water, juice & milk in a sippy cup.

I did go back to work part-time (2 days/week) when he was 4 mos. So, he was used to taking pumped milk in a bottle on days I worked.  At 11 mos. I finally packed away all the bottles since he's doing so well with the cup.   I know he can handle not having to BF at bedtime, b/c he would have to take a bottle/cup on the 2 days I worked. I got home after his bedtime.   So, the bedtime one will be the next one I drop which will be in 2 weeks when he turns 1.

The morning one will be hard, b/c that is his routine & how he starts his day.  The other day, I got up late & was running late for work, so I asked DH to just give him milk in a cup while I was getting ready for work. Well, I was so upset b/c DS started to drink, then saw me & started screaming/crying crawling on me, trying to climb on me to get my milk. He was soooo upset he had to have the milk in a cup from DH & wouldn't sit to drink. DH had to get up & walk him/ hold him while feeding him his milk. I think he was used to the cuddling. It made me sad, so I don't know how it will be when I wean that one.

I'll definately have to post here when that time comes!!!

As for now, the 2 BF a day are going so well, & I'm sure when I drop the bedtime it will be fine too.

I'm hoping to be done by x-mas.  Would be nice to have a few drinks during the holidays, KWIM?

[BabyBsMommy]

IKWYM.
I have slowly been weaning DS over the past few months b/c we are ttc and I still haven't gotten my period back yet.  I know it can still happen without but it makes it easier to know what's going on inside my body, you know?  Anyways, I just dropped off the last bf, the wake up in the morning one, yesterday and I shed a few tears.  DS didn't seem to care, though, he was just as happy with his bottle!  He looked at me as I hugged him extra tight and sniffled like I had two heads,  .  At least there's comfort in knowing he is fine with it!
Now we are on 4 bottles a day, 4-6 oz each so it's time to start cutting back a bit and getting to the sippy.  He has been drinking lots of water out of it since 6 months so hopefully it will go smoothly!
Miranda

[jennyb133]

Miranda,

We wanted to TTC after the holidays too. I got my period back when DS was 7 mos. & he was having 3 solid meals a day, so he was taking less BF. However, I haven't been regular & don't even know if I'm ovulating yet.  Once I'm done the BF, will be easier to track my cycle.

I think I will prob. shed tears too when we're totally done. I was upset going to work that day knowing I wouldn't BF at all that day 

I'm sure it will be harder on me than him though.

[elsa and jethro's mum]

i just wanted to reassure all of you who are struggling to get your heads and hearts around weaning your LOS: My LO is now nearly 15 months (I was always planning to breastfeed for as long as I could) and I think (I can still hardly say it) we may have finished BF about 2 weeks ago. I should mention that I'm 32 weeks PG too!
I had no idea how I was going to do it: I didn't want to, but I didn't want to tandem feed either. I said I'd try and wean her by 34-36 weeks but didn't know how I would! so I just kind of went with the flow, and at about 12-13 months when we were down to one feed (which happened all very naturally: elsa just dropped them herself pretty much) I started offering elsa some milk to drink from a cup at the normal BF point in the evening. I found that sometimes she would ask for BF (she'd never actually asked before this), and sometimes she woulndn't. And it was on again off again for ages: sometimes I would offer because I couldn't bear the thought of never BF her again... but slowly but surely we found a new dynamic, where there were lots of other intimate moments apart from BF, and I think we both gradually got our heads around it. Several times I thought I'd given up, and then she'd ask out of the blue and I'd give it to her, and she'd do something cute like pressing my nose and saying beep while she was feeding and I'd cry and think I can never give up.
But honestly I think not rushing it was great: my milk supply was pretty amazing I have no idea how it lasted! at the end she was feeding every few days, just from one side (I quit on the other side a while before because it was so sore with her teeth) and she'd be swallowing away! And every night I'd wonder if she would ask.
In the end her last BF was when she was ill a couple of weeks ago and she wouldn't eat or drink but I knew she'd take a BF so I gave her one. She really enjoyed it and so did I: because she was poorly she was floppy almost like the old days!
A couple of days later out of the blue she asked for BF right in the middle of the afternoon, totally out of character. I made a split second decision not to give it to her but to offer it at bedtime. she was quite upset and it was hard. but then at bedtime she didn't ask and Ididn't offer, and we've not looked back!
Now if she asked I think I would refuse, it's been nearly 2 weeks since that "last" feed and today she pulled at my top and said "baby" (she usually does that with my tummy) and then was trying to get my boob out: you could tell she knew something was under there but wasn't sure what! I said "no, not baby, milk" and she seemed satisfied with that and ran off to play!
So I just wanted to pay it forward i guess that it was worth just taking it slow, and i never had that big wrench of weaning that I had dreaded. It still makes me sad, but in a kind of "the time had come" way rather than a regretful way!
maybe I should have posted this on the Extended BF thread, if anyone wants to move it then feel free and sorry for posting in wrong place. I just know that when I was starting to think about weaning I couldn't imagine how it would ever not make me cry, and I couldn't imagine how it would n't be awful having to say no etc. but actually there's no one way, we just muddled on and found our own way to do it and I'm really pleased with how it worked out!
sorry for wittering on!
Laura

