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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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How did you wean?
I guess I should start thinking about this whole weaning process. Ideally I'd like to just let L nurse as long as she wants, but I'd also like to start thinking about having another baby and I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen if she is nursing this much. How did you begin the whole process?
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Re: How did you wean?
I weaned at 6 months, but when I did, I started off slowly. I took away one feeding a day for a week and replaced with formula. Then I added a feeding each week until it was all done (sniff). I had friends who tried to be completely weaned in 2 weeks and they ALL got mastitis. I did not.
Good luck!
i weaned liam right after his 1st bday. i introduced whole milk first, warmed a little and mixed about 50/50 with BM. then i gradually put less and less BM and colder and colder until right out of the fridge was fine. also b/c he wasnt a bottle baby it was easier to do this in a bottle then a cup, i did the bottle for a couple of weeks.
i wanted to wean him slowly so it wouldnt be painful for me. i dropped a daytime feeding and then a 4 or 5 days later dropped the other daytime. i gave that another 4 or 5 days and then dropped bedtime. and then the same 4 to 5 days and then dropped morning. it was actually a breeze for me & liam. he had no issues with the transition and my boobs didnt feel as if they were going to explode either! the whole process was almost 3 weeks. GL
If you want to continue to nurse why not just keep going. You can still get pregnant while nursing. Many babies also wean off while you are pregnant since your milk tastes different with all the pregnancy hormones.
I just went with the cues from the girls. I think I stopped the lunchtime feeding first, since I started giving her lunch and gave her a sippy of water. It satisfied her and then. I weaned slowly as well..giving it a good week to two weeks before dropping another session.. Since I worked nights, that was the next to go...my husband put her to bed and gave her the pumped milk I had stored. Then another week or two and then dropped the morning...
Just go slow so you don't get clogged ducts. good luck
I'm in the process now - but it's been long going.
I used to pump 3x a day at work, but then I dropped to 2x. When I did that, I got AF and it's been regular since then, so I'm thinking if we wanted to TTC, I could probably get pg, but I don't want to yet and I"m not sure if we will ever, but anyway.
Then I dropped to 1x a day pumping.
Now I'm slowly getting rid of that - I've been pushing it back and I've got it back to 4 pm now. I think next week I'll stop.
Similar to Dee, I started slowly adding cow's milk to her bottles - I went in 1/2 ounce increments and now she's just at 1/2 ounce bm and the rest cow's milk - although she still doesn't like milk cold.
I'm still planning to nurse in the AM & PM for a couple more months and then I'll probably drop the AM and keep PM for a couple more months and then get rid of that.
Weekends are the hardest for me though - I tend to nurse when she wants to on weekends and I need to remember to start offering cow's milk instead.
I'd definitely recommend cutting out a session or two and see if you get your AF back and then you could get pg if you wanted to (or technically as pp mentioned, you could get pg now even if you don't have AF depending on your body).
I'm in the process of weaning DD, she is 15 months old. I was nursing 3x a day with DD when she turned one. I basically just dropped the evening session first, and that went fine. Then a week or so later I dropped the midday session. We still have the morning session to go, and that one seems to be the most difficult because she asks for milk in the AM now and cries for it. I figure I'll have to do the tough love thing and just stop when I'm ready. That's what I did with DS at 15 months, and it actually was easier than I expected.
Just give your body time to adjust each time you drop a session.
I did get pregnant twice (and unfortunately lost them both) while nursing DS, so yes it is definitely possible. Good luck!
i have no advice on this since i never really weaned them. but, just wanted to share that i did get pregnant with isla and then again with this baby while nursing. both mila and isla were still nursing a ton too. i still nurse isla twice a day ( granted at this point its only for like 5 min before nap and bed, but she still wants to so i let her).
I'm about to face this myself with Maddy turning one and I want to be done with full time BFing.
My plan, once we determine that she can have cow's milk safely (appointment tomorrow), is to probably do milk in bottles b/c I know she drinks that better than a sippy right now. Or straw sippies because she likes those. Going to ask doc his opinion about bottle v. sippy since she only just started accepting bottles like 3 weeks ago!
I can't pump much anymore as my supply is just dwindling with long work days and not enough pumping breaks. So I will probably see how she does cold turkey with milk, or maybe mix it with a little formula which she suddenly will take too.... then go from there and over a week or two make it all milk.
I'm going to keep up the AM and PM nursing sessions a bit too, but she'll drop the nighttime one first probably b/c she barely eats much at that session anymore anyway. It's her morning session that she loves the most I think.
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
I'm not planning on rushing her at all. I do believe in extended BFing, but my therory is that I haven't gotten AF yet because she still nurses so much (I know I could still get KU, but I doubt it). I already do the "don't offer, don't refuse" thing for the most part, but I haven't offered cow's milk yet. I want to wait another month, I think.
She has never taken a bottle...would you still mix BM with cow's in a sippy?
Thanks for all your posts, it is SO helpful to hear your experiences.
You can definitely do a sippy! If maddy hadn't suddenly accepted a bottle these past few weeks I would be going straight to a sippy. I still might, we'll probably try a few styles of sippies and see if we can just be done with bottles too since she usually only gets them at daycare anyway. Heck mix it in whatever you want! If you can skip bottles all together and just go to sippies and she'll drink enough of it that way - go for it!!!
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
Yes, I would try mixing the BM & cow's milk in a sippy.
DD wouldn't take it in a sippy, so DH still gives her one bottle of the mix each day while I'm at work until my frozen milk runs out - which will be tomorrow, since there is one bag left! So next week she should be weaned from bottles.
i would let her try the sippy! how old is she? also mixing the bm and the cow milk might work out well... i know lots of people who have had good luck with that. i did not get af until mila turined 13 mos ( then i was pg within 2-3 mos after). with isla af arrived around 15 months and i got pg within 2 months after. once she starts on some table food and milk consistantly , your sessions will become less frequent or they might not last as long. your body will adjust and af will arrive
She is almost 11 months. She eats lots of table food (3 meals and snacks) and I always have her sippy filled with water, but I'm not sure how much she actually drinks since she loves to spit it out and get all wet
I hate pumping so I'm not looking forward to this mixing stuff ! lol
Honestly, I think it is all the night time nursing that's causing AF to stay away (not that I miss her)!!!