Weaning Breastfeed 1 Year Old

First of all, you don't have to wean at 1. But I did and this is how I did it.
Start by decreasing feedings to only 1 (usually at night, before bed) continue this for 1-2 weeks and when you are ready. Put a tight sports bra on and baby can't get to you, its too much hastle to get it off to feed and you have support to stop the milk production! Wear the bra for about a week.

Here are tips from a mom who nursed her son till he was two.

Drop one nursing session at a time. Don't try to push it, be creative and gently distract. Replace that time spent nursing with other loving activities. Use things to your advantage like a playground trip that will distract him anyway during the usual time that he nurses.

Each nursing session can take a while to drop so be realistic about how long the whole process takes. If your son nurses a lot then he's not going to understand a dramatic change and many women are disappointed by the level of independence a baby weaned too fast (not too early, too quickly if I'm clear) will show. I wonder if that's because they got the wrong message from mom when the weaning was so abrupt?

Anyway, personally I think tweaking things till you have only a morning and bedtime nursing seems reasonable. Let that be a comforting routine for a while then introduce a new lively morning routine with a bounty of fruits and include something like The Wiggles song Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy to make it interesting. That process won't take long and as with each nursing session that you drop, you are still Mommy in these moments so remember that it's okay to follow his cues and if you think he's just not ready yet, put it off a few days and try a different way later.

To drop that last night time session, it takes changing the bed time routine. And for my son, he was nearly two when I started making his nursing session shorter and shorter at night through various ways. Like not letting him fall asleep at the breast, offering him a cup of milk before bed to tank his belly up, etc... And I even would sometimes express a little discomfort and he'd ask what was wrong and I'd say Mommy's milky hurts and he'd ask for the other side. And then I'd say okay happily but after a few moments say the same thing. And he'd be content just to be rocked at that point, not wanting to hurt me. But I was gentle and if he still wanted to nurse I wouldn't protest it, and after a few minutes I'd find another way to stop him gently.

Eventually I had to cut him off totally so I told him mommy's milky was all gone and he was pretty upset that first night, but I assured him it was okay and that he could have it a different day. He understands different now. That first difficult night was one week ago today. It was the only difficult night. The following night we had the same discussion but he accepted it easier. And we have worked new elements into our night time routine to replace the comfort he got from nursing. Now I make up elaborate stories about giraffes and lions playing hide n seek and you name it!

He's not even expecting it anymore.

The gradual weaning is not only easier for the baby, it's a lot easier on your hormones and patience levels. At least that was true for me. I noticed when I cut too many nursing sessions at once (like all night time feeding at once) I was extremely moody and irritable and realized why only after suffering through it confused for a while. Then when he went without nursing for three days recently I cried with a broken heart because it felt forced (his father started putting him to bed abruptly out of embarassment when his family visited from out of state). So I backpeddled and went about it a lot gentler and on my and the baby's terms. Best advice I ever got was to ignore the rest of the world when it comes to the one facet of life that is unique to me and my son only.

Good luck and congrats on making it so far!!

All of the previous posts are excellent!

You don't have to wean just yet, unless that is what YOU want to do.
We didn't wean until my DD was 2 yrs old.

I would only add, not to allow the baby to see your undress or get dressed.

When we weaned, my DH put our DD to bed... and I couldn't

sit in the chair where we nursed. IF she came to me, I would get up and redirect and do something else with her.

Remember to do what is best for you and your family.

If you have any questions you also call La Leche League

First of all, congrats for making it to the one year mark. You've given your baby the perfect food for his first year of life. We don't live in a breastfeeding friendly society, so this is something to be proud of.
The key to weaning is nice and slow. By this time, baby is super attached to the comfort, not just the nutrition, of nursing. Two key things worked best for me. (1) dropping only one nursing session at a time. And for about a couple weeks or so. We just happened to start with daytime sessions because they were easier since he was playing and easier to occupy. At one point, we had dropped all daytime nursing and just nursed at night and overnight. We were both fine with this for another month or so. Then we started working on nights. I simply comforted him back to sleep in other ways (2) the "don't offer, don't refuse" method, especially in the beginning. Since he was starting to be so active I would simply not offer him the breast. He started not caring since he was busy doing other things. But if he did want to nurse, I did not refuse. This was like the beginning phase before we got to the serious business of weaning. This also gave me the knowledge of what sessions to drop first (the ones he tended to skip).
You really don't need medication or cabbage leaves or any other tricks if you take it slow enough for mother nature to do her thing. Your body adjusts, literally within days, everytime you drop a session. So your milk supply will continue to decrease as he lessens his nursing. But, of course, don't go around in pain. If any of those methods help reduce your pain, I say use them!

