Breastfeeding:Weaning

At what age should we wean our baby?

Comments: Breastfeeding - Weaning

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michellelaughs - 417 days ago.
My dd is 27 months. She loves to nurse. She would nurse every 3 hours if I let her. As it is she nurses probably 4 or more times per day. Where i did put my foot down was the middle of the night nursings. We sleep together usually because I nurse her (and me) to sleep. But when she wakes up and wants some I tell her she has to wait til morning time. This was a really good move on my part. As for weaning her all the way......... I don't know when that will happen. We both enjoy it. I love the closeness and she does too as well as the supreme nutrition she continues to get. She has only been sick once. I feel like the biggest reason I think of weaning her is for social acceptance and that doesn't sound like a good reason to me. Peer pressure at the expense of my baby and mines relationship......nope.....I think I'll do it when 'I' feel it is best and not worry about what other ppl think. That is what good mothering is. We'll have to do that over and over with the decisions we make for our little ones and often times, if you are going against the flow, you are doing the right thing.

happy out (janet) - 573 days ago.
anyone have any idea if weaning twins will take longer? im due back to work in early oct and was planning on strting about a month before hand, is this long enough?

LindsayX3 - 601 days ago.
Hi Ladies I have a 15 month old daughter who is still occasionally nursing. My husband and I just found out 2 weeks ago that we are expecting again! I would really like to have my daughter weaned before the next baby comes (February) but she is very attached to nursing and I am not even really sure where to begin.. has anyone else gone through a similar situation? thanks!

JaguarEyes - 631 days ago.
I have an almost 20 month old son who shows no signs of wanting to wean. In fact, he would BF more if I let him. As it is, he gets milk in the morning, before nap, at about 6pm, to go to sleep, and however many times he (still) wakes up during the night. I'm fine with going until he's about 2, but that means gradual weaning starting now. How do I do that, when he wants milk all the time? I've been working from home since he was born, so this schedule was fine for us, but may have to take a job outside the home this summer, so worried about how that's going to work. Any suggestions would be appreciated. He eats solids 2-3 times a day of all sorts, and snacks, and is finally starting to like moo milk a little, but doesn't drink much of it.

olliesmom - 665 days ago.
I’ve been BF for 14 months (way longer than I ever thought I would due to supply issues at the beginning). I believe in baby-led weaning, but I thought that my son would have weaned himself by this point. All the other babies I know have weaned themselves prior to 12 months, but it was my goal to BF until 12 month. I’m only feeding in the morning and before bed, but I would like to encourage my son to wean. Has anyone been successful in encouraging their babies to wean themselves? How did you do it? I’ve tried offering milk before BF and he absolutely refused it. Should I just keep trying that? We’re going on a trip in a couple of weeks that it will be difficult to BF, so I’d really like to have him wean before then. The problem is that if I can’t be there when he goes to bed, I don’t want to give him a bottle at this point since he hasn’t had a bottle since a little past 12 months. I don’t want to reintroduce bottles, only to have to take them away again. SO I feel like I can never go out at night since he wants to BF before bed.

mollyjs - 687 days ago.
My son just turned 2 and I really feel like I should stop breast feeding. I have said from the beginning that I wouldn't go past 2yrs old but he is no where near stopping. I know it will be me that will have to put my foot down and so no more or he will go on forever! I am a single mom and it helps me get a few hours extra of sleep to put him on the breast. Also , when he asks for it, it is so hard to say no to him. He gets so upset and I don't won't to deny him that time. It really hurts now though and he has given me blisters lately. I am finding myself using the nipple creams again. I think his mouth is just too strong. I know what I need to do, I am just not looking forward to actually doing it.

