Preparing for weaning off breast?

[happy-chick]

Hi Guys,

I'm hoping to wean Ellie off breast by the time she's 1 year old, I'm looking for advice on how to encourage her to self wean rather than forcing her. We have a few months so would like it to be a gradual thing. Its taken us until only a couple of months ago to get her to have EBM in a bottle & she wont really have it out of a cup apart from a few sucks shes a fussy madam I've been giving her a couple of oz of EBM in a cup (soft teat cup) with her dinner to get used to it & she takes a bit but nothing significant. One thing i'm worried about is the fact that she uses me to go to sleep, her naps tend to be after a feed therefore she sees breast as comfort alot still, she will go to sleep with a bottle sometimes so I spose thats a good thing.

At the moment her typical routine is something like:
60am - Quick BF & back to sleep
90am - Breakfast
10:30am - BF & nap
120pm - Dinner
2:30pm - BF & nap
5:30pm - Tea
8:30pm - BF & Bed

What can I do to encourage her to drop a feed? I find it hard cos the easiest feeds to drop would be the 10:30 & 2:30 but when ive tried its been impossible as she then wont nap & gets mega grumpy... ALSO why do I feel soooo guilty when I even think of giving formula?? Would it be better to wait then go straight to cows milk? How much milk should she be having at 8 months?

I will miss BF so much but I feel its time to have my body back, i have mixed feelings about the whole thing tbh I feel sad at the thought of not breastfeeding again but also know I cant do it forever... oh I dunno i spose i'm just forward planning.

I've rambled on a bit there sorry Any help appreciated!!
Thank u xx

 

[lisa&alex]

the fussyness doesnt remind me of anyone

i think.... if i were in your shoes.. i would agree and cut down the day one.. im not 100% sure but i think at 8 months they should ahve around 3 feeds a day? (someone correct me if im wrong) the less milk she has the more food she should have. perhaps at that tired time every day take her for a walk? how about a soft teat beaker? a dodie cup (sp) im sure some bfing mummys who got to a year will be along to help in a mo xx

 

[kelsey]

Tbh you cant make a baby self wean - they dont do it naturally for around 18 months -2 years

Here - taken from kellymom
Introduction
True SELF-weaning before a baby is a year old is very uncommon. In fact, it is unusual for a baby to wean before 18-24 months unless mom is encouraging weaning. However, it is very common to hear a mother say that her baby self-weaned at 9 or 10 months old, or even earlier. How do we reconcile these statements?


What is self-weaning?
A baby who is weaning on his own:

is typically well over a year old (more commonly over 2 years)
is at the point where he gets most of his nutrition from solids
drinks well from a cup
cuts down on nursing gradually
Child-led weaning occurs when a child no longer has a need to nurse - nutritionally or emotionally. The solids part should rule out self-weaning in babies under a year since, for optimum health and brain development, babies under a year should be getting most of their nutrition from breastmilk.


If you want to get her off breast milk tho i would suggest slowly dropping the amounts of bf and introduce something else.

There's some info here http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_ ... #motherled

 

[valentine]

My baby self-weaned at 10 days under 1 year old. In reference to the quote from kelly mom above, it was true self weaning as those of you who remember my posts, will remember I was DEVASTATED and desperate to get her back on the breast, I tried everything, but she was determined she was done with it and has never looked back or wanted breastfed since.

My DD never used the breast as comfort, so I'm not sure what to suggest h_c. However, I would definitely go with dropping the day feeds first. Do you use a different cup to feed water/juice than you do for milk (formula or expressed)? This definitely helped my DD to drink milk from a cup (any non-spill one we use now to save the floor stinking of off milk!), although she was already great at drinking water from her first sips TT cup - not sure if this made a difference.

If she uses the breast to go to sleep, I'd be tempted to put something in place instead of your boob such as a comforter - maybe you could sleep with one for a few nights so its smells of you? I've never used dummies, but love comforters, DD has about seven (but definitely one favourite) - she lays down in her cot wide awake, sucks at the comforter and is out like a light!

Can't answer the formula guilt question as I suffered from that too at the beginning, then became determined she was only going to have breast milk until a year (became a kind of challenge!) - however it sounds like you are going to need to use some at some point unless you can express enough for one or two day feeds a day (my DD had just dropped a feed and was now on 3 milk feeds a day at 8 months) or breastfeed until she's a year.

If you are having mixed feelings, I'd be tempted to stick at it for now. I had the decision to stop breastfeeding taken away from me and although I'm so proud of DD for having the independence to self wean, I miss it so so much.

I hope this helps - sorry if it doesn't!

Valentine Xxx

 

[happy-chick]

Thanks for replies.

