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Weaning advice?

arheinsarheins member
in Breastfeeding
i have been reading articles and blogs and message boards and i think i am just nervous in general about the weaning process. i decided that we would wean at 1 yr. my LO is 10 months now and i guess i am just not sure if i should start the weaning leading up to her 1 yr or after her bday. she takes bottles of BM while i am at work and then feeds from me when i am home. she still does 2 (recently 3 - not sure if it is a growth spurt) feedings at night. we co-sleep and i think she is doing some of her feedings out of comfort more so than she needs to eat. any advice on how to start this process? which feeds should go first? when she stops her day feedings am i supposed to be supplementing that feed with regular cows milk (after one yr of course)? we are moving her crib into our room in a step to stop co-sleeping - hoping that maybe not being directly next to me in the bed it will help with the weaning but that could just be my wishful thinking,
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Re: Weaning advice?

  • surpriseadditionsurpriseaddition member
    I would focus on trying to get rid of some of the MOTN feedings first.  Instead of moving the crib into your room, what about trying to put the baby in the crib in her room? I know for me, I always noticed that my LOs and I slept better when we moved them into their own rooms (I did this around 3-4 months).   I think that general movement in the bed or sounds wake them up. I wasn't really bothered walking the short distances to their rooms.  I'd bring them back to my bed, nurse, and all 3 went right back to bed when I put them down in their crib afterwards.  Once you start cutting nursings, you'll need to replace with formula if LO is younger than a year.  Personally, I always waited until after the first birthday to try and cut back on feedings.  That way you can just use WCM or other dairy products (yogurt, cheese, etc.) instead of having to buy formula.  GL! 


    **DD1 - 7/9/98**

    **DS - 11/9/00**

    **DD2 - 4/30/13**

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  • eggmankateeggmankate member

    I don't know if you would necessarily need to replace the feeds with formula during MOTN. Dr. Jack Newman says that formula marketing has convinced us that at 9-12 months that as babies wean they need to go to formula if you're not able to provide breastmilk and that we need some set amount of breastmilk. So as long as they are getting some   breastmilk and a variety of solids there is no need to give formula. I think it wouldn't be beneficial to introduce formula to a baby that old if she'll be taking WCM soon anyway.  https://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=doc-WFBW    

    Nevertheless, I think weaning the MOTN would be your best start with the weaning process. I don't know your baby so maybe my advice won't help, but what if instead of just abruptly ending your MOTN feeds you just lessened the time LO is at the breast? This would help teach your body to make less milk slowly and ease any discomfort. I also think moving the baby out of your bed will definitely help. If LO cries in the crib during MOTN try putting pacifier or something else soothing to see if all she needs? There is no one right way because every baby is different.

    I don't have much advice about your other questions as I'm wondering this too.

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    TTC since April 2011. DH Dx MFI in February 2012. BFP #1: 7.16.12. MMC dx: 8.22.12, D&C 8.28.12, TTC Again November 2012. DH Varicocele repair November 2012; Repeat SA showed "dramatic" improvement February 2013 (awesome!)
    BFP #2: 3.26.13, EDC: 12.7.13. Anya born December 9th, 2013!
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  • frugalphillybridefrugalphillybride member
    I was worried about weaning too and felt like it was hard to find info about weaning.  So much of what I found was trying to convince me not to wean.  I just finished weaning my 13 month old and it was so much easier than I thought it would be.  Granted as with so many things, I think it can really depend on the baby.  My LO is a pretty chill baby so he took to the transition to cows milk easily.  I started weaning him when he hit 12 months by dropping one feeding a week, starting with the ones I thought he was least attached to.  For most of them, I offered a sippy cup of cows milk.  (Check with your pediatrician how much cows milk they recommend in a day...mine said no more than 16 oz).  I started him on straight up cows milk and he took to it fine.  I was particularly worried about the first thing in the morning and last thing at night feedings.  The first few mornings I had my husband take him downstairs and give him cows milk and start his breakfast.  Then I came down once he was eating and he didn't seem phased.  For the bedtime feeding, on the weekend we had my husband do bedtime and give the sippy cup again.  After three nights of that, my LO was perfectly content with me giving him the sippy cup at bedtime.
    Good luck and try not to stress over it too much.
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