A ? for the BTDT extended breastfeeders who let LO self wean or gently encouraged weaning (longish)

SidraJedi · March 2014

So, DD and I are coming up on our 1 year EBF anniversary as she will be having her first birthday an March 14th. I am very proud and excited to be reaching this milestone and I plan to nurse her until two years old.

My question is about frequency. I have done nothing to encourage her to BF less. She nurses on demand 24/7. She's a healthy girl, too at 30 inches and 24+lbs (born @ 8lb 13oz). DD nurses all night as much as she wants (I don't really count but if one side seems to be neglected I will roll her over to nurse on that side for a while, it seems that I roll her three times give or take in a night. Sometimes she will nurse on waking, sometimes she will nurse after breakfast. She takes one nap most days, some rare occasions she takes two, she nurses to sleep and on waking and sometimes nurses (not just comfort, she gets a let down) through part or all of her naps. She nurses after lunch and once or twice before and after dinner. She nurses to sleep at night and may need to nurse once before I come to bed a little later. This is 8-10 let downs (at least, some nursing sessions will have two let downs or, rarely, three) a day. I am not even counting the comfort nursing that occurs.

FWIW she eats three meals a day and has been since about 7 months old. She's a good eater. She doesn't always have snacks and I am inconsistent some days on the scheduling/spacing of her meals and sometimes their size.

I want her to either self wean around (not too long after) her 2nd birthday or to be gently pushed towards weaning at that time. I do not want her to feel forced or rejected but I know that I can handle about just one more year of this and then I need the little bird to fly the nest.

As a baby, I weaned just after two years because my mom was tandem nursing and had been supplementing with juice since I was only a few months old and I was a good solids eater. My sister self weaned before a year because mom was pregnant with my brother and she didn't like the colostrum/less milk available. I think my brother was closer to three and I can't say for sure if he "self weaned" as me and my sister did.

I know it is normal for babies to self wean closer to or after 3 years old. I want to take my LO's second year to gently and subtly prepare her for weaning next year.

I don't know what needs to happen to get the result that I want, but I have some guesses. I am guessing that I should become more disciplined with her meal schedule and offer her solids at specific times. I should offer her two snacks. I plan to return to work on the weekends (Fri, Sat, Sun) and I will not pump. DH will be watching her and offering whole goat milk, but she may reverse cycle altogether. I have considered scheduling our nursing sessions or don't offer don't refuse?

My questions is this: Considering that she nurses so often, what can I do within DD's second year of life to subtly encourage her to "self wean" around her second birthday?

TIA

Julesfly17 · March 2014

It sounds like you know what you need to do- I'd say keep the nursing she does at nap, bedtime and when she wakes in the am and nap and through the night--- you could start by decreasing one feeding at a time- maybe not offering between breakfast and lunch--- when she wants to nurse offer her something else- it will be hard for a day or two and I'm sure tears- but like anything else change is uncomfortable for a bit-- little by little take away the nursing a and save the ones b4 nap and bedtime for the last to go. Also, it may be a little harder since you bed share. I had to put my dd1 in her crib and not bring her to my bed during the night or shed eat all night- we slowly weaned and by 16.5months she was done

drcolleen · March 2014

A year is a long time, your child will go through many changes as will nursing habits. If you are happy with how things are going now I wouldn't deliberately change anything to try to change something a year from now.

My limited experiences: DD1 self weaned the week of her 2nd Bday, before than she had been nursing 2-3x/evening and I didn't offer or refuse after 18mo but did work >FT and didn't come home one night while on call and she never asked again. DD2 weaned at 18mo, it's like she forgot how to latch and was biting but I was 18 weeks preg, she never asked again and I certainly didn't offer.

Want a personalized experience?

A ? for the BTDT extended breastfeeders who let LO self wean or gently encouraged weaning (longish)

Re: A ? for the BTDT extended breastfeeders who let LO self wean or gently encouraged weaning (longish)

Choose Another Board

Search Boards