Help with Transitioning My 8 Month Old from Breastfeeding

http://www.amazon.com/Lansinoh-Lanolin-Breast-feeding-Mot...

Definitely try that. I had the same problem with that soreness. And switching the different positions you hold the baby in. Those two things really helped. I think I also used a warm washcloth after to wash the nipples.

You can try starting a cup, but it may not give the baby enough milk. I don't think supplementing with a bottle is a big deal at this age. Definitely make a call to La Leche League for some help. They are more than happy to help out!

I know you're not supposed to give whole milk until 12 months, but with my daughter, I started the transition very slowly around 9 months. I breastfed exclusively until that time, but I was also working full-time, and it all got to be too much. Like you, I didn't see the point of messing around with bottles so late in the game, so against the advice of everyone, I did it. It worked for us. She gained weight, didn't develop any allergies, and continued breastfeeding until her first birthday, at which point I breathed a sigh of relief and dried up the well. Whatever you decide to do, good luck and I hope you don't have to switch to formula. One less thing to wean her off of as she gets older!

I can't give any better advise, but just don't feel bad if you have to give them formula. I would have liked to have breastfed all of mine until 12 months (or longer), but I know from experience that its just fine to give them formula.. Maybe you could do half and half for a while? Feed a couple feedings of formula, but still bf once or twice a day? I dried up with my last two at about 8-9 months.

I'm not clear about whether you actually feel her biting you. I nursed my oldest son until he was 2 and I got pregnant again. When he first got teeth and I would feel him start to clamp down, I pulled him in tight to my breast which compressed his nose and stopped his breathing until he let go to take a breath through his mouth. He learned quickly, even at 6 months, that biting/gnawing would have a negative result and stopped doing it. It took a little adjusting as he learned to suckle a different way so that he didn't scrape/bite/gnaw on me, but he had it down within two weeks and it was smooth sailing from there.

Sounds like you are doing a GREAT job! Way to go for nursing this long already. There is nothing wrong with switching her to formula, if that's what you need to do.

Best of luck,
T.
www.bornagainresale.net

I would give her formula in a cup (or bottle). I know so many people here are all for "breast is best", but there really are some really good formulas out now. I couldn't breast feed past 3 months with my boys, and my youngest lost so much wait after birth that even when I was breast feeding he got formula as well to supplement it. They are fine. I know breast feeding can be a hot topic button for many, but don't let people make you feel like you are doing something bad for your baby if you switch now, because it just is not true. You do what feels right for you!

L.,

I almost wasn't able to nurse my daughter. Like you it was terribly painful while nursing on the right side. I tried the lansinoh in the purple tube that the hospital gave me and that didn't really help all that much. It felt like she was trying to chew my nipple off. About the time I was ready to give up something changed, and it wasn't so bad anymore.

Both of my children weaned themselves at 8 months. My son refused to take a bottle, so he went straight to a sippy cup. We started with the Gerber brand that has the handles on the cup and a plug in the soft spout. It was hard to get everything lined up right, and he'd chew the plug out and make a mess. Then we tried the playtex brand with the handles on the lid and a better plug. We'd mix the formula with the water in the cup and have it available all day for him. When it was empty we'd wash it and refill it.

With my daughter she'd take a bottle, so we used that. She's now 13 months and drinks from a sippy cup like a pro.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

I would just give her the formula in a sippy cup. I transitioned my daughter at 9 months to a sippy cup because the pediatrician said the less time she had on the bottle the healthier her teeth would be. It worked out fine. I ran out of milk at 6 months. The doctor said my goal of a year was great but, that the first 6 months was the most crucial and not to worry about it. If you are feeling unformfortable remeber that reverberates to everyon in the house. Lanolish in the purple bottle and some sranwrap might help your nipples and is safe for baby to injest not the plastic. I got these cooling jells at Babies R US and I would stick them in the refridgetaor or the freezer depending on the amout of time I would have them in. They where great! At two months I was really hurting and my husband just sent me out of the house and said got to Babies R Us and get what you need money is no object because he wanted me to breastfeed too and he new how important it was to me. I hope this helps. I know there are alot of great inventions out there to help, If you need help making milk there are things like mothers milk tea and herbs like fenugreek that will boost your milk production. Just do a search on the internet and go to the viatamin store to get what you need or order online.

I can relate...I am going through the same thing with my 10 month old. In fact, about a month ago I was dead set on weaning and in tears because my daughter has 6 teeth and my nipples were constantly sore. I tried the nipple shield (my husband's suggestion) and my daughter thought it was a teething toy, so that obviously didn't work. For the soreness I just use an antibiotic ointment to help the sores heal and nurse on the other side. You can also use the lanolin everytime you finish nursing and you don't have to wash it off when you need to nurse again. I also started nursing my daughter using the football hold and that helped a bunch. I wouldn't avoid nursing with the sore breast altogether but I did take a break for a few days. Things are better now for me, so I'm holding off on the weaning idea for a couple months but I think talking to a lactation specialist is what I'll do. They are advocates for breastfeeding as long as possible if you are comfortable so they can help make that transition as smooth as possible. And, my daughter wakes up at least once a night and needs nursing back to sleep and it is what I'll do until she doesn't need it anymore. It's not just that she's hungry, she needs the comfort that she's grown used to. Hope that helps.

