At what age did your bf babies self wean?

[burmesegrumbler]

Dd is either on a prolonged nursing strike or is self weaning. She turns nine months next week and has been feeding just twice a day (after breakfast and before at bedtime) for a few weeks (despite being offered regularly during the day as I work from home).
The past few days she has refused her bedtime feed. Total feeds are down to less than 20 mins a day. She eats well and is very active (standing up and desperately trying to walk), but she has always been long and lean and I do worry about her getting any leaner. She is holding her growth curve but it's slowing, though she hasn't crossed a centile.

Does this sound like self weaning?

I would like to hear about your unforced bf weaning experiences.

Is she eating/drinking ok otherwise? Does she have a sore mouth through teething or anything? It seems a bit young to self-wean. DS dropped down to one feed a day at about 13 months and stopped completely (I went with a don't offer/don't refuse policy) at 16 months.

I started working part time at 14 months but he'd already stopped feeding during the day by then anyway so I'd say it was a self-weaning experience.

That really sounds like a nursing strike not self weaning. DD1 self weaned at 3.6 years old and I considered that early for a child to self wean. DD2 is 3.3 years old and is nursing as is her sister who's 16 months.

Nursing strikes can last 2 weeks or even more so do preserve (if you want to continue bfing that is - if not take advantage of the strike).

Yes I agree it sounds like a nursing strike. My dds both self weaned about 3 and a half years.
Would you like to try and carry on?

DD self weaned at 8/9mths but unbeknown to me I was pregnant.

They do say hormones change the mils and with hindsight I guess she figured it out before I did

Mine were both about 9 months when they didnt want to BF anymore.

DS weaned at 2.3 despite me working 60 hour weeks from 6.5 months. Despite multiple layers of nightclothes he continued night feeds right until the end. From my experience it doesn't sound like true she's weaning - if nothioh else it's unlikely that a baby so young can get enough nutrition from solids alone.

She eats really, really well. Typical daily menu, breakfast; porridge with fruit milk and yoghurt plus buttered toast and slices of fruit. Lunch pasta with salmon, cream cheese peas and spinach plus fruit and yoghurt for pudding. Tea chicken with veggies, rice and yoghurt, fruit and fromage frais for pudding. Snacks of carrots, banana, broccoli, rice cakes, dried fruit, cheese sticks. HV says she eats a very nutritious diet and isn't worried about the bf as says babies her age only need a pint of dairy a day from which ever source. I make the food, it isn't from packets/pots, occasionally if we are traveling etc I use pots, she always eats an entire main and an entire pudding which seems more than the other babies her age at the groups we go to, but I do still worry about her getting the right nutrition. She will drink a little formula from a cup if offered during the day. But never more than 2/3 ounces in total. She nevervwakes at night demanding food, has been sleeping 12 hours straight since six months.

My instinct is she is self weaning, we've had nursing strikes before, this is different, she is gradually dropping the length and number of feeds, not making a fuss when offered. She does have a cold, but usually would feed more frequently when poorly. This morning she wanted water from her cup first, then had a 12 min feed, with stops for cuddling and playing.

burmesegrumbler - that may be the problem - if your DD is eating too much food she won't have the appetite or space for BM.

At 12 months a baby should be getting approx 75% of their nutrition from BM and 25% from complementary foods. I'd estimate your baby was getting 90% of her nutrition from solids if not more. BM (or if not BFing, formula) is the most important part of a baby under 12 months diet, solids are 'complementary' they are to provide extra iron/zinc/etc not to replace BM as the main source of nutrition.

Obviously if you don't want to bf for any longer then it sounds like it's going to be easy to not do it any more BUT it's not true self weaning - your daughter hasn't stopped needing milk (of any species) so technically it's that you have swapped bfing for solids rather than your DD has grown out of the nutritional and emotional need to bf. No judgement on that just it's not self weaning.

If you want to continue BFing then there are ways back to more BFing but it doesn't sound like you want to (again no judgement just my impression).

Cut right down at 9 months, finished at 10 months. He never rootled me again.

I don't know if it was self weaning or mutual agreement. I'd have given him longer, but I won't bf a child with shoes on.

I won't bf a child with shoes on.

What an odd, odd thing to say. (Hopes Nagoo is joking and wanders away confused...)

Take them off before bfing then?

DS suddenly turned his nose up to BF at 13 months. I remember it very clearly. He just wouldn't suckle, rooted around a bit and then just snuggled into me and started snoring. He had gone down to two BF's a day then too - morning and bed time. I tried to interest him ffor the next week, but he wouldn't have it. He was eating three good solid meals a day by then.

Interestingly he is now 6 years old and recently announced very loudly in company that he never had a bottle, he only ever had milk from his mummy! I could have died with embarassment - I tried to get him to take a bottle, but the stubborn little swine wouldn't have it