Tired of Breastfeeding!!

The post that describes the "natural age of weaning" at 3-7 years is describing the ideal conditions in a hunter-gatherer society, where traveling with more than one toddler is dangerous (lions!) and also in underdeveloped nations where public health programs recommend birth spacing of 3 or more years to improve the education level and economic status of women in child bearing years.

So long as you are not plagued by lions out there in the wilds of Columbus, or expected to have 17 children to work the rice fields, you should be OK to wean anytime now. He won't starve, really.

Did that one woman say the natural age of weaning is 3 to 7 YEARS old?! I'm sorry, but if you're still breastfeeding a kindergartener I'm sure there's some law against that, not to mention serious social stigma. WOW.

Most times, chubby babies = healthy babies, and he's healthy because you BF him :) I would not limit any food intake unless recommended by your pediatrician. Yes, I would offer other foods more frequently, and make sure you don't wait until he's starving to offer it, so your son will be more open to it since he's happy. Since you're giving yourself 2 more months before you'd like to be done with nursing, you can slowly, gradually add more real foods until you cut out BFing completely.

I hope that helped. I had more to say but I'm still dumbfounded by what I just read ;) BESY WISHES!! OH! and good for you for BFing for as long as you have... don't let ANYONE put down your decision to wean! :)

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I agree not to START weaning just yet. Once he is a year old, it will be easier to drop one feeding at a time and within a month you "could" be weaned.

My son EXCLUSIVELY breastfed for his first 9 months. Even after that, there would be days where he refused anything but nursing. I was fine with that because my milk dried up at 6 months with our first and I was bummed about that........ We did continue to bf till 18 months but shortly after he turned one, he pretty much cut out the daytime nursing sessions himself. He was too busy to stop to nurse!

If he drinks well from a cup, I wouldn't be too worried. He will probably wean easier than some. My son didn't do well on the cup and NEVER took a bottle! The only thing he would drink from a cup was water. He was probably 2 before he drank ANY substantial amount of milk from a cup. (Refused breastmilk in a cup too!)

Good luck.

PS> A month or so after I weaned him, I really missed it. So try to relax and enjoy this time. You will more than likely look back fondly at it once you guys are done nursing.

Our son naturally weaned himself at a year (just a few weeks past), and I had to stop nursing our son at 12 weeks to start chemo. So, both of my experiences were really easy.

It sounds like you're a SAHM. I was a working mom with both, and I had to pump multiple times/day. I hated doing it, but it was the best thing for my kids, so I did it.

Both of our kids were really interested in table food from an early age - at 12 months, they both wanted to have more table food and less milk. But, both of our kids (also little chunkapoos) LOVE milk to this day. Our daughter would take milk over anything other drink option. So, we give her what she needs (she's 2 now) and water it down the rest of the day to give her the flavor she prefers (with the pediatrician's consent).

It sounds like you may just need to go cold-turkey on the nursing at a year (and no one worth their weight in gold would chastise you if you did it before then).

Offer more of your meal to him when you're eating. Nothing was really off limits to us.
Even the American Academy of Pediatrics now has a position that there are no foods that shouldn't be offered unless they pose a choking hazard or are known familial food allergens. The more variety, texture and exposure he has, I'm going to bet the more likely he is to go nuts over "real" food.

Good luck!

To all the judgemental and ignorant moms out there: nursing past a year is highly beneficial to baby and mama and just because you didn't care enough to do it, don't judge those of us who are feeding our child our milk, not milk from a cow. Cow milk is for baby cows. It is a fact that the average age of weaning is 3-7 years. This is not up for debate. It's not mainstream here in the US but it is the natural way to do it. Nobody is saying you need to continue to nurse that long but again, don't judge what you don't understand. Some of us nurse full-term (way better term than extended which implies it's longer than normal) and we have very healthy happy and well-adjusted kids. Way better than most kids I see for that matter. So again, if you don't understand something, keep your mouth shut.

you can never nurse too much! Keep up the good work. If you do decide to wean, go very slowly and gently so as to no traumatize your baby.

