BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

DD will be a year old in December. My goal was a year...and I am almost there.

Right now...when I'm not at work...she nurses in the AM, then before her am nap...before her pm nap and before bedtime. While I'm at work (3 times a week) she usually nurses in the AM...only takes one bottle when she is with my mom..I nurse her when I pick her up and then at bedtime.

When she is with me...she is a boobaholic!

How long does it take to wean? When should I start the process? I am dreading this! What should I expect? Is she going to be traumatized by this? I feel so bad!!!

I am so sad over this...I feel like emotionally I am not ready...I love bfing...and the quiet time we share together...BUT at the same time...a year is suchhhh a long time....and we are eventually going to try for #2 and I want to have my body to myself for a couple of months before doing this all over again.

Please share your stories!

Thanks!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

I have no help because we are literally in the SAME EXACT position!

I am so not emotionally ready to wean, and I don't think Loey is either....

We want to stop at 1 year for many reasons... but I'm so sad about it!!!

Message edited 11/4/2010 10:35:45 AM.

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

Oh, I also want to ask....

What do you do when your LO wakes up after you have weaned? Normally when Loey wakes up, I bring him into bed and BF him. What happens when we're not BFing anymore?

Does he get milk?

He doesn't take bottles anymore... only sippys but he's not a big fan of sippy cups either. I'm just confused about what we'd do for the mornings after he's not BFing anymore!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

This interests me too!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

ok i'm not help with the weaning part i did that much earlier on but when we switched to bottles i would still take her into my bed with me and give her the bottle. now she is 17 mos and I still take her into bed with me in the morning if i dont have to work and give her a sippy of milk and just hang in bed w her and cuddle, watch a little dora and its my favorite time of day with her!!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

I am also at this point with my 2nd DS. I will tell you what I did with my first. Once he turned one I stopped nursing him before his first nap and offered a sippy of milk instead. After a couple weeks I did the same at the second nap. For a while I nursed only first thing in the AM and at PM. Then I gradually stopped nursing in the AM--if he really wanted to I would, but if he didn't seem interested I just moved onto breakfast. Same thing at night if that makes sense. The whole process took me a couple months as I didn't want to just stop cold turkey or force the issue if he wasn't ready. HTH!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

I started weaning right before my DD's first birthday and we were done nursing by around 14 months. She had become less interested in nursing and was showing signs that she was ready to wean. I think that she may have been ready to wean before I was emotionallly ready to :)
I slowly dropped feedings every few weeks and the last two to remain were the first AM feeding and the one right before bed. We changed her bedtime routine and my husband would rock her instead of me nursing her. The last one to remain was the AM feeding and honestly she let that one go pretty easily. She really didn't seem to have any issues with weaning because I think that she was ready and we did it slowly over a couple of months. I would give her a cup of milk or snack at the times I used to nurse her and that seemed to work. If she really wanted to nurse first I would try to distract her but if that didn't work I would nurse her.
The process was much easier then I had expected it to be but I think that it is bc I took her lead and she was ready to wean at that time. Another thing that helped me was that I also had the goal of one year in my head and someone told me to use that as a guideline and not a "cut-off" date. Let the process take as long as you and your DD need it to take to be comfortable. Hope that helps

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

I gave up pumping at a year and continued to nurse DS in the morning and sometimes at night. My supply had really tanked by that point and I never felt engorged. DS self-weaned at 15 months. He was nursing for shorter and shorter periods the week leading up to him weaning. I just stopped cold turkey. I really didn't have any pain at all.

You may want to gradually wean. Cut out 1 nursing/pumping session every few days. If you're uncomfortable, hand express until you get some relief. Good luck!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

I am no help, DD is almost 20 months and I still BF her before bed every night. I am waiting until she gives it up.

The only thing I can say is that it sounds like you are not ready to give it up either. Why not just stick with the morning and before bed for a while? Cut out the nap sessions, but keep the others?

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

ok - i slowly weaned my son but he was more of a schedule baby from 4 months

so i slowly weaned- i stated at 10 months by stoppign pumping at work and gave freezer supply/formula

at 11 months i was going to drop the morning nursign session - but waited till 11.5 months

then at 1 year 1 day - i gave DH a bottle and he gave it DS for the next week

it took me a good 2-3 weeks to dry up - and it got he worst around 9-10 days

but the transition was lot easier then expected

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

we were down to 3 a day, then i went cold turkey.

I strapped him in stroller and walked the streets.
Strapped him in carseat and drove around town.
I never sat...if i sat, then he would think i was inviting him.
It was very rough on him.
he was 18 mos though...so maybe a little younger will be easier.

good luck!

Re: BTDT BFing moms....talk to me about weaning!!!

this is interesting to me too! i want to BF for at least a year, but i dont think i'm going to be able to let her wean- if i did she'll be nursing till she's 18!!

i have a question, if at a year you're only nursing am & pm, then how did you get rid of the other sessions? when did stop nursing after meals?