Weaning - Pittsburgh,PA

I found that first finding a bottle that compliments a natural nipple is the best thing. Latex orthodonic ones worked best all of my children. I have three. Until he gets used to a bottle it might help to hold him close to your skin using 1 part formula and 3 parts pumped breast milk. Every few days you can reduce the amount of breastmilk in the bottle, adding more formula. The process probably will be difficult for you both, as breastfeeding brings a mother and baby so close. Just remember that you gave your son the best possible start in life. For your comfort,I found that when you are completely done weaning, the best way to ease discomfort is to pump your breasts out completely and wrap an ACE bandage snugly around your chest for at least two days. Don't take hot showers within these days, as it will produce more milk. Use ice after your shower, make sure all milk is extracted before you apply the ACE bandage again. This will stop milk production, so be sure you are truly done nursing if you try this process. I hope this helps. God's blessings for you and your son. R. C

Hi H.,
Weaning isn't as complicated as it may seem, I have been weaning by 4th for the last 3 mo.s, I just started slowly introducing foods to him. Fortunatley, your son is at an age that he can start having cereal and some fruits and veggies, so just try feeding him a little once or twice a day for a little while. If he does well with it then you can do it more often. If he will take a bottle then you can also do that, my youngest would NOT take a bottle until this week and he is almost 9 mo. old, but he loves food and especially anything that he can pick up on his own. I had to stop nursing my first 2 abruptly b/c of a health problem, so I understand. Just take it "a meal at a time" and it can be a smooth transition. I still nurse Alex once a day and some at night, but that is mostly a comfort thing. If you don't have to quit nuring immediatly then your mil will naturally slow down and it won't be so painful. Good luck and hope your health improves.

I agree with Judy. Get a second opinion about the medical issue. Good luck!

Hi H.,

Congratulations for breastfeeding your son! You are doing a wonderful thing for him and for you. I'm not sure what your medical condition is that is making you have to wean, but please get a second opinion from a lactation consultant. Often Drs are too conservative and tell you that you need to wean when you really don't. You can call a LC and get advice at no charge usually. Or call your local LLL, they may be able to help as well.

If you do need to wean now, then please look at the tips on Kellymom. Weaning should be a gentle, slow process. Here are some tips from Kelly mom: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html

J.

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I would start with giving him one bottle a day at the time when you will want to discontinue BF first. If you have to pump your breasts, just pump enough to relieve discomfort. As he seems to accept the feeding and your breasts are not creating as much milk at that feeding, substitute another feeding and do the same as far as pumping (if you don't feel like you need to pump, then don't). Continue the same pattern until you are weaned. You could try a sippy cup instead of a bottle---he may be a little young. But sometimes kids who haven't had many bottles previously do better with a sippy cup. Good luck.

Just start! Get him used to formula and bottles, and nurse him less and less! I'm doing the same right now with my 6 month boy, who I can't keep up with, but I weaned my daughter at one year easily. Just do one or two less nursings a day until you're done. You'll find that the formula fills him up more and he'll need to eat a little less often and make it longer at night wihtout waking up if he's still waking. Right now I'm nursing him during the night (for my own convenience of nursing him in bed with me without waking up all the way for a bottle) if he wakes up-he doesn't always, and I nurse him in the morning or maybe one other time during the day. The rest of his feedings are now bottles of formula and I'll just keep tapering down from there. Your milk supply will naturally decrease the less often you nurse. Mine's almost gone-when i pump I only get like 2-3 ounces when I used to fill two 5 ounce bottles every few hours! Good luck! Congrats on nursing for 6 months GREAT JOB!

I weaned both of my boys at this age. What worked for me is dropping one feeding every two to three days. Replace that feeding with a bottle of formula. A few days in between gives you time to adjust. Don't pump! Do this gradually until all feedings have become bottles instead of nursing. It worked great for me.

I have two boys that I breastfed and had to wean once they bit me, I slowly went over to a bottle. With my first one, I tried a bottle first but he didn't want it, so I gave him one side and after burping him I switched to the bottle, he took it and from then on I had no trouble with him going to a bottle (I still pumped then). My second boy was a little more difficult, he rejected the bottle even when I waited until he was extremely hungry and started the process of getting his bottle ready, my peditrican said to go to a sippy cup (he was about 6months old) still using breast milk. I weaned them off of breast milk by mixing a little formula with the breast milk and gradually stopped using breast milk altogether. Every child is different, so hopefully some of this will be helpful. I hope you can find one way that will work best for your son.
M.