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Hawaii Babies
MrsZiz
member
I think B is weaning...
MrsZiz
member
Or at least that's my thought. It's 1pm and BF twice and only for about 5 mins each time. Usually she nurses for a full feed (about 10-13 mins total) at 7, 9, 12. Now she keeps pushing me away. I offered her a sippy with EBM and she only took about 3 sips of that so maybe she just isn't interested anymore... I'm pumping way less too... maybe because she's eating less... I knew the process would happen on it's own but didn't know how it would happen. I hate to keep offering her BM but at the same time I want her to know it's there if she wants it... on a side note, she never really has reached for it when she's hungry, I usually catch her before that I guess...
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Re: I think B is weaning...
This.
I think Alexa is either weaning or getting close to weaning too. My supply has steadily gone down. So she nurses about 3-4 minutes a side but seems just as happy with a bottle as she does nursing. :-(
At her bedtime feed two nights ago, she got frustrated when my let-down didn't come fast enough, so she pulled away and grabbed her paci. I kept trying to get her to nurse, but she wasn't interested. I was worried what would happen if I put her down without nursing, but she still STTN 11 hours! She has been eating a TON of food, so maybe she no longer NEEDS the bedtime nurse...
I'm planning to keep going with the flow until she's a year, which is when I'll phase out pumping, move her to whole milk, and think about how long I want to keep the morning nurse, which is my favorite one (in bed, with cuddles).
What are your plans with Bella? I am with you on not knowing what to look for in self-weaning... What are the signs? How do you know? For now, it's just a feeling that I have that she's ready to move on as soon as I'm ready to let her...
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
My goal is 1 yr. I never had a short term goal (crazy but true), I always said "we'll go until she's one"... well once I miscarried and had all of those issues I blurted out "I'll go until I'm ready to be done"... DH said "well that could be FOREVER!"... I never responded. Now, we're actively TTC #2 and I'm also a little ready to be done too. I think I may or may not be ovulating which BF can play a role in. Honestly, I never knew if I'd make it to the year mark, especially when the m/c made my milk supply take a nose dive (which I quickly recovered with the help of meds).
My plans now are to go until WE'RE done
Which is coming sooner than later I'm sure. Like I said, she's phasing out some sessions and I'm not forcing it. It's kind of bittersweet though. I mean for SO long I've been her nutrition, I get all the extra cuddles because I'm the milk lady and nursing has always comforted her. I still get tons of cuddles but it just is different when you aren't nursing.
Bella, like Alexa, is eating TONS of food. She's super interested in EVERYTHING we're eating and we're pretty much letting her have whatever she seems interested in. We did introduce eggs and some cheese and she got a rash around her butt so we've backed off of both of those and we'll try them again slower next time...
As for how I know and what the signs are... I'm not 100% sure. I called my friend who's daughter is a couple months older than Bella and she said her daughter started dropping feedings around 1yr and then they were totally weaned when she was 12 1/2 months. She said after her daughter turned one, she stopped the middle of the day nursings and offered sippy's instead and kept the morning/night nursings. Then she weaned the morning nursing and then the night. She said it maybe would've been a slower process but she said once her DD stopped some of the feeds then she (the mom) helped the process along by offering less.
Bella has never really reached for it, well she does nose dive towards my breast when it's fully exposed and it's feeding time. Other than that, she's never reached down my shirt or anything so I always just fed her on a schedule which worked for us. Now Bella is dropping feeds from that so I'm assuming she's self weaning. She's also taking less milk at daycare than she has in the past. Yesterday she took 8 oz in 8 hrs, she normally takes 9-12 in 8 hrs... maybe because she's eating more solid food?
I will say that B is HIGHLY interested in the before bed and middle of the night feed... time will tell. I'll keep you posted.
miss A used to nurse for 30-60 min each time!!! now she is down to 5 minutes on average, 10 minutes is considered a long time now. i never thought i'd see the day!! her night time nursing is still longer, more like 15-30 min but during the day she nurses for 5 min and then she wants to roll over, stand up, etc. and play (i nurse her laying down when i'm at home). i can imagine that with B being even older, she has even more interest in the world around her. have you read this page on kellymom? they say that it's rare for babies to self wean until they are closer to 18-24 months...
