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June 2011 Moms
JSanFran
member
36weeks in
36ish weeks out
BF'ers...how are you weaning?
JSanFran
member
I keep putting it off and putting it off and finding excuses to start next week...or the next. I think my latest excuse for weaning is how can I replace the calories? He seems to hate WCM (tried mixing it with BM both in bottle and sippy) and spits it right out. That would seem to be the logical replacement for a nursing session. For the record formula didn't go over well either.
He's also currently suuuppppeeerr picky about what he wants to eat and really is only eating fruit, yogurt, and occasionally cheese. (ugh)...Maybe teething I guess.
What do you do after naps and in the morning now when LO gets up?
I am still nursing x4 a day after each wake up from nap/sleep and before bed. He doesn't ask for it...I just do it. I think he could easily eliminate a feeding for two but I want to make sure I replace those calories with something else and it doesn't seem like for now WCM is going to work.
Thoughts? Experience? I know I don't have to wean him...but I am ready to have some independence back and maybe sleep in and let DH have some time putting him down/getting him up without me having to pump haha...
36weeks in
36ish weeks out
This discussion has been closed.
Re: BF'ers...how are you weaning?
yup...basically exact same senario...I want to start with the one after his afternoon nap too b/c dinner is usually not long after...but...man I'm usually beat by then and sometimes shut my eyes for a good 15 minutes while he nurses and catch a break. Hard to give those snuggle/relaxation sessions up. I really think I could just keep nursing the way I am for ...forever and he wouldn't complain. But...I'm 75% sure I'm ready to stop
Especially bc we have trips planned in the next month and I don't want to have to be there all of the time pumping/nursing with grandparents there to help out and some possible time alone with DH!!
She is still BFing frequently, but that is fine w/me--I'm not ready to wean yet either. I am trying to get her to drink some WCM so I can leave her with that when she has a babysitter. I have found she spits out the milk but she'll drink a smoothie or even just milk blended with a banana, so you might try that. If he'll drink that, then you could slowly adjust the ratio so he'll just be getting milk eventually.
I have a bit of a different scenario. DD started refusing breastmilk in bottles and sippys about 3 weeks ago. I gave her WCM in a sippy the other night and she gobbled it up. So starting this week at daycare she is getting WCM with meals and they are still offering two bottles of BM a day (even thought it's kinda pointless- she only drinks an oz or so. I just can't give it up!). I'm still pumping once a day at work to keep my supply up for when DD and I are together on the weekends.
I think I'll stick with the early morning nursing (around 5am), before school (around 7am), after school (around 5pm) and before bed (around 8pm) for a while. I'm going to try to cut down the nursing during the day to just once, maybe around noon and offer WCM with meals. I really want to cut out that early morning session next, but I just don't have the energy to let her CIO at that time of day!
Just a thought for the OP- do you think he isn't eating much because you are still nursing frequently? What if you cut out that afternoon nursing session like you were thinking? Perhaps he would be willing to eat a little more?
Proud Cloth Diapering, Babywearing Mommy to Desmond (5.30.2011) and Evangeline (2.26.2014)
Loving wife, best friend and teammate to Babywearing Daddy, Kelly (7.27.2000)
Volunteer Babywearing Educator at Babywearing International of South Central Pennsylvania
This may sound harsh, but I think some tough love is needed here. I'd skip a feeding (especially since he isn't asking for it) and offer a sippy/cup whatever instead. He may refuse, at first and that's ok- don't give in. Eventually (a few days) he should get used to the new 'routine' and may be more accepting towards other foods when he's hungry. He won't starve himself. A few days with a few less calories won't hurt him in the long run. I really like the PP suggestion of a milkshake (milk & some fruit).
I had to do this with Sophie with weaning from the bottle, she knew that if she would refuse the sippy cup, a bottle was on its way shortly. DON'T GIVE IN. After her 1 year appt, I decided to go cold turkey. The first and second day, she probably didn't drink as much milk as she should... But when she got hungry I'd offer her the milk. She drank in smaller amounts throughout the day as opposed to her normal 3milk feedings. Around the 3rd day, she was back to normal- drinking normal her normal amounts at the right times all from her sippy.
I say just do it. No more excuses. Be firm and he'll get the hang of it.
