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

[Jenifer]

Well, a month ago my DD weaned herself from BF and I was not prepared.  I thought she was teething and would maybe come back to it .. so I rented a hospital grade pump and started taking Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle to keep my supply up. 

Well, like I said, its been a month and she's not coming back.   When I offer her the breast (on the weekends) she turns away and tries to get off my lap, snuggles to it or tells me "all done" with sign language.  She put her mouth on this weekend .. and as quick as she was on she was off again. 

Even though I've been pumping (morning and night), I only produce about 2 oz a day (never really did produce for the pump).  I'm putting that in her bedtime cereal.

Question: is it worth it (health benefit wise) for her to continue to receive as little as 2 oz a day for me to keep pumping? 

What would you do?

[Jodi and her boys]

Jenifer, personally, I would just quit.  The 2 oz may benefit her, but the stress and hassle of having to pump and store doesn't sound worth it for me.  If you feel better doing it, go ahead, but I think your lo pretty much made the decision for you.  Are you offering her whole milk?

[Mamalou]

hi. We're down to one feed--just before bedtime and he keeps falling asleep on my boob! I've been advised to bring the feed earlier --before bath-- but I'm also thikning of weaning completely. 
We're flying to the States in a month and I think it'd be nice to not have to worry about or want to use bfeeding to soothe him on the plane--I know it could very well be useful there, but I'd rather not.
So, do I just offer milk with dinner in a sippy (that's what I've done with breakfast and snack times-).  Dinner is usually one hour before bedtime.  Or should I give him a sippy after bath as we read books, or have 'quiet time' before bed?

thanks for helping
Kristi

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Any of those options would be fine.  I'd try what seems best for all of you and if it doesn't work well, you have other possibilities.  Keep in mind that later on, or even really now, you won't want cow's milk in his mouth right before bed - better to have it before he brushes his teeth.

And congrats on getting past the year mark! 

[Mamalou]

Thanks.
I tried tonight to do dinner then bfeed then bath and bed and he fell asleep still bfing, but woke (he usually does before I put him in bed) when I got up and he was NOT happy.. he was fine for bath but was hard to put down for bed-it took me an hour! I had to pat him to sleep so I feel like I've just traded one prop for another.  Anyhow, definitely want to try the weaning as-- sorry for the tmi--but he left bite marks on my boobs tonight!!  :oHe was really clamped on!!    
It's quite hard to brush his teeth-- he used to like to chew on it-he'd let us, then he went through a phase of NO not at all-- and now he doesn't like it at first, but if I lay him down and try I can usually brush while he giggles I guess it tickles him. 
Tonight I felt guilty because when he couldn't sleep I offered him a sippy of milk (cow's) and he drank a little and we never re-brushed his teeth oh well--next time

thanks again
Kristi

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Tonight I felt guilty because when he couldn't sleep I offered him a sippy of milk (cow's) and he drank a little and we never re-brushed his teeth oh well--next time

I think it'll be okay! 

[Mamalou]

so after all this thinking today I just decided what the heck, and went with it.. I gave him a sippy just before bath, then sat in the rocker with books and the sippy afterwards, (and then brushed ) and bed. He didn't seem to be bothered at all. I was going to set a date, think about it, blah, blah, but so glad I just went and did it ..as I didn't have time to get all nostalgic or sad or anything, kwim?

Kristi

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Great to hear!!

[duyguz]

Hi,
I'm posting this km.s away from you... I have been reading all the posts for a long time but never wrote. Sorry for my language issues ( I need your help about dropping a feed. I have 17 m old dd. and we are down to two feeds, before bedtime ( sleeps while feeding ) and at 5 a.m actually this 5 am feed should be mentioned as a 5-7:30 am dreamfeed (
Anyway, I just want to drop the bedtime feed and I don't know how to since she reacts like crazy. She cries cries until she gets the boob in her mouth. I can take help from my husband but he keeps saying "I can't keep her in my arms,she's fighting with me to reach you" Do you think it would be traumatic for her to be rocked ( the only way for her to go to sleep is rocking while bfing ) by my mom whom she loves so much..
I think if my mom tries for 3 days it will be OK then ...