When you say breastfeeding almost exclusively, I hope you mean she has started *some* solids. I heard about a zillion times that after six months they need a broader range of nutrition than breastmilk alone can provide.

That said, yay for you breastfeeding, it was extremely painful for me at times too! I have a biter and there have been times when I never thought I'd make it through another day of nursing.

Definitely get yourself to a lactation consultant. They have seen every possible problem and can easily correct a bad latch.

The trick to keeping your supply up always comes down to getting the breast *empty.* I also took Fenugreek and drink a lot of Mother's Milk tea (lactation support herbal tea). So I would recommend that plus lots of pumping to get the flow going and keep it that way.

Wow--you are a trooper!

Have you tried nursing her on one side while pumping on the other? It is a little hard to do, but with the right amount of pillows, it do-able. This sounds a little silly, but I did this for a while with my oldest daughter. It helped my milk production (your body thinks you are feeding two babies)and gave a break to one of my nipples, which was really sore.

Unfortunately, I'm not a great advice giver for weaning. I waited until about a year. Neither of mine were great at bottles with breast milk, so I switched them to cow's milk in a sippy cup at about a year. I then weaned them from there.

I would try to stop the middle of the night feeding if I were you--at one year my youngest was still doing that, louder and more demanding than at 8 months. The pediatrician said I had a "trained night feeder"--meaning I had trained her to do this. Once I knew that, I stopped. It took about 3 days.

Good luck.

I have to just highly recommend talking to your local La Leche League Leader (you can find their name and number on the LLL website: http://www.llli.org/. They can help you with the pain and soreness you have been having, as well as the latch issue and help with weaning suggestions. I have a 15 month old who still nurses quite often, and of course at night - nothing is wrong with that. At all. And I am so glad I kept going when it was difficult. The games she plays with me when nursing, the post nursing grins, they just get more interactive and fun. And she is incredibly healthy! But like I said, even if you do decide to wean, the local LLL leader can help you through the transition and give you suggestions for your painful nipple. Good luck!

I nursed both my boys, the oldest (now 8 years) until he was 2 years old and the youngest (about 2 1/2 years) until he was about 6 months, by choice. I went cold turkey with the oldest from breast to bottle, then finally got rid of the bottle. First few days were tough (I cried) but it got better. I too was sore on one breast with the second child. I tried the cream others are recommending but also used the cup designed for nipples (you can find in the baby section in almost any kmart, walmart or maybe in target). I found mine at the McChord Exchange. This cup prevented anything from touching my nipples and allowing it to air dry and heal. I was a SAHM at the time so it wasn't a big deal for me to wear it at home. It was very painful and I was desperate. Both my children started teething at 3 months so I can't say that teeth alone was the factor. I was told by a nurse at the WIC center that the reason I became sore was because my son was not latched correctly. This may be the reason for you. I still believe that cold turkey works best. A lot of babies do well with sippy cups so give it a try. My son woke up once every night for almost 2 years (wheeew). I have to admit, I did give him a sippy cup of whole milk at first but not too long after I realized I didn't want him to suffer with teeth decay because of my lazyness so I just went to giving him water at night. I kept a sippy cup of water nearby and when he woke that's what he had. He cried many nights for bit, but with patients and a lot of love, he got over it. I can't recall when he began sleeping through the night but I am grateful.

I also had a lot of problems with nursing. Not sure how I made it last 2 years, but I often nursed only on one side, because it produced so much more! It's fine to only nurse on one side. I know lots of moms who have done this. I also nursed my baby back to sleep at night until she was a year old, then I started just "holding" her back to sleep. Not sure if your kid would accept that change, but you could try nursing for shorter periods at night. My lactation consultant always said that the nighttime nursing for some kids is important when they're going through a growth spurt, because they just need those extra calories during the night to sustain them. Take it one day/night at a time. Nurse as long as you can, and work with your body. If your body is done, congratulate yourself for lasting as long as you did with so many obstacles.

Get yourself and your babe to a lactation consultant and/or a La Leche League meeting as soon as possible. They can help you with latch, different positions to try, etc. Women commonly have problems even after they think they're an "old pro". There is no reason you can't breastfeed as long as you both want to. Breastfeeding shouldn't hurt, and it doesn't have to. You can do it mama!!

Lanolin can help on sore and chapped nipples. There are also nipple shields you could as your pediatrician about. I commend you for wanting to go 12 months... it is so important if you can do it. I nursed all three of my children for between a year and 16 months. 2 of them were ferocious biters - I know it can be frustrating and painful at times. Talk to a specialist about different positions. Perhaps just getting her mouth at a different angle would really help. My all time favorite is to simply lie down on my side with her lying next to me. This is great for night time as you can both go back to sleep. I also nursed them back to sleep for a long time - I think it's great as it lets you go back to sleep while nursing if you want to bring her into your bed as opposed to rocking and consoling and patting backs forever.