[binxyboo]

Elsasmum, I really enjoyed hearing your story. Thank you for sharing!

[Samuel's mum]

That's a great story and it's in the perfect place - no moving required. Thank you.

[BabyBsMommy]

Thank you for sharing your story.  I think that as long as you are at peace with your decision/weaning and know that you did all that you could for as long as you could whether that time was long or short, that's all that matters!

[First Time Mom]

Hi ladies! My lo is 12 months and we bf 4x a day, I've never eliminated a feed (always let her decide when to eliminate) and have tried hard in the past to keep the feeds up (she just dropped a feed about a month ago) because she has a milk protein allergy so I can't give her any milk products and I am not keen on giving her soy or alternative formula. Bfing is going well with her feeds being 7am, 11am, 4pm, and 7:30pm, my problem is that I go back to work in 1.5 weeks so I need to eliminate the 11am and 4pm feeds but I'm having a hard time with it! We have a nanny at home who will be taking care of her when I return to work, she started 4 weeks ago (wanted a long transition), I told her I would drop the 4pm feed now and the 11am feed next week. The past few days I have not bf'd her at 4pm, instead the nanny is giving her a snack and trying to distract her from me. DD is fine after some initial fussing but I'm not doing too well with it! I'm feeling quite emotional about it and (secret is out) bfing her the second the nanny leaves at 5pm . I think I can continue to do this until I return to work, then bump it to 6pm (as soon as I get home from work). Problem is with the 11am feed, she loves this feed more than the night feed, how do I eliminate this one cold turkey? I also don't pump (never have, never even bought one). Should I add an hour each day, so first day give it at noon, second day at 1, and so on so that it blends into the evening feed? This way when I go back to work, she'll get 3 feeds (7am, 6pm, and 7:30pm). If you've made it this far, thanks!

[Layla]

Hi ladies, this is my first post in this topic - I have sadly weaned my lo on to a bottle 3 days ago and my milk is drying up completely. From the start I was paranoid of not providing enough and it didn't help that she was always in the 25th%. The 6month check up with the nurse though really got me down when she said that it could be that my lo is not getting enough and I should have started solids earlier (whereas I waited till 6 months). My dh & I looked at the comparison of dd1 to dd2 at 6 months and dd2 is a whole 2 kilos less (I know I should not have compared as every baby is different). Dh insisted that I give her formula as she is clearly not getting enough so I gave her her very 1st bottle 3 days ago. She kind of looked up at me as if to say what is this and kept burying her head into my chest. I still insisted on the bottle (poor girl  ) and then bf her that night (DF) from 1 side and night feed from the other side (as they were very engorged). Our very last bf (i believe unless I am engorged again) was last night.

