Is this the self weaning I've been hearing about? Or a nursing strike.

[LouAnnVanHouten]

Ds is 17 months and is only bf twice a day (first thing and last thing). For the last few days he has refused to latch on for longer than about 30 seconds. He is eating fine and is having all of his afternoon milk (formula from a bottle).

I have heard that some babies naturally self wean at this age. Is that true? I wanted to continue until he was at least 2 but he is underweight and has health problems so I am worried that if I try and force the issue then I am not doing him any favours.

If its nursing strike, how long does it usually last for? If he is self weaning from the breast then can I tell the difference between that and him just not having much of an appetite atm.

TIA

DS2 self weaned at 12months and wouldn't latch as well as shook his head pointing to what he didn't want and he kept doing this for several days. This happened out of the blue and I was shocked (self weaning is meant to be quite rare)/saddened (wasn't ready to give up yet) but also found it all quite funny at the same time. He never went back to breastfeeding. Is your LO giving any other signs that he doesn't want the breast?

I'd keep trying a few more days - could he be under the weather or teething?

This is how my DC's 1&2 weaned themselves, except that DC2 also combined it with a hefty bite too!

Are you very engorged, if not, I would think he has been gradually weaning himself for a few weeks. I hope you're not too disappointed if he's made the decision for you.

Just a thought on the underweight thing. I was always told that DD1 was very underweight and encouraged to feed her butter, cream and fatty meats.I worried myself sick, and was constantly trying to force food into her. She never climbed above 0.5 centile. Eventually we saw a HV who asked about her energy levels, which were high, and measured her height. Her weight was prefectly proportioned to height and HV also took heights of parents/grandparents, who are all pretty short, and told us to stop worrying about it. So, just saying, dont assume that when you're told he's underweight he actually is, iyswim.

He hasn't fed again tonight. I think its time to call it a day. I'll keep going for a week or so but give him formula if he refuses to bf.

He is underweight because he doesn't break his food down properly, although clamping his mouth shut when he is supposed to be feeding doesn't help . I think he has a bit of a cheek, he obviously hasn't read the WHO guidelines.

lol!
how are things today?

If you're in the UK, where its really hot for the past week or so, you may find that the hot, sticky weather is putting him off. My 12 months old is doing the same thing, and I've experienced it with my other DC in the past.

Have you tried getting into a tepid bath together and seeing if he's interested then?

Well done for feeding for so long!

I think he is not well now. Very grumpy and no solids, 1min bf and a bit of formula all day. He has just learned to walk this week so the novelty of that might be distracting him a bit. He thinks he is far to big to sit nicely with mammy.

Oh dear. Does he have a temperatuire? Is he drinking plenty of water?

I've been perservering over the last 3 weeks but there was no improvement and the last 3 days he has refused to latch on at all. Today was the first day I didn't offer so I am officially no longer bf. He seems too young to be making this choice but he has .

DS is just over 10 months and he appeared to wean himself off about 2 weeks ago. We were only down to 2 feeds a day (morning and night) becasue I'm back in work and to be honest, I kind of felt that he was only really humouring me then.

I was aiming to get to 12 months really so that I could completely bypasss formula, but he was feeding less and less each day until I was in the bizarre position of trying to force BF him! Obviously the Elusive Moose was a far bigger draw. I felt a little sad that our Bf days are over, but then, he's not overly keen on formula either, so I'm not taking it personally. He's a big, strong lad who likes to eat, so I'm not goin to worry anymore.