Would the BF gurus please stand up!!....question on weaning off the boob.....

[thegruffaloschild]

DD2 is 16 weeks old. I have decided (despite tremendous guilt to wean her off the boob. I won't go into details but I'm finding it hard now, I have a demanding toddler to look after too.

DD2 currently feeds at roughly:

7am
11am
3pm
6pm

10pm- bottle of formula (only in the last week)

When I weaned DD1 off the boob, I dropped one feed a week, and it worked very well.

My question is.....do you think I could get away with starting by replacing the last BF (6pm) with a bottle feed? I know it means my boobs will go from 3pm to 7am without a feed, but would they adjust after a few days??? Or is it better to change one of the middle of the day feeds first.

I am keen to do bottle feed at 6-7pm as it's DD1's bedtime so it would make my life a hell of a lot easier. I can cope with a few days discomfort, my boobs normally adapt quite quickly.

Will it confuse my boobs to feed at 7am, 11am, 3pm , then not til 7am again (16 hrs !!!)

Thanks, in anticipation.

[tiktok]

thegruffaloschild - if you want to replace the 6 pm feed with formula, then try it You will know if you 'get away with it' or not - you may feel very full and uncomfortable and ride the storm for a few days, or you may feel very full and uncomfortable to the point of unbearability and wake up at 2 am bursting You are unlikely to get mastitis or a blocked duct (though both are possible) - it's up to you what you do.

If you do get away with it and ride it out, I would predict that your milk would decrease fairly rapidly, and you will not manage to keep your baby happy with bf at 7, 11 and 3....that might be an ok outcome if you want to wean to formula fully, but not an ok outcome if you want to keep some bf going for longer.

Hope this helps, and I am sad for you that bf did not work out as you wanted it to.

[thegruffaloschild]

Thanks TIKTOK (I've heard you're a bit of a guru!!!).

I would like to still do maybe one feed a day, probably first thing, for a few more weeks, so I think I will follow your advice and drop the 3pm feed first. I don't want my milk to dry up too quickly, IYSWIM!! I have quite a bit of EBM in freezer so she will still get some goodness.

I hate the guilt, but I have given it a lot of thought and I feel much happier for having made the decision. I was never planning to do longer than 6 months anyway, so a few more weeks won't make that much difference. I'm just chuffed I managed as long as I did,, tbh.

Thanks.

[tiktok]

TGC - I would be really surprised if you managed to maintain a feed a day, though...this happens when bf is long-established (well into toddlerhood) for most women. Continuing on 3 feeds only in 24 hours, at 16 weeks, no matter what the spacing, will fairly quickly run down your supply...though if the feeds don't have the 16 hr gap it will last a bit longer.

Just so long as you know

[ilovemydog]

tik, you're back! and weaning for a (exclusively b/fed) 6 month old who doesn't seem interested in food?

[thegruffaloschild]

thanks tiktok for your advice.

when I weaned my DD1, I dropped a feed a week, and fed her just once a day, first thing in the morning, for about 3 weeks. My milk didn't appear to dry up, she was still able to go 4-5 hrs after that first feed, she was 5 months old at the time.

I also spoke to a friend earlier who fed her DD just twice a day (first thing and last thing) from the age of 5 months to 10 months, so for 5 months, and her milk didn't dry up.

I'm a bit confused cos I thought BF was supply and demand, so if I'm only 'demanding' one feed a day, isn't that all the milk my body will produce??

I'm expressing in the evening now, cos I'm worried my milk will dry up (even though it didn't before).

Is it possible that some people are lucky and their milk supply lasts even on one or two feeds a day? I've always had a very good supply (express 6 oz from one boob in 5-10 mins).

[papaya]

wow and at 4 hour feeds during the day! my ds is nearly 6 months and has NEVER gone longer than 2 (ish) hours throughout the day.....!

dont you find your little one takes boob quicker than a bottle? I know my ds does sorry no advice just envious at the four hourly gaps you get!!

good luck

[thegruffaloschild]

hate to say this papaya, but she has been known to go 5 and even 6 hrs between feeds, even when she was only about 10 weeks old. . She never cries for food, I just feed her every 4 hrs cos I know I should!!!

Bottle does seem quicker at the moment tbh, but it can vary. She just fusses too much at the boob now.