Here are some links from kellymom.com, the premier breastfeeding website:

Weaning FAQ's
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_faqs.html

Weaning. How does it happen?
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html

Weaning
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/index.html

Comfort Measures for Mom while weaning
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_mom.html

Weaning Techniques
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_techniques.html
*I think you'll especially like this link*

You do not have to stop, just because he is1. Many people keep breastfeeding for months afterwards. But it would be good to cut down a few feedings, and make sure you are feeding him the cereal appropriate for his age. When you do decide to stop, do not do it in the middle of the day. Just dont breastfeed him 1 morning, and stick to it. When you stop midday, it is like a smoker trying to quit midday- impossible, and creates a bad rest of the day. I know, I tried to quit on the evening feeding with my son. He about flipped. So, the next morning was the day we quit. He did not even notice until a week later.

wean gradually, losing one feeding at a time. I dropped one feeding every week. I actually began by dropping the morning nurse. I know that is not the first one that most mom's drop, but I thought that it would be easiest as my little one would have just had a great night's sleep and would be thirsty/hungry and it worked great for us. I didn't make a big deal out of it, I just held her with a sippy cup of milk and she had no troubles. I also never had any troubles with feeling engorged, I think because I weaned slowly over the course of a month and my body was able to naturally adjust to the change. Good luck. I think it was harder on me than my little girl!

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Hi. I'm K.. I breastfed both my children till age 3 1/2. :-0 I know. crazy huh? Well they are 17 and 10 and have turned out just fine so no biggie to me. Anyway, one thing I did for my youngest was something I had learned from another mom. This is really funny but it worked perfectly. I took a bandaid and put one over each nipple, then took a black little marker and put several spots on each breast. I know you are laughing now. :) As long as your little one understands a "boo boo", he will get it.

I told mine that mommy had some boo boos right now and he would lift up my shirt and make this face that was so funny. He never nursed again. He did lift my shirt several more times over the next couple days, but that was it. I was surprised by how fast he gave it up. Especially when it had been such a habit ( a sweet mommy time habit) for so long. I really cried though because I knew he was my last baby to nurse. I pumped a little bit for relief over several days and then it dried up.

Another funny note, my oldest gave it up when I truly developed poison ivy all over my body, including my breasts. So I kind of had a feeling that this would have worked. And it did. :) Good luck. K.

My daughter was feeding 4 times a day still at that age, so I eliminated one feeding a week for 3 weeks (started with the evening one first becuase I gave her whoe milk at dinner), and then the midday feedings. I kept the first morning feeding for a few weeks (this was the one she was most attached to). Then I let my husband go get her from her crib in the morning because she was associating getting up with nursing. Make sure you are replacing the feedings with whole milk.

take your time and do it slow otherwise the build up of milk is a little painful but if you do it slow and right, it is no problem.

yes they have the benefits by 6 months of age..theres no nutritous need to go any longer

Get dad in on it when possible. I gave my daughters their daddy and a bottle of formula at the bedtime nursing and staid out of eyesight. During the day I took away one feeding at a time until we were done. I did this over a months time. It worked for us. My first one weaned herself. The last 3 took some creative thinking. I aimed for being done by 18 months. I always got this overwhelming need to have my body back. It was wierd.

What worked for both of mine was to drop just one feeding for about a week at a time. With my son, I started with the feeding that he was the least interested in... happened to be at lunchtime. After about a week, I dropped another one, and so on. I actually nursed in the morning and at night for quite some time after dropping the other feedings because I couldn't figure out how to drop them since he seemed to enjoy them so.

Eventually though, I started giving him a cup of water with a splash of juice in it in the morning. That distracted him enough. The nighttime feeding was able to be dropped by having my husband put them to bed instead of me. After about a week each time, he stopped asking for it.

I never had much luck with just offering them whole milk instead. Neither of them like it much, even still. They drink it, but not much. I just started giving them a sippy of it at lunch and at dinner when I dropped those first two nursing times.

Good luck!

M.~
Congratulations for making it through a year of breastfeeding! I actually just went through the weaning process with my 13 month old. Basically you want to drop a feeding every couple of days to a week at a time, depending on how attached your little one is. Give yourself some time, it may take a few weeks. You also want to take your time because there is a small risk that you could develop plugged ducts. Believe me it hurts. Skipping a feeding every couple of days will gradually decrease your supply so your body will stop making milk. Start with the feedings that you think would be easy to distract your baby from. For example, it was easy for us to drop the afternoon feedings until it was just first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening. Then gradually we reduced these two feedings. It was hardest to eliminate the morning feeding (I think he cherished this time the most, and so did I). It helps when someone else can distract your baby during this time. When it was just me to get him up from bed, I would take in a sippy of milk and sometimes this helped. He was already drinking whole milk by then. Good luck. www.babycenter.com and la leche league are also references that are great.

Paula G.

After reading the responses ... WOW I never realized the involvement of weaning. I let my two children wean themselves. If you are not against breast-feeding longer, let him wean himself. However, if it is uncomfortable for you, then by all means, be done. Whatever you and he wants is what matters. Who said 12 months was the magic number? There is so much that you and he benefit from nursing. You already know that to be nursing in the first place. Good luck in whatever you decide.