Need Advice on Weening

I have four children and they all weened themselves at different times. Someone mentioned that she was only able to pump a little and felt like her baby was hungry, that might have been the case, but as for me I was never able to pump successfully. My babies were much more capable of getting all the milk out and I was not. The nighttime nursing after a child is 12 weeks old and has reached at least 12 to 15 pounds, for most babies, is simply something they do to comfort themselves back to sleep. If your child does not have a binky or something else he is using his mommy to comfort himself when he drifts out of sleep. The only thing that will help that is for you to be consistent for as long as it takes. He is obviously a very healthy 9 month old or the doctor would not even suggest for you to stop nursing him in the middle of the night. I think the doctors suggestions are more for you to have the ability to be a fully alert mom in the day and not a zombie. I think if you are loving nursing your baby don't worry about bottles during the day or formulas, just keep nursing. When they are 1 they can start regular milk and you will not have to mess with expensive formulas. I started by warming milk and putting it in a sippy cup. My kids never had bottles, I just weened them to sippy cups. Hope this is helpful.

I could have written that word for word. I weaned my son from his daytime feedings at about one year old. He still nursed during the night every two hours until he was fifteen months. I was four months pregnant by that time, so I was exhausted from his nighttime feedings. I finally decided that I had had enough. My husband and I came up with a night to wean him cold turkey. That night was the worst night of our lives. When it was time for him to eat, we told him, "No, booboo." We had to tell him over and over and over. He screamed for an hour and a half. We had him with us in bed and we just both hugged him and cuddled him until he finally went to sleep. He did have a pacifier,so that made it a little easier. He never woke to breastfeed again. It worked for us, it was, I think, more traumatic for us. I hope our experience will help you. My son did not do formula either, we just gave him whole milk in a cup. This seemed to work out well for us. Best wishes and happy weaning:)

You might want to ask you pediatrician, but ours told us that our son could start whole milk at 9 months old if he had been exclusively breastfed up until that point.

I would read The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantly. It was a life saver for helping my child to sleep better. I encouraged my son to sleep longer stretches at night, without going through crying. Your son is only 9 1/2 months, though, it is not unreasonable that he still gets up at night to nurse (though not so frequently). We think babies should be able to sleep longer, because we compare them to babies who drink formula at night, which is very different.

My son bites when he is teething. Have you tried Hyland's teething tablets? That could also explain the frequent night waking. He could, honestly, just be miserable.

Have you started solids? A good dinner will help him sleep longer too.

Here's a great article for you to read:

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepthrough.html

I would like to add that breastmilk can go through a babies system in as little as 20 minutes. Your baby may just be hungry. Good luck!

I can relate to the only being able to pump a little out at a time... when I tried to pump I never even got a whole oz except for once. I had to supplement my babies from an early age but with my first I found that I had to try a lot of different bottles before I found one that gave her what she wanted at the speed she wanted it, fast. My second daughter took a nuk bottle easily but when I tried to switch the nipple to a 6 month nipple she began to do the gaging, so to this day she uses the newborn nipple and that is a good enough speed for her (she will be a year in a week). What it sounds like to me isn't necessarily an issue of him not liking the formula while that may be part of it all, it sounds like he may be getting the formula faster than he likes. So I would recommend trying different nipples or types of bottles for a slower speed for the time being. Another thing you could maybe attempt is to take even that little bit of breast milk that you can get and mix it with some already mixed formula thus giving him at least a touch of familiar taste along with it. I really hope that you can find the right answer for you in your situation. Good luck!

P.S.
He could also be waking up due to habit. Sometimes I've wondered if my daughter wakes up due to habit or because she is actually hungry. But now that she is getting more solids and more solid solids at that she is actually sleeping really well through the night most nights.

Hi, maybe try to feed him rice cereal mixed with pears (or whatever he likes) before bed, instead of nursing. Try nursing him earlier in the evening, like an hour before he goes to bed instead of nursing him to sleep. Hopefully that will help him wean at night and the cereal will fill him up for a good 4-5 hours. My son is 15 months and he will still somtimes wake in the middle of the night and need milk...probably about once a week. I don't think its a big deal to nurse gim once during the night or even twice until he gets the hang of the new schedule. As for the biting, as soon as he does it take him off the breast and say no then wait a few seconds before putting him back on. Good luck, I do not miss those long nights of breastfeeding!!!

Hi there!

It has been a year or two since my youngest was weened, but I can tell you that I was only pumping that much towards the end of breastfeeding her also. I believe the reason she was up so much at night and wanting to nurse so much was that she was just plain hungry. Instead of trying to ween her at night, I began by weening her during the day (this will help with your husband). This began with introducing the sippy cup to her at meals (in her high chair) and only having me at night before bed, first thing in the morning and just before naptime during the day...then we eventually took away the naptime one and stuck with bedtime and morning...then we took away the morning and only did it at night. It seemed night time was the time she needed it most. You may have to have a few nights of crying when you begin to ween at night, but that is to be expected. The more you fill their tummies during the day and at dinner time and have a calming night time routine at night, the easier it will be for you :) The last thing....wear him out at night time...being sleepy and ready for bed helps! Good luck!

He'll wake up every hour or two anyway, no matter how he is fed. The biting is a discipline problem and you don't have to put up with it! It's very effective to immediately say, "No! Bad! No biting!" and put him in his crib the instant he bites. Yes, he will cry, cry cry! Wait about ten minutes (it will seem long to you, because he's crying, but it's really not a long time!) and get him again. If he bites again, put him down again. He won't starve! He'll learn that biting is very bad -- for him!

