Weaning at One Year.

I found the middle of the night feeding to be the easiest to get rid of. I just started giving him a sippy glass with water at about 7 or 8 months. After a few nights of me telling him "if you are thirsty this is what you can drink" He was just fine and either didn't wake up or else just drank from his sippy and went back to sleep without waking me up. The rest of the feedings I got rid of in this order: Breakfast, nap and bedtime. For the breakfast I just took him out of bed and right downstairs and gave him a sippy of milk. Nap and Bedtime were harder and took a little bit of cry it out for us. I wouldn't really start any weaning (except the middle of the night which I'd start now) until after she is one and you can use a glass of milk to help replace the feeding. Why introduce a bottle if you don't have to. That's just another thing to wean from later IMO. It only took about a month of slow weaning for us to get from three daytime feedings to none.

I think most people will tell you that she doesn't need a night time feeding at this age. You can probably easily drop that by having your husband go in and rub her back or talk soothingly to her. The other thing that works is reducing your nursing minutes by one or two minutes each night. If you nurse for 10, then nurse for 8, then 6, then 4, then gradually she will not wake up for that small amount and begin sleeping through. Her body doesn't need this but it has become a habit. For your sanity, I would get rid of that first! Then replace one feeding during the day with a bottle. Wait two to three days for your milk supply to adjust and then replace another feeding with a bottle. Try to spread the replaced feedings out so that you will be less uncomfortable. Resist the urge to pump, only express a little by hand to stay comfortable. I don't believe in the "let your child wean herself" approach, but that is just me. You are in charge of her feedings and her schedule and with a little gentleness, you can steer her into what works for you!

Hi M.,

Congratulations for breastfeeding your daughter! You are doing a wonderful thing for her and for you. Weaning should be a gentle, slow process. Here are some tips from Kelly mom: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html

J.

A Mother's Boutique
Maternity & Breastfeeding clothing, Nursing Bras, Breast Pumps, Slings and Accessories.
MamaSource members save 10% off their first order (excluding breastpumps) with coupon MAMASOURCE
http://www.mothersboutique.com

When I chose to wean, I started by eliminating one feeding a day for a few days, then 2, etc. My kids were already eating quite a bit of solid food at this point, so it wasn't a big deal. Try replacing the nighttime feeding with a bottle of water, she may decide that water's not worth waking up for (it worked on my daughter).

When I wanted to wean my kids at 12 months, I started at 11 months, replacing one nursing with a sippy cup, then gradually eliminating another nursing time each week until we down only until bedtime. I think with each one I may have nursed them a day or 2 past their birthday at bedtime, but they were ready to give it up by then. I had used bottles very minimally with either of them, and they were drinking juice and water from a sippy, so I saw no need to throw a bottle into the picture at that point.

When weaning, I know as hard as it is.....it is all on the child....Let them do the weaning with your guidence....
First~ Just eliminate a middle of the day feeding....then go about eliminateing the middle of the night feeding..then the morning....the evening feeding will be the last one...
The middle of the night feeding were the hardest to break.....So I would have my hubby go and sooth her....after a few nights, she would still wake up, but be ok with not eating....

Hi there! I found a lot of good advice on line and in books about weaning, but the short story for how it worked for me is this. We cut out the middle of the night feedings first, of course. Then the middle of the day when we could use first-foods and/or bottle/sippy. Then the first thing in the morning feeding. And our last one to go was the right before bed feeding. It is a process, but if you take your cues from your daughter, all will go well!

When I weaned my second child from the breast, I started at about 9 months. She too was waking up at night at least one time at night. You have to stop that first. It is easy if you have a strong will to survive. Give her water and water only when waking at night. She will soon realize that it really isn't much fun to be awake in the middle of the night. Once you conquer that - work on weaning from the breast. Use a cup during the day with formula, juice, etc., praise her and tell her what a big girl she is. Then for a while breast feed only at night. You may want to limit your fluids at first, to ward off pain, but soon she will be nursing just at night. Then go to every other night, then be done. Don't get to hung up on her age, etc. for weaning, every child is different and so the methods used should be different. Good luck!!!! Just remember you are stronger than and smarter than she is.

I'm just weaning my 20-month old. I let her lead the weaning. We have been nursing once a day for about 2 months now, just in the morning. That dwindled from 4 feedings a day, down the 3, then 2, etc etc. For the past 4 days she hasn't nursed at all. I used the "don't offer don't refuse" method and that seems to have worked for us. Honestly, as long as she's still nursing she will probably continue to wake up to nurse - I think that's what most nursing babies do! Remember, weaning is a gradual process! Don't rush it and good luck!

Lauren G's advice is great! We weaned at 1 year and another mom I know is having trouble weaning because of the night feedings. That might be the hardest one to break as your daughter is doing that one for comfort, not calories at this stage. I'd tackle eliminating that one first, even if you add back one before bed or early morning. We worked down to 1 feeding a day (she was pulling on me and hurting) and I had her drinking milk and water from a sippy cup, as well as yogurt and cheese. Then we just stopped and I had soreness for about 2 weeks (thanks to all the moms that suggested warm showers and massaging!)! Good luck!

I weaned all three of my girls at 9 months from the naptime nursing. This gave them a start on the whole weaning thing. My husband would put them to bed starting the day after their first birthday, and we never went back. It will be hard to first week or so, but keep to it and you should both do great! Best of luck :o)

I nursed both my boys for 14 months and 13 months. I started the weaning process by (with my older son who loved to nurse) cutting out all nursings that were not for food. It was hard but I stopped nursing him for comfort or to calm him down. Both were down to 3 nursings a day at 12 months and 3 solid food meals a day. I took my time and replaced a nursing with a solid food meal. Once the baby was used to that, I did the same with another. My boys were not nursing in the middle of the night at that point. I found with my older son that if I went in to him at night he demanded to nurse, but if my husband went in, he would go back to sleep without eating and eventually (about 2 weeks) slept through the night. It worked with my younger son as well. My older son was down to one nursing a day and one morning when I went to nurse him (this was the last feeding I had to pull out) he didn't want it. With my younger son I pulled the feeding because his teeth were hurting me. I hid the Boppy pillow and changed the morning routine ( I think I came into his room with milk in a sippy cup and a banana). It took about 3 days for him to forget. OHhh, I used a sports bra to make me more comfortable when I pulled the last feeding. Even though I weaned slowly my breasts were very sore/full for about a week or so. I wore that sports bra all the time except for showers to help keep me comfortable.

BEst of luck!

When I weaned at one year, I was prepared for the months long ordeal of gradually stopping that i read about, and it ended up taking two days. I ended up nursing her directly twice the first day of weening, once the second, and never again. Luckily she was already used to drinking from a bottle sometimes (pumped breast milk), and had no problem switching to cows milk. I was amazed at how easy it was for my body to stop. I could tell I was "full" and could have nursed if I wanted, but not engorged or uncomfortable, and in a few days it was all gone. Even if yours isn't that quick and easy, all you really do is cut down gradually until you stop. If she doesn't drink pumped milk from bottles, you may want to do that to get her used to a bottle-or else just wait until you do it with cows milk and she'll have more to get used to-but she will! I was emotionally attached to the closeness of our mandatory "hugs" and extremely relieved when I could still hug her all I wanted and didn't feel any separation anxiety as it really happened. GOOD LUCK, you'll get through it fine! Also, at one year, if you feed her more during the day-not just at night but all day long for a few days, she won't need to wake up at night for feeding. But even if she does-use a bottle!