Breastfeeding Advice - Farmington,NM

J., Don'e feel guilty. you have breastfeed longer then the average and you son has gotten the best to start his life with. My son started the self weaning process on his own. We transitioned his breast feeding to bottles because he only wanted to feed a short bit (let down and foremilk) then he was still hungry but was to interested in being able to see what else might be going on that we finished feedings with formula. It was great I didn't get engorged at all. He has transitioned to totally whole milk by 13 months. It was a nice slow and pain less process. I hope you find what works for you. Good luck.

Hi J.,
Try lemon juice! I would cut one in half and rub them on my nipples-it only took a couple of times and my daughter was done! Hope it works for you! Good Luck!

D.

Don't feel guilty for wanting to stop. You have gone alot longer that most mom's. It is hard do let go of the baby, espcially if you think it is the last one.

Hi J.,

My decision to wean was complex - but it was my decision, not anyone else around me. Too many people try to interfere with how long a mother should breast feed her child - or if she should breast feed at all. I personally believe that it is best to go for one year - but that is not always possible nor wanted. At any rate, some of the people here have posted their feelings and in my opinion have practically called you out. My only advice is to decide what is best by listening to yourself and weighing the pros and cons in your and your child's life. Forget about the "psychologists" that have replied to you.

If you want advice on how to wean - I would say move to a bottle or a sippy cup slowly. Start decreasing the number of breast feedings and replace with bottle or sippy cup. I found that night time (or middle of the night) feedings were best done by breast feeding and day feedings via bottle. I took a little over a month to completely ween from any kind of breast feeding - and my son didn't seem to mind. The slow weaning was more for me - to lessen the pain of over filled breasts and therefore it was painless for me to ween.

I breast fed my son until he was about 15 months. I went the easy route and transitioned him to the bottle (of vegan formula) for a couple months, then on to a sippy cup of formula until he was two. A couple of reasons I went to formula 1) I am vegan and did not want to give my child animal milk 2) wanted him to continue to have the vitamin benefits of formula for a few more months.

My son was SUPER healthy - by the time he was 3 he had only had one cold and one bout of the flu (both post weening). He RARELY spit up and maintained a healthy weight and grow development (according to his doctor). He is 5 now and only issues he has now are allergies - pets and seasonal plants as far as we know.

Hope this helps some! Good luck!! =)

I can relate breastfed 3 kids. Don't feel guilty and take your time. I have had several people advise me and the best thing that worked for me was to wean one feeding at a time. Its hard for babies too. If you feed in your bed thats the first thing I would wean. Some people say everyweek wean a feeding until he's off. But, as a Mom I would say wean a feeding until your confident and guilt free to wean another until he's completely off. Good luck

Dear J.,

I don't have any advice on weaning for you - I just wanted to let you know that my 20-month-old son is still nursing and it works beautifully for us. It is a wonderful soother for when he is upset, and I know that it is really, really healthy for him as well - he has had only one cold in his entire life. Also, the World Health Organization recommends nursing for a minimum of two years. We're planning on letting him self-wean, rather than weaning him ourselves, and I am willing to let him to for a couple of years. The benefits are just amazing for both him and me, healthwise, and I love how healthy it keeps him. It's only in America (and the Western world) that you will find such ridiculous pressure to wean by age one! The rest of the world realizes the benefits of longterm nursing. Best wishes!!

If you feel guilty, then why change it? You don't want to have any regrets. Trust me, it gets better. Once they start eating finger foods, etc..., they start nursing less and less on their own. My son is 14 months, and doesn't want to nurse much, other than before nap and bed time. He just started loosing interest on his own. Hang in there!

Hi J.,

I also have a ten month that I an starting to wean. I don't think you should feel guilty at all. I was talking to my pediatrician and she said that it is good to start weaning at about 10 months so that by a year they can eat and drink for themselves. What I have been doing for about two weeks now, is cut down to nursing 3 times a day. Morning I nurse, mid morning like at 11 or so I give her pasta pickups (they are great) or a jar of babyfood, with alittle bit of juice diluted with water in a sippy cup. Then I nurse at 1 or so before her nap. Dinner is babyfood or what we are eating cut up really small then nurse again right before bed. I think I am going to do that until she is 11 months then just nurse morning and night and then at 12 months cut it off completely. I also like this way of weaning because I am not so engorged. I'm not sure what you did with your other kids but with my first daughter I used a bottle after I quit nursing but with this one I am cutting out the bottle completely and just going to a sippy cup. The doctor also said they need about 21 - 32 oz. of fluid at this age. So you figure if they get about 8 or so at each feeding that is already 21oz. and then alittle from the sippy and they should be fine. Good luck and don't feel guilty!!!

K.

I'm curious as to your reasons for giving up b-feeding? If is is mutually enjoyable, why stop? My advice is to try cutting out on feeding a day. 10 months is a very difficult age to wean because of teething. Sometimes it is easier to give in because you know he feels better when he gets it, hence the guilt. My advice it to b-feed as long as you can because it is so good for baby. Weaning is a difficult process and unless you'll willing to give it a 100% it will only confuse the little one and cause more frustration. Good luck!

Sounds like neither of you is ready. If you have guilt, evaluate why you want to wean. What would need to happen for you to be really ready? Nursing or formula is the main source of nutrition for babies until they're at least a year old and even longer. Are you weaning to formula? Could you wait a few more months and skip formula? Is someone else pushing you to wean? Seems like there are still a lot of questions to ask first. Whatever the answers, make the best decision for your baby and then for yourself, not for anyone else!

Go online and get in touch with your local LeLeche League (Nursing Mothers) group. They will have some experienced advice. Leche is probably misspelled. It is Spanish for milk.

