How can i cut down on breastfeeds?

[littleducks]

Ds is nearly ten months, i previously bfed ddfor 15/16mths then stopped rapidly as was pg with ds

i went from nursing loads till not at all, i am happy to keep feeding ds but not 'on demand' as such, but want to transitoon slowly and be prepared

he is currently feeding 3 hourly at night, poss teething, pre breakfast, pre morning nap,pre afternoon nap (after lunch), after nap, maybe in afternoon and pre bed, and at 10.00

it is too much for me,i was trying to acheive am, 2.30 after nap, bedtime, 10.00 feed but its just not really happening

i wont force it atm but want to get my strategy straight, i now have a new breast pump so can express if that can help in any way

littleduck - when my ds was that age I had replaced the midmorning with a banana or a yoghurt and dropped the predinner one - I think these are the easiest to drop first.

The trouble with dropping feeds in the day when they are still nightfeeding is that they can just take bigger feeds in the night - how would you feel about dropping the night feeds first or is it something you dont really want to do?

i dont really care what i do first i just need to feed less i could tolerate one if the other wasnt so bad

i only feed pre morning nap 9-9,30 if he hasnt eaten breakfast properly or wont settle to nap, if we are out he goes without and doesnt nap till he falls asleep in buggy later

I would suggest de-coupling feeds and naps, that was the first step for my ds and helped me to see which feeds he needed and which were habit to fall asleep.

yes - good suggestion madmouse. We started feeding after naps and that spaced them out more. But then you've got the problem of teaching them how to settle for naps on their own.

littleducks - how are his solids going?

not ideal but then dd ate much more when bfing less, im trying to up solids but he doesnt seem to want more than he has now--probably g=full from a night of mummy milk

yes its a bit chicken and egg isnt it - am not in best place to help with that because we've got the opposite problem - dd loves solids and dropping feeds too rapidly tsk.

I really think you need to do the night first - either decide which feeds you'll keep and which will go so if you do 10 then nothing before 2.30 then nothing again before 6 - we did this and dp went in and comforted - its harsh though if ds cant self settle so that comes back to what madmouse said. Or you can keep the same amount and slowly cut them down by a minute each time (this has never worked for me but am sure it has for others)

ok soi thought i would start very softly last night, he had bf at 10/11 water at 12.30, tried water at 4 wasnt having it so bf, then bf and up at 6

tried to feed porridge for brekkie, he had a few scoops and played with plum

I could have written the OP at 9 months - DS started eating a lot more solids after that and I started to drop post-nap feeds. Do you offer snacks? If you have little amounts of snacks available all the time your DS might not notice you haven't given a feed. Also if you adopt the method of 'don't offer, don't refuse' on the next feed you want to drop, you might find your DS stops asking for it.

i always wanted ti use that technique but i have never offered really, he asks or DEMANDS
just put him down to nap no bf, he really whinged and cried for 5 min then settled to sleep, normally takes ages to get him to go sleep in the morning, so am surprised its quicker without bf, i always gavein and bf to speed up the process as dd wants attention at that time

well done for this morning, littleducks. I too was very much "but he needs the milk, won't settle without it, etc" but actually he was fine! sometimes you've got to just try things and be determined. best of luck that the dropped feed stays dropped!

Hows it going littleducks?

not as good but ok
he wwoke at 6am and had 3 daytime feeds none before his naps but wnated bed early, i put him down 6.30, fed at 9.30 instead of 10/11 again at 12 as he wasnt having water and fed quite well and was up in the early hours and i fell asleep with him feeding, i rghink if i could persuade dh to settle him it would be easier but im not counting on that happening

i was so tiored i fell asleep at 6.30 last night putting the kids to sleep! i got up at 10 to stack the dishwasher but went back to sleep

it was music group this morning so he had both naps in buggy, lets see how tonight goes!

am probably going to get flamed for this but would it be easier to only feed him once in the night if you put him in a cot at the side of the bed instead of cosleeping?

I think its really easy (and lovely) to feed them lying down as you drift in and out of sleep but if you want to cut down the night feeds then I think its a bit unhelpful - and maybe very difficult for the baby because they can smell and see you.

he is in another room in the cot but there is a spare bed in there and if ds or dd are unsettled i sleep in there

Hi Littleducks. We started night weaning our DS (11 months) a couple of days ago. I thought it would be horrendous but it has actually been ok (so far). I am now down to 4 or five feeds (both boobs each time). Waking, pre nap, mid afternoon, post-tea and bedtime. We have followed the advice in Dr Richard Ferbers book "Solve your child's sleep problems". DP has been handling all the settling to sleep and the night waking. Took week off work to tackle. It has already made such a difference to my sanity as DS was waking to feed every two hours or more. Now he has gone two nights with no milk and is even starting to self settle!! We were co-sleeping...think this will have to stop if I want to keep nights milk free.

I have mentioned to dh it would far more effective if he helped but if i waited until he was ready it would not get done!

yes - agree, I couldnt have done it without dp settling ds (ahem I didnt do it). Lets face it you both want the sleep so you're both invested in the outcome.

what are you using in the night at the moment to settle if not feeding - are you going to do pu/pd or pat/shush etc?

cuddle/ water/pat and shush/mobile one

dh can sleep through it so doesnt rea;lly notice

cuddle/ water/pat and shush/mobile one

dh can sleep through it so doesnt rea;lly notice

good grief - how does he manage that?

sorry just saw hes having 3 daytime feeds - could you fit a 4th in? so we are - waking, midmorning, midafternoon and bedtime (though today we had a cheeky one before dinner as well).

Do you wake him up to feed at 9.30/10 or does he do it himself?

i was feeding more in the day in the hope to cut down night feeds but had no effect

he wakes up himself around about whenever we go to bed, i have picked him up and fed him if im desperate for an early night and dont wont to waait for him to wake but that is rare

i dont think he needs the night feeds certainly not all of them