J9 - 782 days ago.
hi ladies, my daughter is almost 11 months old and we've started to wean off the breast. she now only has a feed first thing in the morning and at bedtime. I've been offering her formula in a sippy cup during the day but she's not really interested. She has a formula dream feed at 10pm from a bottle which she takes no problem. For those of you having to nurse your babies to sleep at naptime and during the night, i had exactly this problem with Maddy. What I did was work on the day time first as I figured i'd have more energy to commit to the change! So what I did was feed her after a nap instead of before. For the first few days it was hard, it took her ages to fall asleep and when she did sleep it was not for long. When she cried I picked her up, kissed and cuddled her. I also had a structured was of putting her to bed that i did every time (as going up stairs i'd say 'it's sleepy time now, maddy's going to go sleepy time, when we got to her room i'd close the curtains and say bye bye sunshine, maddy's going sleepy time! then i'd lay her in her cot and do up her sleeping bag and give her her comfort blankie). I persevered and after a few days she got the hang of it. Once she was a pro and putting herself to sleep during the day i tackled the night time. This was very hard. I introduced a bottle at 10pm and went cold turkey on the breastfeed up to 5am. I introduced the bottle to give her some milk as she was so used to feeding in the night, i figured it would be too much of a shock for her not to have anything. I also wanted to give a bottle because that took the breast out of the equation at night totally to break the association and i also figured it would be easier to reduce the amount she was having gradually over time so she wouldn't need it anymore. The first few nights were awful, up for like 2-3 hours straight! I just comforted her, held her close and she eventually fell asleep out of exhaustion. It was tough but i prepared myself mentally not to give in and i didn't. Now I can put her in her cot awake and walk out and she will go to sleep. sometimes at bedtime she cries, i can tell when she needs a cuddle but mostly she goes down quite well. and recently we've been sleeping through the night up to 7am! sorry this is long but thought i'd share!

dueapril19 - 806 days ago.
hey ladies, I feel for you..I have been reading a lot about that lately, my baby is 7 months and not sleeping at night, he wakes 5 times sometimes (10 pm- 7.am), and is driving me nuts as I am not getting enough sleep , now from what i read, babies do that for soothing and comfort and because they dont know how to sleep on their own when they wake up at night, so the key thing is to teach them to soothe themselves to sleep, whenever they woke up. I didnt like the CIO method, and the CLB seemed too rigid for me, I will try controlled crying , I read about it in the supernanny book..will give it a shot....

lovemylove - 814 days ago.
Hey Amy, I just saw the pics of ur son! He is adorable. Well the problem I am having is since he is 22 months almost 2 he wants nothing to do with the binkie, that is like some toy I am trying to put in his mouth he is to big. I read on this one website today to put vinegar on ur boobs and they will not like and well not want it. That sounds like a great idea but then when I think about doing it, it sounds a little harsh. I know he will be upset. Either way he will be upset. I just really wanted him to wean himself. My mom says we all weaned ourselves by the time we were 3. But for me to get pregnant I need to wean him, grrrr! Plus my baby has only been sick 1 time in his whole life. I have had a cold 2xs this month and he never got it. So i do not want him to get sick cuz then he will really want the boob. So has ur period come back yet?

~amy~ - 814 days ago.
lovemylove- on another page I was given the tip to try to give a binkie instead of nursing at night if he really doesn't seem to be hungry. I have tried this before at nap time and it only works if he is really tired.. he just seems to like to fall asleep to his boob. I know it's not a hunger issue because he eats well during the day. It must be a comfort issue for my LO but I have no idea on how to curb it. I think its only going to get worse though because we are moving this weekend! I am also a stay at home mom.. thank god too because I wouldn't be able to function at work (used to work in a lawfirm) without sleep! I don't know how those working mamas do it!

lovemylove - 815 days ago.
AMY---- OMG! Yes Please help I am having the same issue. My baby is 22 months. He is soo in love with breastfeeding! He is only down to 1-2 feeding a night just because he does not wake up. I just do not know how to stop him he eat 3 times a day has snacks, juice, water, milk and still wants to nurse 6xs a day. Yes I am a stay at home mom.. but really I need to slow it down. We want to get pregnant 2010. My main ? is how to stop the night nursing and the nap nursing? Thanks ladies.

