Mother Trying to Stop BREAST FEEDING!

C., I'm currently in the exact same situation! (and I thought I was the only one) My son is 13 mo old and has never touched a bottle. The pediatrician said breat milk starts to lose its nutritional value after a year so its important that my son drinks cow's milk to supplement. I started to wean him at 12 months by cutting out the daytime feedings and replacing them with cow's milk in a NUBY straw cup (which is one of my favorite inventions!) After about a week or so I started weaning him from his night feedings. Research shows that night feedings are not good for older babies due to the fact that it messes up their internal feeding clock - human bodies are made to not eat during the sleeping hours. Tooth decay is also a concern. Another issue that has been brought to my attention is "the older they get, the harder it is". I feel that the younger my son is the less likely he is to remember that I'm taking away one of his favorite, most comforting things. That's one reason I chose to ween at this age. Anyway... We co-sleep so it's that much more difficult not to give in when he wakes in the middle of the night looking for my breast, but I'm fortunate to have such a great husband. Since my son doesn't associate food with his dad, dad gets to console him until he falls back asleep. Sometimes that means carrying him around the house until he falls asleep, but you gotta do what needs doing. It has only been a couple of weeks and after the first 5-6 days he slept through most of the night. Now he sleeps through the entire night without waking because his body has adjusted to not eating. He's just as happy as ever when he wakes up in the morning. :) We just cut out the morning feeding(s) 4 days ago. I found that changing his entire daily routine helped immensely! So far there's been little resistance. The only truly troublesome times that we have are at nap time and when he retires for the night. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to fall asleep without a nipple in his mouth. That has been the biggest challenge. I've resorted to giving him a cup of cow's milk and driving him around during nap time for a few days. Yesterday, I "read" him to sleep. Twice! I was so amazed I cried (just a little). It was cute! I'm thankful for Pooh, Tigger, and friends. So all we have left now are the (2)night feedings. Those will be the toughest to give up for physical and emotional reasons for both me and baby, but I just try to remember that when one door closes another one opens and weening is paving the path for independence. (I will miss it, though.) I hope my rambling was helpful and I wish you and your son the best!

Hi C.,
I am 39, my two boys both breastfed. My first stopped at 6 months, and right after started having ear infections, one after the other. I decided right then I would do at least a year with the next one. No one told me that it would be so hard to STOP!!! My second baby fed until he was 18 months old. It was so hard on me physically, seriously, the kid was doing aerobics while he was breastfeeding. Every time I tried to stop he had hysterics. It was awful. I am a working mom now, but at the time, was a stay at home mom. I finally had to leave for two whole days to end it. (probably not the advice you wanted to hear, but it was therapeutic for BOTH of us!). I went to a nuns convent, (really, I did. It is in fortunes rocks, they rent rooms for 45 dollars a night, the food is fabulous, and while I am not particularly religious, I appreciated the quiet, the excellent food and the friendly atmosphere.) Sometimes, the best thing you can do is get a little away time. I know we cannot all do this, but I was desperate. It worked!!! I had to stay tough when I came home, and not let him back on the breast, but it really worked. The worst part was, I really did not think it would, so I was not prepared for the loss of the closeness that you get with breastfeeding.
Thanks
Good luck
K. Braker

My daughter is only 7 months, but my pediatrician said that with lots of feedings during the day, she should not need to get up for feedings at night anymore. She had been waking up several times a night on occasion to nurse still. Anyway, starting last week, my husband and I decided that there would simply be no more night feedings. When she wakes up, one or the other of us gets up and sooths her, or rocks her until she goes back to sleep, but the option of nursing is not offered. She resisted for about 2 nights with lots of crying, and then on nights 3-4 began falling alseep almost immeadiately upon being soothed. This week, she has stopped waking up almost completely and I have not had to get up to nurse her in about 5 days! I know your son is quite a bit older, but maybe simply removing nursing in the night as an option will work for you too. He can only "come and get it" if you allow him access to your breasts. Give him warning that him you won't be nursing in the night anymore starting X day, and then don't give him the option. Maybe ask him what he'd like to do instead, like snuggle with you, or hug a certain toy so he feels a little more in control? It may be rough for a few nights, but I personally was shocked at how quickly my daughter stopped depending on it.
Also, during the day feedings, is he able to drink from a cup or sippy? If he wants milk after he eats, pump and offer it to him in a cup. Maybe, as he gets used to that, start replacing a few of them with cow's milk, bulding them up until you can wean him off breastmilk entirely.

Hi C.,

I have a similar problem. My daughter is 21mo. old (she's our first, and only right now) and still nurses, not excluvisely though. I work full-time and my husband stays home so it's mainly a way for us to reconnect. However, she also nurses at night to go to sleep. I consider her a restless sleeper and she often needs to nurse in the middle of the night. So, in a sense, she does not sleep through the night.

I would love to hear any suggestions on weaning from night-time nursing. Daytime nursing is pretty well taken care of, for the most part.

Thanks,
K.

Are you just DONE with bf'ing your boy? 'Cause there's no "real" reason to stop, except that you are tired of it, it's not working for the both of you etc. I night weaned my 20 mo fella (who still won't sleep through the night lol), so he just comes in and snuggles back to sleep now. Might this work for you? I'm sorry it's so stressful...

Hi C.,

I would recommend contacting your local laleche league leader, they have some great advice and books about weaning.

While I nursed my first 2 children until 12 months, my last is now 19 months. I stopped nursing him when he was about 16-17 months. It was VERY difficult but I began with giving him AVENT bottles during the day along with his normal food. At night, I weaned him and used latex pacifier for him to go to sleep. He no longer uses the pacifier, but does feel for my breasts at times. It definitely wasn't easy . I was up quite a few nights, especially when I gave him the bottle. But the bottles with bag inserts are also pretty good and he sucked the nipple as he did my breast. Good luck.

I would cut the night feedings out, have your DH comfort him. My twins have slept about 6-7 their 2nd and 3rd months and for the last 2 months they've been sleeping 12 hours at night. They are 8 months this Sunday. How often do you nurse him?
My babies wont take bottles or cups and I am worried I am going to have this same problem come their one year. So when you figure out how to ween him please keep me informed.
I am weening after a year for personal reasons, I have been tied down to the house and them and cant leave for more than 2 hours at a time with them. Good luck to you

This may sound a little cruel to some, but if you are only nursing a couple times and truely want to stop, try putting something on your nipples. Something that does not taste so good! You can try the stuff that stops you from biting your nails. Or I have heard of rubbing a little cayanne pepper on your nipples. Not too much though. Just enough to give them a yucky taste. A few times of tasting something they do not like, should do it. Be sure to offer a "sip" of something to get rid of the taste. But only a sip. Eventually they will be sleeping. If you replace the feeding with a full cup, they will continue to wake.

Hey C.,
My name is K. I am also a stay at home mom of three. I also breastfed all three for 13-15 months and had the same exact Problem. The answer is consistency and a sippy cup. No bottle neccessary.If you are really ready to give up the nursing just distract him when he wants it. He can drink cows milk now so just give him the sippy. It will take him a little bit to learn to hold it but think of all those 9 mo. olds that can hold a bottle. If he's not interested you may also add a little chocolate milk (breastmilk is sweet), just be sure to brush his teeth after. He will forget faster than you think. as far as sleeping through the night, there is no magic potion, sorry. I have heard that breastfed babies are lighter sleepers because they are more alert. Eventually if you are consistant with his sleeping and feeding times he will sleep through the night. Hope this helps!PS If you don't want to stop nursing you don't have to, in case you needed reassurance, but if you are, you have to be the parent and stand your ground.