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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

If your baby self-weaned, what age did he/she stop?

20 replies

Owlingate · 13/06/2011 20:10

I weaned DC1 and DC2 fully off the breast by 13 months, DC1 was mix fed anyway. Have since met a few other mums who let their babies decide when to stop and it sounded much much nicer. DC1 wasn't a prob as he was used to other milk, took cup quite early etc. etc. DC2 had to be weaned on to a bottle and is still on it 6 months later - I think needs / needed the comfort to be honest and I feel a bit mean for rushing it. I started off gently but eventually said the milk was all gone.

So if you let him or her self-wean would they just drop it slowly for themselves? Did you gently encourage them? The 'natural term' babies I know stopped by 18 months ish anyway. I am not meaning to start a debate about weaning but its something I'd like to consider for next time.

OP posts:

WoTmania · 13/06/2011 20:21

DS2 recently stopped (I think) he was 4 a week ago. He gradually cut down. It went from 1-2 times a day at 3.6 to every few days to every 5-6 days to me not reme,bering when he last nursed but knowing it was probably around a month ago

GooGooGadget · 14/06/2011 10:57

10 months. He just wasn't interested.

I'm a bit concerned cause DD is really not that into the breast since she's discovered solids

RitaMorgan · 14/06/2011 11:01

Did he stop having milk entirely at 10 months or did he just prefer bottles?

GooGooGadget · 14/06/2011 11:20

sorry I should have been clear about that. He prefered bottles. I had to work so that's why we introduced formula, with bfs when I could. He just stopped rootling. I missed that rootling face...

lunafire · 14/06/2011 11:24

DS1 self weaned at age 4.

Original poster

Owlingate · 14/06/2011 11:27

This is interesting, it seems that the natural age to stop is nearer 3/4 than 2 as I would have thought. How often are they feeding above the age of 2 or is that a how long is apiece of string question!

OP posts:

dinkystinky · 14/06/2011 11:30

26 months for DS2, 16 montsh for DS1.

Notanexcitingname · 14/06/2011 13:07

Owlingate, self-weaning before two is considered very rare, and usually related to unavailability of the breast (either restricted access or absence of mother). DS1 self-weaned at 2 yrs 3 months (I worked full time and was pregnant with ds2) I'm SAHM to DS 2 and he's very much still going at 2.3.

The Kathy Dettwyler research, often quoted as finding that the world wide weaning age is 4.2, found that in the particular tribe/nationality she studied, if access to the breast was unrestricted then the average self-weaning age was 4.2. Although iirc she discarded data from any child who weaned before 3, presuming that their access had been restricted.

bumpybecky · 14/06/2011 13:22

dd1 at 13 months, wasn't really self weaning but I wasn't prepared to be bitten and then laughed at

dd2 at 8 months, in retrospect it was probably a nursing strike, but I didn't find out about them until years later. Went onto cups of cows milk like her big sister (not my idea but she was very stubborn!)

dd3 at 22 months, proper self weaning

ds at 26 months, again proper self-weaning

but all of them had access to cows milk in a cup from a year or so, access wasn't restricted, but I wasn't with them 24/7, although was full time SAHM, so not sure if that fits with the official definition

FruitSaladIsNotPudding · 14/06/2011 13:25

10 months for me to. Was totally her decision - I didn't limit her at all, quite the contrary, I kept trying to get her to feed, for a month or so, but she wasn't having it. She still wanted bottles though.

LadyWithNoManors · 14/06/2011 13:28

DD1 self weaned at 17 months.
DD2 is 14 months and still going strong .

WoTmania · 14/06/2011 13:29

How often are they feeding above the age of 2 or is that a how long is apiece of string question! - DD (27 months) still nurses lots but as it's on demand I have no idea. And it varies from day to day.

WoTmania · 14/06/2011 13:30

FruitSalad - that's sounds a bit like a nursing strike.

RitaMorgan · 14/06/2011 14:08

I think it's quite common that mix-fed babies come to prefer bottles and refuse the breast before 12 months, but I guess this doesn't tend to happen with babies who are only breastfed as there is no alternative. Although my ds who was mix fed has refused bottles/cups of milk from 8 months

FruitSaladIsNotPudding · 14/06/2011 14:09

Yes, I know it does, but it wasn't.

TruthSweet · 14/06/2011 14:36

DD1 self weaned at 3.6y/o. She self weaned physically rather than emotionally out growing the need to nurse as her jaw changed shape to accommodate her 1st adult molars (which she got around a year later at 4.8y/o [?]) which inhibited her ability to latch on. She still tells me she missed 'bah' and she weaned 21m ago (weaned 1m before DD3 was born). She was/is a big fan of bah apparently

DD2 is 3.6y/o and is getting close I think to self weaning (physically again) as she has gap at the back of her jaw and one bump behind her milk molar on the bottom left hand side so I can't imagine she will go much past 4y/o. Which will be a major problem when she does wean as she nurses for pain relief from arthritis and have discovered her gastritis eases slightly when she nurses (she has gastritis from taking NSAIDS from arthritis).

DD3 is 20m and is no where near ready to wean yet. Give it 2 or so years and I imagine she will be

midnightexpress · 14/06/2011 14:39

About 21 months. He just lost interest - iirc, he was mostly just feeding at bedtime and once in the night, and once he realised he was missing out on the bedtime story his older brother was getting, he just gave up. Which was perfect, as I was just getting to the point of wanting to stop anyway.

elliejjtiny · 15/06/2011 00:12

DS1 was 14m (I was pg with DS2). DS2 was 12 months (mix fed) and DS3 is still nursing aged 5 months

mrsjohnsimm · 15/06/2011 01:58

DS, 38 months (completely self-weaned when DD1 was born, which surprised me as I'd been expecting to tandem feed).

DD1, about 20-22 months (DH had been working abroad, came back, and she became very clingy to him and only wanted him at bedtime, which meant she dropped her evening bf session, and after that the morning session (which was the only other one we were still doing) only lasted another couple of months).

Will be interested to see what happens with DD2 as we are not having any more (so will be no pregnancy/younger sibling to put her off) and DH has changed jobs so unlikely to be abroad for any significant length of time (so no DH obsession to give her an alternative focus).

Original poster

Owlingate · 15/06/2011 09:36

Thanks for all your responses, I hadn't thought of the issue of being pregnant with the next child sometimes putting DC1 off. So I guess a 'natural' way to self-wean would be the space coming through for the adult teeth, the next child coming along or Mum being less 'available' for whatever reason. Think I might give the natural way a go next time round.

OP posts:

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