"early" self-weening

[negrapy]

Now I know a lot of moms don't believe that babies will do this ... please don't respond
So I have a 9 monther that I try to nurse multiple times a day but he can only be "bothered" to stop to nurse 2 or 3 times a day. He does eat solid foods very well but I still would feel better if he were getting more breast milk. Tonight I tried to convince him to nurse to sleep, like his routine, and he bit me with his two very sharp teeth and his 4 more coming in ....... typically he just purses his lips and turns his head away while pushing me with his hands. Needless to say he rocked to sleep with Daddy.

so how did you transition out of nursing (or should I say your breasts do it)
I'm pretty full and he's out for the night
Also if he doesn't make it to a year what did you do in the interim? He takes water and tea well from a glass.

[Namaste]

Both of my dd's went through this. It started at about 8 months and lasted until 11, until I couldn't handle it anymore. Off/on, biting, pushing, wanting to play. I tried everything from nursing in a quiet room, loud room, dark room, outside, inside. My goal was 15 months, and I guess if I cut out food (which seems harsh to ME), I'm sure they would have wanted the breast more. I switched to formula and now we are heading towards goats milk as she'll be one next week. I wish I had words of advise, but I understand what you are experiencing.

[Timetodance]

I went down to two or three nursing at that age. One long feeding first thing in the morning, one short feeding before lunch and another feeding after the afternoon nap. It seemed to be what she wanted.

[halyled]

Please don't take this the wrong way...but why are you giving him tea at 9 months? Water, sure, juice, okay, but tea? No nutritional value whatsoever and possibly some things he really doesn't need (caffeine and sugar, depending on how you make the tea). How much are you giving him? It's possible that he's getting too much liquid which is why he's not interested in nursing.

Anyway...not trying to be judgmental. I live in the South and tea is a way of life here. I had to fight with mil's NOT to give much juice and not to give tea at all the first year when I breastfed older DS. Hasn't been a problem this time around, but I'm SAH now when I wasn't before. What I would try if he's not interested in nursing at the breast is pumping your milk and giving it to him in the cup. 2 or 3 times a day isn't enough at 9 months. Breast milk or formula are supposed to be the main source of nutrition for the first year...solids are just kind of icing on the cake.

[rpg_mommy]

Originally Posted by halyled Please don't take this the wrong way...but why are you giving him tea at 9 months? Water, sure, juice, okay, but tea? No nutritional value whatsoever and possibly some things he really doesn't need (caffeine and sugar, depending on how you make the tea). How much are you giving him? It's possible that he's getting too much liquid which is why he's not interested in nursing. Anyway...not trying to be judgmental. I live in the South and tea is a way of life here. I had to fight with mil's NOT to give much juice and not to give tea at all the first year when I breastfed older DS. Hasn't been a problem this time around, but I'm SAH now when I wasn't before. What I would try if he's not interested in nursing at the breast is pumping your milk and giving it to him in the cup. 2 or 3 times a day isn't enough at 9 months. Breast milk or formula are supposed to be the main source of nutrition for the first year...solids are just kind of icing on the cake.

I'd also suggest pumping and giving him the milk in a cup. My 9 month old still nurses/drinks BM 5-6 times a day - it's about 80-90% of his food intake. Sounds like your little one is just having teething issues maybe? My DS "doesn't have time to nurse" when he's got teeth coming in. Keep pumping if he's refusing to nurse so that your supply won't go down. You wouldn't want to dry up just in time for him to decide he's ready to start nursing again!

[bgjmhg03]

Well, my thought is to continue nursing the 2-3 times a day that he still wants to, but don't try to force more on him b/c it never helps when you are both upset. You can supplement the dropped feedings with formula or solids. You may also want to treat him for teething, whatever you give him to make him more comfortable b/c it probably hurts to suck. I gave my DD Hyland's teething tablets and chammomile tea and that seemed to help.

My DD hasn't weaned yet, but I have read what to do if you are uncomfortable from the missed feedings. If you are ready to drop the feeding entirely, then just pump or hand express a little bit to make yourself somewhat comfortable, but if you pump too much, then your body won't know to dry up that feeding. If you think it might be a nursing strike due to teething (that would be what my money is on) and you don't want to dry up the feeding, just keep pumping it until he is ready to nurse again.

