Weaning from Nursing - Redford,MI

Hi K.,
I was in the same boat that you are was very nervous about weaning my son this winter. However, I got very sick and since he was over 11 months old, the doc let me switch him to whole milk. I had pumped quite a bit of milk (about 40 bags), and gradually added whole milk to his bottle. The first night that he got half whole milk, he was really upset. However, the next day he was completely fine. Within a week, I was able to give him either whole milk or breast milk. I hope that this helps!

Hi Kelly,

It was harder on me than it was on my daughter. I weaned her off the breast the day after her first birthday. I started her on bottled breast milk at about 5 or 6 months old. When she turned one yr. I gave her bottle formula first and then regular milk with no problem. To dry my breast milk was a little rough at first. I was given an old remedy, use large cabbage leaves and it worked just remember to change the leaves before they start to wilt. They will start to stink if you don't(smile). Good luck!

L.

Begin by taking away one nursing session at a time...starting with the least important one. After about a week or two take away the next one.

I did this when I had to wean my daughter off the breast in order to get my thyroid treated.

Good luck.

I am currently struggling with weaning my 13 month old daughter. She's very aggressive and demanding when it comes to nursing. I told myself this morning that this will be her last week nursing. She refuses to drink formula and will only drink cow's milk when eating cereal. I wish you luck!

I nursed my first son until his first birthday and then weaned him. It took me about a month. I still nursed on demand but followed the don't offer don't refuse method. Don't nurse in the morning until she starts getting fussy, offer the milk in a sippy/bottle first...keep doing the same for the next feedings. Basically, this started stretching the feedings out and reducing them. You will want to drop about 1 feeding every week or so until you are done. Just remember not to go too quick as this can result in blocked ducts for you.

It seems hard now but as the pp said, she will get more into the solids, especially the self feeding.

Hi K.,
When I was nursing and wanted to wean, I started giving my son bottles filled with mother's milk for his night time bottle. I started cutting back on breastfeeding slowly by adding a bottle of mother's milk in whenever I could. They will adapt to that because it's still you're groceries...lol Do that for a few weeks and just keep cutting back on breastfeeding until she's completely on the bottle, then switch her over to cow's milk. She's not going to like the taste of cow's milk, she'll probably throw the bottle at you...lol but as long as you give her the mother's milk in the bottle before you change her to mother's milk she'll do just fine. I hope this works. You might have to carry your groceries around for a little longer because you're going to be putting it in bottles.

I struggled with the same thing with my daughter. At 11 months she had never had a bottle or formula - only me. She was very attached. I tried everything such as trying to limit it to only certain times of day (bed) and it was just SO hard. Finally after a week of trying I just stopped cold turkey. It may seem harsh but after a few days she ws fine and we celebrated her 1st birthday with a fancy new sippy cup of milk. I actually started her on skim milk because it is thinner like breastmilk. We moved up to 2% milk a few months later. Good luck it s not easy - you will need strenght to say NO when all your child wants is you. But have faith in the fact it is short lived and they get past the "pain" of not nursing and move onto new advantures and a toddler.

I have nursed both of my kids.. My daughter until 10 months... and I am currently nursing my son.. who is almost 10 months..

Weaning should not be taht difficult. As your daughter gets older -she will get more interested in nursing and more interested in eating solid food. She will gradually only want to nurse when she is tired.. So then you are down to naptime and bedtime.

Start giving her a sippy cup with water in it.. get her used to drinking out of a cup.. then when she is 1 you cna put milk in her sippy cup.

Just because your daughter really wants to nurse now.. does not mean she will be the same in a few months.. My daughter was ready to be done nursing at 10 monhts..

First of all, every child is totally different! She could wean herself in the next few months or have a very difficult time being force weaned... I too had desired to wean my daughter at about a year. It became a very difficult concept because it was something so soothing for her and in the end it wasn't worth it to me to take it away from her at that point. I did do a lot of reading and La leche has a really good book about weaning that really helped determine for us that continuing to nurse was right--for us... I was thinking my daughter was never going to wean herself but sure enough she iniated it and weaned herself when i became pregnant--of course she was a couple months over two so that may not be what you want either! Looking back, the time goes so quickly and i was always grateful to have that instant soother--whether my daughter was teething, under the weather, afraid, tired--nursing was a wonderful way to reconnect and relax my intense and lovely child. Anyways, i do believe that each child is different and if weaning is important to you, than you will make it work. You have already given your daughter a wonderful gift! Best of luck!

Honestly? Follow your body and her rhythms. The more anxious you are the harder it will be. Don't set a date, rather just watch for her to gradually want less (@ 8 months they still nurse alot...it will drop dramatically around 10 months, so don't worry). You can start around 11 months if you'd like dropping a feeding at a time....whatever is her least favorite. And if you still feel like nursing past 1 year...go for it! It is a wonderful thing that is over to quickly. I nursed my son for 4 months and my daughter for 14 months and it was a much better experience letting her self wean instead of forcing it like I did w/ my son. Good luck and CONGRATS for nursing you baby so long!!!!!!!!
D.

K., I have a 20 month old son that I weaned at 11 1/2 months. You just start by slowly eliminating a breastfeeding. I eventually got down to only feeding him morning and night and then only before bed. You do it slowly so it isn't so hard for them. Then I started giving him milk in a cup to replace the times I would of nursed. He had no problems at all and it is also good for you because your milk supply will adjust so you aren't left full. You have to give it a few weeks though, you can't do it in a couple of days. Hope this helps.