L.,
Good for you to keep trying even though you are in pain! I had this happen to my daughter and I when she was 8 months old. She actually did chew a pencil eraser size hole just above my right nipple. I honestly thought I was going to die it hurt so bad to have her nurse. I spoke to a lactation person and they said I could use antibiotic neosporin on the owie till it healed. During this time I did pump milk from that side. I froze some and what I did give to my daughter, I gave to her in a sippy cup. ( she never did take a bottle) The other thing that I did was when the owie was healed up, I changed the position that she nursed in on that breast. Instead of a "cradle" hold, we did a "football" hold. That way, she couldnt "chew" on that spot anymore. All has cleared up and we are still nursing at 15 months. Hope this helps.
Good luck

HI L.,
I read that she has never been a great latcher, my idea would be to contact a lactation nurse and ask her to see if she is latched on right. I know she is 8 months old, but it could be that her latch might not be right. I had huge problems with my first not latching on and I was in tears for two months trying to get it right. I went back to the nurses 5 times and finally, we made it. For me, when they are getting the teeth in is what hurts me the most. I find my son nursing really hard when he is teething.. Hope it works out for you..

Have you tried BreastSheilds? They're a plastic thing that you put over the nipple during nursing - it helps bad latchers as well as healing when you're bleeding. Also - lanolin has really helped with cracking for me and I switch between breastfeeding and pumping.

My son is 8 months old and he also nurses to sleep. We're working on that slowly by letting him cry it out. It's not fun for the parents but he's starting to get the hang of it. I still nurse if I'm not sure he's gotten enough calories during the day though. He also won't take a paci (although I think I'm going to try again - Parents magazine had a blurb on how to help him take it).

He's got two teeth which are only a problem if he bites - which we've conquered for the most part. A somewhat load neh-neh sound from me puts and end to it.

We've been giving him formula in his rice and stuff but he doesn't like it from the bottle. If you have a medela pump you should be able to use it to increase your milk supply- but you have to be vigalante for a few weeks pumping every 2 hours. Otherwise - check with the LaLeche League and see if they know of anywhere you can purchase breastmilk. I've never looked into it but I've heard about it.

Also - try talking to your pediatrician - mine gives really good advice about a wide variety of things. I wouldn't see a problem using formula to patch through to whole milk though.

Oh, you poor thing! I think your first goal should be to keep her on breast milk if at all possible, so I have a few suggestions.

First of all, get a nipple shield. This saved the day for me when I had nipple soreness. I think you can find them at Target or BRU -- probably right next to the breast pads. You should not have to put your nipples through any more trauma!

But more importantly, get an appointment with a lactation specialist immediately! Even if you ultimately stop breast feeding, a good lactation consultant will help you with 1) healing your sore nipples; 2)successful strategies for pumping and keeping up your supply. If your insurance covers Providence, get an appointment with Dolores at the St. Vincent postpartum clinic. She is fantastic, and I am not the only mom who has said this.

Many moms successfully pump enough to never need formula, so you can try this. Unfortunately, you have to pump a lot, and very consistently, in order to keep up your supply. But it's worth trying. And at 8 months old, your daughter will naturally start eating more and needing less milk faster than you realize. By the 11th month, I was only breastfeeding my daughter 3 times a day, and at 11 1/2 months the dr. okayed me to start gradually introducing cow's milk... so you're almost there!

Good Luck!

I'm sorry you're hurting so much. It sounds like your real problem is your cracked nipples, which obviously make breastfeeding painful. Talk with a La Leche League leader or lactation consultant to help her latch better, also for ideas about healing the cracked nipples, so that you can continue to enjoy breastfeeding. Maybe if you nurse in a calm, quiet place and don't let her nurse roughly that will help also (if she starts to be rough, take her off so that she understands she needs to be gentle). Since you have breastfed her this long, why stop now? Breastfeeding continues to offer babies the best in nutrition until they are 2 or 3 years old, and it's certainly way easier than formula or cow's milk (which is not a good food for humans anyway, causing all kinds of health problems). Your daughter's teeth shouldn't be a problem as long as she is latched on well. And it is NOT a bad habit to nurse her back to sleep at night!

I'm not sure if you are saying that both nipples hurt, or if just your right one does. If you're just having problems with the right one, it is totally fine to just nurse from your left breast. I've come across several mom's from Evergreen's parent-baby classes) who have just nursed from one side. You might be a little lopsided, but there's no reason why you can't do that.

And, I wouldn't worry about nursing your baby to sleep - I did at that time and I'm so glad I didn't listen to the outside pressure or stories that I was creating bad habits! I always nursed my baby (now 3) to sleep and when it was time to change, we did. It wasn't a horror story like people say. I'm soooo glad I did this because now I have some wonderful memories. My advice on that part is do what works for now - don't do anything because you're worried about what "might" happen.