How did you wind down breastfeeding?

[sweetkitty]

Just trying to plan ahead DD is nearly 8 months and I plan of breastfeeding her until around her first birthday when I can put her straight onto cows milk. She has 3 meals a day but sometimes doesn't eat that much of her lunch or dinner (well she eats the fruit afterwards of course). She has BF's at 3 (if she wakes) 6, 11, 4 and 7.30pm.

How and when do you start dropping feeds? She will drink a little water from a beaker with her meal but I'm anxious about depriving her of milk. I'm giving her some other sort of calcium food at each meal though.

I suppose loads of people feel like this part of me will be so glad when I stop BFing part of me will be really sad but we are thinking of TTC no2 aoon after her first birthday and would like a few months of my body back before I become pregnant again if that makes sense.

I don't think you'll have any problems stopping breastfeeding around her first birthday. I stopped breastfeeding when my DS was 13 months old and it was so much easier than I expected! No drama, no crying, no problems with engorgement (and I had been the blocked duct and mastitis queen!).

I think the standard advice is to drop one feed per week, and this worked very well for me. I started with the evening feed and then worked my way backwards.

I did feel a bit sad about stopping, but that was quickly replaced by a feeling of relief! A bit like running a marathon and then getting into a taxi after you've crossed the finishing line...

sweetkitty, i am curious of how oyu plan to do this, my ds is 7 1/2mths, i think u are on the july aug babies thread - my brain doesnt remember things anymore - but my ds is allergic to cows formula and mumsnet advice was not in favour of soya, so i am still breastfeeding . i am delighted to see your dd is practically the same as mine re number of feeds, but you have yours on a later afternoon feed thus later bedtime. is that how oyu got rid ofthe 10/11pm feed as mine is still wakening for that and the night too - sorry for hi jacking but i have been looking for someone with a baby the same age and breastfeeding

hermyke I have no idea of how to go about it tbh thats why I'm asking for the advice of mumsnet. I think the nightfeeds will be the last to go as that is a comfort feed too.

I am moving house in 6 weeks so am not going to rock the boat until we are moved and settled but I would like to know what other people have done.

The 10/11 feed kind of dropped itself, she wasn't going to sleep until this time anyway but I started to bring her bedtime forward until 7.30 and she doesn't wake at 10/11 for it.

I have just stopped bf. My daughter was in the red section of the growth chart for 6 weeks - it didn't concern my health visitor as she said that this sometimes happens. She was five months.I switched her to solids at the same time. I gave her one bottle feed for the first two days and bf for the other feeds and then increased it to alternate feeds. 3 weeks later all of her feeds are formula. She put on 1lb 7oz in a fortnight! So thankfully she is out of the red! I still breastfeed when she wakes at night and the first feed of the morning as there's nothing worse than getting up to do a bottle when you are half asleep. Physically it was uncomfortable for the first 2 weeks (damp covers from leaky boobs!) and emotionally I felt a bit guilty as I really wanted to bf exclusively until she was 6 months and I didn't feel that I could fulfil her needs. Now she acts like I starve her as she gets cranky when I take the spoon out of her mouth!

I think I would know how to switch from BF to bottle but I want to switch from BF to beakers of cows milk do I just wait until 12 months then one week instead of her 11am feed give her a beaker of milk instead and wind it down that way?

Or should she be taking less milk before this ie can I drop a feed and just make it up in her food (I feel a bit guilty doing this).

Hi

Can anyone help please?

My second daughter is 5 and half months. I exclusively breastfed her until nearly 5 months and then, because I was returning to work, had to introduce some formula. Up until yesterday all was working well and she was having the following feeds:
7am breastfeed
11am 7oz formula
2:30pm 7oz formula
5pm 3oz formula
6:30pm breastfeed
10pm breastfeed.

My plan was to switch the remaining breastfeeds to formula over the coming weeks. However yesterday at 6:30pm she refused to be breastfed. She appeared fine (apart from screaming when I put her near by breast) and after about 15 minutes of trying to get her to take a breastfeed I gave up and produced a 7oz bottle of formula. She drank 5oz of it with no fuss. Again at 10pm when I woke her she would not breastfeed but took a 6oz bottle happily. So when I woke this morning my boobs were hard and painful as I had expected. I got up early so I could express before getting both my daughters up at 7am. I am now at work with very sore boobs as effectively I have given up three feeds in one go. Previously I gave up a feed a week and did this with my first daughter which worked very well. Has anyone had a similar experience? What can you recommend?

Thanks

She was about 17 months, and was only feeding once or twice a day. So I just stopped offering, and only fed when she asked. However this was rare, and after a few days that was that! Started offering her a cup of cows milk morning and evening, which she wasn't keen on to begin with but devours now.