Questions About Weaning/nursing, Etc.

You continue doing what you are doing... feeding breastmilk on demand, offer often and always breastfeed before giving solids. Breastmilk doesn't have a shelf life, nor does it ever stop being the most nutrient rich with the best fat and sugar content a food can have, not even mentioning the amazing immune boosting powers!!

Pediatricians are not good giving advice about breastfeeding because so many moms stop so early. Until one year your son should nurse as much as he wants. After that offer him food more often but he will still nurse when he wants. Breastmilk is still good nutrition even for a one year old. I would just make sure to offer him food first and then he can finish up with the breast if he wants. I think your pediatrician is a little misguided. Don't arbitrarily wean just because of their advice. You will know what your baby needs and when. I nursed my son 24 months and I swear some days he lived on milk other days he ate more. As ling as weight and height aren't an issue nurse as much as you want.

Amber C is right. Nurse on Demand and don't worry about what the doctor thinks. If you want GOOD breastfeeding/ parenting advice you can find a La Leche League meeting at http://www.llli.org/webus.html In my town we even have a special meeting for nursing toddlers!

Nursing a toddler is actually a cycle of relaxation! You don't have to worry about pumping or supply because they're eating good and drinking cow milk while you're gone. You don't have to worry on the days when they don't eat or feel too guilty about the occaisional nugget and fries meal because they're still nursing good. How often as a mom do you get to NOT worry?

As for pumping, it depends on how much he drinks while you're at work and how much you have in the freezer to use. I was pumping 3 times on an 8 hour shift. I cut down to 2, and then when my body adjusted to that I cut back to 1 and then to none.

I threw my pump in the dumpster on his first birthday and did a victory dance around it but at 3 1/2 we're STILL nursing occaisionally.

My advice - Nurse your son as often as he wants, as long as he wants. Don't worry about weaning him simply because a doctor told you you should. Do it only if you and your son are ready and YOU and HE both want to.

Very often, pediatricians are not familiar with breastfeeding and/or want to stick everyone into a nice little box. We don't all fall there. There is absolutely nothing wrong with continuing to nurse as a main source of nutrients past the first year. In fact, it is healthier! You can still introduce finger foods and solids in addition to nursing.

You will probably find that baby leads the way more than you would expect. He will decide when he is ready to nurse less. If you wish to nurse him less often for other reasons (time, work, etc) then yes, you should start giving him less and less nursing sessions. But if you are only doing it to follow docs orders, I would follow your baby's lead!

What I have done - I have a 10 month old - I have gone from pumping twice at work to only once at work. Baby still nurses in am before day care and then twice in evening, once arriving home and again before bed around 8pm. He eats about 3 jars of baby food/finger foods daily in addition to his nursing sessions and bottles at day care (about 3 bottles while at day care). I am letting him take the lead and he shows no interest in slowing down with nursing! So, what I will likely do is eliminate one more nursing session in about a month or so. But I won't worry if he is still frequently nursing around age 1, as you shouldn't either. Just be sure you are introducing some solid starter foods to promote self-feeding and independence. I also suggest nursing prior to each intro of each baby food feeding, if you aren't already.

ETA: And yes, whole milk when you finally do introduce cows milk. =)

Good luck!

All of my kids weaned themselves when they were ready so I have always been of the opinion that you need to let your children guide themselves a bit here. It is about 9 months or so that I give more food and less nursing and by one I am down to nursing at night before bedtime and sometimes in the morning when they get up. When I introduce milk I do whole milk but have learned recently that you supposed to do 2% for less fat content. I stick with whole milk just because my kids have super high metabolisms and are skin and bones as it is.

My kids have never really nursed much after one, they just kind of give it up. It has always been fine with me, I am usually ready to move to bigger kid food by then anyways, but everyone is different. I say go as long as your child wants, he will let you know.

Enjoy!

Ugh, pediatricians make me crazy sometimes. We are one of the only countries in the world that recommend weaning at age one. The World Health Organization recommends breast feeding on demand until AT LEAST age two and the average age world wide for a child to self-wean is, no kidding, between the ages of 3 and 4 (self-weaning means you use the don't offer, don't refuse method of breast feeding). Breast milk needs to be the primary source of nutrition until age one, and then the baby will naturally want to start eating more food then breast milk. They are very good at balancing it themselves. I say follow your little guy's lead. He knows better than the doctor what it is his body needs. They are very good at making sure their bodies get the nutrients it needs. Just make sure to give him healthy offerings and you should be good. Your pediatrician is making it more complicated then it needs to be :-) In my situation at around age one we were down to about 4 feedings a day (wake up, once in late morning, nap time, and bed time). The late morning one was the next to be dropped. Then it's really up to you on whether you want to go the extended breast feeding route or not. If you decide to go that route I'm happy to share my experiences with you. But for now you're doing just fine :-) You are right--just trust yourself and your little guy and it will all work out!
J.

