Help, how to drop bedtime breastfeed...

[Betty24]

Hi all,

I need to wean my 7 month daughter for medical reasons - am a month overdue in doing it but wanted to take it slowly. She has never taken a bottle but have managed to get her to take a sippy bottle for all daytime feeds and seems quite happy about it all if I keep her busy and give lots of cuddles, problem is how to drop the bedtime and dream breastfeeds... We both look forward to them all day so it's a tough one to stop. I have brought the dream feed earlier each day and it is now at 9pm. Really need to stop breastfeeding by next week as due to start my medication. Any tips would be great as just dreading it. Thanks.

bump

Can I be nosy and ask what medication it is? I only ask as some medications ARE safe when breastfeeding but uninformed doctors don't/won't advise on this.

If you're already double triple checked this with the BfN etc and know for sure, just ignore me..

We are going through this with ds for similar reasons. I feed him up with solids etc, make sure hes had a drink of water (has cows milk allergy) then distract then rock him to sleep in the buggy. I find it works better if I stay standing as as soon as I sit down hes on my lap pulling doen top etc (13 months).

I think its possibly the hardest thing I've ever done but he is gettign less and less bothered day by day

Reduce the time of the breastfeed by one minute eve other night

Also feed before bath a bed so the breastfeed isn't the thing she has right before you put her down

This is IME a gentler way of doing it ... Not cold turkey

Thanks for all your replies, good to know others have gone/going through it! Day 3 of no breastfeeds all day but she is only drinking about 8oz of formula from the spout bottle and eating heaps of solids. Think she saves it up for the bedtime breastfeed. Was supp to go cold turkey tonight, other half took day off tomorrow as we expected no sleep. But I bottled it (no pun intended) and gave her a full breastfeed. She had story time after feed though and settled happily in cot awake (think so tanked up from BF). I will do last dreamfeed tonight at 8pm. I def need to stop by Friday as medication is non-negotiable (its methotrexate so def can't breastfeed and I should have started is 3 months ago but refused and I can feel my condition - was diagnosed with Rhuematoid arthritis post partum - getting worse so need to do it. Ms potatochip - it is the hardest thing I've ever done too! Will try giving formula in spout bottle after tea and before bath and shorten the breastfeeds then will try a different routine before bed to break the association - maybe I just need to leave the house for a few evenings...?!

OK, then I shall keep my fingers crossed for you that you can drop this last feed as smoothly as possible.

Hope its going well! Remember if she is unsettled it might just be because she's unsettled not nescessarily because you are not feeding her. I blame very frown from Ds on cutting down breastfeeds these days whereas he could just be teething / tired etc etc. I hope the methotrxate does the trick.

Phew, not easy but I think we've done it! Day 3 of no breastfeeds and she seems ok, I'm the one finding it hard!! I changed her bedtime routine and amazingly she started to take the bottle with gusto that night and rejecting the spout cup the next day. She even cries for her bottle now, never thought that would happen!! She just cut her first tooth today, poor lamb, what a week. She is sleeping well though so I think we have managed to keep her busy and do it gradually enough so it didnt upset too much.

That new tooth is very sharp so on the upside perhaps my timing was right!!

Well done and glad you are both coping
Hope the medication works quickly