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
I did read that page on Kellymom. I'm SURE my milk supply is decreasing because when I pump at work, I'm getting less. I BRIEFLY thought about finishing my prescription of domperidone but it gives me MASSIVE headaches! I take it and about 2 hours later, my head is pounding and feels like it's going to explode= not fun! Besides that my goal was 1 yr and we're two weeks from that. Now, at the stage we're at, I don't really want to try too hard to get her to take more because I think it will interfere with us TTC again...
As for kellymom, we did do everything to prevent premature weaning that it recommends and I've tried everything to coax her to take the breast, she's simply not interested. She's SO busy exploring the world around her. She wants to be held/cuddled by me but not nursing lately...
Jaime, how long did you plan on nursing A?
It's normal for babies to get faster (more efficient) at nursing as they get older... The key sign in weaning I think is lack of interst?
Me too. :-( I never was able to pump much... But I used to get 12-15 oz a day and now I'm down to 8-9 oz. Arg!! I have tried everything. Anyway, starting 2 weeks ago, I've been making up the difference with formula. I'm still pumping and nursing, but I used up my freezer supply and was stressed each day trying to get enough milk for the next day. Even pumping on weekends didn't give me enough to last the week. Oh well. I mix in a few oz of formula into her bottles and she it's like she hasn't even noticed!
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
I'm way down on the pumping even if I pump more times... I still have a GIANT freezer stash so we've been using that. I would totally give part of it to someone that has a preemie in the NICU if someone would take it. BM is the best thing for preemies but I wouldn't even know where to go or who to ask to offer it up...
I'm thinking i'll mix cows milk with the BM once we get down to the end of it. Like you are doing with the formula.
Malia, keep up the good work!! BF is HARD work!!
You could donate to one of the national milk banks or privately via Milk Share: https://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/
At least you've made your one year goal. Good for you mama! I never really had a goal in mind...I am just going with the flow (no pun intended) and expect that I will let Libby self-weaning...it fits in well with our other parenting choices (such as baby-led solids, attachment parenting, etc.)
My BFF just had her second baby on Monday and is still nursing her 23 month old son. He pretty much nurses solely for comfort these days and not every day at that...she'll be tandem nursing now that her new little one is here. I know it's not for everyone but I admire those mamas who can do it. She says that it really helps her toddler when he's upset, distressed, frustrated, etc. and still gives them that snuggle time that becomes so rare once they're too busy exploring the world and into everything, etc.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
double post, sorry!
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
Sarah - totally normal for your supply to go down as she gets older and eats more solids... too bad she isn't showing any interest in BFing though
well before i had A my goal was 1 year...then she was born and i realized how hard it is...and my goal became 6 weeks...then 4 months...then 6 months...and now my goal is finally 1 year again! if i can make it to 1 year then i will be very happy 
i'll just see what happens as far as weaning though...i don't plan to try to wean her, we'll just see what happens and hopefully she will let me know when she is done. i think that would be awesome if you were able to donate some of your BM to someone... when we got home from the hospital my milk was late coming in and A was getting so frantic, she was expending soooo much energy/calories screaming that it was more than the calories she was getting from my colostrum...we got worried b/c we didn't know how long before my milk would come in so we actually used some BM from a friend of mine (she watches A for me while i am at work, actually) to tide her over until my milk came in... i know some people think that is gross, but it allowed us to avoid giving her any formula and keep her EBF.
Malia - yeah i realize that she's just getting more efficient and more distracted while nursing... i don't think she is trying to self wean at all!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Thanks, Sarah... :-)
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
We're going though something similar. Ashton is all over the place when I am trying to nurse him so we're just nursing when it's time for bed. I have also noticed a huge decrease in my milk supply the past few weeks. I even added an extra pumping session but it doesn't seem to be working.
I don't see him letting go of his night nursing/middle of the night nursing anytime soon. I wish the kid would STTN...it's almost been a year and I still have not gotten over 5 straight hours of sleep. Thank goodness for bed sharing or I'd been a walking zombie for sure!
I am not stressing it though. I've almost made my goal of a year, even though I'd like to go as long as I could. As much as I am going to miss our cuddle time, I am really looking forward to having my body back and get ready for baby #2.