"Need Advice Regarding Weaning "Schedule"

I don't have a lot of advice as to a weaning "pattern".

My first baby self-weaned well before a year old, and I had to go cold turkey with my second baby due to health problems. I simply could no longer put off having a hysterectomy and prior to the procedure, I had to have some injections that could harm my baby if I continued to nurse. After that first shot, there was no turning back. It was difficult, but I knew that caving in was not an option. Also, I was going to be in the hospital for a week so my son was just going to have to get used to a different routine. He was very much in love with the boobie, so I couldn't even give him a bottle because he would try to lift my shirt up.

The good news is, by the time I got home from the hospital, it was all over and he was no worse for wear. My husband was ready for a vacation and some sedatives, but the kid was fine.

Some moms have success with gradually reducing. Perhaps you could try a bottle of half breast milk and half formula just to see if you can get her used to it.

You've done a great job breast feeding for 6 months. I want you to know that it's not only okay, but very important for you to take care of yourself as well. Depression is nothing to mess around with, honey. I know you want to put your baby's needs first, and that's to be commended, but I tell lots of women that a happy and healthy mom equals a happy and healthy kid.

I'm sure there are some wonderful women here who will have some tips for you. In my case, cold turkey worked out best. I was given less than a week to get prepared and my baby did just fine in the long run. AND, I felt so great after my hysterectomy, it changed my life. I was like a whole new person. I had energy, I could travel and be physically active with my kids.

If I'd had a choice, I would have nursed my son longer, but I didn't have a choice. Looking back, I'm kind of glad it wasn't a long and drawn out process. It was what it had to be.

Remember....you have to be good to yourself too, Mama.

Best wishes.

If you want to wean then simply switch to formula. When she is hungry give her a bottle. Period. It might be easier to have DH do as much of the feeding as possible - he won't smell like breast milk. At this age, solids are just for experimenting. Her main intake should come from formula. There is no reason to feed on a schedule. The schedule is you feed her when she is hungry. Same as bfing.

You CAN formula feed if she is fussy. The 'extra' time to make a bottle is approximately 30 seconds - you measure the powder into the bottle, add tap water to the appropriate line and shake. That's the whole thing. So - wean if you WANT to wean. And continue breast feeding if YOU want to.

I would talk to the LC and your doctor to see if there's a medication you can use that is safer for her. Your Lactation Consultant should be able to look up the medication for you in their book.

kellymom.com has a lot of good information, including supplementing

I would talk to your dr cause I believe they can give you something that's ok when you are nursing. But if you can't you need to pump and mix breast milk with the formula. Breast milk is so much sweeter that formula they have to get used to the taste of it gradually a lot of time.

Honestly... Weaning schedules are 99% for mom... So breasts don't get engorged.

For baby... Switch to formula, nothing else, right now. You can tweak brands n stuff later. Solids are just for playtime (not nutrition: nutrition needs to be from brestmilk or formula) until 12months, so don't even worry.

Just tap yourself off in the shower from time to time, less and less often, and get your Rx this afternoon.

Think about it this way; if you died this afternoon, that exactly what dad (or gramma, or fosters, or whomever) would be doing. So don't die. Go take your meds. And feed your baby. You'll both be FINE. Remember, all formulas react with kids a little differently. In general, canned premixed is the best received, and every brand tastes different (Ive tastes all of them... VERYdifferent tasting). So you might tweak brands, but that's later.

As others have said there are drugs you can take while breast feeding. I understand however if you are still scared of taking meds while breadtfeeding. You need to do what's best for you. When I weaned my daughter, she was able to take a bottle of breast milk. I would give her the bottle of breast milk and after one day of only bottles you start to add some formula to the breast milk and over a period of days you increase the amount of formula to milk ratio and eventually she'll be on a full bottle of formula. The other thing is that you want yo make sure you don't get engorged so make sure you continue pumping and drop a feed every 4-5 days. Best of luck. Remember whatever choice you make will be the best one for you and your baby.

Zoloft is safe to take while breastfeeding. It has been widely studied. I took it while nursing my daughter for 16 months; I started it the day she was born. So talk to your doc about that as an option if you want to continue nursing.

If you do decide to stop nursing, you need to just stick to it. She will take a bottle when she's hungry. First, drop all daytime feedings and only do first thing in the morning and bedtime. After about 5 days, drop one. After 5-7 more days, drop the other.

Give baby food at breakfast and dinner. After a few weeks, you can add lunch too. Within a couple of weeks, try to be on a schedule that look something like this:

7 a.m. - bottle
8 a.m. - breakfast
10 a.m. - bottle & nap
12 p.m. - lunch
2 p.m. - bottle & nap
6 p.m. - dinner
8 p.m. - bottle and bed

Good luck, and good for you for taking charge of your own health and happiness!

