I nursed my daughter until she was 10 mos. (she started biting and no strategy my lactation consultant and I could come up with would get her to stop!). My son just turned one on July 2 and I am so proud to have made it to the year mark! Given that he is my last, I am in no rush to wean. My plan is to re-evaluate at 18 mos, and 24 mos. if he still wants to nurse. Not sure what I will do after the 2-year mark :) My son is a great solid eater and I've introduced whole milk as a side dish to his meals, not necessarily as a replacement. That said, I'm hoping to keep my milk production where it is (not increasing it or decreasing it) by continuing to provide him with a balanced diet. Does anyone have any extended nursing tips? What worked for you?
An area where I'm struggling is that after he turned 1, we eliminated bottles (he goes to daycare 3 x week) and he's having a hard time using a sippy, even though we introduced one around 9 mos. While I'm not so concerned how much cow's milk he's ingesting, I am more concerned about how much b'milk he is getting while I'm working. I would have the care provider offer a cup but I don't want my liquid gold spilled, LOL. Anyone have any tips/advice?
This might also be an issue for late-night babysitting, as he still gets up twice to nurse in the middle of the night. Should my mother-in-law offer a sippy? We've been gently sleep training so I'm hoping this won't be an issue for long.
Anyway, I'm sorry this is so long but it is wonderful to have this network of supportive mamas!
Just to clarify, he does drink from a sippy (he's been partial to the straw-like Nuby and another soft-tipped Avent) but he's only taking about 5 oz. total of b'milk, when he used to take two 6 oz. bottles of b'milk. When he drinks cow's milk, he'll usually drink 2 oz. or so, but again, not so concerned with his cow milk intake :) Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming, mamas!
It might just be the type of sippy cup. Find one with a soft tip to transition from nipple to bottle.
**EDIT:
If you want him to have more breastmilk... give it to him BEFORE any solids. If you give it after solids, he will be too full to nurse and/or drink the breastmilk.
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I nursed both my kids and let the "self-wean."
My son self-weaned at about 1 year old.
My daughter self-weaned at about 2.5 years old.
Both my kids were on solids and whole milk by then. And were able to drink from cups.
I just did self-weaning.
And went by their cues.
Sleep, is another issue. Kids, will sleep, developmentally, at a certain age. Or you can methods to get them to sleep and not wake.
Extended nursing, just means, nursing until the child self-weans... or it is past 1 year old.
Since your son does NOT drink from sippys or botles... then he cannot get your pumped breastmilk at Daycare. That is fine. He's 1 years old. Just nurse him when you and he are home. Your body should adjust and your milk output. He only goes to Daycare 3x a week.
BUT... Is he drinking regular whole milk? How is he drinking that... since he does not drink from sippys or a bottle? To me, you need to work on his drinking from a cup... since you did away with bottles. Then he can get both whole milk and/or your pumped breastmilk.
Try different sippy cups/spouts.
By this age, he should be able to drink from it.
OR, try "straw cups." Some kids, drink from these better.
I WOULD try a straw cup... instead. It does not have to be a sippy cup.
There are many toddler straw cups on the aisles of stores. In the baby section.
all the best,
Susan
My daughter is nearly 3 & still nursing, congrats on yours! =)
Once my daughter was 12 months.. we eliminated bottles as well.. but I also weaned myself off the pump. I felt that she got enough BM while I was at home with her - that during the day she could have water/milk.
That way I wasn't spending time pumping, and being more productive at work.
As far as not using the sippy - what about a cup/lid/straw?
I worked 40 hours a week (I was gone essentially 50 hours with lunches & drives) and my supply was well established. I left my job in October of last year, and here we are coming up on 2 years of no pumping, and she still gets all the milk she wants/needs =).
I found when my daughter stayed the night with my in-laws - she slept through the night (ugh!!) but not for us, because she knew I was there for the milk.
If he *does* wake, I see no problems with offering him a sippy.
Congrats! I only made it to 13 1/2 months with my second, but by the time I weaned him he really only wanted the nursing session right when I got home from work, not so much at night. I actually stopped pumping around 11 or 11 1/2 months when he was able to start trying small amounts of whole milk and eat mostly table food. I think that helped because he then associated breast milk only with me, and all other liquids with a cup. Your supply will still keep up with any demand (I weaned in September and will still leak a small amount, although that could be because we're expecting our third).