I understand that true self weaning rarely happens before 18 - 24 months unless the mother encourages it which is what I intend to do. I ideally would like to move over straight to cows milk when she is close to 1year but I basically would like to prepare her for it starting now.

I want to begin to try to get her to self comfort to go to sleep etc in the next few months so that she is ready for when I decide that im ready to move over, I dont intend on this being a sudden thing but i think at the moment i'm preparing myself and beginning to prepare Ellie too as I know its going to happen sooner or later and want to be ready if either of us decide its time.

She doesnt really drink water/juice, she plays with the cup and has a bit but hardly anything. Is there any reason why I cant use a bottle for milk and cup for water or am I better sticking with a cup for milk too?

Thanks again x

 

[Maude]

My baby is 16 months and i am still breastfeeding her, she never wanted to taste formula i started with the solide when she was 7 months, it was a bit difficult but i found easier the weaning easier when i first introduce finger food, she enjoyed it and got used to swallow bits. She is fully on solid and she is still enjoying breastmilk, she is happy and i am happy!

 

[Magic Monkey]

I can't help personally, but my friend weaned her son onto bottles (formula) at around 9 months. She started by replacing the day feeds with bottles, then the morning feed and finally the bedtime one. He still had 4 bottles a day until about a month ago (he is 13 months now). She has only just started to wean him off a bottle and onto a cup now. So you could replace breastfeeds with bottles now if that is easier, but you will then have to do this all again when Ellie needs to move onto a cup at 1ish!

 

[Jynann]

Hay chick! The only reason they say you should wean from a bottle to a cup by 1 year is because they can drink quicker from a cup - therefore it reduced the risk of tooth decay but there is no reason why you cant give Ellie her milk in a bottle for the meantime, i know Kayleigh is younger but she wont drink from a cup either. As for the guilt about formula - been there lol, think I told you about it, I was on tenter hooks the first time she had a bottle of formula but she was and still is fine, so no need to feel guilty.

The comfort thing is tough, Kalyeigh was the same when breastfed but now she goes to sleep in her bouncer chair.....as long as she is being bounced so I suppose you just need to give yourself's a bit of time to try a few things and see what works - put her in her buggy and rock her if that works lol

 

[Nicky_Jones]

I found with my Ellie from between 11 months and 1 year, she in very kick succession dropped all the day time feeds. She just wasn't interested, would rather play than feed. This left just the morning and evening feeds. Once she turned 1yr, I swapped the order of her breakfast, and her morning BF. As soon as I did that, she wasn't interested in the morning feed. This left her last feed before bed. I was quite happy for her to carry on with this as long as she wanted. I did offer her a beaker of milk as well as the breast feed which she had some of and some from the breast. She carried on until she was 20months, then stopped asking for it, so I put her into bed without offering it to her. She completely suprised me by settling quite happily and going straight off to bed. It was week later before she actually asked for a feed before bed but I just said No (I didn't expect her to get anything by this point if she tired), and she was quite content with that. You don't sound like you are quite ready to stop and there is nothing forcing you to, if you are both not ready.

 

[Maude]

You are right, i stopped the brestfeeding at night, my baby drinks less and less breastmilk and i know she will completely stop one day. When i had my second child i had to stop breastfeeding too as i was planning to have another baby, I think i felt a bit guilty and this time i just want to go on until baby shows desinterest.

Good luck

 

[Redshoes]

Firstly this may not help as I fed Isaac from breast and with formula from week 1, so he was also acustomed to bottles. I found that once Isaac's food intake upped, his milk intake lessened, and so I would simply suggest dropping a daytime BF and replacing it with a yoghurt, cheese, dairy supplement, and see how it goes. I found the bedtime and the morning feeds the hardest to drop but as Isaac ate more solids he simply drank less from the breast and so I just stopped offering the breast of a morning, and he didn't seem to notice, but obviously every baby is different, and Isaac was used to formula before 1yr old, and he had no problems with bottles either. Isaac has 1 bottle before bed still, and I'm in no rush to stop that.
Very best wishes

 

[Maude]

As you mentioned, each baby is different, my 17 months old girl loves breast, when she was 14 months i had to stop breastfeeding at midnight as i couldn't cope anymore. The thing is that she had her first teeth quite late and her best relieve was mummy's breast. You know she would not drink cow milk but i put it in her breakfast and meal, she likes yoghurt and cheese. Basically i breasfeed her in the morning at 6 o'clock, during the day just before her nap, and obviously when she hurts herself or bumps her head, it is again another opportunity for her to claim the breast. i have tried several times to stop as she is now a toddler, she plays and runs, and sometimes it is embarrassing to feed her in public as she would not like her head to be covered by the muslin square. We are at the point where it is not me who is offering but the little one who is demanding by shouting, crying, throwing herself on the floor!