Weaning - Macomb, IL

My daughter is 9 months and she weaned herself at 5 months old. I still give her 20-23 oz of breastmilk everyday I just pump all now and give it to her in a bottle or sippy cup. This way I can continue to give her the very best even if she nots directly taking it from me.

I found weaning information from LaLecheLeague very helpful.

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBweaning.html

I got a little booklet on it at a meeting, but can't find it on their site.

R.,

It does sound like she's weaning herself. I had the same experience with my son. By 8 months, he had really started losing interest in nursing and was completely weaned all by himself by 9 months. I had planned to nurse for a year, but this was a fantastic transition. I didn't have to deal with any of the drama of weaning. I'd say, just go with the flow of your baby. Good luck!

My son weaned himself at 8 months. It sounds like what your daughter is doing is very similar to how he stopped. It made weaning easier since he stopped but I felt that the whole experience ended too soon. I too wanted to nurse for one year.

Based on the info in your "a little about me" your daughter is 11 1/2 months... you pretty much made it the year. Maybe not the 18 months but you did VERY well. In my opinion. If she is not interested I would not force her. Either pump and offer a sippy cup with breast milk or just transition to whole milk, my doctor recommended that transition at age one.

Hope this helps.

She's not necessarily weaning herself so keep offering it to her if you want to keep nursing and be patient with her new style of eating. She's a curious 11 month old anxious to see the world around her but still having to eat. My 11 month old is the same way but she's no where near weaning, just making more stops for shorter periods of time. :) Great job nursing mama!!!
M.

When babies start eating table food...they are essentially beginning the weaning process. It may be helpful to nurse her in a quiet room without anything to distract her. Also...short nursing sessions are okay....she definitely won't go hungry at almost a year old. It's up to you....but if you want to continue to nurse her....let her do what works for her. It sounds like you aren't eager to stop nursing. She is super efficient now at nursing...so she really only probably needs a short time to get the milk. A longer nursing session would probably be for comfort. I breastfed my son until he was 21 months old and I am so glad we made it that long...and it worked for both of us.

As previous posters have said, babies rarely wean themselves before age 2. I think what happens is that a baby becomes distracted, the mama takes her off the breast, the baby starts playing with something else and we say she's weaning. YOu have to continue to offer the breast to such a young baby. They certainly don't know what is best for them. My daughter would prefer oreos for breakfast but I'm going to give her what I think is best for her. A one year old has no idea about what she needs nutritionally. Nothing magic happens at the first birthday that they no longer need breastmilk. It's still a very necessary and important part of a toddler's diet. Cow's milk is not the same, contrary to what people say. Cow's milk is for calves, human milk is for babies. The only milk that even comes close to human milk is goat's milk. Continue to nurse your daughter as it sounds like you really want to. Don't listen to all the people who are telling you that she's getting too old. Nursing toddlers is great.

Have you looked into your local La Leche League group? There are groups all around this area, and they are a great resource for breastfeeding questions like weaning. You could call up a leader and ask your questions or attend a meeting for free and talk to other mom's experiencing the same thing and get advice from mom's who have been through it before. check out their website for the group closest to you.

R.,

I nursed all 3 children and when I nursed I tried to do it where it wasn't so public and distracting. My kids all nursed well and I have to say the boys were easier to wean - they pretty much weaned themselves once I had started to get rid of a few of the feedings. My oldest who is now 11 nursed up until a week before he was 17 months old and my other boy nursed a bit past 2 yrs (but again only night feedings at this point) and then my daughter would have nursed longer, but she mostly did it for comfort. Because as soon as I would attempt to sit down, she would want to nurse - but she nursed up until 2 weeks before 24 months.

It is a very hard decision to make, but you will know when the time is right to wean. Especially if they are eating more table food or baby food.

Good luck and know that whatever you decide, it is up to you - don't let others tell you or let their opinion sway you!

SAHM of 3 children and enjoying every minute of it!

L.

I wouldn't give up yet but these may be early signs of self-weaning. They start to become very interested in the world around them, which is a good way to help the transition along and seems quite natural. I didn't quite get how old she is though. My child weaned himself by 15 mo. He was way more interested in playing then nursing at that point and I didn't force the issue. It just got less and less and one day he just didn't want to bother. That seemed like a best case scenario to me, no muss no fuss. However, if she is under a year I would still strongly encourage it (nursing)for now, while still allowing the natural course of events to take place.

You can't train her to "focus". She's a very intelligent little human that is noticing other things in her surroundings. Color, shapes, shadows, etc. If she's requiring more nursing, she'll suck for dear life. Try not to fret.

