Weaning off the boob

crene84

I plan to BF DS until he turns 1, then switch to cow's milk.  I couldn't BF DD so I'm new at this part.  I have dealt with over supply issues ever since the day I came home from the hospital..even 9.5 months later, they get engorged and leak when DS goes more than 6 hours without eat (at night).  I have increased his solids a lot and will continue to do so, but he still nurses 7-8 times a day.  I am just thinking that if I try to wean him in only 2 1/2 months, it's going to be tough on my body.  Maybe by then I'll be able to decrease some of his feedings so my body will be used to it, but people have been telling me as far back as when he was only a couple months old that my body would regulate soon, so I'm not too optimistic about it.

Any of you wean when you were still producing a lot of milk?  Did you take any supplements or do anything special to decrease your supply?

(hopefully I don't sound selfish for wanting to wean at 12 months..)

smb+jab

I was an under producer when I BF DS so he was supplemented with a small amount of  formula since about 2 or 3 weeks old so i cannot help you with that.  However I did produce enough to BF him until about 14 months, and on the advice of others I slowly at his 1 year birth day started to drop one feeding at a time (the early morning was the last go and honestly it was the hardest b/c it was part of our routine in the morning).  I think I did like dropped a feeding once every three or four weeks 

* Now by this point he was getting bottle fed at daycare or my IL's for snacks and lunch so it was just the morning, dinner and evening feedings we still had.  And i was pumping three times at work which I decreased dropped one time per month.  

I didn't have too much discomfort doing it this way until the end when i stopped.  We also introduced cows milk to him but had a good reserve of frozen breast milk to give him to as he turned his nose up as cows milk the first few times.  Now he chugs it.

I also have a friend who is an over producer (she actually donated a lot of milk since she made so much) it took her until about 18 months to ween her first.  and she started at the one year mark. I think the key is to go slow, as to minimize the discomfort for yourself.  Do not feel guilty about stopping at 12 months - you did a great job.  

actually if it makes you feel better my friends who donates told me they do not accept milk after 12 months as it doesn't have the same nutritional value.  

crene84

smb+jab said:

I was an under producer when I BF DS so he was supplemented with a small amount of  formula since about 2 or 3 weeks old so i cannot help you with that.  However I did produce enough to BF him until about 14 months, and on the advice of others I slowly at his 1 year birth day started to drop one feeding at a time (the early morning was the last go and honestly it was the hardest b/c it was part of our routine in the morning).  I think I did like dropped a feeding once every three or four weeks 

* Now by this point he was getting bottle fed at daycare or my IL's for snacks and lunch so it was just the morning, dinner and evening feedings we still had.  And i was pumping three times at work which I decreased dropped one time per month.  

I didn't have too much discomfort doing it this way until the end when i stopped.  We also introduced cows milk to him but had a good reserve of frozen breast milk to give him to as he turned his nose up as cows milk the first few times.  Now he chugs it.

I also have a friend who is an over producer (she actually donated a lot of milk since she made so much) it took her until about 18 months to ween her first.  and she started at the one year mark. I think the key is to go slow, as to minimize the discomfort for yourself.  Do not feel guilty about stopping at 12 months - you did a great job.  

actually if it makes you feel better my friends who donates told me they do not accept milk after 12 months as it doesn't have the same nutritional value.  

Thanks for the tips!  And that's interesting..about BM after 12 months, never heard that before!

melody921

I think when he starts dropping a feeding or two, you'll have a lot less milk overall. Your body's making a lot bc he's eating often. My DD dropped to 5 feedings pretty early and that was a magic number for her for a long time. I saw a major supply change, settling into a more comfortable place, when she went down to that. I wouldn't worry about weaning yet. Be glad you have plenty of milk, and as you drop feedings, I think it will be a natural progression.

crene84

harti09 said:

Each time a feeding was dropped, it would take my body a few days (3-5) to get used to it. When the final session was ended, I thought I was good to go. I got super engorged a week later. I gave in a pumped to relieve the pressure and never had another issue.

I had an oversupply too. I took the weaning process really slow and thought it was pretty easy. I did stay away from oatmeal for a while. One bowl with breakfast made a noticeable surge in supply for me and I didn't want that.

We dropped the morning session first, followed by dinner, and then lunch - upping food offerings as we went. When I was ready to commit, we did naps. That was hard. They had a tough time learning to settle without nursing first. There was no issue with dropping the before bed session surprisingly. One night, we were just done.

Wow I never heard that about oatmeal but funny enough, I'm a creature of habit and eat oatmeal literally every morning for breakfast.  Maybe I need to change to something else for a while..hmm

Luckily, Ferber was pretty successful so I am able to get him to go to sleep without nursing first for naps..so hopefully that would translate for night time too eventually.  This may be a longer process than I'd hoped for, but we'll see. Thanks!

Holly_1007

I agree to take it slow. Sometimes changing up routines helps. For instance, if you usually get him up in the morning and nurse first thing, have your SO get him up and bring him to the kitchen for breakfast. The hardest one for me to drop was the after nap session, he always just woke up so cranky. When he got up I would have everything ready and head out the door to a park, a play date etc.

linzeek44

crene84 said:  Did you take any supplements or do anything special to decrease your supply?

(hopefully I don't sound selfish for wanting to wean at 12 months..)

Some things you can do to help with weaning when you're ready-

Drop feeds slowly. Pay attention to how your breasts feel and if you feel clogs brewing consider pumping or hand expressing or nursing a bit to avoid mastitis. 

Sage and peppermint in large quantities can help reduce supply. 

Sudafed can also help decrease supply. 

Cold cabbage leaves with the veins broken, left on your breasts for a longer amount of time can help too. 

I don't think you are selfish. 12 months is a long time to nurse! So much good breastmilk in those 12 months! 

(Sidenote: I do want to add that some milk banks just extended it to include toddler milk. It's still a really great source of nutrition- it doesn't become less nutritious over time, it just changes to be what a toddler needs which would not be the exact same ratio of components as a newborn would typically take. However, milk banks are now including toddler milk because the risks of using screened donor milk outweigh risks of using formula for many babies.)