Emily's 1st birthday is approaching, which also means an end to breastfeeding. I would like to wean her so that I am done by her 1st birthday....I think. Anyway, I am clueless when it comes to this. How fast does your milk dry up? What worked for you? Help me if you can!
Also, did your babies have trouble feeding themselves? Emily will eat whatever we give her, with the exception of fruit, but she won't pick it up off of her highchair, unless it is big---like a teething biscuit. Any advice on this topic???
Hello world!
2 years ago
6 comments:
Aren't blogs great for this kind of stuff? Someone told me to cut out (switch to formula) one daily feeding, then wait a week or so, and cut out another. That worked really well for us. Going slow lets your milk dry up slowly--no engorgement. No wise words on the eating. I think the pincer grip comes around age one, so I wouldn't be too worried about it. She'll get curious or hungry soon!
Thanks for the idea Jen....
Yeah, she's got the pincer grasp down....she just doesn't know how to put the food in her mouth. She'll put the cheerio right up to her lip and then drop it. Then she just wants us to feed it to her.
I totally agree with brazenlilly; cut one feeding each week. It has been suggested to cut the evening one first as that is the hardest one to conquer. As far as eating in her own . . . soon enough she will get the hang of it. Try letting her feed the Cheerios to you.
I nursed for a long time (20 months and 22 months). I was very nervous about stopping. It helped that waiting until that long, nursing was taking place only at nap time, bed time and when emotionally needed (like a huge fall with tons of tears etc.) But it was still hard.
For the pain of drying up the milk: Make a big bowl of water, put cabbage leaves in there to soak, put it in the fridge. Put the cabbage leaves on your breast inside your bra. It is amazing how quickly it soothes the pain.
For Her: To stop the milk production it helps to bind yourself with something like an ace bandage. My kids were older, but it helped that I did that. I was able to show them Mommy's big band aid and tell them that they were ouchie so no more nursies. I would hold them close and rock them and we would cry together. It was only hard for 2 days. But it was important that we didn't lose the closeness at bedtime and nap time that was formed through the nursing.
If you are planning on going cold turkey, I have a friend who went away. She went to palm springs one weekend armed with a good book, an ace bandage and cabbage leaves. Her brave husband took on the challenge of starting a new routine without nursing. She dried up, relaxed and didn't have to hear or see any of the tears. I don't think I could have done this personally, but if you are going to go cold turkey it does sound like the least emotionally stressful way. Her daughter was a bit older as well. It makes it easier for them to understand that things are changing and their World is not going to crumble.
Whatever you do, this will be an emotional ride since milk production is tied into your hormones. Whatever you decide...hang tough...don't give in. You have to form the new routine with her.
Oh, I forgot one more thing...if you have, one don't sit in your usual nursing spot. She associates that spot with nursing so it will make things harder and more confusing. Move the chair to a new room, move yourself to the couch, whatever change you have to make, do it for the bottle feeding.
The ace bandage thing works. Also, I don't remember exactly, but do they start drinking whole milk at a year? If you start subing the milk for the boobie slowly, you should just start to dry up. By the time I got to a year, they were already eating real food and the nursing just kind of went away on its own. She wasn't that interested anymore cuz there wasn't much milk anyway. Good luck!
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