What do you think? And sorry if I couldn't be clear enough.

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Hi and welcome!  THe nursing to sleep association can be really hard to break. I'd be inclined to try the option with your mom and see how it goes.  If that works, then you might be able to gradually wean her off the rocking too.  There are other ways to wean this feed (and the 5am one!) too...here's a link about the Gentle Removal PLan:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52857.0

[duyguz]

Thank you very much. This link has all the answers I need. Really helpful

Duygu   

[candi]

I could use some weaning help.  I have a 10 month old and I want to discontinue breast feeding him when he is a year.  He feeds 5 times a day at 6am,10,2,6 & 9.  I am surprised he hasnt already dropped his first feed.  I think I could easily give him a sippy cup of milk but he is obcessed with touching my breasts.  I thought it might be easier to change his feedings to 8,12,4,8 before I wean him to cows milk.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Thanks so much!

[Mamalou]

when I started to wean Kubko at 1 year, I gave him sippy of milks (he was already used to sippys of water anyway) in his highchair when he'd wake (after naps) with a small snack... for the 2 day feeds and kept the other two bfs (when he woke and bedtime) then when I went back to work at 13months, I dropped the am feed (I had to- to have enough time in a.m.) I just gave him a sippy of milk with breakfast- and had breakfast right after he woke (no snuggle time in bed first thing, but now we're able to do that sometimes and then a few weeks later I decided to drop the bedtime one, and just gave him milk with dinner, and then with stories before bed. (all in sippys)
hth
Kristi

[orsue]

I don't know if this should be its own topic, but...
My DS is 10 months old.  He a completely breastmilk-only baby.  He nurses and get expressed milk in bottles.  He's been on solids since about 5 1/2 months and has gradually increased to all sorts of jar food and lots of table tidbits 3x/day, even with no teeth!  For at least a month or two (maybe more), he's gradually decreased the amount of nursing and even bottle that he will take. He nurses/bottle 4x/day: wake up (7AM), lunch (11:30AM-12PM), dinner (4:30-5PM), and bedtime (7:30PM).  The first feeding is almost always nursing, which he does for awhile and seems to get a lot.  The 2nd has been nursing, but is a bottle when I work.  The third is a bottle when I am gone and me when I'm home.  And the 4th is always a bottle.

The two middle feeds decreased first (the nursing sessions got really short, and the bottles went from 6 oz. to maybe 3 oz.).  Now that we do the bottle before bath instead of falling asleep withit, he will only take 2-3 oz.  It seems like he's weaning himself, which is great except that he doesn't drink from a cup that well (despite the 3 different ones we've tried and rotated for about 3-4 months). So, it doesn't seem like he will get much milk without some nursing/bottles.  Do I just continue as I am?  Is he too young to go to a cup only?  How should I proceed?  Thanks!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

You could certainly try going to cup only - I think it really depends, though, on what you'd like to end up with.  If you're ready to wean from bf, then you can do whatever combination works for you and for him, as long as he's getting enough fluids - and milk/formula.  In most areas, it's recommended to continue with BM or formula up to about a year and ensure that they get about 25oz per day - if you can do that with a cup, great, if not, then you might want to consider a different combination.  Certainly, soon, much of his dairy and protein requirements will be met with solids, and if you're cautious, you can have a balanced diet without too much milk, but you do have to think more!  If you're not ready to completely wean, though, there are still many benefits to even a couple of nursing sessions a day.  Does that help at all?

Oh, and he might have also decreased the amount of milk he's taking in if he's filling up on solids - if you want him to have more milk, you could look at the amount of solid food you give him and when it is, compared to his milk feeds!