The AAP is not scientific and perfect... I had to laugh at how that recommendation was posted as breastfeeding gospel! Seriously laughing, not making fun ;) If you ever watch nature shows about tribal life you'll see women breastfeeding children up until the age of six or so, and even breastfeeding other womens' children. Obviously, this isn't really accepted socially in the western world, so it's "shocking" to some, but it really is what nature meant to happen. That said? It's great that you breastfed *at all*, since many women won't even try! I congratulate you on doing it for this long! Don't feel like you have to do it forever, or any certain number of months. The thing is that you did it, and you've given your child a very healthy start.

I have no advice on weaning, as my youngest weaned himself just shy of 3 years. I hope that it will go smoothly for you and your son :)

I wish I could remember specifics as to how much food my son ate at what age. But at 12 months, my son was breastfeeding 6 times a day and eating 3 meals too. He was not overweight at all.

I wouldn't worry about weaning, as you have a few months to start. I know that at 10 months, my son would eat a banana for breakfast, then nurse for maybe 15 minutes total, mostly relieving me from over-night pressure. At 12 months, I just started replacing a nursing session with whole milk. After breakfast, my son realy didn't want to nurse - he was ready to play - so that was our first feeding to get skipped. I'd give him a sippy cup with his whole milk in it while he played. He'd sit down in his high chair for lunch and dinner and we'd have nursings inbetween and before naps and before bedtime. So no, 5 nursings a day sounds about right. Your milk is full of vitamins that he needs, that he will not get from all the foods you feed him.

I totally feel for you and understand how you are tired of nursing. It is a full-time job, but good for you for being dediated to do it for a whole year. Don't be nervous about weaning. Search this website and there are TONS of questions already asked about how to wean. My son weaned great from breast to sippy cup. At 23 months old, we still rock together before naptime as he drinks his milk from his cup.

If you want to start weaning, cut out one nurse a day (start with one of the middle ones) and replace it with food and/or formula. It's uncomfortable for you a little, and he might fuss, but he'll adjust.

And just so you don't feel guilty, I nursed both my kids, and never regretted weaning for a second. I did it because it was the right thing to do healthwise, but I was a much happier mama when they were getting fed from something that wasn't me. Good luck.

Breastmilk should be his primary nutrition for the first year. You are almost there and be proud of yourself that you have and are doing the absolute best for him. It is an amazing experience that is over in a very short period of time.

You want to continue to nurse on demand and offer the breast before solids to ensure that he gets enough breastmilk. Solids are for supplementation and practice at his age. 5 times a day isn't too much.

I found that my daughter would have been very easy to wean at a year old but I'm pro-extended nursing so I continued to nurse her until we weaned at 20 months. Continue to offer him the sippy and that makes the transition easier. Make sure that you offer breastmilk in the sippy. Some moms only offer juice and then when it's time to wean the baby has no idea why they are getting milk in the sippy if that makes sense. Don't be nervous about it. You'll know what to do. You can start gradually dropping a nursing session every few days after he turns one. I found my son got too busy for me and he self-weaned at 15 or 16 months.

I guess you have to ask yourself what is most important. As long as the solids you give him are healthy, it doesn't matter how much he weighs, he is not over-weight. The natural age of weaning is between 3- and 7-years-old. That's not to say you have to go that long and wait for him to self-wean, it's just to show you that you're fighting nature which is why it can be very hard for some babies. There's no reason to schedule nursing sessions, it's better to nurse on demand. But if you're going to wean early (I mean before the recommended "at least 2 years") it's probably going to be easier to first get on a schedule and then drop one nursing session each week until he's done with them all. Solids should be offered on a regular eating schedule - 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks (depending on how long after dinner he goes to bed).

You might find it more enjoyable if you just sit back, relax, not worry about other things, and take a little time to enjoy him while he's willing to snuggle and nurse. Your cuddle time could quickly come to an end if you cut him off from nursing too abruptly and before he's ready. The flip side is that he could become horribly clingy because he's not getting the bonding he craves through nursing. I'm not sure there's a way to tell what will happen until you start weaning.

Good Luck:)