You are goung to get a lot of extreme answers either don't wean or go ahead and wean, it won't matter. What matters is how you feel. If you feel guilty maybe it's because you aren't emotionally ready to wean him. Keep in mind that the easiest way to wean is to gradually taper off the feedings (1 every 1 to 2 weeks)after a while, your milk supply will go down, making it more work for your baby to get the milk he wants, when he realizes he can get it easier from a cup or bottle, that should become his preference. Good Luck, just make sure you really do want to wean first.

J.,

Why not listen to your instincts, which are clearly telling you not to wean yet? Your "guilty" feeling and the difficulties you are experiencing may be because you, and your son, are not quite ready to stop the breastfeeding relationship. I know how it feels to want to wean, I've been there, but looking back, I wish I had listened to my own body and the signals I was getting from my daughter, and continued a while longer. Later, with my son, I nursed for two happy years. It wasn't always easy, but the RELATIONSHIP you develop through breastfeeding is so precious. Also, the longer you nurse, at least 18 months, the more protection you have against breast cancer. And your children will have a higher IQ, which has been proven now in studies. They will be protected from ear infections, allergies, intestinal problems, a whole host of things -- all because you had the commitment to give them the very best.

This doesn't mean you can't continue to feed solids and let your child drink from a sippy cup -- it just means that at those precious times, like right before bedtime, you and your son continue that bond, and you continue to give him the only real "vaccination" against disease.

That's my two cents, but I don't know your reasons for wanting to wean. I just personally believe very strongly that when a woman fights her own instincts, she is doing harm to herself. Give it some thought.
S.

Why do you want to start weaning? It is good to breastfeed for longer. Possibly the guilt you are experiencing isn't really guild, but your innate instinct telling you to continue breastfeeding. Here is a site with much information on breastfeeding. I found it helpful when I had my last child. (I didn't have a computer for the first two) Hope it's helpful!
http://www.llli.org//resources/assistance.html?m=0,0
Blessings!
Victoria : )

What is your reason for wanting to stop breastfeeding? As you probably know, the "experts" say minimum one year and then however long, depending on what both parties want. I say both parties, because both my children were challenging to wean. With my second, I was forced to stop nursing for a few days because I had to have an MRI with dye injection, and couldn't nurse for a couple of days after that. I put a large bandaid over both nipples and told her they were broken. She did keep asking, and tried to removed the bandaids (these were large, bandage sized), but understood when I said broken and they could make her sick. After the couple of days were done, she still looked at them as broken and wanted nothing to do with them. She was quite a bit on the chubby side and she started losing weight quickly, once I wasn't available for comfort nursing. She also became more affectionate, also. She was 2.

Hi,
I'm new to this site, but have lots of experince with breastfeeding. I would strongly suggest to continue breastfeeding longer. I know it's not the social norm, but babies benefit greatly from being nursed longer. I personally try to go at least a year. Sometime it hasn't been possible, but that's the goal. That's so great that you stay at home with your kids. A great book is the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.

Great that you made it this far in breastfeeding. Don't feel guilty. There are a lot of pressure to keep breastfeeding but obviously you are wanting to stop and most likely ready. I know because you sound a lot like me. I just as of today weaned my just to be one year old son.I started the process the first week of January when he was 10 months old. I took my time, by taking one feeding away until we were down to one feeding a day. That last feeding I slowly decreased in length until he fed about 2 minutes on each side and then I stopped. I have had no pain and don't expect to have any problems in that area. My son has had no ill effects to being weaned. He has had no emotional problems and we are close as ever. He is in the point of being independent but I still find time to snuggle up to him when I feed him his bottle milk. Good luck

I breast fed my first baby until she was 14 months and had to wean her because she didn't stop on her own. My other baby stopped breast feeding at 10 months so I didn't have to wean her. My advice is don't feel quilty if you want to stop. Society trys to tell us when to stop but it is up to you. If he drinks from a cup and you don't have to go to a bottle then go for it. It's much easier to go from breast to a cup then to a bottle. Supplement his diet with food as much as possible. Sometimes babies want to suck for comfort.

There is no need for you to feel guilty! I personally took one feeding out a week. It seemed to work for me, but everyone is different. Good luck!

Do you WANT to stop breastfeeding, or do you NEED to stop? If you truly WANTED to stop, you would not feel guilty. Sometimes things happen in our lives that interfere with nursing. If this has happened to you, hopefully you can keep nursing a certain amount (for example, every evening before bed.) Then your baby will still get the physical benefits of nursing (jaw exercise, eye-movement) as well as some of the special nutrient and disease-protection of breastmilk. Many working moms nursing just once a day.

Don't feel guilty. You have given your son 10 months of the best nourishment he can have! My son is almost 6 months and I just started weaning yesterday. I wanted to make it to the 6 month mark. Breastfeeding is an amazing bond, but also hard work on a mother. Deciding to stop at 6 months has made me feel a bit selfish, but he has also gotten very fussy during most of our nursing sessions, which tells me that he may be ready himself. Have you not had much luck because he won't take a bottle or just because you feel guilty? I know a lot of mothers who have breast fed exclusively and their children won't take a bottle which puts them in a bind. Hopefully your son doesn't mind a bottle. Please don't feel guilty......you have done an awesome job!

Hi J.,

I can sympathize, as I went through the same thing (feeling guilty). If you can, try breastfeeding only in the morning and evening for a month and the drop the morning feeding (breastfeeding only in the evening) for another month or two. If you can continue to do that until he is a year old, it will really benefit him.

To help wean, try giving him a bottle of water to play around with. Once he gets used to the bottle, you can add formula to it for feedings.

Good luck! :)
G.