HI. Any advice would be helpful ladies. I am newly pregnant with baby #2 (6weeks) and am still nursing #1. My original plan was to wean her over the next month or so, because we were going to try for #2 in January :curtsey: I REALLY wanted to have a couple months of my body all to myself. But alas, that wasn't in the cards for us. Anyway, we are down to two nursings a day-one before bed and one somewhere between 4 and 6 am. (If we're lucky.)
I'm working on a bottle (which she FINALLY takes) before bed and to slowly convince her that she doesn't need the boob anymore. So far she does NOT agree, but nurses shorter. I'm hoping that over a week or so she sways my way :o
The morning nursing is a lot harder. First off, I wish she didn't wake up then at all! Then problem would be solved! Second, I'm too groggy to heat up a bottle and she won't drink it cold. Any ideas? I'll heat it up if it will help! Third, I'm a little nervous that she is getting way more calories in the bottle than from the breast. She's already a chunk :thumbsup: and I don't believe cow's milk is all it's cracked up to be anyway.
Any stories, ideas, books, etc would be helpful, Mammas. Thanks!!!
Faithfor12
10-21-2008, 07:15 PM
How old is she? There's really no medical reason to stop nursing your current child just b/c you're pregnant. I continued bfing my middle child up till about a month before the 3rd was born. Anyway, off my soap box!:blush:
I too am trying to wean a young child who is saying 'no dice'. I'm not sure what to do really. I'm already doing everything I know. Hope someone has some good advice!
McMasters
10-22-2008, 05:57 AM
Have your DH or partner get up then and give her a paci or try to put her back to sleep. It will probably be rough and might take a bit, but it's a habit that needs to be broken. I'm trying to wean my 18 month old and I'm also pregnant. For me, the morning nursing has been the easiest to give up IF I get out of bed and make him breakfast. He forgets all about it and just eats his eggs then has some juice/water or a bit of milk. If you are concerned about her weight, which you probably don't need to be, give her 2%. Whole milk is only 4% fat anyway.
petunia_2007
10-22-2008, 09:07 AM
Thanks for the responses! I know I could continue to nurse her, but I'm not really into it. For the third night in a row I gave her a bottle, then she begged for the breast anyway AND wanted me to hold her an extra long time. She knows somethings up! The breakfast idea is good, but she wakes up at 6, nurses, and goes back down until 9. So that won't work for us unless I totally disrupt her schedule. That is how I got her off the 9 am feeding though, so it really does work. How far along are you? My daughter is 16, almost 17 months.
etsdtm99
10-22-2008, 02:48 PM
i would give it a while personally, and see if your supply goes down and she gives it up on her own - when i was ~10-12 weeks pg with DS, DD was 18 months old and my milk supply vanished .. DD went from nursing several times during the night and 3-4 times druing the day to just nursing to sleep at nap/bedtime within a week or so .. she was fine with it because there was no milk anyway .. plus about that time it started really hurting to nurse so i got very motivated to help her cut back.. lol
togg_mama
10-22-2008, 02:53 PM
I nursed DD until I was I was almost 4 months pregnant. (She was EBF when I got pregnant.) I kept it up because I had no choice and then all of a sudden, she started eating table food and we ended up weaning. It wasn't that hard actually...
petunia_2007
10-23-2008, 04:44 PM
Thanks so much, Ladies! We aren't having much success on my schedule :giggle:, so we'll try hers. Hopefully you're right and she'll lose interest as I dry up. Have a great day!
Mom of Sasha and Oisin
10-23-2008, 09:08 PM
I nursed throughout my pregnancy. I wasn't trying to wean, however my milk supply did reduce around the 7-8 month. Then the milk changed taste and my daughter would say...ew yucky. She kept nursing but she wasn't really drinking, funny I know. When my milk came in after my son was born, she was all about drinking again.
There is a chance when your milk changes taste, she may wean herself.
Faithfor12
10-24-2008, 09:52 PM
Definately what they said about the milk drying up. Ds1 was EBF up till about 10 when my milk dried up nearly completely for a while. He started eating table food then and by 12mo was down to bfing 2-3 times a day which he kept up till a month before ds2 was born.
frogandtoad
11-13-2008, 10:50 PM
DS3 weaned on his own around 4 or 5 mos pregnant. I think my milk had changed and he really didn't like it. I tried and tried to continue (even once per day) but he wasn't having it, so I had to let go. It was sad because I nursed DS1 for 35 mos and DS2 for 30 mos so weaning a child at 16 mos was hard for me. But since I had been through the other two I was able to recognize time was up.
If you really want to wean and/or cut back nursing, I recommend "don't offer, don't refuse" or what I like to call "distract distract distract". With DS2 I offered fruit snacks during times when it was just too hard to nurse or when we were out running around. The early morning nursing may be the last to go -- start with her least favorite and work your way from there. GL.
shastakat
11-14-2008, 06:00 PM
I just found out that I'm pregnant with #3 and was curious about the same thing. I think that I'm ready to wean and pretty sure that dd is as well. I just need some tips on how to do it.
CrunchyMama0607
12-03-2008, 08:31 AM
I've never weaned before (dd self weaned at 21mths) but I'll try to offer some help. You could give her a small snack (maybe 2 peanut butter crackers) before bed and a little cup of milk so her tummy isn't empty.
