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Thread: How to wean?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    276

    Default How to wean?

    My son recently turned 1 year old, and I feel I'm ready to begin the weaning process. He doesn't seem to feel the same, but I've had a very hard time pumping these last several months while I'm at work and I need to at least start to drop the afternoon feedings. He takes a sippy cup of breast milk and formula both fine at daycare, but when I try offering him a cup during the day he'll drink about one ounce and then want me to feed him. I can't go back to a bottle, as we're moving away from that.

    Also, I am very confused about how to go about this because I have always breastfed on demand, so I don't have a feeding schedule per se. I am trying to follow the daycare's schedule as much as I can, i.e. breakfast around 8am, lunch at 11am (though this varies with his naps at home, which are also different than at daycare), snack around 3pm, and dinner around 5:30pm. I decided a few days ago to try to not breastfeed in the late afternoon, so I dropped one that might occur between 2-4pm. Well, he didn't like that much and cried until I held him and basically held the bottle for him and coaxed him to drink more. Now he has had a cold for a few days so basically I've reverted back to feeding him on demand at that time, I know I'm weak. I would like to start trying this again once he's better though and don't know what to do. I also would like to get him to drink cow's milk, but he doesn't seem to like it much, so I'm trying to do half formula, half milk in a sippy. I would love to only be doing the morning and bedtime feeds by December.

    Any suggestions? To complicate things, his naps are still changing a bit, so the morning nap could take place anytime between 10-11:30, and I'm still basically nursing him until he's drowsy for naps. I would like to get him to nap on his own, but I've been too chicken to do cry it out for naps. So...I guess I have to feed on demand around that time for now. Thanks so much in advance!

  2. #2
    Katigre is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Default

    Here is what I would do (the progression in which I'd cut down - I'd make weaning take a few months):

    1. Stop pumping and supplying breastmilk to daycare - he can drink formula/cow's milk/milk substitute there instead. Instead of cow's milk, have you offered coconut milk (comes in refrigerator cartons) or tried mixing breast milk with cow's milk? The taste of cow's milk is very different and some kids take longer to adjust.

    While you are weaning off of the pump, continue to nurse him on demand or as often as is typical so that your supply adjusts to just one 'reduction' at a time (lessens your risk of infections)

    2. Once you have not pumped for a week, figure out a rhythm for nursing at home and what you'll do when he fusses about it. Which feeding is most important to him? For many children it is either the morning feeding, naptime feeding, or right before bed feeding. Cut out the least important feeding time block and consistently offer a cup beverage instead.

    Ex. Decide you will no longer nurse in the morning and don't offer it, and when he asks say 'we'll have nursing after nap' and give him a cup. He will likely protest and cry but if you are consistent in not giving in he will adjust within a few days.

    3. Once you've blocked out one time, pick another. Eventually you'll be down to nursing just once or twice a day. See if you're ok with staying there for awhile if he is very attached to nursing. My DD is older than yours and nursing, but for her that means just first thing in the morning and not during the day. I would not be up for nursing on demand at 2.5 years old, but I'm perfectly happy to nurse her at wake-up and give her other beverages the rest of the day.

    (FWIW, nursing for naps was the last feeding we cut out b/c it was really important to DD. I stopped all the other ones first, then dropped the nap feeding when she dropped her nap, and now we're just at nursing in the morning).

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    276

    Default

    Hey Katigre, thanks for your comments. I thought I read once months ago that you should only drop one feeding every week, so I'm wondering if dropping the pumping altogether would be too much too soon. Thoughts?

    I've never tried giving him coconut milk, but I know I've heard that before. I am going to try bringing half whole milk and half formula to daycare tomorrow and see how it goes. I'll definitely look into the coconut milk. Also, I was using Enfamil infant liquid formula..is there an equivalent toddler formula? I saw some powdered toddler formula in the grocery store today, but I don't like the idea of using powder.
    Thanks again!

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