~amy~ - 815 days ago.
Hey ladies, I have had an issue before with BFing and found some great answers on here so I figured I would try again! My LO is 10 1/2 months old and has weaned during the day. He has his boob at naptime and at night. The night time is where I am having problems. He wants to eat ALL night. Not literally but everything 3 hours. He will normally eat 4 times at night. I have tried to get him to drink more water during the day so he won't be so thirsty at night. I know he isn't 'hungry' per say because he eats solids very well during the day . I have tried to use a bottle of formula during the day to try to offset his need for milk at night but he will NOT drink formula.. never has. He drinks water and juice from a sippy cup during the day but refuses formula. Any tips on why he is doing this at night and what I might possibly be doing wrong with the weaning? He choose to wean during the day.. I was prepared to go until he wanted to quit. But this night time stuff really has me worn out! Any tips would be appreciated!

love-a-belly - 816 days ago.
thanks for the advice girls but there is NO WAY i would put my DS on formular so i'll just feed untill 2 years i think who cares what people think!

mountainmama - 825 days ago.
i would like to have my daughter weaned by april 2010. she'll be 22 months old......any suggestions on when to start? i really want to keep a few feedings in through the winter to keep her immune system strong.....currently she nurses in the am, when i get home from work around 4pm and then right before bedtime....sometimes an additional nursing in the middle of the night. so i have 3-4 sessions to drop. i stopped pumping at work 3 months ago give or take & she won't drink breastmilk or cows milk while she's away from me. (she used to drink breastmilk from a bottle and around 13 months stopped) she will drink water and diluted juice from cups. thanks for the advice ahead of time!!

sherylyn - 845 days ago.
Ok now on that note I have to go pump cause i am at work and want be getting to go home to my LO for another 5hrs. Good luck ladies! You are all wonderful mommies and your babies are blessed to have you.

sherylyn - 845 days ago.
To all us mommys bf, we need to not be so hard on ourselves. Just think there are moms out there that do not bf, either b/c they are to lazy and selfish or because they have health reasons or other stuff that can't be helped. But thier babies will most likely be ok. They maybe sick more often than our babies then again they may not. But at least if our babies get sick we can say 'hey I breast fed so I tried to make my baby healthier'. Even if we only BF a few weeks it is better than none at all. And for those moms who do not bf, it is not our place to judge them. BF is not for everyone. And as far as when to stop bf, there is no right or wrong time. You have to do what YOU feel is best for you and your baby. But try not to stress so much b/c that only makes it harder on you and your baby. I mean if you think about it the docs dont even know when to tell you to stop. Some say a year some say two years. I had a friend who was bf her 18 month old and asked if she should bf till 2 yrs he said 'well they may do that in other countries but not here' He also said if a baby is old enough to ask for the boob than that is to old. So no wonder it is so confusing for us moms. We all need to just lock ourselves in a room by ourselves and think long and hard about what we want for ourselves and our LO. No matter what the decision, rather to bf or not our babies are gonna be just fine.

glowingmommy2be - 869 days ago.
rolliniris- from what I've been told, you should try introducing a bottle to replace 1 feeding a day for 3-4 days and then increase the bottle frequency by one feeding and decrease the nursing by one feeding every 3-4 days until your baby is totally on the bottle. I'd recommend Similac Advanced with Early Shield for formula, it's the most like breastmilk that I've found, unless your dr. tells you something else. Good luck and congrats!

rolliniris - 870 days ago.
Help! I'm 11 weeks pregnant and nursing a 1-year-old. I've lost 10 lbs so far and am very concerned! My little man loves the BB and has never had a bottle. My husband is very anti-dairy. I have no idea where or what to start with, any suggestions?

love-a-belly - 871 days ago.
hi ladies :) i was just wondering : my DS is 10mths now and ive breast fed him the whole time he's now on a good amount of solids 3 meals and two snacks a day but he is still having 4-6 feeds a day he won't drink enough water to the point that i am satisfied that he's had enough he won't need a feed. i don't mind feeding him i'm just worried what people will say in a few months if he's not down to at least two feeds. i'm hoping that i'm pregnant also so i suppose he'll have to be weaned at some stage won't he?

manda-may - 871 days ago.
glowingmommy good for you for sticking at it so long. It is hard work, and you have to do what is best for you and baby. I never had enough milk for my twins so always topped them up with formula after every breast feed, then eventually decided to wean them onto formula only at 9 months, so at 10 months they finished with the whole breast feeding thing. It was getting tricky to fit them both on the feeding pillow, they were pushing each other, etc, and I didn't want to do them one after the other because it would take too long and then I still had to offer them a formula top up and often food too! It was just easier in the end to call it a day. I agree with you that any breast feeding at all is better than none, and some people are just unable to. Good luck with your baby, and don't beat yourself up about your decision. It sounds very logical to me. Pumping and bf are very hard work, and if you are working too, then I don't know how you have coped this long! lol! Well, good luck and all the best!

