Is My 9 Month Old Trying to Wean??

Don't give up... sounds like a nursing strike. He's more interested in seeing what is going on than nursing. Keep trying to nurse! When he's hungry, he'll nurse. It should be easier at naptimes and bedtimes when there isn't so much stimuli.
This isn't a typical age for a child to self-wean, by the way.

For some great mom input from lots of experienced nursers, go to:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/index.php

Keep up the good work!!!
M.

maybe he's impatient w/let down if he's getting used to the bottle, or your body is gradually making less? I think my body started making less around 9 mo, i tried nursing every hr or every other thinking it was my supply but he's was just losing interest. just a thought

Kids go through these phases - especially when there's major developmental milestones (like crawling, pulling up, walking etc). Just keep offering him the breast and nurse on demand and he'll get back to it. Kids very rarely will self-wean before about 18 months of age. Keep it up - sounds like you're doing great!

Is he teething...my daughter went on a little strike of her own at one point. The doctor said it was most likely the pressure on her gums hurting her. I still haven't seen any teeth, but she is back to being a super eater again.

I agree He has learned the milk comes faster from a bottle...Most important thing then is for you to NOT give him a bottle. If he refuses to nurse have someone else give him the bottle in the end if you have to. If he learns that you can give him a bottle it will become a bigger problem then it is. He will fuss when you try to nurse till you give in and give him a bottle. Dont let him associate mom with a bottle. Hope this helps

That is really young to self-wean, regardless of what people may tell you. They go through nursing strikes and that is probably what it is or he's getting a tooth in and it's bothering him. He'll get through it and probably become an avid nurser for a little while to make up for the lapse.

It is typical around this age for a child to become more difficult to nurse, usually just extreme squirminess. It may be that he's getting used to the bottle and wants to be more mobile, but it will pass. Just keep with it. He still needs your BM for at least 3 more months, and who wants to go buy formula when you have such a short period of time left?

Sometimes my 6 month-old baby does something like this, but it's usually when she needs to burb, sometimes right after she starts nursing, sometimes later... We have never used a bottle or pacifier, so I don't second guess myself in that sense.

I agree that he may have just figured out bottles are quicker and require less work. But, just a heads up. My daughter weaned herself at 6 months because she had an ear infection and refused to lay down to eat. I had been doing breast and bottle since early on with her, so she was keen to the fact that the bottle was just easier and didn't hurt her ears as much. Look out for other symptoms that might be related to ears-- just in case.

I think it sounds like you are very committed to nursing. Since he is only resisting to nurse once a feeding every few days, it does not sound like a strike, nor does it sound consistent enough to be about the bottle.

I can see how this new behavior has you feeling confused. Both of my children around this age would want to nurse, and then hear or see something and stop nursing as if they never wanted to nurse in the first place. I found that their cues that tell us that they want to nurse changed as they got older. The thing that helped the most was removing them to a quiet room away from activity, noises, and toys and just relaxing with them for a few minutes. They were much more likely to focus on nursing in a quiet environment than if I just nursed him wherever we were.

I also found that once they were more interactive with their surrounding and more active that they could go for much longer without nursing when they were awake. Another thing that tended to happen as they approached a year and older, was that they wanted to nurse to be comforted and not just because they were hungry. I interweaved periods of reading stories and playing with him to give him my attention in addition to nursing.

I say just keep up what you are doing, but only give him a bottle when you are away at work if that is what has been working for you. Both of my children nursed until they were 2+, and you can feel free to email me with any questions.
____@____.com

My daughter did the same thing at that age, she was so interested in the new things around her that nursing was second. It is also interesting at this age because they will start to let you know that they want to nurse. It sounds weird but my daughter would refuse because she was distracted and then 30 minutes later she would crawl to me and hold my pant leg and whine. I would put her on and boom, she ate. Plus, the amount will decrease at this age..you might have been nursing 8 times a day, it might decrease to 6 because of solid food introduciton and gradually it will decrease over time. My daughter is 16 months and will nurse early morning, maybe before nap-time and then at bed. She eats breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/dinner and I give her almond milk during the day because she really likes it. We have milk allergies, and she is okay with yogurt/kefir/certain cheeses but straight milk will give her a runny nose. Just an FYI, as they start nursing less and eating more, the signs for allergies can be so hard to catch but it took me a while but now I know when her nose runs in the middle of the day, she ate something that didn't go down well. I also started Florastar Kids for any moms who want to make sure that there little ones tummies are handling food okay. Good luck, keep nursing him and he will just pick a new schedule and the boobs usually go along with the show!

Hi J.,
When my son was 8 months old, he started to do the same thing. What we found out (later) was that he was teething and that the pressure on his gums hurt. Little did I know, that I let him wean at that time. I now wish that I had perservered instead. After the two teeth came in he wanted to nurse again, but it was already too late, my milk was drying up.

Hang in there!

C.

He is probably starting to figure out that milk comes out from the bottle faster than the breast and with a lot less work. He has got more important things to do now that he is older and more mobile. He is also at a point where he doesn't need to eat as much as he used to.