Partial weaning advice

RachelD158 · July 2013

I am a teacher and will be headed back to work at the end of August when my LO is 11 1/2 years old. I do not want to pump again at work and would like to continue nursing mornings and nights probably until she self weans.

Does anyone have any advice on how/when I should start weaning? How long does the whole weaning process take? If I want to her to be weaned from day feedings by the time I am back at work, should I start weaning her soon? I went through my stash of pumped milk already with the end of the school year, so I would need to give sippy cups of formula, which I am ok with but I am not sure how she will take to them.

What would you do? Any advice would be great!

tokenhoser · July 2013

I just went cold turkey at 12 months. One day I was home, then I went to work and didn't pump. DS was offered WCM at daycare but didn't really take to it. We kept nursing before and after daycare... and at night. The "night" part sucked, but I think he needed it at that point.

I wouldn't give formula, I'd just nurse until you go back to work and then do WCM.

I was pretty engorged for the first couple weeks, but it all worked out. I also kept nursing on weekends on demand.

RachelD158 · July 2013

andreab7412:
Do you mean 11.5 months? If so I am a nurse and I just stopped pumping the days I work. He use to nurse morning naps and night. We took a week to cut out each nap. I only work 2 days and I nurse morning and night. The days I am home I also nurse before afternoon nap. It went fine. After or at a year all is fair game.

Yes, 11 1/2 months old! Ha! Thank you!

RachelD158 · July 2013

tokenhoser:
I just went cold turkey at 12 months. One day I was home, then I went to work and didn't pump. DS was offered WCM at daycare but didn't really take to it. We kept nursing before and after daycare... and at night. The "night" part sucked, but I think he needed it at that point. I wouldn't give formula, I'd just nurse until you go back to work and then do WCM.nbsp;I was pretty engorged for the first couple weeks, but it all worked out. I also kept nursing on weekends on demand.

I think stopping cold turkey would be easiest since she will be so close to 1 year, but everything I've read said not to do that....how did your Lo react? Did you find your mood changed?

tokenhoser · July 2013

Well, I kept nursing when together so it was cold turkey for daycare hours only. It's hard to say what upset him - as there was a lot of change all at once - but after a couple of weeks he got used to it.

I just couldn't make my last month at home suck instead of my first two weeks at work. He still needed to nurse a lot, and it was easier to leave than to deny him and have to spend all day saying no.

oneyedsally · July 2013

I'm not there yet myself, but if you suddenly go cold turkey for 12 hours out of the day, it sounds like you're setting yourself up for plugged ducts and possibly mastitis. I've always read to drop one feeding at a time to give your body time to adjust, a week is a good timeframe as PP said.

tokenhoser · July 2013

oneyedsally:
I'm not there yet myself, but if you suddenly go cold turkey for 12 hours out of the day, it sounds like you're setting yourself up for plugged ducts and possibly mastitis. I've always read to drop one feeding at a time to give your body time to adjust, a week is a good timeframe as PP said.

Eh, it was only 9 or 10 hours for me. I hear there are kids in the world that sleep through the night...

Partial weaning advice

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