She might just be comfort nursing though. In which case, maybe take her to the store and let her pick out a special stuffed animal that she can snuggle up to instead of the booby and explain to her why your getting it.
I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. :blush: GL :goodvibes:
houseplantgirl
12-29-2008, 02:29 PM
I am in the same boat.
I'm 12 weeks pregnant with #4, and still nursing my 19 month old son.
He is very aggressive and LOVES his booboo's!!
I still nurse him to nap, and to bed, unless DH is home, then he takes him and gets him to sleep....and then he wakes in the night to nurse, at least 2 times.
I'm exhausted and I really really would like some sleep and a break before this next babe comes.
This is the longest I've nursed one of my kids, the other2 weaned at 15 and 14 months.....sigh.
I'm tempted to just leave for 3 days/nights, and let DH deal with it....but it seems sooo mean to just make him go cold turkey.
But I really think, that at this point, it's mostly habit and comfort nursing.
So we are just trying really hard to cut back.
I tell him "the boo boo's are asleep". and try to distract him with a book or other stuff during the day.
At night, I'm offering a sippy of water first. Our house is dry, so I'm thinking he's just thirsty sometimes.
but anyhoo, I feel your pain and exhaustion!!!
BrittBBT
12-29-2008, 03:23 PM
I weaned my son at 28-29 months. I am pregnant with twins and my milk dried up completely at about 3 months... I was both devastated and relieved. I thought my milk would turn to colostrum at about 5 or 6 months, NOT totally dry up at 3 months.
Anyway, what I did was night wean first, while I still had milk. I also cut his feedings down to 3 set times a day. When the dry nursing got too painful, I simply distracted him and offered food or drink... he would ask to nurse every so often and I'd aplogize and tell him the nummies had no milk. After a few weeks he stopped asking. Now he asks to hold them. I let him. He gets comfort from resting his face on them, holding them, and... sniffing them:lostit: not sure about that one... LOL
teenbean31
01-13-2009, 04:22 PM
I am in the same boat.
I'm 12 weeks pregnant with #4, and still nursing my 19 month old son.
He is very aggressive and LOVES his booboo's!!
I still nurse him to nap, and to bed, unless DH is home, then he takes him and gets him to sleep....and then he wakes in the night to nurse, at least 2 times.
I'm exhausted and I really really would like some sleep and a break before this next babe comes.
This is the longest I've nursed one of my kids, the other2 weaned at 15 and 14 months.....sigh.
I'm tempted to just leave for 3 days/nights, and let DH deal with it....but it seems sooo mean to just make him go cold turkey.
But I really think, that at this point, it's mostly habit and comfort nursing.
So we are just trying really hard to cut back.
I tell him "the boo boo's are asleep". and try to distract him with a book or other stuff during the day.
At night, I'm offering a sippy of water first. Our house is dry, so I'm thinking he's just thirsty sometimes.
but anyhoo, I feel your pain and exhaustion!!!
Ummm this would be me. :giggle:
My dd who is 20 mos loves her boobies. She did seem to ween herself at about 14-15 mos..she was down to like 1-2 nursings ever so often then all of a sudden she wanted it like never before.
The midwife told me that they know that something is up & know there is a baby coming. She seems to think just to let her nurse, but I am so tired. I am actually due in like 5 wks at the most. I so see myself nursing both of them.
She just doesn't seem to ever forget about it...distraction does help sometimes but not always. She is DEFINITELY a comfort nurser. I don't think there is much there as of milk lately.
I am going to need support when the baby comes..I know it's going to be touch. I will probably just let Alyse nurse just so she doesn't feel neglected.
petunia_2007
03-18-2009, 01:44 PM
Hi,
Just as an update, I really appreciate all your responses! Good luck to all of you who were weaning too.
We have successfully weaned. At my 8 week appt, my OB suggested it seriously and we were pretty much down to one a day, so I gave it a shot. DD was about 17 mo at the time.
So here's how I think it went.
We were down to the am and pm. The pm I kept giving her a bottle and then the boob until we finally just got to the bottle. Then we slowly tackled the am feed. My DH went in and rocked her (luckily and thankfully he was totally on board) and she was fine with that. (With me she HAD to nurse.) The times that she wanted to nurse randomly because I think she missed it, she did. I never stopped her. That way I think there wasn't like a "here's the last one" feeling for either of us.
She was almost 18 mo when she was weaned. She would still talk about them, touch them, etc, but given the opportunity (which I did), she never really wanted to nurse, she just teased and we'd both laugh about it.
So we went from 2 to 1 to 0 in about 8 weeks or so.
FYI, at my 12 week appt, the baby had stopped growing. The Dr. did say that "despite what LLL will have you believe, there is a higher chance of miscarriage if you bf while pregnant." Don't know if that contributed or not, but I sure wouldn't wish it on anyone!
Good luck to all you mama's out there!!! :goodvibes:
malachi456
03-26-2009, 12:29 PM
i am due with #2 in about 5 weeks or less and i just stopped bf last week with #1. i let her decide when it was time to stop, she just doesnt need it anymore and doesnt ask or seem interested. i wouldnt force the issue of weaning if your first is not ready. its not wirth the frustration and bf while pregnant is safe.
