Do babies wean themselves?

[Spod]

My dd is 7.5 months. since introducing solids at 6 months she has been gradually reducing the number of bf's per day. For the last few weeks she mainly had 2 per day, one morning (long feed in bed with me for 2-3 hours) and one at night (around 45 mins) and sometimes she will have a very very short feed in middle of the day. Last few days she has even seemed to take less in morning and evening... ie,not falling asleep whilst bf'ing in the evening and today she was fussy about te morning feed. I hope shes not weaning herself off bm entirely? do babies do this? can i prevent her weaning herself off bm?

[gloworm]

dont know the answer to to question but with me ds bit one day, had 4 sharp teeth, unfortunatly i screamed and he refused to back on breast ever again, felt awful as had planned on continuing morning and evening feed for a lot longer
dd weaned herself at 5 mths, for no particular reason, she just refused to go on, for 3 days in a row. had really planned on feeding for longer than this

(i should mention both babies were having some nanny formula by then anyway so we had no problems...other than my feeling rejected!)

[Spod]

sorry to bump my own thread but i am getting concerned. dd has shown very little interest for bm this morning... She went to bed at 8.30 last night, woke at 4,6,8 and 9.30, just a bit of muttering to herself so we didnt go to her... but i went to her at 9.30 thinking she's bound to be hungry but she's not really taken a feed...only about 10 mins. I know she wouldnt want her normal 2 hour lie in with me as it is a late morning or her but so little milk? Anyone else have any experience of this? I dont wanna stop feeding yet.

[GeorginaA]

My ds1 stopped bf cold turkey at around 8 months Like you I'd seen a gradual reduction in interest for a while before he gave up but it was still a shock. I expressed for about a week in the hope he would go back to it but he never did.

Not sure if it was a nursing strike or genuine weaning - but in retrospect he hadn't been that interested in feeding for a while before.

[Clayhead]

Both of mine cut down dramatically at about 7 1/2 months, just when their intake of solids was reaching 3 proper meals a day. Their feeds also reduced in length, I thought this was them being more efficient. My ds hasn't fed for anything like 10 minutes for a couple of months now, he just seems to whizz on and off.

ds is 9 months now and won't feed in the day anymore, just evening and morning (approx. 6am, then he goes back to sleep). dd carried on like this until she was 1 and then just didn't want to feed anymore. She's never had a drink of milk from a cup either, just doesn't like it.

So, sounds normal to me but that's just my experience!

[Gomez]

Sorry Spod but my DD too weaned herself from BM after we introduced solids. She started by dropping the evening feed after about 6 weeks of solids and then the night feed after another month or so. My theory was she had got too used to her cup during the day and was too lazy to put the effort in any longer. We finished up the EBM we had stored and then she went onto formula. So in all she was probably of the boob by about 8 months.

To be fair however she was not having feeds of anything near the length your DD in the morning so I didn't worry. I just let her have what she wanted and then carried on with the day as planned - have you offered your DD anything else?

Sorry I can't be of much help.

[mears]

When does she get her breastfeeds - is it mainly at mealtimes? Do you feed her inbetween? My first 2 babies really had the breast after their meals when they were on solids and juice inbetween. Both of them stopped breastfeeding under a year, 11 months and 10 months respectively. However, the next 2 babies got the breast whenever they looked for it ie. nuzzling into my chest. They got lots of little feeds between their feeds as well as at meal times.
You could try cutting back her solids a bit and see what happens.

[gloworm]

could you try expressing and giving her this in a cup?

when ds was first introduced to a bottle he refused, but after a week of being offered it though-out the day he started drinking from it. it was the same when we tried to move him on to beaker, and had to experiment with 2 or 3 beakers before we found one he would use.

dd has took to bottle straight away and is making a good attempt at drinking from beaker now.

keep trying different bottles/beakers/cups until you find the one she likes.

maybe you could express and freeze milk until you get her settled on a method of drinking.

[elliott]

I feel I'm heading towards this situation too. Ds2 is not quite 6 months but I also feel he is losing interest in the breast. I am feeding him 4-5 times per day, but at my initiation - I don't know how much he would want if I left him to demand it himself, I suspect maybe only twice per day. He's also started fussing and pulling off when I'm trying to feed him, and last week he went one day refusing all feeds from morning till 5pm. When he does feed, though, it is usually for ages - but it feels as though he is just dozing and not getting a lot of milk - I don't feel much let down. He hardly drinks anything else - bit of water from a cup at lunchtime.
He does have a good appetite for his solids - and would have more than I offer him. Generally I breastfeed midway between mealtimes.
I was kind of hoping to carry on breastfeeding to about 9 months so that I don't have to introduce bottles. I thought by simply not offering bottles of formula I would encourage him to keep demanding the breast, but it feels as though he is already cutting back to the extent that I am worried about keepign supply up. If he stops being interested, do I need to offer drinks of formula? If I decide to cut back solids, how much should I cut back?
Sorry spod not much help here, just interested in what suggestions you get!

