Breastfeeding:Weaning

At what age should we wean our baby?

Weaning your baby from breastfeeding is part of the breastfeeding experience and something that all breastfed babies will go through. Weaning is a developmental milestone that all babies reach at different times. By definition, weaning is the act of substituting other foods for the mother's milk in the diet of a baby or child.

In order to make the weaning process a more enjoayble experience for both mother and baby, the La Leche League encourages mothers to gradually wean their babies. There is no magical age to begin the weaning process. Your child may wean themself or you may have to initiate the process. Some mothers feel the need to wean after the first six months, while others continue to nurse their babies for the first year of life, or second or third. From the moment you give your baby any other souce of nutrition, other than breastmilk, the process of weaning begins. During the weaning process, make sure that your baby has plenty of water, juice (no more than 3-4 ounces a day) and food. Pump breastmilk and put it in a cup for your child if you are trying to wean from the breast, but still want your child to have breastmilk for nutritional reasons. If your child is old enough, you may offer cow's milk to them in a cup.

While some women do go cold turkey on their babies, abrupt weaning should be avoided for the sake of both mother and baby. A woman's hormone levels drop once breastfeeding stops, which could lead to depression and the breasts will become engorged and sore, which could lead to an infection in the breast. Because the baby relys on breastfeeding as a means of comfort and security, your baby may become fussy and upset if weaning is done to quickly.

While some babies will have no problems weaning from the breast, some babies have a hard time. If you find that your baby is having a hard time weaning from the breast, offer alot of physical comfort to your baby, since that is what he/she is actively seeking. Cuddle your child and give plenty of kisses and hugs. Make a point to interact with only your child during the regular nursing times. Sometimes, the weaning process becomes overly disturbing and stressful for a child. If you notice that your child has a new fear of separation or is withdrawed from you, weaning may be happening to quickly for his level of comfort. Other signs of stress in the child include increased crying, refusal to eat, constipation, stomach ache, night waking and biting. While you do not have to allow your baby to nurse, some mothers allow their babies to nurse once a day, when they notice they need it the most. Some babies simply are not ready to be weaned and the time is probably not right for them.

Comments: Breastfeeding - Weaning

Comments 26 to 49 of about 65.
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smurfwxmama - 185 days ago.
I weaned my lil guy a month ago and it took a few months as I wanted to do the gradual wean, as I had plenty of time before I actaully had to leave as i stated on here before. Since I've been home lil man has no interest in me as a food source at all and is completely on formula now, but here's my lil weaning experience......I had about 170 oz stored up so we weaned over a gradual time, I think the he cared more for the mommy comfort than the actual eating at night which is evidence in that he now sleeps through the night almost every night... Starting about 2 mths before I was scheduled to leave we introduced him to formula, about a bottle a day to start and then more at daycare as he was to get that primarily at daycare and bm at home. He did great on it, never threw a fit or anything, so we gradually increased his intake at daycare over the 3 wks before I left and decreased my pump sessions accordingly as well, so at the end I would pump once a day, we'd also maybe give a bottle of formula at home at night to see if it mattered to fill him up and not wake during the night, it didn't matter either way he'd wake up. I was set to leave on a thursday so the sunday before I left was the last time to nurse. And that monday I tried to stop pumping, I however had to pump one time on tuesday afternoon as I was pretty uncomfortable but after that I never pumped again. I did take my manual with me on the chance I might have to, did not want any infections or pain while I was away from docs but never had to use it. To help stop the production I used 2 sports bras to keep myself nice and bound up. I think the reason I had to pump on tuesday was because I was not completely emptied at the last nursing so it kind of just increased a bit, but after I pumped I never got the engorged feeling again and it took about a week and a half to two weeks that I was gone to stop making milk. I don't leak at all and my breasts are down to normal size again. Everyone thinks I've lost weight and I haven't it's just that my boobs are not huge anymore!

kathy=^.^= - 189 days ago.
oh im trying to wean but its not working.... my son is a little over 8 months and i really cant get him to eat any baby food... and he still wakes up like 3 or 4 times at night... can anyone give me some advice? other then letting him CIO

mandarae - 200 days ago.
Well, I thought I was ready... The babies did OK taking the bottles for their dad and gramma over the wknd, and even drank 3 ozs for me at 5:00 yesterday morning. BUT when they awoke, it was all out war. I was trying to hold out (long story but no family support to continue nursing) because I didn't want DH and mom upset with me. AFTER having the absolute worst day of my life, I decided to nurse my beautiful babies @ 2 in the morning. They had refused drink almost 24 hours. I was a basket case. WE are SO not ready to be done yet. HOWEVER, tonight Breanne drank a 4 oz bottle before bed.. I am hoping they will start to take one now and tehn for me... I am going to continue to give it at least once a day (plus my milk when down alot when they were away from me for 3 days) Bri - you were so right. I totally thought I was ready, but my body told me otherwise and the crying... oh my!

