How Do You Go About Dropping a Feeding.

There really aren't any more instructions that I know of. You simply don't offer the breast; instead offer solid food and a cup. He will not be happy at first and will have to learn to take no for this answer (unless you give in in which case you start the process all over again.) It will never be easy no matter when you do it so you just have to decide this is what you're going to do and then stick with it.

When I weaned both of my kids (my son was 10 months, daughter was 16 months) I offered a snack in place of their normal nursing session. For us, the first one I eliminated was the one that I had the least supply for (which was late afternoon, usually around 3pm). For my son I did also give formula in a cup since he was under 1, but for my daughter I just offered a healthy snack, usually fruit and a cup of water. My daughter was much more a nursing addict, so she was much harder to wean. My son had absolutely no problem with it, not the case with my daughter. We did a very gradual wean with her, over the course of a month since it was hard for her to give up. She naturally weaned herself from the mealtime feedings since she ate meals with the family at those times. If you don't already feed your son at the same time as you eat, start doing that before you wean. Get him eating and socializing with the family and he won't miss those feedings. Once I was sure my daughter was eating enough at meals, I stopped offerring her the breast after meals, thus eliminating those feedings. At 16 months I was still feeding on demand though, and that was usually every 2-3 hours during the day. Thankfully she slept through the night starting very young, so I never had to wean her from those night time feedings. Like I said, I started with the 3pm feeding, replaced it with a snack and lots of activities to keep her busy so she wouldn't ask to nurse. The 3pm elimination feeding went very well. I next conquered a mid morning feeding (between 9-10 am) next. Again, I replaced this one with a snack and lots of activities, including lots of cuddle time on my lap reading stories etc. Also important is to keep yourself well covered during these times, so they can't smell it as much and so it isn't easily accessible to them. The next one I eliminated was the before nap (around 1pm feeding). This one was difficult. She was accustomed to nursing to sleep (or to a point of contented drowsiness) so this one was very difficult for us. I didn't want to replace with food, so I again, did lots of snuggling in the rocking chair and lots of singing and rubbing her back to calm her. It took her over a week to adjust to losing this feeding. (She is very stubborn) After I felt that naptime was going smoothly again, I eliminated the first thing in the morning feeding. This meant that we were eating breakfast most days at 6am or earlier, but it was relatively painless to replace this feeding with an earlier breakfast time. Once she got used to no nursing first thing, we gradually pushed her breakfast back to a regular time (about 7am). The last one I eliminated was the before bed feeding. Again, very tramatic for my daughter and for me. I had to have dad handle bedtime for a few nights since she was not settling down for me without nursing. (She was just plain mad at me about this). I wasn't really prepared for her anger, so it was a bit hard to deal with. She did eventually get over it. We did give her milk in a cup at bedtime as a transition for awhile, although she didn't really drink it since she didn't really like milk for a long time. We gave her a cup of milk while we read stories, and then after brushing teeth swapped it out for a cup of water. We continued this for about a month after fully weaning, and then phased this out too. Every experience is different and I think it depends on the child and how attached to the nursing they are. Like I said, I was easily able to wean my son over the course of a couple of weeks, and it was painless. He has always been more flexible about change than my daughter though. Do it at whatever pace you feel is right and just make sure you provide lots of love and cuddling so he still feels nice and secure during the process. Good luck. (Sorry this is so long)

How many times are you feeding him? Usually at this age, he should be getting 4 meals a day and that includes nursing or a bottle with solids. You should not be separating his meals and nursing. Maybe that's what you can do? So dropping a feeding wouldn't be the issue. If you're trying to stop nursing, then like others have suggested, a sippy cup. Sorry if I'm not any help. Hope you're able to find the answer to your question.

I suggest having someone else do that feeding. Make yourself scarce and have daddy do the feeding. Go for a walk, take a nap (let your child think you are not there). We will basically have no other option, since you are not available to nurse him. I didn't use this method myself for weening from breast feeding, but I used it for other problems. My children were dependant on me for EVERYTHING!!! So when I was getting ready to return to work, I had to prepare them to let others help them, starting with more daddy time. Just a suggestion, hope you find something that works for you!!! GOOD LUCK!!

First of all, you have to stop nursing him to sleep, if you are doing that. Then choose the feeding that he seems to need the least, and start offering him a cup then. You could buy him some really fun sippy cups to get him excited about it, perhaps. When I weaned my babies, I waited a week before switching another feeding to a cup. The feeding that mine seemed to be the most attached to was first thing in the morning, so I dropped that one last, and instead of bringing the baby back to bed with me, we had to go straight to the high chair for a cup of milk and a bowl of cereal.
He may not drink much milk out of the cup at first, but he will catch on. You can try offering water or juice too, to make the cup more appealing, if that's part of the challenge. Or if it's just the milk that he doesn't like, then you should only offer milk, and not juice or water until he starts drinking more milk. By replacing a nursing session with a cup each week (or two), weaning takes longer, but it was a really smooth transition for us---the babies hardly noticed the change, and my milk supply decreased gradually, which was painless. Good luck!

