My daughter is approaching age one, and I feel it is time for me to start slowly weaning her. Here is the problem.....I have tried supplementing a bottle of formula during the day, and she will not have it. she pushes the bottle away so hard and gets upset if she even see's it. Has anyone out there had to deal with this and if so how did you tackle it.
Any Ideas would be so very helpful!!
Az_mom_of_2_qtz
How is she with sippy cups?
How is she with sippy cups? Maybe try that. The more fluids she takes from other sources is great. How many times are you breastfeeding her? At 1 she can have whole milk (always check with your Doctor). I would push away the formula too :)
Anyway, she probably doesn't need the nursing as much since she is eating solid foods and drinking other fluids. I would cut out one nursing for a few days and see how she does. If you want to do it slowly, try that for a couple of weeks and then cut out another one. I know with my girls I was down to only the one being before bed. It got shorter and shorter. Oh, you could try that as well. The one you want to cut out and if she resists, make it shorter and shorter. Pretty soon she will hopefully realize it is not worth her time.
Good luck!
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
she's pretty good with sippy
she's pretty good with sippy cups, but like to play with them more than drink from them. I bf her 5 times a day. she still wakes up about 3 or 4 in the morning to eat, and i know she doesn't need itbut she will cry and resist the paci, and i don't want her to wake my 3 yr old. So your saying to make the feeding time shorter and horter right?.
thanks :)
Yes, that is what I would
Yes, that is what I would suggest. Especially the one in the middle of the night. She shouldn't need that one. Hopefully she will figure out it is not worth getting up for. I have had friends who would give a bottle and slowly make it more water in the middle of the night. The child figured out it just was not worth a bottle of water to wake up for. I would suggest you enlist your partner to take over the middle of the night feeding if possible. My husband was good and bad about it. I would still be awake and so would the whole house - what is that saying about a bull in a china shop?
Anyway, you could always call a lactation nurse and ask steps to take. Try Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Campus. They have lots of nurses who are lactation specialists. I wonder if you googled it what kind of information you could get too.
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
I'd steer clear of the
I'd steer clear of the bottle. The nice thing about breastfeeding as long as you have is you have no bottle to wean from :) She doesn't need formula at this age. Just give her whole cow's milk. There is a limit on the amount of cow's milk. You can check with your pediatrician for the exact amount, I think it's 20 oz a day. Their stomachs can only process so much in a day-otherwise a stomach ache can result. If they drink too much they also won't eat as much regular food.
I'd try cutting out 1 feeding at a time. Do each new step for a few days before cutting out the next. Start with the feedings that aren't most important to her. You'll probably end up with the just the middle of the night and before bed feedings. Then shorten the time so her body can adjust to not having food at those times.
My second daughter's last feeding was right before bed. She'd fall asleep nursing in my bed. We changed the routine so my husband would lay her on his chest instead. She still had the cuddly closeness, but it wasn't me so she wasn't trying to nurse.
Another thing...1 doesn't have to be the magic weaning age. I know with my first two I weaned at 1 because I thought it was what you are supposed to do. I'm now more informed and realize that isn't true. A lot of other countries nurse their baby's much longer. The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending longer. Breastmilk changes to match your babies needs. You are still providing antibiodies and the milk has a much higher fat content for a 1 year old than a younger baby (for brain development). My youngest is now 15 months and nurses 1 to 2 times a day. I don't think you are doing anything wrong by weaning now, I just know I would have liked to know what I know now when I was weaning my first two. Kudos to you for nursing this long.
I agree. Why introduce a
I agree. Why introduce a bottle that she's going to have to give up soon enough. At 1 yr old, my pediatrician wants me to be weening from bottle to sippy cup. Don't get her used to the bottle, only to soon after take it away.
Of course, like everyone else says, check with your pediatrician.
Good luck!
Letting her wean naturally
Letting her wean naturally is ideal. My 1st son didn't give up bedtime nursing until 23 months and my second son gave it up at 19 months. "Don't offer - don't refuse", is the advice that I was always given. Change "associations", whenever poosible (don't sit in the "nursing" chair, move furniture around, have Daddy rock her to sleep, while you read a story for distraction, etc.).
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
I agree to let her wean
I agree to let her wean naturally. I'd also say not to try to switch to a bottle being that the goal is to get her off both of those things at some point. My daughter weaned herself and by 13 months she was done. I did not wake to feed her at the 5am feeding, but she nursed before each meal and nursed for snacks (so 5 times/ day). She got to the point where she was interested in everything else around her and before I knew it we were done! Maybe your daughter needs it longer for some reason :) Every baby is different and I agree with above posts, there is no right age to do it. Only when they are ready. Are you feeding her baby food? I was wondering if she's getting up at 3 or 4 b/c she's not getting enough in the day?
KiKaMom
I'm in a similar situation
I'm in a similar situation though my daughter is much older - she turned 2 at the beginning of this month. Isabella has always refused a bottle regardless of what was in it (my milk, formula, cows milk).
I have been trying to naturally wean her (dont offer, dont refuse) for about 6 months now but she seems to realise and increase feeds whenever I try to cut them down. It's really frustrating and I just want my body back now! lol
I dont have the benefit of my husband being here to help as he died 3 days before she was born. It's really hard this time around. I didnt have this problem with my other 3 children - the eldest weaned himself at around 9 months, the next one was at around 6 months, the third at 14 months.
Isabella is a totally different experience. She loves her bf time and wont accept a cuddle instead. She sings (hums) while she feeds and is so happy about it, it cracks me up but can be a bit embarassing too depending where we are. Last week we were down to a feed before bed but today we are back to 4 feeds a day because she realised that she wasnt getting bf during the day. She's stubborn and probably spoilt a little too much but very much loved.
I hope it goes easier for you than it is for me!