Stopping bf, transition to cows/other milk.

[Sparrowlegs248]

Ds is almost 10 months, bottle refuser but drinks well from a sippy cup. Water though,I haven't really persevered with milk.

I never imagined bf for this long and have found it enjoyable and easy. I realise I am lucky!

I am wondering now though how to proceed. I work three days a week and ds has no milk between 6-6 on those days. He eats and drink well. He is dropping his morning nap feed when I am not at work.. He does feed to sleep at bedtime and a couple of times overnight which again is less. I wonder if it will naturally phase out. Equally I feel I need to.stop feeding to sleep as a) I'd quite like a night off! And b) the cot will soon need to be on its lowest setting and I don't think I will be able to transfer him.asleep

Any advice/experience welcome!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Do you have someone who could put him to bed for you? If so, and you want a night off, I'd just go.

[Sparrowlegs248]

I don't want to just go. He has fed to sleep every night of his life so far. I'd like to know how people make the transition.

[Writerwannabe83]

I also had this problem.

What I did was go into his nursery, have the curtains open, the lights on and start feeding him. If he started falling asleep I would wake him up and keep doing it until I felt the feed had been sufficient.

I then detached him, put him in his sleeping bag, drew the curtains, turned off the main light and put the dim lamp on and read him two stories. Once the stories were over I would do kiss and cuddle and then into his bed.

The important thing is to break the association between breast feeding and sleeping.

[Sparrowlegs248]

Thanks writer did he go to sleep OK? Ds is starting to stay awake after feeds some nights and has cuddles to sleep.

[BananaPie]

It just happened naturally for me. I fed both school to around 15 months. They eventually stopped falling asleep during the bedtime and night feeds, then completely lost interest in them. I didn't have to actively do anything.

The transition to cows milk never really happened. They'll sip it like they would water, but never drank a whole sippy cup full.

[puddleduckmummy]

I'm going through almost the same thing! DD is 8 months and a huge comfort feeder. I work 2 days and she isn't bothered at all at those times but when I'm not a work, she very much still likes demand have a feed off me! She always fell asleep in her night feed and I transferred her asleep but she doesn't always now and sometimes she's fine going to sleep herself, sometimes she kicks up a fuss and wants some more comfort (I think it's definitely more comfort than being hungry). She also sometimes still wakes in the night, sometimes 3 times, which is exhausting when you have work. Again I don't think she's hungry so next time, daddy shall be paying for all those nights he snores through multiple night feeds! I'm very much play it out and see what happens, she'll develop her own routine when she's ready!

[Writerwannabe83]

nottalotta - he did protest a little at first but I expected him too as it was a big change for him but within a week he was taking himself off the breast after his feed, he would still be nice and alert and then would self settle in his cot without any problems.