My sister is trying to ween her daughter from the breast. Her daughter turned one in September and has always been exclusivly breastfed. She will sometimes take a bottle with "carrot" juice, or a sippy cup of juice or water, but she has no interest in milk, soy milk, or formula. She eats solid foods, obviously, but is not enthusiatic about it. My sister is just worn out from breastfeeding this long and figures a year is long enough. She just needs tips on how to get her daughter to eat and drink something else.
Not and easy task! I weaned my son when he was three. I gave him an ice cream cone and he threw it on the ground. Refuse to eat anything and just cried. Then he just stopped crying and started eating like he was really hungry. That was it - he was weaaned.
Your sister has done wonderful nursing as long as she has and she deserves a break if she feels she needs one! The baby can do very well on regular milk and solids now. Some just love their mommy milk and I swear would drink it as long as they could. It took my son about 1 month to acquire the taste of whole milk. We just kept trying little amounts at each feeding, and did not go back to formula or breastmilk. We also offered water so he did get his fluids. And the doctor just had us give him more calcium containing foods. At some point he learned to love his milk. Which is another issue when they start needing less of even that! Once again, some kids would survive on milk alone if they could.
My son was used to a bottle so when we switched to milk we gave it to him in a bottle. But some babies will never take milk from a bottle...they want their breastmilk or formula from that thing! But the bottle is more like a nipple, so that could be either good or bad, depending on the child! When we transitioned away from a bottle we used a sippy cup with a soft spout rather than a hard one. My best advice is to try several options to see what seems to work best for this child. If a bottle is comforting during the transition, go that route until she gets used to milk. Wish her good luck!
I also did not fully wean til about 13-14 months. Congrat you sister first!! I would go to a cup, not a bottle. In the end, I had to allow my little guy to "cry it out". It was the only way, it worked! Now my son is able to sooth himself and go to bed when it is time! Nighttime feeding was the one I cut out last. My son did have a cup at daycare and at home, however so that was not an issue. Best of luck.
Your sister can put bitters on her nipples. It will make the milk taste bitter and usually discourages nursing. If this is too tramatic, she can take away one feeding at a time. Ususally by age one, nusrsing is down to bedtime, nap time, and moments of stress. It helps to substitute something else like a special hug or a story fro the closenenss of nursing. Another idea is to paint the nipples with vegetabe dye (food coloring) to make them look funny. As for getting the milk into the little one's diet, it can be added to soups, puddings, or even put dry milk powder into hot cereal or meatloaf. Yogurt is also a good source of dairy. Freezing it into popcicles is a fun way to serve it. Just a few thoughts. Good luck to your sister. Liz
Go shopping! Sis should take her daughter to buy a special cup, a book, and a timer. Avoid any high fructose drinks. Then when nursing set a timer and she gets only a few minutes on each breast. When the timer goes off she gets the cup and reads the book. Then move onto just the book and cup.
Plan B: As children get older they are in a set schedule and sometimes to ween you need to change the schedule so bedtimes are conducted by someone else. Mom goes for a short walk or isn't available. (not always easy with todays families)
Plan C: The older kids that nurse need the comfort feeling and relaxation that nursing brings, so sometimes it just takes a short period and then holding close to chest. We did the open and closed thing with "nummies". But when in public when my daughter was stressed she said OPEN OPEN, so it got kind of funny, but embarrasing depending on where we were.
Also your sis should be taking vitamins for nursing moms.
:D
try checking out her local la leche league group. they have TONS of info.
or www.askdrsears.com
the most important thing to remember about weaning is that you have to replace nursing with something else to give the child that emotional connection. my son self weaned by 19 months - which was way earlier than i expected, but we replaced that time spent nursing with time spent cuddling or reading books. another GREAT method if shes willing to be more patient with it is dont ask dont refuse. basically, if baby doesnt ask to nurse, dont offer, and if baby does, dont refuse. this is a respectful way to handle a nursing older baby. if she knows baby is going to want to nurse, she can try to distract baby by reading or bath or cuddle or something very one on one with baby. something very connecting without the nursing.
also, dont sit in a familiar nursing spot. around the time my son weaned, we got different furnature from a friend - i dont think you need different furnature, but perhaps just not sitting in the same chair or spot on the couch. it was a given that when i sat on my end of the couch, my son would want to nurse. so avoid, get rid of, or dont sit in the place you usually nurse.
however, if she continues nursing once or twice a day, you can avoid the whole milk thing altogether... kids who are nursing during the 2nd year DONT need whole milk, just skim.