By the way, your doctor is giving you advice based on a totally arbitrary time scale. There is absolutely no reason to wean a baby just because he's a year old. Did you know that your breastmilk ingredients change as your baby grows to give him the best nutrients for his age? It's very common to nurse through toddlerhood. Don't wean your baby because of the calendar; wean him if it's right for you, him and your family.

You don't have to ween until you two are ready. My daughter is 14 months old and still breastfeeds about three times a day. She did go through a period, maybe a month or two where she wanted to breastfeed all the time and through the night. It was tiring and a bit frustrating for me but I did it for her. She soon was comfortable with just a few times a day and now it's even less. It seems she wants it more when she doesn;t feel good or when her teething is uncomfortable. Maybe your son is teething and breastfeeding/Sucking helps the pain. To get her to stop biting I had to yell NO give a slight flick on her jaw andand take the breast away a couple times before she understood. She has 8 teeth now and doesn't bite.

Hoep this helps.

It sounds like your supply is low, so he may not be getting enough at each feeding which is why he's wanting to nurse all the time. They have medication that can make you produce more milk, and there are also several herbal teas for the same thing. Also, try experimenting with different bottles/nipples. He may need a slower flow nipple on the bottle to prevent him from gagging.

Do you have any family around that your child can go and stay with for a couple of days? With my son we sent him to my parents in Prescott for the night so we could have a date night but then I can't remember what happened but he ended up having to stay there for 5 days. It was hard on all of us, especially since I was nursing, but in that time he had no choice but to learn to use the bottle. By the time he came home he didn't want to nurse anymore. It wasn't intentional - I wanted to continue nursing him - but that's what happened. Maybe just being away from you for a few days and having no other option but a sippy cup/bottle would break his habit. That's my other suggestion - try one of the Nubby sippy cups that are designed for the transition. If he doesn't like bottles he might like these cups. Good luck!

We were told that after six months if the baby wakes up for a nighttime feeding it is not because of hunger but habit that they can make it through the night nutritionally. The book What to expect the first year has some great advice on weening, but unfortunately part of it is listening to them cry and trying to sooth them in other ways. Also have you tried saying Ow! That hurts mommy or something to that effect with him when he bites you, I did that with my first one, twice, when she bit me and thats all it took. It startled her so much she didn't do it anymore. Again that book has some great ideas on what to do when the little one bites.

Ouch! I remember the pain of teeth on nipple! If he is biting, then he isn't nursing. First, make sure he is positioned and latched properly, just like in the early days. As our babies grow, we tend to get a bit lazy about this. You can try giving him something cold to chew on before he nurses (frozen wet washcloth, teether, etc.) This will relieve tension in his jaw and eliminate the desire to clamp down. Also, if he does bite down, push his head into your breast. This will cause him to open his mouth to breathe. I wouldn't recommend looking to your doctor for breastfeeding advice. It is normal for babies to night nurse well past one year. You could contact your local La Leche League if you need support for your personal decisions regarding nursing and weaning. LLL will give you accurate information and support for whatever decision you feel is best for your family.

Well, my second son did this and what I did almost came as a reflex to protect myself, I poked his cheek the second he bit. If he bit hard, I poked harder, I would say a stern NO! at the same time. You probably know how much of a poke-pressure your child needs, so I won't suggest any level of pressure. He stopped biting after about ten pokes. Good luck.

First, congrats on breastfeeding. It is am amazing experience and I have found it so bonding. The World Health Organization says women should breastfeed a minimum of two years. The American Academy of Pediatrics states it should be for at least a year and then for however long it is mutually favorable. As for why he is eating so much at the moment - it sounds like a growth spurt. they have them about every three months for the first two years!

As for the biting, I have found pushing baby's head into the breast while biting helps to stop the bite. Then, I do kind of a low growl and tell baby not to bite mama and i put the baby down for a few minutes (or cover my breast and hold baby if i made baby cry). this has worked remarkably well. i understand what you are going through. good luck and you can also check out the forums at mothering.com for more breastfeeding advice!

If you have the opportunity, try to get to one of the La Leche League meetings. The group ususally has a lending library of books dealing with breastfeeding problems and weaning. Personally, I don't like the suggestions from any medical provider regarding weaning from breast before the child decides to do so, especially given the ever-increasing research that has proven only benefits from breastfeeding, regardless of duration, and no harm. My son is 2 1/2 years old. He still nurses a couple times at night, before bed and naps, and as comfort for boo-boos. Certainly, biting is a problem. In my son's case, he did nurse more in advance of a new tooth. Is that a possiblity? Something alternative to chew or suck on may help. I did not have a terrible time with biting, however, when I did have an incident, that was the end of the breastfeeding session. I told my son clearly, "Ow! No! Be gentle to the milkie" and set him down. Your son is young, but he probably can make the connection between biting and the end of his opportunity at the breast. At 9 1/2 months, he's probably consuming some solid food in addition to breastmilk. Perhaps try to get something high in protein and/or fat into him at his last meal before bed. That may hold him for longer during the night as well. I hope I've been of some help. Good luck, and please, hang in there. You have one son already, you know how fleeting the time he will want to be at the breast is.

I breast fed both mine until they were 16 months. When it was time to quit, the only way was cold turkey. The biting was every now and then, I would just say no biting and stop feeding immediately. If it is time to quit, I totally reccommend cold turkey, he may not understand why sometimes he gets it and sometimes he doesn't.