You said he drinks from a cup - maybe the solution is to pump feedings he refuses and give them to him from a cup?

[negrapy]

Originally Posted by halyled Please don't take this the wrong way...but why are you giving him tea at 9 months? Water, sure, juice, okay, but tea? No nutritional value whatsoever and possibly some things he really doesn't need (caffeine and sugar, depending on how you make the tea). How much are you giving him? It's possible that he's getting too much liquid which is why he's not interested in nursing. Anyway...not trying to be judgmental. I live in the South and tea is a way of life here. I had to fight with mil's NOT to give much juice and not to give tea at all the first year when I breastfed older DS. Hasn't been a problem this time around, but I'm SAH now when I wasn't before. What I would try if he's not interested in nursing at the breast is pumping your milk and giving it to him in the cup. 2 or 3 times a day isn't enough at 9 months. Breast milk or formula are supposed to be the main source of nutrition for the first year...solids are just kind of icing on the cake.

Don't worry no sugar or caffefine in the tea But I can imagine the horror of giving southern "sweet" tea to a baby. I can't take that tea myself. Actually as a family we drink something called yerba matte from South America (which is here my husband is from). He only drinks it when we drink it and not as much as we do. He might drink it once or twice every couple days for a few minutes with us. Otherwise he drinks a sippy of liptons caff free and watered down at my grandma's at lunch once a week when we go to visit her for lunch. My husband says drinking tea there is like drinking water but I'm used to the strength or lack there of so it doesn't bother me at all. He does drink water with most of his meals. My family has a history of diabetes so pretty much nobody drinks juice. When he eats he likes to drink too. I guess I could try at least when we are at home seeing if he'd take breast milk after a couple bites, then more food then more breast etc instead of his water.

I agree that I've read the the solids should be the icing but I don't think my son got the memo .... he's missed quite a few about what babies should be doing when. He will refuse breast and scream for other food. and I would love to give him more milk .... I mean its already premade and I don't have to wash any dishes.
I thought about pumping however I have never had any luck with a variety of pumps I tried. Which is why I posted since I'm out of ideas.

[lutgen]

Originally Posted by negrapy I agree that I've read the the solids should be the icing but I don't think my son got the memo .... he's missed quite a few about what babies should be doing when. He will refuse breast and scream for other food. and I would love to give him more milk .... I mean its already premade and I don't have to wash any dishes.

I love this - what it means is that you are listening to your child. What a child "should" be doing, is not what "every" child does. Every child is completely unique. Really, you have no clue if during his few nursing sessions he may be taking in 8 oz or more or less. When I was working and pumping with #1 & #2 (I stay home now) I could pump 7-8 oz from one side in a little over 5 minutes if it was the early morning. It is amazing how efficent little ones can be at getting what they need quickly.

However, at this age - my guess would be teething too. Also - just to be on the safe side, have you had his ears looked at?

[ChurchPunkMom]

We had some friends living with us that drank the Yerba Matte - she drank it while she was pg, because she assumed it was caffeine free. Don't know if yours is the same brand (or if there's even different brands..) but the Guayana Yerba Matte said right on the bag "naturally caffeinated".

Anyway, it's pretty normal for a 9mo to only nurse a few times a day. They're very busy at that age. Your body will adjust and your milk will become more "concentrated" so that he will still get what he needs. Just offer the solids minimally (or only when he asks, if he does) and limit other liquids. He's probably also uncomfortable if he's teething (esp if the top teeth are coming in, I notice that to be a toughy to nurse through) - you can try giving him some teething tablets or let him chew on an ice cube (in a mesh feeder or a washcloth) or something cold and see if he nurses better that way. I notice that my kids all decreased their nursing from 9-12 mo. It wasn't till my third (who I finally made it past a year with!) that I had it pick back up at around 13-14mo.

[jrk]

My ds is almost 7 months and seems too busy most of the day to nurse. He nurses well at his 6 am feeding and right before bed at night. But other than that has little to no interest. I know he's getting at least 8 oz at a time because I can pump that much easy and they say babys get more than you can pumping. I'm not worried. He's growing, and doesn't seem hungry.