Don't worry about the fact that he won't take a bottle, this is one less thing you have to wean him from later. My son didn't take a bottle either so he went straight to the sippy cup during weaning. Is your baby taking a sippy ok? Just replace one of the daytime feedings with a sippy of milk and a snack. I would do one feeding per week untile you are done. For both of my kids I first took away the mid afternoon feeding, then the mid morning, then the before bed feeding, and then the first thing in the morning feeding. I took about a month to completely wean both mine, But you could probably do it in 2-3 weeks, taking a feeding away every few days. Just don't give in, both of mine weaned very easily. Hope that helps.

I nurse my kiddos until almost 2, so I may not be your beast source, but distraction has been key. Offering some food or something else to do may help. Weaning is not all easy when your baby wants to nurse. Some crying may be involved(by both of you) even if you drop only one feeding at a time. I really enjoy nursing my toddlers, so I encourage you to just keep on going if you desire to at all.

Have you tried the sippy cup with your milk in it? I had to wean my daughter around 8 months because of work so she was on formula. A friend of mine has a daughter your age and is having the same issue. She just drops the feeding and gives her daughter a cup with her milk in it. She's also tried mixing it with whole milk. Try these deifferent options and I'm sure you'll eventually find something that works.

I felt the same way about not knowing exactly how to go about it, but I did get great advice from friends and I'm sure you'll find the same here at Mamasource. I just started slowly by offering other snacks (like fruit and milk in a sippy cup. My son didn't take to regular cow's milk very easily, but after getting great advice here I tried 2% milk and it worked like a charm even if it took some time. I think I started with the noon nursing since he was already eating solids and I would simply offer baby yogurt with lunch. Then about 2 weeks later I think I tackled the 9:30 am nursing and did the same thing....offered a snack of fruit/yogurt. He eventually was the one to cut out the afternoon feedings which took me a while to figure out, but that's what he did. The hardest one was the feeding before bedtime and I think the person it was hardest on was me. Weaning was by far easier than learning how to nurse, but prepare yourself for the overwhelming feelings of missing it. Be sure to also spend time cuddling and playing during the time you would normally nurse, the distraction helps. Read everybody's advice and do what works best for you. Hope all goes well.

Distraction, distraction, distraction! I had a difficult time weaning my little boy at 18 months. We didn't do bottles so went straight to sippy cups too. The middle of the day feedings were the first to go since those weren't associated with bedtime rituals or anything. I didn't always give him a sippy cup but just tried to distract him with something else. For instance, we took a lot of walks during that time...just going outside gave him something else to think about. Good luck!

Hi Kate,

My 17-month old son still nurses twice a day (morning and at night). He was weaning himself from those feedings the past month but then relapsed and started nursing more after a trial period of daycare.

Dropping the midday feeding was the easiest. Some ways that helped us was to be out and about, not at home (where he was used to nursing). I also started giving him rice milk (because he is allergic to cow's milk and soy) in a sippy cup. He never took a bottle or pacifier. Sippy cups he seemed to like were 1) First Years disposable plastic cups with no valve, 2) Born Free cups with the soft nipple, and 3) Nuby cups with this silicone sipper with no valve.

When my son started drinking more rice milk (even just one 8-ounce cup around midday) he didn't seem to miss the midday feeding at all.

If you're okay with nursing your son a little longer, then it will be much easier on you for him to take the lead with weaning. I really didn't like that I had to nurse my son up until this point because I've also had to avoid all the foods he's allergic to, but letting him wean himself has made the process easier for me, emotionally and physically (no engorgement).

These are the pull your hair out times so just give him a cup and let him throw a fit. He will eat when he is hungry. Its a power of wills now until he is grown.

If there is not a specific logistical reason for weaning, you might consider the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Family Physician's recommendation that breastfeeding continue for the first two years as a minimum, not a maximum. At first it sounds like a lot but, in fact, if you continue just four nursing sessions per 24 hour period, that's enough and in addition, you will not have any need to give him any cow's milk or toddler formula.

Either way, you will be dropping a lot of nursing sessions! My suggestions are to feed solids first, the exact opposite of the normal routine for a breastfed baby who should nurse before solids and gradually reverse that in the second year. My second suggestion is to get out of the house. It really helps to have something for your little one to do, they ask to nurse more often if they are bored.

Both those are pretty strong influences on feeding patterns, so if you do both for a couple of weeks I am sure you will see a significant decrease in the number of times he nurses each day. The benefit of doing it this way is that it will be so subtle, your son will probably not realize during the day that he isn't nursing as much.

But subconciously,he may very well experience a sense of dissatisfaction. Some babies try to make up for low nursing during the day by waking and nursing at night. You can help avoid this by giving him the same amount of holding and cuddling as he once got while nursing, so that he is not missing out on the closeness he is accustomed to - he still needs that even if he's not getting as much of nursing as before.

You have to be firm when you drop the feeding, but act as though nothing has changed. He will pick up on how you are feeling about it, so try not to be anxious. When I weaned my son he had a regular eating schedule. So instead of breastfeeding I would give him some solid food with a sippy cup of whole milk. He never had a problem with it and the weaning process was a smooth transition. He never even seemed to miss the feedings. :) Good luck, and be firm but patient.