How to stop breastfeeding before a year, as TTC

[luckiestgirlintheworld]

Any advice would be great!

I want to have my children pretty close in age so want to increase my chances of conceiving again when DS1 is 10 months to 1 year old (he's currently 4 months)

So ideally I no longer want to be breastfeeding at all by the time he's 1 year old. (I know lots of people conceive whilst breastfeeding, I just really want to increase my chances.)

What do you think of my plan below? I'm not really clear on the process so any thoughts would be good.

For example, which would be the best feed to swap with formula first?
Does two months seem a reasonable time frame to swap from breast to formula?

Thanks!

......

Baby is 6 months
BF less by offering food or water as well as a feed.

Baby is 7 months
Gradually move to formula, swapping one feed at a time.

Baby is 9 months
One BF a day, the rest formula

Baby is 10 months
One BF a day
Try on cows milk only- if problems stay on formula

Baby is 12 months
REALLY try to conceive
No breastfeeding
Cows milk only, no formula

Does it definitely increase you chances? I don't know

What I do know is that I thought it suppressed your fertility. I am now the proud owner of an 18 month old and a 5 month old. 5 month old conceived literally the second I stopped night feeds

I think I'd do some research to see the actual statistics and then decide. Seems a bit harsh to stop breastfeeding (unless you want to) of it doesn't really make any difference

The main thing I'd say is problematic here is trying cows milk as a main drink at 10 months - it's really not suitable in large quantities before about a year as it doesn't have the right balance of nutrients and can be too hard on baby's kidneys. Also obviously whether your child is having cow's milk or formula will have no effect on your TTC... You also wouldn't really be dropping feeds/"BF less" at 6 months given the small amounts of food/water consumed at that stage, any reduced BF will need to be replaced with formula. No thoughts on which feeds to swap first as I never switched to formula but I'm sure people who have will be along shortly.

You may find, however, you don't actually need to do any of this to TTC - my periods came back at 5 months with DS2 while he was still EBF (and he was conceived while BF as well). Might be a bit more relaxing to not have the entire next year plotted out like a military campaign and just see how things go for a little while? You can always wean anyway if your cycle doesn't return.

I do love breastfeeding, so that's a good idea to see if I actually need to give up.

I suppose I'm just wondering if it did come to it, how long the process takes to reduce gradually.

You can still get pregnant whilst breastfeeding. You can ask my MIL and a couple of friends if you don't believe me
Have you heard of tandem feeding?

10 months is too early to switch to cows' milk as a main drink.

Presumably your periods aren't back yet. Mine returned at 6 months on the dot, despite that the fact that DD was feeding every two hours during the day and still night feeding.

So I would wait and see if your periods return. If they haven't returned by 6-7 months (which would be totally normal) then I would drop night feeds, as these are the crucial ones wrt fertility. It really isn't necessary to stop feeding to conceive.

I got pregnant when DD was 11 months old and still feeding. She was feeding 2-3 times a day. So wouldn't have taken long to swap to cows milk at a year if needed.

Oh I'd never heard night feeds were the best to drop for fertility. But then I'll be getting up in the night to make formula wont I?! Or maybe by then he'll be sleeping through... (Crosses fingers)