9 Mo Old Not Intersted in Breastfeeding... Do I Quit?

A question needs to be asked. Does the daycare providor give her a bottle right before you get there? If you want to keep it up for a little longer ask the sitter to not giver her anything in the 2 hours before you get there. it may be she is not hungry. or she just may be done. sometimes it happens. if she is getting a bottle it comes out a lot faster than the breast. so ask the sitter to try that before you give up. I also hated to let go of the bonding time of breastfeeding.

I would give it a couple weeks to make sure... sometimes babies go on nursing strikes, but it's temporary. Make sure you nurse her early in the morning and just afer naps when she's sleepy - she's more likely to take it then. In the mean time I would pump and offer her your breast at every feeding that you can. I would be very surprised if she were truly done.

My daughter also gave up breastfeeding at 9 months. I would try for at least a few more days because we did go though mini-'nursing strikes' from about 4 months on- especially when her nose was stuffy- but then she would go back to it. Give it a few more days and if she still doesn't want to nurse, I think she may be done with it.

G.:

it all depends on what you want to do/ babys go through phases of feeding more and less....

P., RLC, IBCLC
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions

Hey G.

My daughter went through this at 9 months. She went days without nursing (she did not take a bottle she only nursed) I was really worried. No wet diapers! I called the ped. and he said sometimes when babies are learning something new they give up something that they are really good at. In my case she was learning to walk along furniture so she gave up nursing for a few days (I think it was four). Then she picked it up again like she never stopped. Hang in there!

The first post is right. Check her feeding schedule during the day and adjust her food intake accordingly.

My one child probably could have been breast fed until kindergarten (we hung it up at 2 years old); my other child was so independent and began a biting habit that wouldn't end. So, we went from a breast to a bottle, for the first few days until she bit off the nipple of the bottle, then straight to a sippy cup, that she loved ... at 9 1/2 months old. I was not ready to end this part of our lives and it was very sad - very hard. Weeks later, the feeling did pass and I realized that the milestone that ended opened up new doors for bonding.

So soon you'll determine if it is her feeding schedule that can be changed or her independent spirit is what is causing this shift. Good luck and peace with whatever the outcome.