Packing for Daycare when Weaning

mattandlora · May 2014

It will be time to wean LO in another month and I'm trying to figure things out. We're not doing extended BF for a variety of reasons - not for this discussion on this thread. I pump at work and supply milk for daycare, then nurse at home. I'm trying to figure out how to "naturally" wean him with what I pack and would like some advice.

Current schedule =

7am - breakfast

10am - pumped milk before nap

12pm - lunch

3pm - pumped milk before nap

5pm - snack if needed

6pm - dinner

7pm - nurse to sleep

PLUS 1-2 MOTN feeds

The LAST nursing session I'll cut out is the one at bedtime. I'm trying to figure out the rest though. What do you all recommend? Thanks!

mommatotwo2 · May 2014

We're weaning at least during the day in 3 weeks, and currently our daycare day looks like this:

6 am- Nurse
8 am- Breakfast
10 am- 4-5 oz bottle (warmed) breastmilk
1130- lunch with 2-4 oz of cold breastmilk in a sippy
230- snack and any remaining cold breastmilk from the sippy.
530- Nurse
630- Dinner
730- Nurse to sleep

After one it will look like this:

6 am- Nurse
8 am- Breakfast with 2 oz cows milk
10 am- snack
12 pm- Lunch with 2 oz cows milk
230- snack
530- snack and milk if needed
630- Dinner with cows milk- prob 4 oz
730- Nurse to sleep

If we stop nursing to sleep, we will probably give her another sippy of milk before bed.

If you're not going to nurse at all, you will probably want to offer more milk at breakfast and lunch, depending on what your daycare does. Ours offers 2 oz because thats about what the kids will drink.

MrsBigTime · May 2014

Maybe consider trading the 3 pm bottle with a sippy of water and a good snack. It will probably be easier to disassociate nursing or taking a bottle to sleep at daycare instead of at home with you nursing directly. Dd falls asleep without a bottle for babysitters and my hubby, but has to nurse if I'm putting her down.

mattandlora · May 2014

Thanks everyone. He will go down for naps without a bottle, but right now it is just how the timing works out. At bedtime, he likes his milk. However, he's happy to take it in a bottle from dad. I don't think switching to WCM at bedtime will be a big deal. That will be the last one to go anyway.

We've tried to break the MOTN feeds for MONTHS. He used to sleep through, but that ended around 7-8 months old (and when he grew into 18-month clothes!!) Dad goes into the room and gets him back down, then he's up in another 30-45 minutes. Keep repeating until he gets fed, then he stays down. I think he is legitimately hungry. The wake-ups are always at the same time too. Everything I've read says that 1-2 MOTN feeds can still be normal in breasted infants his age. I just hope it decreases as we increase his solids intake after he turns 1.

mattandlora · May 2014

We always offer more and don't end a meal at home until he starts feeding the dogs and doing the windshield-wiper thing with his hands on the high-chair tray. For 10+ minutes.

Two issues with his eating: First, he gets busy playing and 'forgets' to eat unless prompted. Daycare has him on a schedule and they sit him down when it is time for a meal or snack. Sometimes he eats it, sometimes he doesn't. If he doesn't, they try again later. But he won't ask on his own, especially if it means he has to stop playing. (I've witnessed the same thing at home on weekends). Second, he is boob/bottle-obsessed and prefers milk to anything else. One time, dinner ended with a meltdown when he saw me packing a bottle for daycare. If I offered him milk with his meals, oh god, he would not eat. He gets a sippy-cup with watered-down juice instead. And sometimes, that is still more fun to play with than eat and we have to take the cup away.

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