Decreasing breastfeeding

GrantHenson

Hello Ladies

  My LO is 13 months old and still breastfeeding.  It is not my wish to stop her from breastfeeding all together but rather would like to decrease how often she is breatfeeding.  I went back to work 7 weeks ago and she is still managing to nurse 5-6 times a day.  I would like to have it so that she is only nursing when she wakes up for the day, when I get home from work and before bed.   When I look at ideas for weaning it is not very helpful, and from what I can tell she is not at all interested.  The other piece is that she is 3-10% for her weight so pretty small, and it can be very hard to get her to eat.  The last thing I want is her to lose weight and I would prefer to avoid adding additional bottles (currently I sent 2 6oz bottles of formula to the day home).  Any suggestions

pb_bride

First of all, is she drinking WCM? Any reason why she is still on formula instead of WCM at 13m?

Second, when is she nursing? If you are working full time but she is nursing 5-6x a day, does that mean she's nursing MOTN? 

I SAH and I EBF my son.  I have been gradually weaning him since he was 10m. I nurse him on schedule, not on demand. Basically, DS does not demand to be nursed. If he is hungry or thirsty (climbing on me, pulling on my shirt etc), I offer him water or food.  He was nursing 6x/ day before 10m. When he turned 10m, we went down to 5x/ day, then at 11m, I weaned him to 4x/d. 

About 1wk after he turned 1, I weaned him to 3x/d (am, before 2nd nap, bedtime). At the same time, I introduced WCM.  He basically has been eating more solids when I wean him slowly from BM.

Not sure If this helps, but if you really want to cut down on the nursing sessions, you have to be consistent, and offer water or snacks or WCM instead.  If she is nursing MOTN, it could be that she misses you during the day after you went back to work and is nursing more for comfort than for food per se.  You can try MOTN weaning, ie, no nursing before x hrs, and gradually extend the interval. 

ashiscute

pb_bride said:

First of all, is she drinking WCM? Any reason why she is still on formula instead of WCM at 13m?

Second, when is she nursing? If you are working full time but she is nursing 5-6x a day, does that mean she's nursing MOTN? 

I SAH and I EBF my son.  I have been gradually weaning him since he was 10m. I nurse him on schedule, not on demand. Basically, DS does not demand to be nursed. If he is hungry or thirsty (climbing on me, pulling on my shirt etc), I offer him water or food.  He was nursing 6x/ day before 10m. When he turned 10m, we went down to 5x/ day, then at 11m, I weaned him to 4x/d. 

About 1wk after he turned 1, I weaned him to 3x/d (am, before 2nd nap, bedtime). At the same time, I introduced WCM.  He basically has been eating more solids when I wean him slowly from BM.

Not sure If this helps, but if you really want to cut down on the nursing sessions, you have to be consistent, and offer water or snacks or WCM instead.  If she is nursing MOTN, it could be that she misses you during the day after you went back to work and is nursing more for comfort than for food per se.  You can try MOTN weaning, ie, no nursing before x hrs, and gradually extend the interval. 

Pretty much all this.  DS is 14mo and I just officially weened him.  He was breastfeeding on schedule at that age not demand.  

JoNi2010

My LO is small and also was not interested in weaning, but I had to wean for work as well.  I switched him slowly to WCM at 11month until he was only taking WCM at 12month from bottles.  Then I started replacing his nursing sessions with bottles.  It was not easy - he screamed and yelled for me but I persisted with the bottles.  Eventually he took to it and he is now eating a lot more solids.  You just have to keep at it - your kid will get it and he will eat more solids too.  Good luck!

JulesDiane

My LO is also in a really low in the weight percentile (5th) and still breastfeeding. During the day, if I do not want to breastfeed, I offer WCM instead. It is a sufficient alternative. Usually, she is content with this. They suggest that you should stop using bottles by the age of 1. We use the straw sippy cups. So, I guess my suggestion is, if she wants to breastfeed, and it is a time that you do not want to breastfeed, offer WCM or whatever substitute you may using instead of breastfeeding. Also, consider ditching the bottles. 

APendola

I'm going through the same thing.  I'd like to get her nursing on a schedule the way that other posters mentioned, but it's easier said that done.  She gets quite upset when I refuse to nurse and if I offer a sippy cup or snack it will get thrown on the floor.  Any tips for getting through this phase? I love nursing and want to continue, but the frequent nursing doesn't work well now that I'm back at work.  I want to nurse three times a day as well - morning, after work, and before bedtime.

GrantHenson

I have been trying with WCM as well as other milks with no luck.  I dont want to add more bottles to the day of anything formula or WCM.  This week we have cut out one feeding.  She is MOTNF since I went back to work.  I know that this is more for comfort not need and also because she gets her self sat up and can not lay back down. I lay her back down then she screams and screams and screams so usually i end up feeding her as I need to sleep for work in the am.  plan to sleep train this issue soon.  Thanks for the tips, will continue with the sippy cup, trying milk and cutting formula

skibunny59

APendola said:

I'm going through the same thing.  I'd like to get her nursing on a schedule the way that other posters mentioned, but it's easier said that done.  She gets quite upset when I refuse to nurse and if I offer a sippy cup or snack it will get thrown on the floor.  Any tips for getting through this phase? I love nursing and want to continue, but the frequent nursing doesn't work well now that I'm back at work.  I want to nurse three times a day as well - morning, after work, and before bedtime.

I'm in the same boat.  DD is 20 months and is still nursing 5-6x a day.  I notice that when we're home, even if we're playing or doing something she will ask to nurse.  If we're busy and out and about, she doesn't even think about it and won't ask.  For example, last weekend we went to Music Together class in the morning, then to the farm to get fresh eggs and veggies, then we went home had lunch and napped and then went to a baby shower.  She didn't ask to nurse the entire day.

She still wakes up multiple times a night to nurse.  Nursing on a schedule is much easier said than done.  We were working on nightweaning and it was going well but now with family over for Thanksgiving weekend, all of that has gone out the window.  

GrantHenson

Thanks for all the advice ladies.  I have been trying most of these things so I guess that I will just have to keep trying.  Just like with getting her to eat veggies...or any dinner for that matter