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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

12mo will take occasional cup, but won't give up breast. Do I have to go cold turkey and if so how?

13 replies

franch · 14/09/2006 09:54

DD2 is on 3 feeds a day, but I no longer give her the breast for her middle-of-the-day feed. For this one I let her take or leave the cup as she wishes (she usually just takes a few sips - occasionally more), and make sure she has plenty of cheese, yoghurt etc. (She prefers a sippy cup to a bottle btw.)

I'm trying now to give up the breast for her other feeds, starting with the morning, but she's pretty much refusing the cup first thing, even from DH - I'd imagined she'd take this ok as she must be at her hungriest.

She's very attached to me and I don't want to traumatise her by withdrawing the breast abruptly, and am also concerned about engorgement/blocked ducts if I stop suddenly.

DD2 had a bottle of EBM daily from about 3 weeks so when I gave up with her (a bit earlier, at 10m), she didn't turn a hair - I just gave her a little from the bottle to start with, followed by the rest from the breast, and gave up the feeds one by one: daytime, then morning, then bedtime. So this is all new to me - any advice?

OP posts:

march29 · 14/09/2006 10:15

hi i went cold turkey with my ds but he was about 14 months then. he had been really hastling me in the night and one night i just snapped and said thats it!! no more bf! but he was alright he just cried through that one night and then from the next day it was asif he didnt remember ever bf atall! although i will say though he never took a bottle atall and i have to now make up for his milk intake through his cereal and yoghurt etc. he did like hipp organic milk which my pharmamcist recommended. i haven't looked back since that one night.

Original poster

franch · 14/09/2006 10:17

Really interesting march. How were your breasts when you just stopped like that? And does your DS now drink any milk at all??

OP posts:

Original poster

franch · 14/09/2006 10:19

Agh, just spotted I said DD2 in the last paragraph of my 1st post below which makes no sense at all. DD1 had a bottle daily from 3 weeks, not DD2!

OP posts:

march29 · 14/09/2006 10:23

well they were painful in the beginning but it only lasted a week. he didn't take the cup straight away and for some reason he drank alot of water straight from the water bottle on the first day but gradually he took to both sippy cup and glass. he has milk but when he wants it. i just add it to his food ie pasta , cereal etc to reassure myself.

Original poster

franch · 14/09/2006 10:53

That's really useful march, thanks. Still concerned about going cold turkey from an emotional point of view tho I may just have to give DD2 lots of extra cuddles or something .........

OP posts:

curlew · 14/09/2006 11:21

Do you have to give up? In my experience, there's always one feed they take longest to give up, and if you can carry on with that one for a while, it gets shorter and shorter and finally stops. I did this with both of my children. Bf just sort of tailed away to nothing and I didn't notice any change at all in my breasts. I think as the demand slowed so did the supply.

hewlettsdaughter · 14/09/2006 12:34

The same has just happened with my dd, curlew. I never thought we'd get there, but we did! I guess it depends how much you want to give up, franch.

Original poster

franch · 14/09/2006 14:25

At what age did this happen? I'm pretty ready to give up.

OP posts:

hewlettsdaughter · 14/09/2006 14:40

DD is 2 now see here

Original poster

franch · 14/09/2006 21:43

Thanks hd. Been thinking about all the replies below and yes, I really am ready to stop. Just am. Still not happy with going completely cold turkey tho, so if anyone has any other thoughts I'd be very interested. Suspect I may have to drop the morning feed 'cold', and then maybe eventually do the same with the evening one. Hmm.

OP posts:

hewlettsdaughter · 14/09/2006 21:55

I understand where you're coming from. Have you looked at kellymom.com? This page on weaning techniques might be useful.

Original poster

franch · 14/09/2006 22:08

That is very helpful hd, thank you. I think the dropping 1 feed at a time approach is right for me, as I suspected. It's just so hard with a 12mo to guage the psychological effect it's having ..... DD2 has been quite clingy for a while now so I'm not sure I'd know how to judge any changes .....

OP posts:

DettaJnr · 14/09/2006 22:27

I have been reading this with interest as I too want to stop BF DD2 who is also 12mths. She has 4 feeds and would have more if I let her. However, I have found that if we are out and about she doesn't 'look' for it as much so distraction certainly works for her. She has a dairy problem so finding a suitable replacement has been making things a little difficult. (to be discussed on another thread I should think).

When I weaned DS I cut out one feed per week and replaced it with a bottle (he was 6mths). He had no problems with this. And when I weaned DD1 my milk went at 8mths after a D&V bug that I got so she had no choice but to take what she was offered. She eventually gave in but not without a fight!

I would cut out all of her day feeds before cutting out morning and evening. Maybe when she wakes in the morning DH/P could get up with her and distract her downstairs. That way you wouldn't be refusing to feed her and she may take milk or a different drink for him. Hope this helps.

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