There really is no need to wean in order to take an anti-depressant. Zoloft,
Paxil, Celexa, Effexor, and Prozac can all be taken while breastfeeding. Zoloft and Paxil are the best two but the others can all be taken as well. Weaning is very, very stressful for both you and baby, so if you are already having issues you may want to reconsider adding another. You won't be able to just feed her whenever she is fussy or tired. You will need extra time to make bottles and wash bottles and make them again. It was so much easier for me when i was struggling with post partum depression to just give the breast. I never would have made it thru if I had all the extra work of bottles. As for the food, don't worry too much about it, it is only for experimenting at this age. Many children don't take in enough solids until around age 2, so for at least the first year and often closer to the second year(tho you can switch to whole milk instead of formula after she is a year old), she will need either breastmilk or formula until at least a year old. So if you are sure stopping breastfeeding is best you need to get her on formula, as she needs that for proper brain development until at least a year old and now some are recommending to age two. There is no supplementing food for the formula, you need to just give her the bottles. If you withhold the breast which it sounds like is difficult for you and her both right now, but you have to do it anyway if you really want to make the switch. Just don't give in, and give only the bottle. Often times mixing the formula with breastmilk can help. Remember she is going to have to get used to not only a completely new taste, but also a completely new method of delivery. No bottle really feels the way a breast does, some can come closer, but it will be an adjustment for her. And then there is the whole taste issue, breatmilk tastes very different from formula. But if she is hungry she will eventually give in and take the bottle. But really think it through before stopping the breastfeeding, as you could be putting yourself in for much more work as well as the expense of the formula. If in the end you still want to stop, then you need to follow through with giving the formula and not giving in to the breast. And just don't worry about the food, she would need so much more food than her little body could tolerate to get the nutrition she needs, which is why she needs either the formula or breastmilk. Another thing you can try is to give the formula in a sippy cup or even an open cup as opposed to a bottle. Some kids do better with alternative feeding methods. As for the schedule I would try stopping the solid foods during the transition, and work on getting her to switch over to the formula. Once she is on formula full time you can work the solids back in. But honestly the easiest thing IMO would be to keep nursing and take one of the meds compatible with nursing. Good luck!

Are you 100% sure you need to wean? Zoloft and Paxil are both approved for breastfeeding moms, as are some lesser-known antidepressants.

More info here: http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/moms-antidepress...

Bless your heart! Just try to relax, but, of course, I know, that's the whole problem. Freaking out babies can send you over the moon, can't they, especially if you're up with her all night. I was on Zoloft when I got pregnant, had been for a number of years. My doctor and I had this running battle all during my pregnancy, but he was adamant that I stay on it! The thing was that he didn't feel like he could tell me 100% that it was safe, and yet I think he thought it was safer for me to stay on it. Out of stubborness, I got myself down to a very low dose, but then he put me up a little bit when he couldn't get my blood pressure down. He had more trouble finding a b.p. medicine that I could take while I was nursing. I think the lactation consultant said Zoloft was safe, but I could check with her if you'd like me to. Let me tell you, though, its all anxiety producing. Learning to nurse is anxiety producing (for you and the baby!), stopping nursing is anxiety producing, feeding solids, toilet training, learning to walk, wondering if she's talking soon enough, will she be ok in kindergarten, he got punched in the nose in FIRST GRADE????? What you're feeling is a normal reaction to what you're experiencing, but its very, very hard. Get some help, ANY help ANYone offers you! Exaggerating a little there. Let me just end by saying that my son nursed until he was almost 4 years old!!!, even through teething, and I took Zoloft the whole time. He just started 1st grade, and I still do! And he's a great reader. Now he may have a few idiosyncracies, but they seem to be inherited, like from me, his dad, his granddad, etc. But who knows? All any of us can do is the best we can. Much love, and I will be praying for you!

Definitely talk to your dr or a LC about meds compatible with nursing. That saidI can think of 2 things that might help.
1) I would pick the one time of the day that your daughter is most distracted and busy, and drop the nursing session at that time first. Switch to a bottle at just that session. Once that is consistent, add more sessions. Usually the ones before nap and bedtime are the last to go.
2) Hopefully you have a pump, if not, get at least an inexpensive hand pump. Then mix the formula with breastmilk at first, 75% breastmilk 25% formula. Gradually increase the amount of formula and decrease the amount of breastmilk until she's used to the formula taste.

Neither of these methods is really fast, but they will get you started. In the meantime, do talk to you doctor about meds safe for breastfeeding so you can start feeling better as soon as possible! They are out there.

I think there are some antidepressants you can take while nursing. Check out kelley mom website, they list all meds and explain the risks associated with breastmilk. If you have made it 6 months, you are more than halfway there, and could just go straight from breast to cup, avoiding the bottle... Just an idea.

Its hard to get a fed on demand nursing baby on an eating schedule. My baby is 10 months, and last month we upped him to 3 meals a day of baby food, it was a lot easier to get him on a schedule that way. Our schedule looks something like this:
7am he wakes up and nurses usually off both sides, then falls back asleep
8 am he wakes up
9:30 breakfast, finger food and jar of fruit or veg
10:30 nursing and a nap
1:00 lunch, finger food and fruit or veg
2:00 nursing
4:00 nursing and a nap
6:00 dinner, finger food and fruit or veg
8:00 nursing and bedtime
He is then up several times during the night to nurse

Just make sure you are offering food at the same times everyday, then nursing should start falling into a pattern. You can then replace one nursing session with bottle or cup. If you take away one a week, weaning will be easy on you and baby. Hope that helped a little. GL