Breastfeeding weaning help

mommyaudra · November 2014

Hey mamas,

*i posted this in Breastfeeding but im hoping maybe some SAHM have dealt with this?*

I need some advice on weaning my 10 month old lil guy. I've EBF him for 10 months, he has had a bottle every now and then with in laws when we go out, but he will not take the bottle from me. I'm a SAHM and tried not BF him one morning when he was wanting it, and pumped instead, but he was pulling the pump off of me (lol) and crying and ended up falling asleep with his head on my other breast while i pumped the other side. (it was so sad!) So later that day i couldn't take it anymore he was just so sad and whiny i ended up bf him and he instantly was so calmed.

I've tried giving him expressed milk in his bottle, a sippy cup and he just didn't go for it.

I'm asking what you other mamas did who EBF and started weaning? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks ladies.

JENandJEH · November 2014

I let each of my kids take the lead.

DS1 self-weaned around 7 months - he began taking bottles here and there around 2 months old and had no issues going between breast and bottle.

DS2 weaned himself around 16 months. He randomly took a bottle here and there but never drank much from the bottle. We introduced a sippy cup around 10 months with water and so when we transitioned him to whole milk, he had mastered the sippy. After 13 months, he was only nursing first thing in the morning and right before bed. He dropped the morning feed and went to a sippy of cow's milk with no issues. The night feeding was just a gradual process of him cutting the time down and me being away at bed a few nights here and there. I went out with a girlfriend one night and DH could barely get him to take any that I had pumped in a bottle. The next night, he nursed for maybe 2 minutes and then pulled off and grabbed his paci from my hand. The next night, he let me snuggle with him in the rocking chair but never latched on and that was it.

I'm sure the ladies on the breastfeeding board will have more advice, but is there a specific reason you are trying to wean at 10 months?

mommyaudra · November 2014

thanks!

KMKaiser07 · November 2014

I don't have any experience yet as I'm still nursing my 11 month old who seems like he is going to have a really hard time weaning. Like pp asked, is there any particular reason you want to wean now? It is recommended to nurse until one if possible.

I would continue offering breastmilk or in a sippy to get your LO comfortable with it and if possible, don't rush the weaning process. From what I have heard from a lot of my friends who let their kids self wean, the process went much smoother for mom and baby.

vettymama · November 2014

Why are you wanting to wean so badly? I would let him take the lead and then start weaning at a year. Do you have enough pumped milk to get him to 12 months? Or are you doing formula for the last 2 months?

mommyaudra · November 2014

@JENandJEH thanks! DH and i will be going away for three days in December and my in laws will be watching my three kids, i was hoping the weaning process would be going better by then just so he will be ok with not having access to BF all day and night.

but when they watched him over this past weekend during the day he didn't want/need the bottle and wasn't too fussy so maybe im just making it out to be more than it is and he will be ok but this will be the longest he'll be away from me. he does eat a lot of food and will drink water out of a sippy.

mommyaudra · November 2014

i was going to use the milk i had stored up and then formula

KMKaiser07 · November 2014

Maybe it won't be that bad. You had said he has taken a bottle from your in laws when you are gone and it's possible he will do just fine with that. I think it's hard on babies to not get to nurse when mom is there. It's comforting for them and they would obviously prefer to nurse if the option is there.

mommyaudra · November 2014

I hope so! thank you KMKaiser07

SurpriseAt39 · November 2014

Hi, I'm an occasional visited here. Just thought I'd offer another option.

When I was getting ready to return to work I would leave DS1 (9+ months at the time)with MIL. He Never took a bottle from her.
When he started on solids I started offering a sippy cup of water. Then I switched it to breast milk, which he refused. Then a straw cup. He still refused the breast milk.
He would go the entire day with no milk.
Finally we switched to cow's milk in the straw cup. (Probably about 10 months by this time). At first he didn't drink much. Warming it in the beginning helped (since breast milk is warm). Then we slowly quit warming it. By a year old he was drinking 3 or 4 cups 6-8 oz each.

If the kid goes a couple days with no milk it's not too likely to hurt him, unless he doesn't eat much otherwise, or has some other health issue.

Good luck!

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