Big sister meeting little brother for the first time-
<a href="http://s326.photobucket.com/albums/k409/YellowMiles/?action=view
I'm hoping that someday DD will self-wean so that I don't have to worry about figuring out how to wean her, haha! I read that this doesn't usually happen until after 2 years of age, so I still have a long way to go. She currently shows no signs in stopping any time soon. In fact, for the past few days, she's been nursing like a newborn again!
Here is an article from kellymom.com that talks about different weaning techniques....maybe there's something there that might help you??
https://kellymom.com/ages/weaning/wean-how/weaning-techniques/
DH: 34/Me: 35
Married: Feb 2008
DD: June 2011
TTC# 2: April 2014
BFP!! 8/29/16 --> EDD: 5/11/17....it's a GIRL!!!
I'm planning to start weaning when I go back to work in a month. It's just so much easier to nurse while I'm home than try to pump.
When she is at daycare, she already drinks bottles, obviously. I'm hoping I can gradually transition them from BM to WCM. I have given her WCM to try, and she seems ok with it. So, as she's doing more WCM at daycare, I'll be pumping less often at work to wean myself from the pump. I'm hoping that only takes a few weeks at most. When I am working, she only nurses in the morning and at night, so hopefully she won't miss the breast on the weekends! Once I get her to all WCM in the bottle, then I will start to worry about cups.
I am hoping that I can continue night and morning nursing for awhile... I guess we will see how my supply holds out. If I was a SAHM I think I would continue to exclusively nurse longer, but I am just so over pumping at work.
I'm with PP that I think you just have to mother up and drop a feeding. I came to the brilliant realization this year that my son will drink when he's thirsty. I kept tryin to give him milk and water not long after he'd BFed and he wasn't into it. But when I dropped a feeding, he was sucking it down.
We have been weaned for five days and it's going great. I started putting wcm in my sons sippy at meal times to see how he did with it and he had no problems. I would hold it up to his mouth between bites. He used to be super picky also not eating much at all also. On the first day we started to really I nursed in the morning and then didn't nurse again untill bedtime. When he would want to nurse I would offer him a snack like fruit or crackers and a sippy of milk. If he refused then I would distract him. (going outside, side walk chalk, bubbles, going for a drive, daddy time, ect) I did that for about three days. There were a little tears but each day got better and better. He started to really get the hang of drinking from his sippy and his appetite really increased each day. He went to eating a few crumbs of grilled cheese sandwich to eating a whole one with fruit on the side! Then i dropped the morning feeding. I would bring him straight from his bed to his high chair with breakfast and cartoons. Lastly, two days later i dropped the last feeding right before bed. We used to read, nurse, then turn the lamp off and put in bed awake but sleepy. I replaced nursing with walking around with him and singing him a few songs before putting him in his crib awake but sleepy. I think the whole process went really well for us. Good luck!
I am not sure when we will wean As I stay at home but this is what i figure i will do when the time comes. i am starting to feel like I am going to want to sooner rather then later.
I just kind of did it. We started by introducing WCM into her bottles of BM (she got 2 per day when I was at work) slowly over a couple of weeks leading up to her birthday. At first it was one ounce of WCM, then a little bit more, etc. After her birthday, she got a full bottle of WCM and drank it all, so I quit pumping cold turkey. After that, I was only nursing her first thing in the morning and last thing before bed at night.
After a week, she started refusing her nursing session before bed. She would bite me and cry until I stopped trying to feed her, so I stopped doing the evening session. After that we had 4 or 5 days of just nursing first thing in the morning, until she started refusing that session too. At that point we stopped nursing altogether. It's been a week now.
When she wakes up now, I offer her a bottle of WCM. Some days she takes it, others not. We think she's teething pretty badly right now, so that might be part of the reason she refuses the bottle first thing...I'm not sure. I never nursed her when she woke up from naps as a rule so that hasn't been an issue.
I panic about the calories too--she does not drink as much WCM as she did BM, but I think that's normal as they start transitioning into a more solid food based diet. Her pedi hammered into us at her 12 month checkup that she will never refuse food or drink to the point of doing harm to herself, so I try to remember that when I get stressed. I just make sure that she gets some dairy besides milk in her diet every day and offer her water in a sippy frequently. Good luck!