You definitely don't want your milk wasted, but if you want to use a combination of breast milk and whole (not a literal one, but at different times of the day) that might be an option. It is usually better not to be giving it in bottles at that age, so I don't have any good ideas there. We had some luck at night by sharing the bedtime routines so our kids were okay with me or my husband and not only needing me (or nursing). Good luck. :)
neither of my kids could get the hang of using a sippy cup...instead we had to use straws (with lids on the cups of course) but it worked beautifully. I think a bottle for late night feedings with someone other than mom would be better than a cup if you have to feed him at all. Congrats on your success so far!
Have you tried a different kind of sippy cup? Are you using one with a rubber tip or hard plastic? Have you tried the cup yourself? I bought one for my daughter that was worthless and even I couldn't get anything out of it. Congrats to you for nursing for so long that's pretty awesome! I didn't do anything different when I nursed past a year just had to keep reminding myself to not skip meals and continue to drink lots of water.
i wouldnt worry about during the day when you are gone. your nutrients get concentrated when you nurse less so he is still getting a lot of benefits for as little as he may be nursing. Hes going to go through several teething bursts and increase night nursing for comfort so dont stress too much if your sleep training falls though. Let him nurse at will when you are around. He will get plenty that way. WARNING you will soon loose the ability to feel a let down and you will almost feel like there is nothing in there. I lost that sensation sometime after 1. My daughter is 2and an half and still nursing strong and though it feels like i have nothing but i have plenty. Dont think that you have no milk. If your child is nursing then you have milk in there. Good job and KEEP IT UP!!!!!
I used cups with a spout lid for my daughter. A similar thing would be the sippy without the rubbery plug inside. That way it starts pouring into their mouths (if it's pouring too quickly, cover up that little air hole in the sippy cup), and they get the hang of drinking out of it more quickly. Here's one like what I used on the tupperware site: http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/tup_show_item.... I actually found some at Target, but they're not showing up on the website, and it was a few years ago.
I'm still nursing my 25 month old and will be weaning soon since just for me personally, I think he's getting a little too old for it now. I stopped pumping at a year, but my milk supply was so well established it never made much of a difference. As I recall we just had to try a number of different sippy cups (the ones with straws work the best for us) before we found one that worked. I stopped the night feedings around the one year mark and it was a great relief for me. My son continued to wake up in the night on occasion but no breast milk was given during the night only water and cuddling.
We gave my son cow's milk in his sippy cup starting at 12 months too since I stopped pumping. At first he didn't drink much of it, but gradually he started taking it when he was thirsty. I would say by 18 months, nursing was only for first thing in the morning, before and after nap time and before bed. It has mostly remained this way ever since.
Good for you mama! After 1 I had to go back to work more and tried pumping for awhile, but it was just too difficult in my situation as a substitute teacher...no provisions, no guaranteed privacy, lack of time, etc. So at that point I just cut out the daytime feedings when I wasn't home. DD ate food like a champ and enjoyed cow's milk too. But would fill up with me once I got home and during the night. My supply seemed to work perfect for her. We nursed until she was 25 mths and I was tired of it...she demanded it more than 6x a day. She still has fantastic memories of it as do I. I love the time that we had together. She remembers it so well that she even nurses her dollies! Whatever you can give him is the best thing you can do but don't stress too much about the daycare. As for the middle of the night, pump some for bottles or a sippy cup. Our dd would drink it out of a sippy cup we would leave.
Keep up the great work!
After a year, I we went to just nursing at bedtime and for night-feedings. My milk supply went accordingly, where I would get it coming down at night. I nursed her this way until 17 months when we just weren't "into" it anymore as she has other things to do :)
Good luck!
You are so lucky to maintain your supply after 1 year. I struggled to keep my supply and had to take supplements, etc.. to help. With that said, I would keep nursing until you dry up or he no longer wants the breast. However, I would not be waking during the night to nurse him. He should be sleeping through the night by now -- the nursing is just a sucking habit. He doesn't need milk at that time. I would stop the night nursing and give him a pacifier, but still enjoy those daytime hours when you can continue to give him the best nutrition possible. Kudos to you!