It does not sound like she is weaning herself. It is very rare for a child to wean themselves before 2 years of age. Kids at that age get very curious and look around all the time while nursing. It may help to nurse her in a quiet dark room where there are no distractions.
She also wouldn't nurse as long as she used to because she is more efficient at getting milk out now than she used to.
When they wean on their own, it tends to be very slow. The gradually get down to one feeding a day, then they go every couple of days, then down to once a week, etc, until they are no longer nursing anymore. 3 times a day is still a ways off from being weaned. To put this in perspective for you, when my daughter was 18 months old, she nursed once a day (for the most part). It took her another year before she completely weaned herself. It was a very slow process. I chose to let my kids self-wean, but not everyone wants to do that.

R.,
She's not weaning, she's just becoming more curious about the world. It's very normal for an older baby to take a look around while eating. Think about how you eat: You take a bite, you chat with your partner, you take a bite, you look at something. Imagine if all you did was eat eat eat with no break from it. Your daughter's the same way. This isn't weaning.
My daughter is 17 months old and is still nursing. She also likes to look around, and occasionally she'll pop off to tell me something and then go back on. Yeah, it's a little annoying at times, but that's just what little ones do. If you get in the mind set that you expect your baby to take a look or two around while nursing, it won't be frustrating to you anymore.
Stick with it, it doesn't sound like you're ready to give up this special relationship with your daughter yet. Good luck to you!

The combination of eating solids and lack of focus is self-weaning. Just roll with it. Don't push her to nurse, she's telling you that she's ready to start cutting down. Focus on the solids (which is primarily what she should be eating now anyway) and end the nursing sessions when she pulls off the first time to look around. When she goes back it's most likely purely recreational.

Provide bottles for additional liquid. You can either start giving her whole milk, or pump, or formula, it's up to you.

Hi R.,
My daughter is 14 months and is still nursing 4/day. We both love it and she has been soooo healthy and happy. Up to last week it has been 6/day, but I am pregnant so I wanted to decrease her nursing a little. I do not think she desires to wean. She is being normal by coming off like that. I would be intentional about nursing her in the morning, before bedtime, and I nurse my daughter prior to naps. I would encourage you to nurse for at least one more month or for as long as you can. Everyone benefits from nursing.

It sounds like she is more interested in the new and amazing world around her. My little one took to more soild foods when she was completely weaned. Adjust your way of thinking and your emotions to what she is telling you. They seem to come pre-wired to move from stage to stage (sometimes with out us). She still will need some bonding from her mommy!

My oldest stopped just about 2 weeks before his 1st birthday, after slowly slowing down. Kids mostly nurse only before going to sleep at this age. My youngest quit abruptly at 10 months with no warning. He just closed his mouth and pulled away, never latched on again. I would have loved them both to continue longer. and before they stopped they were both glued to me and loved to nurse. I think each kid is different and some never want to let go and others make up their own minds.
However try a nursing necklace. Its a string of bead you wear around you neck so the baby has something to concentrate on while shes nursing. I've heard it works for some...

It doesn't exactly sound like she is weaning. Mine did the same thing. Generally what happens is they can't decide if they want to eat or keep exploring/playing. At that age babies have a hard time staying focused on eating when there are sooo many things to see and do. They just get antsy to get back to their exploring and playing. Great job nursing this long! I nursed mine till she was just about 18 months. I had to stop her almost cold turkey because I'm pregnant. That's another story though.

She's probably not self-weaning at this point - babies RARELY do before about 18 months, though they occasionally go on "nursing strikes" for short periods of time (this doesn't soundlike your problem)'. Make sure you nurse her before you feed her solids and just keep offering it to her several times a day. Once babies get to be 12-15 mnonths old they naturally will decrease the amount they nurse, and 2-3 times per day is just fine. It's wonderful to keep nursing them until they're a bit older because as they get busy, this is great quiet snuggle time you can have with your kid. I nursed my son about 2x/day until he as 20 months and then we were BOTh done.

www.kellymom.com might have some good information if you want to encourage her to continue to nurse. This is one of the best breastfeeding sites I've found. I nursed my first or 2 years and my second for 1 year and now my third for 10 months and going. It is just such a good site.

Yep, she's weaning herself. Both of my girls did the same thing. By the time they were a year to 14 months I nursed they were done.

Hi R.,

As far as dealing with the emotional aspect of weaning goes - try to recognize that your sweet baby is growing and learning and becoming a toddler. Spend the time you would have been nursing just cuddling or watching her play. If you can appreciate how much the world amazes her right now you'll feel a new connection. Congrats on doing such a wonderful job nursing!