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Infant feeding

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

best way to give up BFing??

3 replies

flipflopson5thavenue · 11/10/2013 19:41

Will try to be brief. DS is 14.5 mo, and after over a year of BFing all night and terrible sleeping, I (fairly successfully) night weaned about 4 weeks ago. He now either sleeps through or wakes once but will settle easily without milk or being picked up. This was the first step of my exit strategy with an aim to give up by the new year.

A typical work/nursery day looks like this (4 days a week):
5am - feed, then falls back to sleep for an hour or so, by which time I've left and DP does breakfast/drop off routine.
530/6pm - home from nursery/work, 1/2 long thirsty feeds, followed by snack/full tea (depending how hungry he is).
7pm - bedtime feed, put down awake, puts himself to sleep.

Non work/nursery days (3 days a week):
As above BUT I also feed to sleep for both his naps, with a further 2/3 quick cuddle/comfort feeds throughout the day.

I haven't fed him out and about for months and he hasn't started demanding it really. Only thing he'll do is if I'm sitting on the floor with him or on the sofa he'll come and lie across my lap when he wants milk.

My next step was to get him to nap without boob. Then I sort of assumed he'd start to sleep past me leaving for work, which would take care of the morning feed (this hasn't happened...) and finally I'd be able to carry on with the bedtime feed for a while longer, then introduce a beaker.

Thing is, am worried that he's beginning to feed for comfort now a lot more, and its these feeds that am not sure how to drop, and if I should tackle these first and stick to a more rigid 'schedule' of feeds, which I can then drop one by one.

I am ready to give up and I want to do it gently. Thing is I can sort of see myself 6 mo from now in exactly the same place...

Not sure what to do next..!

OP posts:
MummyIsMagic79 · 12/10/2013 15:50

I am kind of in the same boat. Except I'm

MummyIsMagic79 · 12/10/2013 15:52

Oops!!

I'm in the 'waking all night and feeding for hours' stage. I've no idea how to night wean. He'll take a bottle in the day, but refuses at night.

No idea how to help, but just wanted to offer support. Comfort feeding can be a nightmare can't it?

Tried somebody else giving him a bottle?

:)

flipflopson5thavenue · 12/10/2013 18:45

MummyIsMagic79 - I followed this for night weaning
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/a1394888-What-worked-for-us-Hope-this-helps

not to the letter, but pretty much. I feed him if he wakes before 11pm or after 5am but I still put him down awake. I was surprised how quickly he got it and I swear he's a different baby! He still occasionally wakes and cries for ages, but I just send DP in and stay out of the picture.

DS will happily take a bottle at bedtime and will drink cows milk from a beaker in the day time. Today we had our first successful nap in his cot without boob to fall asleep (DP did it). Such a milestone! Took 40 mins of crying and protesting but in the end he just plopped onto his tummy and fell asleep. Feels like we're on the way to dropping the boob-to-nap feed which was always my next step.

The comfort thing has stepped up though and today every time I got down to DS's level (e.g. picking laundry off the floor..) or was sat on the floor with him he'd lie across me, hang onto me, climb on me... It was constant. If I feed him he has one or two sucks then clambers off to go back to whatever it was he was doing. He's also started saying what sounds like "baby" which I think is what he says when he wants milk. Or it could be "boobie"...?!?

The actual feeds I think are easy to replace with cows milk. Its the comfort feeding that I think is going to be trickier... Hey ho!

Good luck with the night weaning if and when you decide to attempt it. I am half way to feeling human again now that DS sleeps 7/8 hrs straight, regularly.

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