Bri - 202 days ago.
mandarae - I'm sorry you are going through this. The best way to wean is very slowly. They say it is hard on Mom because your hormones are now out of whack. Watch out for depression. It can come up like PPD easily. Your body is being shocked into not producing. Please be careful.

mandarae - 202 days ago.
Warning!!! Long post - mama needs to vent. This is going to be the hardest week of my life. We are trying to wean our 7 month old twins off the breast. We are getting married next weekend and the babies just TOTALLY refuse a bottle. So Dad took the kids to our home town this last weekend while I stayed at home, alone for the weekend. They eventually took the bottle and actually slept fairly well last night. but they are still P*ssed at mommy, they look at my chest and you can just see em drool. Daddy is working out of town until Thursday night, so I am trying to do this on my own. I think this is going to be harder for me than them. I have been crying alot this weekend, although I am stressed to with the wedding and worrying about taking my babies boobies away. I am still pumping, but just enough to stay comfortable. I am making a HUGE amount of milk a day and know that would kill me. Plus this way, the girls still get mama's milk in their bottles. Has anyone else gotten really sad when they weaned? I want to have positive thoughts, like its the best for us all - I was starting to struggle to make enough milk for both of them.... but I guess I am just missing it as much as they are. Sorry to ramble, I just don't have anyone that understands what is going on with me to talk to.

smurfwxmama - 242 days ago.
I'm thinking I might wean in the month of April, I'm not making all that much lately, so I barely have enough to cover his bottles at daycare. I have a good stash in the freezer but that's going to be for when I go TDY in a few weeks, so lil man will get formula at daycare and bm at home, he does great with either so I'm not really concerned about him not taking formula. The thing I'm concerned with will be when I get home...he is very much a comfort boob man so I'm afraid as soon as I get home he'll want the boob since he won't have had it for almost 3 wks. He's like at right now when we get home from daycare, he wants me to put him to sleep as soon as he gets home, most nights he needs it to fall asleep and then wakes 2-3 times a night....guess we'll see how it goes over the next month and a half....I wasn't ready to wean before but now I'm very ready to have myself back to myself, be able to wear cute bras and not have to worry about getting bit anymore lol!

Bri - 243 days ago.
Some babies just aren't ready. My son is almost 17 months and gets up a couple times a week around 2:30AM. He is growing out of it but he is so active that he eats all the time. Going 12hours without food is hard for him.

jmarie3 - 243 days ago.
I'm looking for advice on weaning my son who is 11months old. during the day he is good and can go all day without boobie. once nights hits he needs it b4 bed. then wakes up like a newborn at 3am and again at 7am ; i can't get him to sleep through the nite let alone he only wants boobie. he will be a yr april 11 i want my sleep back and my body back. please any advice on weaning him on the nite feeding !!!!!!!!please!!!

Bri - 264 days ago.
kmokat - Sometimes babies just aren't ready to wean when mom is. My son is great with a sippy and will even drink out of a cup without spilling but....he won't drink that much. He gets more benefit from nursing still. I'm sure sometime this year he will cut himself down to only a couple times a day but he's not ready yet. You can't force them to drink more from a cup if they don't want to. Only thing you can do is continue to offer it. Kekoa gets his cup with meals and snacks but he nurses in the morning, before nap, the afternoon and before bed. Then if he wakes during the night or early morning and I want him to sleep more. I know bad mommy...put the child to sleep so you can. HAHA!

kmokat - 264 days ago.
My daughter is 12 1/2 months old and drinks great from a sippy cup. However I am having a hard time getting her to drink reg. whole milk. Any advice, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to leave messages here or on my page.

Bri - 267 days ago.
Hi lilmamma. I totally understand where you are coming from. Doing my own research found that extended breastfeeding is very beneficial. My son is 16months and going strong. He and I both love it. I thought the same as you about getting my body back but decided that we both enjoy it too much. This article I found actually explains a lot of what you are looking for. Let me know if you have more questions but I think this article will help...

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/breastfeeding/extended-breastfeeding.html

lilmamma - 267 days ago.
hey you guys, does anyone know if there are any real benefits to bf-ing past a year? I want to stop at 12 months so I can get my body back to myself, but my son loves it so I'm considering stalling for some time. I know drs. recommend you bf for 1 full year, but its confusing bc LaLecheLeague etc. is always recommending extended bf-ing. Are there real benefits to this? My big question is, if I wean my son at 1 yrs time will I be denying him of something important? Should I go for another 6 months? Not sure what to do and I feel sort of guilty...

