Weaning - please share your experience

foresk

Hi everybody! I have been exclusively breasfeeding my daughter for three and a half months now and plan to do so until she is one year old. The idea of stopping to breastfeed is terrifying to me though. I was severely engorged when I first started breastfeeding and it took a while for my milk supply to settle and for my breasts to feel normal. Those of you ladies who have prior weaning experience, please share how you went about it. Did you stop breastfeeding abruptly ot went slowly and decreased the number of feedings over time until your milk dried up? Was this whole process physically and emotionally hard for you and your baby? Thanks!

erin79

By the time your daughter is 1, she will only be feeding a few times a day, so it is much easier to wean at that age than it would be if you weaned now.  I nursed my son until he was a year, and he basically weaned himself.  The last month I was just nursing in the morning and before bed and giving him a mix of whole milk and formula during the day.  He was so distracted by life in general during the morning feeding that he didn't really get more than few sips, so I cut that one out first.  Same thing happened a couple weeks later with the nighttime feeding, so I cut that one out and was done.

It's hard to picture it now because they eat so often, but it will change.

foresk

Thanks for your reply! My daughter is starting to eat less frequently already so it gets a little bit easier on me. Was weaning your son physically hard for you? Or since you were only feeding a few times a day when you were preparing to wean your milk supply was already low? Did you get engorged at all? I was terribly engorged when I started breastfeeding. Even now when my milk supply is pretty much in balance with my daughter's demand, I do have problems sometimes when I need to pump a little extra in case I need to go somewhere and leave my daughter with someone. One time is enough for my body to start producing more milk so I cannot imagine how it will react when I stop breastfeeding.

erin79

Hmmm.  I worked, so I had to pump during the day to leave milk with the daycare.  Around 9 months, my supply dropped (common with moms who work), and I wasn't able to keep up and we had to supplement with formula.  I still pumped twice a day and nursed whenever I was with him, but he got probably 50/50 breastmilk and formula at daycare.  At 11 months, the doctor said we could give him whole milk, so I stopped pumping altogether and we gave him a mix of formula and whole milk during the day both at daycare and at home, and I just nursed him in the morning and at night.  I still had plenty of milk even feeding him only twice a day, but I never felt engorged during the day at all.

Sorry, this is a long complicated answer and very specific to me, but that's all I can go on!  It was not physically hard for me at all, if that helps.

And for reference: When my son was taking 3 regular naps a day, I was feeding him 5 times a day - first thing in the morning, after each nap, and before bed.  When he dropped to 2 naps, it was 4 times a day - first thing in the morning, after each nap, and before bed. (There was also at least 1 MOTN feeding until he was 5.5 months.)

foresk

It certainly feels great to hear that it was not hard for you. I hope that by the time my daughter is one we will both be ready for the next step. Afterall, it is all natural. She is not on a regular feeding schedule yet - I still feed on demand. But just like your son, she takes about three naps a day now and I feed her before (or sometimes after) each nap, as well as in the morning and before she goes to bed. Thanks for sharing and for making me feel a little better about all of this!