1 year old self weaning

[DoNotDisturb]

Hi my dd is one and I have slowly been introducing her to cows milk since her 1st birthday a few weeks ago. She doesn't take much and doesn't seem to want the bottle however will take some from a straw during the day. I had hoped to cut her breast feeding down to one or two feeds a day but she's refused the boob last night and this morning.

How many times should I offer her it if she's refusing to be considered self weaning? And how much cows milk should an average one year old be getting?

I guess I'm in shock. I wanted to slowly wean her off but she's such a boob monster that I thought we'd have the bedtime feed and snuggle for a while yet

She eats well so I'm not too worried but her older brother still has a massive drink of milk at lunchtime and bedtime and he's nearly 4.

It might just be a nursing strike, from what I've read, when they self wean it's quite a slow process of dropping feeds gradually. Have you tried taking a bath with her? Kellymom has info on nursing strikes but can't link to it as on my phone

A baby/toddler who is bf doesn't need any cows milk at all - human milk is better (if available of course) than any other species milk is .

It does sound like a nursing strike - these are fairly common (all 3 of my children have had one) and it doesn't have to mean the end of bfing. Kellymom.com has lots of info on strikes & breast refusal here. If you search for nursing strike in this topic, you'll find probably hundreds of threads on the same theme - so you are definitely not alone in having a baby who suddenly doesn't want to feed (self weaning is usually characterised by years of dropping feeds rather than over the space of a week).

If you were thinking of stopping soon, then now would be an easy time to do it though you would probably need to express a little bit for your own comfort if you got over full.

Good luck

Well she's fully weaned now. She was such a boob monster I can't believe it happened overnight

I expressed a little over weekend to reduce engorgement and everything was easing off but now I have a huge lump in one boob. It's uncomfortable but not painful. Is it enough to just massage it and wait? Don't want to express and increase supply again but don't want to risk mastitis...

Some tips on dealing with plugged ducts here and some 'comfort measures' here.

You may find that she wants to start bfing again so it may not be the very end but equally she may never ask to nurse again (just to prepare you for the possiblity).

There is a big hormone drop on stopping bfing so be gentle to yourself if you feel delicate/emotional it's very normal. All the best.

Thanks truthsweet. I am feeling a bit delicate and sad

How's it going DoNotDisturb?