Pls leave responses on my page if you have any feedback, thanks!

Traviesa - 271 days ago.
I will start weaning my son off breastmilk in a couple of weeks. I'm really nervous about it...he loves being on the breast..I still even nurse him in the night, couple times!...what I want to do is not have to pump during the day so I'm assuming that I have to push the pumping further apart..so right now instead of pumping at 11am..and 4pm..i'm pumping at 1130am and 4:30pm...then next week, I'll pump at 12:30...then 5pm...??? sounds right? so actually by May I want him completely off the breast..

mummybailey2 - 272 days ago.
im still breastfeeding my 16 month old girl, i've just found out i am pregnant, i know you can still breastfeed when pregnant but i think its about time she is weaned off. She loves her daddy to bits you can tell they have so much fun together but when it comes to him giving me a hug she wont have it! she gets very jealous and will try so hard to sit herself in between us and push him away! i can imagine feeding her and a new baby and her being very jealous which i dont want, i want her to welcome the new baby not push or feel pushed away! has anyone else had a similar experience? did you stop breastfeeding or find jealousy a issue? thanks x

lizzy831 - 274 days ago.
it was easy to stop feeding my son but hard on my heart my body just quit making milk. so I guess my body couldn't keep up bf and being pregnant. he has done an awesome job its been 3 weeks now and he has asked for it a few times but I just ask him if he wants his cup. he was14 months. I wanted to stop at 18 months so we almost made it. good luck to everyone.

doublemama - 282 days ago.
i just weaned my daughter..its been a week and it hasnt seemed to phase her one bit, im also doing MUCH better emotionally as i feel my hormones have finally evened out..it all put me on such a roller coaster each time i would have to reduce a feeding due to supply issues. she got 15 months of it so im ok with that and not looking back!

smurfwxmama - 282 days ago.
Alright so I need some suggestions/advice. It looks like I will have to be away from baby for about 18 days at the end of April into May. I'm hopeing to have enough stash to feed him BM at home and maybe formula at daycare...but I have no idea how I should go about doing this...I have almost 2 mths but hubby would like me to start weaning now to get him out of the comfort stage where he only nursing for comfort. I only think he does that at night...should I start having my husband feed him at night and then I just feed him during the day when he's not in daycare? Hubby has no problem with me pumping so I'll continue to pump and dump while I'm gone so hopefully it won't be so hard to get supply back up when I'm back as I want to go for a year with this...so any suggestions would be really helpful. If you could reply to my page as I don't have the time for the forums as I did before...Thanks!!

tiffjd - 283 days ago.
Thanks Bri, I guess the leakage just shocked me cause I didn't have any problems weaning. I weaned Owen very gradually over a two month time period and once he was finally done I don't remember leaking. Good luck with weaning. I know that it can be difficult.

Bri - 283 days ago.
Tiff - I haven't weaned yet but I've heard of women still producing milk a year or later after weaning. My supply is slowly starting to reduce so Kekoa may drink the same amount of times during the day but less milk and for shorter periods. He gets a cup with all his meals and snacks.

tiffjd - 283 days ago.
I weaned my son when he was 8 months and he is almost 15 months now. No problems and we had a great transition. However, sometime in January my left breast started to leak periodically. Have any of you who have weaned still leak and for how long did you leak? What causes it?

msmoli - 296 days ago.
I do have to say, weaning is one of the single most painful experiences that I have gone through. I was really starting to feel sick, could barly hold my son, and just wanted to pump to make the pain go away. It took about a week for the initial pain and milk to reduce. After the first week I have been doing okay, just experiencing some pain when my son kicks me in the boobs. Hope everyone else has a much better time than I did.

shocked-over-3 - 299 days ago.
I'm still breastfeeding my 7 month old and I'm 10 weeks pregnant...So Weaning isn't always neccesary to concieve again. It just depends on when you start ovulating/menstruating again.

kungfu-ronin - 304 days ago.
tbull girl-i am actually still breasting feeding my 16 month old and am 17 weeks pregnant. i think it should be pretty fast if you have already gotten your period but i guess it depends on the person. good luck to you!

tbull girl - 304 days ago.
also I have had AF off and on the past 13 months

tbull girl - 304 days ago.
Does anyone know about how long it takes after weining from BF to get pregnant? My daughter is 13 months and I weaned her about 2 weeks ago and I am ready to get pregnant again.... Any advise would be GREAT!!!