[Spod]

mears... for the last few weeks she's only having what i would call 2 'proper' feeds a day.. one in morning when i bring her into bed with me and she feeds on and off for up to 2 hours, with a bit of sleeping at the same time. Also, she feeds right before bed, for around 40 mins. I offer her after solid meals too, sometimes she'll have a small amount of milk, sometimes nothing. I also try and get her to feed before her late morning nap...again with variable success. I did try bf in middle of meals but she finds it too confusing and its too disruptive as she then wont eat. Is it okay to cut back on solids? perhaps i should drop breakfast?? she didnt feed well this morning but has fed fine (albeit she fussed aorund to start with) tonight, for 50 mins. How many bf's per day is typical for a 7-8month-old?

[Capie]

according to my hv some babies do wean themselves/lose interest in bf, others never want to let go. it seems to be a personality thing. Also some mums don't want to let go.
I know I was sad to stop bf when I went back to work. kept feeling like I should be doing something every 3 hours. wierd. my friend's babies both didn't "feel" like the effort of bf when they get what they need from food and they probably also enjoy the eating/chewing experience.
expressing is the best by forward and now put your effort in good food. quite emotional. hugs

[mears]

Elliot and Spod - don't equate the time your babies are on the breast with how much milk they are getting. Depending how they are sucking and how well the milk lets down, a baby may well get all they need in 5 mins. 50 min feeds probably are more about enjoyment than milk intake.

Spod, it is OK to cut back solids if you think that is a problem. I definately would let her have B/F inbetween meals if she wants them. She will regulate her solid intake around it. I always offered the breast after solids, sometimes they took it then, sometimes not.

There are no set number of breastfeeds a day that a baby of this age should be taking. You will find that it will actually vary from day to day. Next week the feeding pattern may completely change. If your babies nuzzle in looking for the breast then let them have it. If they don't look for it then offer it at various times throughout the day. I think it is important not to just get zoned into 'meal times'.

The main thing it to remain relaxed about it all. A baby can sense tension and may then refuse to feed. They are clever little things and will take what they need. Even if they dropped to 2 feeds a day, that could carry on for months. I certainly would not substitute formula worrying about milk intake - that would definately affect breastfeeding.

[colinsmommy]

Mine slowed down at 5 & 1/2 mo., and refused entirely at 6 mo to breastfeed at all. It was so bad, the Dr. suggested switch to formula, even though he was very pro-breastfeeding,which the baby readily drank.

[Pidge]

spod - my dd also became less interested in feeding at around 8 months. She was gradually eating more solids, her breastfeeds became shorter and she was more easily distracted. But I just carried on offering her 3-4 feeds a day, and sometimes she was interested, sometimes not. Now I'm still feeding her once a day and she's nearly 2. I feel like for us it's a gradual process of stopping breastfeeding, and my dd has definitely lead the way.

The one thing I did find helpful was to start feeding in a quiet environment. I used to love feeding my dd out and about, but from about 8 months on cafes or rooms with people talking in them were out, and I had to go somewhere where it was just the two of us, so she would concentrate on the feed for 5-10 minutes.

[ninja]

Just to reassure you - my dd went through a period of really not being intereted - being really easily distracted and now at 13 months she's keener than ever. It could just be a phase and it's probably worth persevering

[Piffleoffagus]

mine cut down to one first thing in morning upon waking breasfeeds and one evening feed at about 9-10 months, then as solids increased they dropped the evening one in favour of cup milk and then eventually the morning boob became more of a snuggle up warm cuddle than a feed... neither of them missed it this was at about 15 mths with both...
You may find she only wants the morning feed and can continue this for as long as she wants!

[elliott]

mears, thanks. My plan really was simply to not introduce formula and just to go with his pace for dropping feeds. I don't really like the idea of cutting back solids as he does seem hungry for them, and obviously ultimately the aim is to move from bf to a good varied diet. I just didn't expect it to be happening this quickly! Just need to hold my nerve I expect and have a bit of confidence in him (and me). I think I'm having a bit of a wobble as he's starting nursery this week and I'm nervous about how the expressing will go...

[mears]

Elliot - you will probably find that he will look for the breast a bit more when you pick him up from nursery. Babies often do that because their access has been limited so they look a bit more. Different when they can have it at any time