How does one wean?

[apunicorn]

Hey ladies,

Some of us are still breast feeding but many have switched to formula and we also have a bunch of STMs. Can you share how you stopped nursing? I want to be done by V's first birthday but I'm not sure how to do it. Do I just stop cold turkey one day and take Sudafed? Or should I try gradually decreasing the amount? I'm also super super prone to mastitis and it always happens when I go too long between nursing. Thanks!

[chocolate]

Are you still nursing totally or do you give some bottles and pump? (Aside from her daycare time)

[chocolate]

I will be done nursing at a year also. In the next week or two I plan to replace 1 nursing session with a bottle. I will do that for x amount of days or maybe 1 week, and then replace another, and so forth. The absolute last to go will be the before bed session.

[chocolate]

For V's sake I wouldn't go cold turkey. Can you pump some to take the edge off to hopefully prevent the mastitis and gradually decrease the length of time you pump and increase the time inbetween the pumping? Or does leaving some in there cause it for you?

[apunicorn]

Dec 7, 2016 22:38:34 GMT -5 chocolate said:

Are you still nursing totally or do you give some bottles and pump? (Aside from her daycare time)

I nurse on the weekends otherwise nurse 2x a day and pump the rest.

[apunicorn]

chocolate honestly I'm not sure if leaving some in is the issue or what. But if I go longer than normal it always happens. That's why I wonder if cold turkey would be better (with some Sudafed)?

[trtlcrzy]

Cutting cold turkey sounds like a bad idea with how often you get clogs/mastitis. I didn't wean until after H turned one but basically what I did was cut out sessions gradually and replace with the sippy cup. She was in daycare full time so i would only nurse her before bed and first thing in the morning during the week. On the weekend I started with trying to cut the before nap sessions and then morning and the last one was the before bed session.

I stopped pumping at a year and how I did that was cut out one session for a week or two and then the other, no problems with clogs or mastitis for me though.

ETA: personally I would wait till she turns 11 months. A month should be more than long enough to get her weaned.

[apunicorn]

Thanks trtlcrzy, sounds like I'm on the same path as you already with just nursing before bed and in the morning and I've already gone down to 1 pump a day. I'm just so scared to drop that one pump, maybe I should pump a little bit less every day. And totally agree I'll start around 11 months. Just want to be prepared!

[trtlcrzy]

Dec 7, 2016 23:18:15 GMT -5 apunicorn said:

Thanks trtlcrzy, sounds like I'm on the same path as you already with just nursing before bed and in the morning and I've already gone down to 1 pump a day. I'm just so scared to drop that one pump, maybe I should pump a little bit less every day. And totally agree I'll start around 11 months. Just want to be prepared!

Do you have a freezer stash? The only reason I ask is because she still needs either breastmilk or formula until a year. So you don't want to quit pumping too soon.

[apunicorn]

Dec 7, 2016 23:21:49 GMT -5 trtlcrzy said:

Dec 7, 2016 23:18:15 GMT -5 apunicorn said:

Thanks trtlcrzy, sounds like I'm on the same path as you already with just nursing before bed and in the morning and I've already gone down to 1 pump a day. I'm just so scared to drop that one pump, maybe I should pump a little bit less every day. And totally agree I'll start around 11 months. Just want to be prepared!

Do you have a freezer stash? The only reason I ask is because she still needs either breastmilk or formula until a year. So you don't want to quit pumping too soon.

Oh I've been supplementing a little with formula for a while now. So the pumped bottles will just be more formula.

[tkford216]

apunicorn Ex-pumper here. If you're prone to clogs and such, I would decrease that pumping session gradually (when you're ready to do so). Stop a few minutes shorter than you normally would, and as long as your boobs feel okay, drop it another couple minutes every other day until you end up skipping it altogether. (I.e., If you generally pump 20 minutes now, go down to 18 for 2 days, then 15 for 2 days, 12, 10, whatever.) You can drop more or less time each step based on how your boobs handle it. As for the nursing part, I'm no help. (I assume it's the same way? Maybe drop the pumping session, then work down the morning nursing, then bedtime?)

[chocolate]

Yes to what trtlcrzy said about timing, I'm just overloaded in my freezer so I can start chipping away at it.

[kelle017]

For you I wouldn't go cold turkey. Eleanor was 22 months when I weaned her so I'm not a ton of help probably. But I stretched out the length of time between feedings and then dropped sessions. It took me a few months but i wasn't in a huge rush. And she did pretty well. She asked for milk the first few days a couple
Times and that was it.

[britterrss]

I'm most concerned with how to stop night nursing when weaning. He's been waking 2-4x per night. Nothing I'm trying is working!

[musicalsilver]

Dec 8, 2016 20:11:05 GMT -5 britterrss said:

I'm most concerned with how to stop night nursing when weaning. He's been waking 2-4x per night. Nothing I'm trying is working!

I didn't try until later with my DS, but night weaning did not fix his MOTN wakeups. Some kids are just crap sleepers, boob or not. I hope this is not the case for you though!

DS was about 18m when I night weaned. I just told him the baboos needed sleep too and he was relatively okay with that.

[apunicorn]

Dec 8, 2016 20:11:05 GMT -5 britterrss said:

I'm most concerned with how to stop night nursing when weaning. He's been waking 2-4x per night. Nothing I'm trying is working!

Night weaning let V sleep through the night so I highly recommend it. I basically made my husband do it. He went in and rocked or shushed and patted. After a week or so I was able to do the same since she realized boobs are no longer on the menu at night. Funny my mom mentioned to me that that's how she night weaned me - by having my dad go in.

[britterrss]

Dec 8, 2016 22:02:41 GMT -5 apunicorn said:

Dec 8, 2016 20:11:05 GMT -5 britterrss said:

I'm most concerned with how to stop night nursing when weaning. He's been waking 2-4x per night. Nothing I'm trying is working!

Night weaning let V sleep through the night so I highly recommend it. I basically made my husband do it. He went in and rocked or shushed and patted. After a week or so I was able to do the same since she realized boobs are no longer on the menu at night. Funny my mom mentioned to me that that's how she night weaned me - by having my dad go in.

We tried and he just cries and MH and I are both of the "can't handle any crying" ilk. ☹️

[apunicorn]

Dec 8, 2016 22:31:03 GMT -5 britterrss said:

Dec 8, 2016 22:02:41 GMT -5 apunicorn said:

Night weaning let V sleep through the night so I highly recommend it. I basically made my husband do it. He went in and rocked or shushed and patted. After a week or so I was able to do the same since she realized boobs are no longer on the menu at night. Funny my mom mentioned to me that that's how she night weaned me - by having my dad go in.

We tried and he just cries and MH and I are both of the "can't handle any crying" ilk. ☹️

Woof I'm sorry. There's nothing your husband can do that can calm him? For example we stopped rocking after V was a newborn but for night weaning we allowed my husband to do it because it was the only thing he had. We pulled out all the stops and he walked around rocking her, just like a newborn.

[britterrss]

Dec 9, 2016 0:31:24 GMT -5 apunicorn said:

Dec 8, 2016 22:31:03 GMT -5 britterrss said:

We tried and he just cries and MH and I are both of the "can't handle any crying" ilk. ☹️

Woof I'm sorry. There's nothing your husband can do that can calm him? For example we stopped rocking after V was a newborn but for night weaning we allowed my husband to do it because it was the only thing he had. We pulled out all the stops and he walked around rocking her, just like a newborn.

Not sure but willing to try anything! Maybe I'll coach him some more.