I introduced solids on a "regular" schedule... starting at 6 months. By about 10 months we were doing 3 regular meals a day... breakfast, lunch and dinner. My kids (all 3) nursed to about a year and a half (or a bit more). I nursed on demand, but by a year we kind of had a schedule. Nurse when waking, mid morning for nap, after lunch for nap, around 4:30, then at bedtime... of course there were days when they nursed at other times, or whenever. :)

I was home all day, so I don't have info on pumping.

I also started whole milk at a year, and cups around 8-10 months.

Jessica

Okay... I nursed both my kids. On-demand for the 1st year especially. This is a building-block period for a baby.
Breastmilk/Formula, is MORE nutritionally dense, than solids.
This is also per our Pediatrician... who said, to just nurse on-demand and self-weaning is just fine.

Once 1 year hit, I introduced whole milk to my kids.
But I also still nursed, on-demand. 24/7.
Sure my kids were on solids by then, but I was still nursing them and with both my kids, I let them "self-wean."
My daughter self-weaned at about 2.5 years old.
My son at about 1 year old.

There really is NOT one way to do this.
I still gave my kids nursings.
They also had whole milk and solids.
I never concentrated on how 'many' ounces of breastmilk they had from me.
I just gave them whatever they needed.
Day and night I nursed my kids.
On-demand.
Especially at growth-spurts.
My kids grew like weeds, had ginormous appetites and were very healthy.

You do not have to do what your Pediatrician said.
Personally, I would just keep nursing if that is what you want to do.
And yes, day and night.

I always think of stuff after the appt. lol. I thin my daughter was getting about 15-20oz of breastmilk too at that age.
What I did was continue to pump and just save the breastmilk but slowly introduce cows milk. (like replace a bottle of breast milk with cows milk until she was only having cows milk). I stopped pumping once she hit a year but I continued to nurse her for morning and night for a couple more months. She just turned 15months and we're down to nursing just before bed...but otherwise she's strictly on cows milk and solids. I plan on stopping nursing soon but I wanted it to be a slow transition. This worked for my oldest daughter and it seems to be working for my youngest. I know the drs are hardcore about stopping nursing at a year on the dot...but my girls are healthy and it's not cookie cutter for all kids I don't think. Good luck. :)

I've nursed all my kids until around 3 years (well, the youngest will be 3 in Jan, but I intend to wean around then.) Really, what I do is just offer more food and beverages (most often water or milk), and he cuts down on nursing on his own. We're down to about 3-5 times a day now. These days, when I'm really trying to get him to cut down (I'd like to be down to morning, naptime, bedtime real soon) is to offer food and drink any other time he asks to nurse, and he'll often take it. Just do what's right for you. Remember, it's really really hard/impossible to find something better for them, nutritionally, than breastmilk.

I also have a 9 month old and this past weekend I attended a Baby Expo at the hospital. I spoke with a Pediatric dietitian and she gave me great advice. She said that breast milk is best and to give as much as is wanted! However, if you are curious as to how much food you should be giving her, this is what she told me.

8-10 Months- 24-32 ounces milk
4-6 TBSP cereals/starches
6 TBSP fruits/veggies
1-2 TBSP meats/protien
10-12 Months- 24-32 ounces milk
4-6 TBSP cereals/breads/starches
8-10 TBSP fruits/veggies
2-4 TBSP meats/protien

IF you plan to extended breast feed than you can continue to let him lead the way. You only need to worry about cutting down on nursing if you plan to completely ween him at one. Otherwise, just keep nursing on command or when it works for you. I would, however, start night weening. At 9 months old there is no reason for him to be nursing at night other than comfort, so I would start helping him learn new ways to comfort and self sooth at this point, he is well old enough to be sleeping through the night.

I nursed both my children until 24 months - it was "on demand" until about one year, and then eased off so that it was it just before naps and night time. I slowly replaced the nursing with "snuggle time" at that point. Of course, those were on typical days. On days my babies were sick, all they wanted was to nurse (usually all through the nights, too), but I swear they got over their illnesses *so* quickly, while nursing. Plus, both my kids had a really rough time with teething pain, and nothing soothed them like nursing. Knowing I could provide them with such comfort was worth all the lost sleep, on my part. Everyone has different circumstances and needs to do what works best with their own families, but I will always treasure being able to be there for my kids through nursing. It worked for me (and them) and I wish you the best in finding what works for you and your baby.

In answer to your questions about cow's milk, I offered whole milk starting at age one. My first child took to it (in a sippy cup) immediately, but my younger one wanted nothing to do with it until about 16 months. I was sneaking it into everything, to get him accustomed to it (and getting the nutrients into his system), like baking mini sugarless, crustless pumpkin pies (yuck - but he loved them), etc. As for the transition away from breast milk as the main food source, I started introducing more solids (mushed up fruits and veggies for the first child, but waited until the second could handle tiny chopped up pieces of fruit/veggies b/c he wouldn't eat anything pureed) and offered them at a time I would typically have nursed mid-morning. Good luck!

I found that reducing the number of feeding was the easiest. For the most part, I nursed my daughter just at night from about 14 mos to 2 years. You have plenty of time to do this slowly. Perhaps every few weeks, just remove one nursing session and replace it with a different meal or activity. He probably won't do it on his own.