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Breastfeeding
ECATX
member
Pregnant and weaning a 1 year old
ECATX
member
Hello! I rarely (if ever) post here, but I lurked and read a lot before I had my daughter last July. There's a lot of good information here! My daughter just turned 1, and I could use some advice and am not sure who else to ask!
My daughter has been breastfed for the past year and eats plenty of solids - breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 1-2 snacks. She also gets two 5 oz bottles of expressed milk at daycare, and when she's not at daycare, she breastfeeds 3-5 times per day, but for only about 5 minutes each time. I'm also 12 weeks pregnant, and my supply is taking a major hit. I only get 1-2 oz when I pump now (I used to get 4-5 oz), so we've been using my freezer stash to make up the difference for her daycare bottles.
I'd like to start weaning, particularly since my supply seems to be getting worse each week. My daughter isn't terribly interested in wcm, but our pediatrician wasn't concerned as long as she eats whole milk yogurt, cheese, etc., and drinks water (which she does). Our daycare provider said we should add whole milk to her bottles (starting with 2 oz whole milk/3 oz breast milk) and work up from there. Since she hasn't had a bottle at home in months, I don't mind doing it in a way that will be easiest on my daughter and the daycare providers, but I'm a little confused now about what to do at home.
I had planned to stop pumping (or maybe pump once instead of twice), but I'm concerned about weekends. My daughter generally expects to breastfeed when she wakes up from a nap, and I feel like it would be easier on her to get her out of the habit all at once instead of nursing after one nap and not the other. I'm also a little confused about when to drop nursing sessions when she's still getting bottles at daycare. She tends to be on a different schedule at home than she is at daycare (she doesn't get a bottle when she wakes up from a nap there), so maybe I'm overthinking it?
I had planned to wean slowly and jut sort of see how it goes, but between our dwindling freezer stash and my drop in supply, I don't feel like we had as much time as I anticipated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: Pregnant and weaning a 1 year old
I'd start the transition on a Monday- she's used to the routine of daycare, and that might help her out.
I'd drop the pumping sessions in week one, allowing her to transition to wcm or another type of milk/just water. The following week I would pick a nursing session to drop(first thing in the morning or before bedtime), then drop the final session the following week.
You may need to pump a little just for comfort as you drop sessions.
Good luck!
Mommy to R (8.23.11) and K (6.21.14).
Thank you! I guess I was just worried about dropping feedings when she's still getting 2 5 oz bottles at daycare, but I think I am overthinking it. I wasn't expecting my supply to drop so rapidly (and my pregnancy was a surprise), so I think I have been caught off guard. Thank you both for your help!