weaning an addict

[yawningmonster]

My son is 1yr old, until very recently (last couple of weeks) he has had a bfeed approx 5 times a day and up to 2 times at nite. I wanted him to self wean but it is just not happening and he has very little interest in solid food. My reasons for cutting down are very selfish
1, I am drained
2, I need a break from him which I cant get as he needs to feed so often.
This is the start to weaning that I have made:
6am bfeed
7.30am bfast
(9am bfeed)
9.30 snack
11.30 lunch
12pm bfeed
2.30 snack
3pm bfeed
4.30/5pm dinner
6pm bfeed
I dropped the nite feeds first, he is still waking and hollering but we are sticking to our guns and comforting him in other ways until his feed at 6am. I have just dropped the 9am feed which he sometimes copes with, other times not. His interest in solids has not really increased, he gets offered food as above but is a very fussy and small eater. Can I move on to remove another feed when he doesnt really seem to have adjusted to these changes? I know I should probably try to remove the 3pm feed but convenience wise it would be good to remove the lunch feed as I could leave him at creche for a morning and actually get a break, could I combine them eg move the lunch time feed to 1 or 2 and then string him out till his 6 oclock feed? Is this enough as he certainly doesnt appear to think so? I dont want to give up bfeeding all together I just am at the stage where I need "me" back to some degree and he is not leading the way. Advice welcome.

bump

If your ds isn't eating much, I'd be tempted to cut out the snacks so that he is eating more at his meals. The bf's during the day will also be acting as snacks.

That schedule looks fairly much like what my ds was doing at the same age. I cut out the mid morn and mid afternoon bf's first, and then recently have dropped the lunchtime (but he's now 17 months, so this has been a long process).

Having said that, if at any time I was away from him, he didn't seem to mind missing a feed. Does he take a cup at the moment? Could he have EBM / water if you needed to leave him for a bit.

I completely understand about needing a break - it's very hard when they rely on you for milk, but I don't think they do rely on it as much as you think they do if that makes sense.

When is he sleeping during these times?

we were advised to offer the snacks due to him not eating well as it gave him 5 chances to eat and he could take small amounts often. He will take a cup and drinks water and soymilk from it reasonably well, he wont take enough from it to replace a feed. He has two sleeps a day app 9.30-11.00 and 1.30-3.00, these are approximate, generally he has about 2-3 hours naptime a day though.

bumpity bump

try to breast feed morning noon and evening and offer solids in between..he will soon get the idea!!!

oh hello, just go cold turkey during the day you think?

think so.
Someone will tell you/me that this is a bad idea. but he wont eat more if he isnt hungry. Feed him when he wakes. then give him breakfast say an hour later. then maybe give him a feed around noon..will he take a cup?
Then feed him before he goes to bed!

he drinks small amounts from cup, water and soymilk not enough to replace what he is currently getting, not sure if I want to rush things so fast just wanted to know if it was to soon to drop one more feed and whether I could stretch the lunch time one out without causing too much trauma.

At 11 mo DD was down to just 2 BFs morning and evening. I would drop the lunchtime one first personally. Give him his morning feed then breakfast, then a feed about 10.30am then lunch at 12noon, then a BF at 2.30-3pm. That way he is still getting 2 feeds in teh day but should be hungrier for his solids at lunch. I did this with DD then dropped the 10.30am feed and about a month later dropped the 2.30pm feed.

I decided to stop BFing at 12mo as I was pregnant with number 2 and feeling really drained so over the next few weeks after that I replaced the night feed with a beaker of milk and then she never asked for her morning feed one day and that was that. I suppose I had it pretty easy with DD she's taken to beakers really easily.

good luck

Hi i had a dd like yours! finally stopped breastfeeding altogether at 2 years! from just over a year i slowly tried to wean her off. Mainly by avoiding cuddles at those times, serious distraction when i knew she was beginning to dig for the boobs. At about 18mths she was only feeding at night (although still pestered for daytime feeds!)
Then i found she was old enough to talk about the fact that she wasn't a baby anymore and so didn't need breastfeed. Gradually, gradually she had given all up by the age of two! or i think it was more the case that her feeds had got so infrequent my milk had dried up and she had no choice!

You're right to give the snacks, little and often they say don't they.

Don't worry too much, so long as his weight is ok, as you manage to reduce feeds his appetite will increase. Just try and keep the pair of you busy around your usual breastfeed times!

Good luck! there is an end to it, so don't go getting your self stressed about it like i did . I made a promise to myself that with next baby i will be more chilled out as it was really unnecessary to worry about it as much as i did!

mine is 11 months and only feeds from me for bed and if he wakes up in the night...but he eats for england!!!

think I will just stick with original plan and move the lunch feed to around 2 and therefore try to get him to only have 3 feeds, I feel comfortable about that and I dont think it will be too drastic an adjustment for him (I hope)

I agree. Good luck!