Almost weaned baby-suddenly demanding lots of feeds?

[Gilberte]

I have just started another thread as I'm tandem weaning so I have a lot of questions.

I would be greatful if anyone with more knowledge/ experience (BF counsellors perhaps) than me could tell me if it's normal for a baby who has been night weaned for a couple of days and hasn't shown any interest in the breast for 48 hours would suddenly start demanding the breast a lot. This is a baby who was never much of a comfort feeder and who often had to be offered a feed and rarely asked unless she was very tired or at night. Could it be that a baby does this to try to get the supply going again once they realise it is reducing.

DD1 tells me she's not getting milk out and it does feel like she is dry feeding but I didn't think my supply would dry up so quickly. Could dry feeding encourage relactation. Is it possible to dry up so quickly (48hrs). Why would a baby who lost interest completely for 48 then start to ask more than she's every asked in her life before- Any ideas please?

Totally normal. The later stages of self weaning are characterised by periods of no bfing interspersed with the occasional feed. You don't say how old the 'baby' is or how old her sibling is? Is 'baby' DD1 and is she the older sibling or the younger? Could you explain a bit more please?

On an anecdotal note - DD2 has recently self weaned at 4y 8m and for a good while I would think she had weaned as it had been 1, 2 or even 3 WEEKS between her nursing and then she would ask again and so the cycle would repeat, days or weeks without nursing and then asking again.

She went through a period at about 2 1/2y of being pretty disinterested and going a couple of days without nursing only to ask again. She picked up her nursing frequency during a period of very poor health inc. night feeds between 3y & 4y and she night weaned at her self at 15-16m.

Thanks for answering TruthSweet and sorry for my lack of info. I put a lot in my other thread and forgot to do so in this one.

DD1 is 4.5yrs and DD2 is 18mths.

Can I ask if you had any milk when your DD2 was feeding so occasionally as it definately feels like the milk has gone already. It's only been a week since I started night weaning DD2. I know supply is often regulated by the night feeds which might have caused the milk to dry up so quickly. In some ways I'm relieved as I think DD1 will be less inclined to take up feeding again if she's not getting anything.

i would have been quite happy for DD2 to continue in the day but due to sibling issues I don't feel I can continue feeding one without the other as they've always tandem fed.

Ah, I had milk as DD3 was(is) nursing still so it wasn't the lack of milk, though I am 8m pg now and I have only had colostrum for a couple of months and didn't have milk for quite a few months. Apart from it being noted that there wasn't any milk it has never bothered any of my 3 to 'have' to dry nurse - if DD1 hadn't been verbal when my milk dried up in DD2's pg I wouldn't have no there was no milk as she didn't change her nursing habits at all! DD2 & DD3 have been broadly similar/

I have tandem nursed DD1 & DD2, DD2 & DD3 and will be tandem nursing DD3 & DD4 in a month or so's time. I haven't had any issues with one stopping while one carried on - I have only nursed just the one child in the last 6.5y for about 2m 1m of DD2 nursing alone and 1m of DD3 nursing alone so far but will be about 2-3m when baby arrives.

Supply is pretty robust at 18m post partum as you probably don't notice if a feed or even a day is skipped as a lot of the milk is made quite literally on demand rather than stored up like in the early weeks (the 'full' feeling).

At 4 1/2y I imagine she can understand that she is older than her sister and she can do things her sister can't and that her sister does things that she doesn't but did do when she was the same age (ride in a pushchair, wear nappies, sleep in a cot, be carried in a sling, etc), nursing is just another thing she has grown out of.

Ah sorry, you did say you gave birth soon after your DD2 weaned- hence the milk supply.

I see what you are saying about the sibling thing. The interesting thing is that DD2 has never been that attached to breastfeeding in that she never used it for comfort in the way DD1 did. It was mainly her tool for settling at night but she was waking up so much 5/6 times on a bad night that DP and I decided to swap roles. He started to comfort her in the night and she has started to wake much less and with virtually no crying.

When I did feed DD2 in the day, DD1 did say "I don't want you to feed DD2". It's like she is reconciled to weaning but doesn't want her sister to have something she's not getting. In fact she always said "I'll give up when DD2 gives up". She would also happily wear a nappy, use the pushchair and be carried as she loves pretending to be a newborn- whilst she can understand she is the older sister, she often asks to be treated exactly the same, which is why it will make it easier once DD2 is weaned/ out of pushchair etc.

I have the other problem DD3 wants to be a big girl! Mind you DD2 still rides in a pushchair due to her health issues (she had arthritis at 3y and now she is in remission, it has left her with hypermobility syndrome [she would have always been HM but the muscle wastage from the arthritis really exacerbated it]) some of the time so I can't use that one myself either

Perhaps consider indulging DD1 for a day/few hours, carry her every where or push her in a lie back pushchair so she can't see anything, just bfing/or cups of drinks, no solid food, no toys, no television, no computer or games, bed really early.....I'm sure she'd soon get bored though heaven help me if she decides she rather likes it and wants to be a baby for ever!