Weaning off the breast, how long did it take? And tips please...

[mamachat]

DD is 1 now, she still bf alot even tho she now eats alot too...

I really want to wean her off, and I no the advice is to drop 1 feed a day for a certain amount of time then drop another.

But dd has never feed every 4hours she just has some when she fancies it...

Any advice welcome...

She will not want to stop but as she now enjoys food I really want to stop...

I went out and let some one else put her to bed. She seemed to wean herself after that.

Well, unconventional, but I night weaned DD2 (11 months) almost 2 weeks ago, and then stopped breast feeding altogether last Friday. She was having 4 breast feeds in the day, and several at night.

elasticwoman - how old was dd when you did this. and how many nights did you have to let someone else put her to bed

she isalways bf to sleep so that woul be difficult

Why not feed her in the morning when she gets up, a feed in the afternoon, and a feed before she goes to bed. Any other time she asks, try distracting her by playing with a toy or going out for a walk. Once you have cut out all the 'when she fancies it' times you could drop the other feeds one by one.

she never really has a solid feed at any time and kinda snacks on me.. i will start trying to give actual feeds...

How long does it take to cuta feed out??

All babies are different. Mine didn't bother at all as I dropped them. My sister's second child hardly ate and snacked all day. It took a lot of determination from her not to 'give in' and just feed her. Her DD would come and tug at her blouse - I never had that at all.

Remember, she can only feed if you let her. That was why I was suggesting you pick certain times that a feed would be good.

dd always pulls at my tops, i really will have to be strong and only feed a few times a day...

Agree with mears.
Also, would say it will be easier for you both if you do this gently/gradually.
IMHO I think it is hard on a 1 year old to go from letting them go from feeding/snacking as and when to no breastfeeds at all within a few weeks.
I found it very easy to do just morning and night time feeds with DS1 after he was about 14 months or so, so wasnt worried about weaning, he self weaned age 2.
DS2 is 14 months and has around 4 feeds a day and a couple at night but am very happy with that at the mo.

Mama - it's a long time ago now, but as I recall it was only once and she was 11 months old. I remember I went out to a Proms concert, leaving early and coming back late. Before that she used to demand to feed sometimes during the day but as soon as she latched on, would demand the other side. She was messing about, wasn't she? It turned out she was more than ready to drop bf.

Ds, on the other hand, resisted giving up bf, although I didn't start trying till he was well over 1 year. When he showed that he really wanted to continue, I just let him - it didn't stop me going back to work 1 day a week when he was 14 months. Only the work pattern was 2 half days, and he was asleep half the time he was at the cm.

A friend and I were discussing this yesterday as DD is 13months and I am getting fed up with bfing, but not sure I want to stop.

She said she realised her DD was having lots of small snacks a day, so she tried cutting those snacks out and feeding just 3 times a day, and when she did that she fed properly rather than messing around. Think I'm going to try that with DD. Might make me feel a bit less encroached upon.

hi can I join this thread.. DS was one last week and is a snacker feeder. I really want to stop BF but feel guilty about it too i managed to night wean him about 5 weeks ago but during the day he does a lot of comfort sucking and is really persistant. I started back at work 2 days a week recently so am hoping that I can try and srtucture his feed to 2-3 daily.. its tough!

mmelody - how did you manage to night wean ds? dd gets very upset if I do not bf her when she wakes up - every 1-2 hours through out the night, when I say bf I actually mean put her on the breast so she can fall back to sleep as she does little feeding...

Today I was out with dd and she did not bf for about 4 1/2 hours which is a real record as when we are together she is always bf just because I'm there... we were in a very busy place so she must have been distracted..

I nightweaned DS at around 15 months, we tried at 12 months but he was just not ready. I sent DH in to comfort and offer water, seemed to do the trick.

I went back to work 2 days a week and DS did seem to drop a lot of the 'when he fancied it' type feeds, even on the days I wasn't at work. He was roughly down to morning/bedtime fairly quickly.

We have just stopped bf altoghether and he is nearly 2. Stopped the bedtime feed at 18 months by getting DH to put ot bed with cup of cowsmilk. DS accepted this no probs, and he was a real boob fiend!

DS was 11 months old when I went back to work.

rhinestonecowgirl - dd is a boobaholic, she drinks juice and water from a cup or bottle but not milk, I really should keep trying her with the milk tho..

She wakes up so often every night it is just stupid...

mamachat - feel your pain with the night wakings. I felt like I reached breaking point at about 15 months. He still wakes every few nights, but only once a night, and is comforted by a cuddle rather than pawing at my chest (we tend to bring him in with us if he wakes). It might be a sleep issue rather than a milk one IYSWIM?

I started trying DS on milk from a cup at around 1 yr and he used to take a sip and dribble it straight out again, altho happily drinking water etc. It took a few months but he did get into milk from a cup, so do persevere if that's what you want.