glowingmommy2be - 871 days ago.
Well, I'm finally giving in and weaning my little guy :( I tried everything you could think of (fenugreek, mothers milk, yeast, medication, etc.) to try and increase my milk to be able to exclusively bf. It worked up until now when his demands are kicking in again! He eats 4-6 oz every 3 hours and I can only get 3 oz every 2 hours if I'm lucky. I mean I've tried EVERYTHING! I had to supplement at about 2 months because I wasn't making enough then either and it gave him digestive problems so now I'm scared to death to wean him, but then I think 'well, I've done it longer than alot of women I know' and 'I gave it everything I could' I just feel like a machine is contantly attached to my boobs! I pump every 2 hrs at work and then again during the evenings when I get home. Now that Hunter gets the bottle (with bm) at daycare, he won't nurse at all during the day. He gets pissed if I try, he'll only nurse during the night, but now he's pretty much sleeping through the night and I never get to nurse pretty much now. So it's really taking away the whole bonding experience! I know that it's so good for him and that's why I feel like I'm failing. I have nothing against mothers who choose not to bf, but I had this great dream of being able to do it for a year and here I am almost 4 months and giving in. I just feel like I am already not able to give my son what he needs and therefore failing him :( I'm so scared too of how bad this might be on my body to wean. I'm excited about the independence again, but it makes me feel selfish to get excited. Ohhhhhh....alright, hopefully I don't start crying again soon. any advise or support is welcomed and thanks for the support already ladies.

jessiezc - 877 days ago.
sigh... I managed to get extremely sick last week with everything. Pink eye in both eyes, strep, upper respiratory infection, 102 Fever, etc. It turns out that the strep was resistent to the antibiotics that they gave me and we were worried that it would get worse and move on to the baby. My hubby is allergic to Penicillin. We decided that it was in the best interests of everyone to stop nursing and just get rid of the infection by stepping up levels and throwing me on the highest dosage. Its working... I feel great and have a few more days of antibiotics left. HOwever, we were planning on waiting to fully wean LO until after a trip in October. She is NOT ready to be weaned and is upset about it. Also a problem... I had a hospital grade rented pump which I used when I pumped, but since she normally only nursed morning and bedtime, I no longer had to pump. I don't know how much longer I can not pump and still produce. I think I'm going to have to find a hand pump anyway. I've given her a bottle at night and morning and held her close in her favorite BF position... its working pretty well. I miss BFing though.

mandarae - 880 days ago.
Hello ladies! I will be 15 wks pregnant tomorrow and am still nursing my twins (who will be 1 this Friday) My Dr wants me to be done nursing by 20 weeks. I am ready to be done myself although I just don't know how to get them to stop. The night nursing before bed is our biggest problem. Breanne will take a bottle but Karissa totally refuses one - but will sorta take a sippy. I just don't know how to stop. It so weird because I remember not knowing how to start - as the girls were 8 wks early and I had to exclusivly pump for the first 2 1/2 months. HELP?! Any tips, tricks, ideas are appreciated here!!!

Bri - 882 days ago.
mollyjs - My son self weaned at 21months. He just was too busy to nurse and then just decided one day not to have any interest anymore. Each child will wean on their own time. Most do wean before 2 but some don't. Honestly, no one can tell you how long is too long. That's for you and Baby to decide. But I can tell you it is much easier to let them lead you in the weaning process. Makes for less tears and heart ache.

mollyjs - 882 days ago.
My son is 18 months old and still nursing. On the days I work it's only once or twice a day but on my days off he nurses at least 4 times a day. Does anyone think this is too much for his age? I feel ready to stop but at the same time it's a calming strategy for us. I'm a single parent and sometimes it's just easier when he's upset, to stick him on a boob. Especially when he wakes early in the morning and I want a little more sleep. I will get him out of his crib and bring him in bed with me. I've always believed in babies self weaning but I also said I wouldn't nurse my son past 2yrs. Just seems creepy when they can ask for it and pull your shirt down. Any advise would be much appreciated.