Trouble with Weaning

middy411

So day 1 of weaning my daughter did not go well. She protested and only took a few sips from her cup (via straw) of breastmilk and clearly was not happy with that. I have been nursing her at night and in the morning. I don't nurse her to sleep, but rather before brushing her teeth, a story, then prayer followed by bedtime. I'm overly emotional as I'm pregnant again and not handling the weaning change well myself. Any weaning tips? I just want this to be as smooth as possible for everyone because my heart can't take it . I feel a little bit like I'm rushing my sweet first baby but I do need a break and would like to give my body a break too. Also DH has always had a very strong opinion about not nursing beyond 1 year 

A&Lmommy

Congrats on the pregnancy! It's not easy nursing and being pregnant, I've been there, especially when they're teething and your boobs hurt in the first trimester. Dd weaned herself while I was pregnant but I followed her lead (she very strong-willed). My milk changed around 6 months pregnant and she wasn't a fan. We gave her coconut milk as a substitute. So are you trying to wean cold turkey or reducing the nursing here and there? Do you nurse for nutrition or for comfort? And did your Dr recommend you wean for medical purposes or do you feel like its time?

middy411

Cold turkey would be great but I'm ok with gradual as long as it works. She only takes a few sips of breastmilk from her cup. Same with cows milk. She prefers her water in her cup and her milk from me lol. I nurse for nutrition but I think she nurses for comfort, especially at night. My pediatrician told me I should stop when she's 11-1/2 months and she is past that now. I'm not sure how much she gets but she seems to be eating a lot at night. Mornings she was only nursing for a couple minutes before getting excited over breakfast time. She loves food. I'd love to just let her wean herself but I'm not sure if that is realistic. Plus with all these pressures to stop combined with my need for a break before the new baby comes, I'm anxious it would never happen.

A&Lmommy

Does she take breast milk in a bottle or has it always been just you? If she nurses for comfort, you might need to find something else to act as a stand-in. Neither of my kids took to pacifiers, stuffed animals or blankies. Blessing in the long run, a curse for the present time. After my first weaned, her comfort thing became playing with my hair when she'd get tired.

middy411

She has never taken bottles. She won't drink anything but water from her straw cup. No milk, breastmilk or juice. She has never taken a paci but she does chew on her wubbanub sometimes before naps. Bedtime she usually is asleep much quicker and doesn't bother with her lovey or wubbanub. They're more like toys than snuggly or sucky comfort items. She doesn't nurse to sleep so I'm not concerned about her being able to fall asleep. I'm more concerned about her being hungry and waking up after a couple of hours and wanting to nurse because she didn't have any milk before bed. I'm going to try and speak wth her pediatrician. I heard that some people give their kids a yogurt if they won't drink milk before bedtime to fill them up. I just want to make sure she's getting the nutrition she needs as well as full for a good night's sleep. I took away the morning feeding and offer her milk from her straw cup but she only takes a few sips and only because I keep putting it in her mouth and she assumes is water. As soon as she realizes it's not water she pushes it away. She hasn't missed nursing in the morning from what I can tell but she definitely wants it at night time. I think she finds a lot of comfort and also likes filling herself up.

A&Lmommy

Yeah I know what you're talking about. They get so used to nursing through the night that you never know if they wake up cause they're hungry or just miss you. My little guy still wakes up A LOT too. I was gonna suggest making sure she's full, with solids and milk from a cup or bottle. Once you know she's not hungry anymore, just 'top' her off with a couple minutes of nursing so its still like your normal routine, she gets a little nutrition from it and you can reduce the time little by little until hopefully she doesn't want it anymore. A little trick that worked for us was watering her coconut milk down but I'm sure you can water the cows milk down too to give it more of a thinner consistency like breast milk.

jarob747

I hope you are able to find a way that works for both of you. I planned to wean at a year too and was worried that it would be hard. My lil guy weaned himself completely. I would still breastfeed at night and maybe in the mornings if he would, but he wants nothing to do with it. I haven't breastfed him since 2 weeks before he turned 1, the last two weeks prior to Him turning a year I pumped and gave it to him in a cup because I was determined to breastfeed for a year lol. My last pumping session was 3 days after he turned 1. He's doing great on whole milk and toddler formula. 
I will say a prayer for you both and super congrats on baby #2. We've been trying since Sept with no luck yet. 

middy411

Thank you @jarob747 and good luck with TTC

@a&lmommy My DD doesn't wake up at all during the night to nurse. She's only nursing once a day now, right before storytime and prayer then bed. But she is very addicted to that nursing session. I would give her cows milk I but she won't take it. She will only take water from a cup. Which is the whole problem. Hoping something works out so that I can wean her from that last feeding. Based on what  pediatrician says I may try it on her birthday

=caenis=

I hope it goes well, @middy411 ! I recently discovered that if I rock LO in breastfeeding position when he's up in the middle of the night, he is able to relax/fall asleep without milk. I've started doing this instead of whipping out the boob in an attempt to wean him off MOTN feedings.

I don't know if it's worth trying for your evening session, too. If it's more about the snuggling/comfort than the milk, it might work for you.

middy411

We ended up trying again this weekend and amazingly she took some sips of cows milk and didn't demand me! My little buggar just needs to do things in her own time. We are 2 days in with no breastmilk. I'm sad that it's over but glad my breasts get a break before DD2 arrives in August. Plus nursing has been sooooo painful with pregnancy boobs lol. Thank you all for the support!