ANOTHER thing, my son wouldnt take to milk either - but he would take chocolate milk. our doctor and wic were both supportive of it - they said as long as he is drinking it didnt matter if it was chocolate or plain. :D that would be a really good way for her to get onto milk. its a really good idea to just get on soy milk - cows milk is being shown now to actually cause more problems than it helps. you DO NOT need milk for calcium or other nutrients as long as baby gets a diet with plenty of veggies, fruits, etc good foods.
im no vegetarian by any means, but reducing the amout of animal products we use is always a good thing.
anyway, good luck to your sister. just remember she needs to do this delicatly, and in a way that somehow fulfills the needs of the baby! nursing after a year however is GOOD, NATURAL, RESPECTFUL, and very very healthy! the longer she nurses, the more various cancer risks lowers, the more diabetes risks lowers, the more weight she will lose (i lost 5-8 more pounds when i continued breastfeeding after a year) and the more antibodies baby will receive! its a good thing
HOWEVER, if mom is unhappy with it, it frustrates her, its a bother, she should stop. again, if you contact the local la leche league they will have LOTS of information for her, and mom support and experience!
good luck!
I had a hard time weening my daughter as well but eventually got her to drink yogart from a bottle, strawberry flavored, now she will drink strawberry milk but thats it. I think that she was like 15 months before she quit nursing. The doctor didn't seem worried about it just said that she will quit when she is readay. Good Luck!1
I agree with L D's response. My 2nd daughter did the same thing. I even talked with a pediatric dietician about it. She said it is okay, just substitute foods high in calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, broccoli, etc. Her daughter will eat if she is hungry. It may take an adjustment period. When weaning, I cut out one nursing a week...she should start with nighttime feedings though if she still nursing then. Substitute a sippy cup with juice or water during the time she would normally be nursing and act like it is no big deal...don't call attention to the fact that she's not nursing if she doesn't say anything. I started weaning at around 13 months and was done at 14 months with my two oldest. My daughter still does not like to drink milk, even chocolate or strawberry, but she is healthy.
It is common for children to refuse other milk while still nursing. Don't worry about her not getting enough dairy, eventually she will drink it and you can offer cheese/yogurt in the mean time.
Weaning: Cut out the feedings gradually. Start with the feeding she is least attached to. It maybe helpful to have someone else feed her. Mainly keep the child distracted during that time. After a few days she shouldn't be looking for that feeding any more. That is when you can cut out the next feeding.
Skip the bottle. Most doctors recommend weaning from bottles around a year. No point in starting it now.
Maybe her daughter is not ready.
My son would NOT have anything apart from breastmilk for a LONG time - past the age of 1.
He would have yoghurt but he would not even have cow juice with falvouring like a milk shake.
We went to a no spill drink cup.
Unfortuantely its your sister that is ready to take the perfect nutrition from her child when her child is not ready and her body may know it needs it longer ...
I just kept encouraging him on to the cup and as he learnt that the cup could go around the room with him but not my breast ... he did it in his own time.
I used chocolate syrup... Just a tiny bit to get my son interested. I had gotten to the point where I felt he was sucking the life out of me... I had a two and a half year old, and I just couldn't do it anymore.
My doctor was fine with it as well.
It is most likely that the nipple is nothing like Mamma's, and breast milk tends to be a bit sweet. She won't starve herself, it might seem cruel, but my doctor kept telling me to only offer the bottle or sippy cup. He said "he will take it when he is hungry enough"
Keep trying, and don't give up... It might take a bit of stress before it is over, but if you stay consistant, the baby will give in.