My initial goal was 6 weeks and then I kept going and going and I always thought that if I could last until 6 months, I would be really happy and proud but I can't seem to feel otherwise. I keep reading about mothers who BF into toddlerhood so I am upset that I fell into the pressure of bottle feeding. I think I'll miss the night feeds the most. Those were the most pleasant feeds for both of us, i think, because all other feeds were so rushed with Isabella running and screaming and distracting her. I think thats why I was never sure if she was getting enough - she was so easily distracted by her sister (and I could never hide in a quiet room to feed), I was never sure if she had her "meal". She seems ok with the formula though - I think its true that they get over it alot faster than us mothers do.

BTW - i was wondering if it would still be ok to BF her at night (2 night feeds) or would my milk pretty much be gone if I drop to 2 feeds???

Layla

[deenz]

Sorry haven't got much time to reply, but I would think you would be fine to continue with night feeds only.  I only feed dd2 twice (morning and night) and there's still milk there!  And feeding at night is better at stimulating milk production (can't remember why!).

[elsa and jethro's mum]

I guess it depends on your supply but definitely worth a go: we did twice a day and then once a day and then once every other day for a while and my milk survived!

Could you try BF and then topping her up with formula?
or is that a really unhelfpul suggestion? sorry it's always hard not knowing the whole situation... I guess it's just that you sounded so sad!

L

[Layla]

Thats a good suggestion but I think now I'll have to definitely pump extra hard to get back to what my supply was like. I BF her last night though (both night feeds) and I think I'll continue to do that until she starts sleeping straight through (btw, no where near that at the moment with wakings every 3hrs or so  ). You are amazing for BF whilst pregnant. I used to pump for Isabella exclusively and did so for 6 months. I wanted to do it longer but noticed that my milk supply decreased (the amount I pumped) at around that time. Well I was actually pregnant by that time and then someone had told me that my milk will be no good for Bella as when one becomes pregnant the consistency changes. So I stopped and went onto formula. This was all before BW so had I known better and was a little less naive then I would have done some research and found out that plenty of women can and do still produce milk and BF when pregnant. Anyways, thats in the past but still.... its really good that you kept going. I am sad that we have cut down to just night feeds but feel much better knowing that at least she will be bf at night. Those were the feeds I enjoyed the most as well.

[deenz]

Hi Layla,  I have a bit more time now!  It sounds like you've come to a better place now where you can keep up with the bf'ing at night (as long as that continues!), a little less difficult than weaning completely I imagine.  I think it's the hormone prolactin that is responsible for milk production, and that feeding at night makes more of this (than feeding during the day)...  Something like that, please don't quote me on that.  So I am sure your milk supply will be fine doing this.

If you wanted to, I am sure you could try as the pp suggested, bf, then top up with formula (during day).  It hasn't been too many days now has it?

However, whatever happens you have done so well getting this far!!  Congratulations!  It isn't easy with an older one running around.  And it's not easy when your lo is on the 'petite' side (as my dd2 is), and people pressure you.  And you did so well pumping exclusively for that length of time with your dd1.  Well done!

[BabyBsMommy]

Layla, you have done great!  I also agree that it should be possible to continue with the night feeds as long as your supply keeps up and that pumping may really help to do that.  You have done great bfing as long as you have, any amount of bm is beneficial!  I just finished weaning about 5 days ago.  I was down to the first thing in the morning and last thing before bed feeds but the before bed feeds were turning crazy as DS was just too wriggly, wild and uninterested.  I kept the am one as long as I could until I started to try topping up with a bottle and realized there was almost nothing left to my supply.  I am very proud of bfing until almost 11 months, though.  Although I'm sad to be done, there have been so positives.  I still get snuggle time with DS everytime I give him a bottle and story times are that much more meaningful because we snuggle then as well.  By weaning very gradually over 2 months, I am not sore at all from dropping that last feed (I did try to drop it a few weeks ago and was very sore and engorged so I restarted it for a few more weeks but this time it went much better).  Finally, it is really nice for DH to be able to feed DS more often, it is a special time for them, too.  AND being able to stay in bed for an extra hour in the morning while DH gets up to do the bottle and play is not too shabby as well!