Seeking Advice from Other Breastfeeding Moms on How to Wean a One Year Old

I loved nirsing my daughter, too. I slowly weaned her over a few months. I started with the feeding she was least interested in, which was the mid afternoon feeding. I replaced it with a sippy cup and a snack (I put water or juice in the cup). I then waited two weeks and took thenext meal she was least interested in,(the breakfast one), and so on until she was down to the bedtime feeding at 11 months, maybe 11 and a half months. I just actually cut her off a week after her first birthday, and she did fight it atfirst, but I started a new routine of reading and cuddling before bed. Eventually she got used to the new routine and I was not engorged, my milk dried up within two weeks. Good luck!!!!

Hi A.! I weaned at one year also and my boys never took a bottle so I was ready. Every child is different but this is what I did. I gradually started weaning feedings and offering a cup. I would still cuddle with them but they used a cup. Morning was the toughest for my two boys. I then really started to dry up. I offered cow's milk at 11 months. Suprisingly it was a very easy transition. I just made clear that they had to use the cup. I loved breast feeding, but like you, I knew it was time to move on. Good Luck!! J. C.

I also nursed my two children until 12 months then weaned very easily and successfully. From what I understand, this is the 'easiest' time for the baby to wean but still get a long time of nourishing breastmilk (after 1 year, they become more emotionally attached to the feeding and it's a bigger deal to wean.)
At the first birthday, we started w/ least important feeding and substituted milk or toddler formula in a sippy. We kept the baby entertained so they didn't think about what they were missing. The same went for the other feedings, giving up one every 3-7 days, depending on the baby.
I thought it would be hard, especially the nighttime feeding; however, it was very smooth and natural. In fact, my first child weaned himself of the last feeding before I was ready...leaving me engorgede LOL.
good luck and great job nursing for a year!

i breastfed my daughter for a year (she's now 20 months) & i understand that you're ready to stop! it's amazing to be able to feed them for a year, but i loved getting my body back (even though i was soon pregnant again...). anyway! it was recommended by our pediatrician to take her to only feeding twice a day from 10 or 11 months until she turned one. just those few feedings are enough to supply the nutrients & fat they need in addition to all the other food (she was also a great table food eater). if i remember correctly, i was feeding her during the day, once in the late morning & another in early evening, so she didn't need the breast to go to sleep. at 12 months, the ped. told us to simply just stop breastfeeding, to give her a last feeding, tell her this is the last one, & the next day start giving her (vit D) cow's milk in a sippy cup with meals. i was SO NERVOUS that she would put up a fight & beg for my breastmilk, but it never happened! i guess it was the slow method of dwindling the number of meals, but she didn't put up a fight at all & she loved the sippy cup & milk. i do know some other long term breastfed babies who struggled with losing the breast, but the moms usually weren't willing to completely end it within a day. i honestly think it was harder on me than it was on my daughter!

With my two daughters, I started giving them a little juice or water in a cup around 6 months, so they were well used to it. I did not give cows milk before 1 year and I just took away one feeding a day for a couple of weeks until we were just nursing one time a day. With my first daughter, it was in the morning; with number two, it was in the evening. They seemed to do fine with it. They really didn't seem to miss it when we stopped. I just gave them cows milk in a cup with a meal or mixed in with their cereal when they were no longer getting any breastmilk or we were just down to that one feeding. Good luck!

As soon as my daughter hit one year I started dropping a feeding each week starting with the one she seemed least dependent on, the last one to go was the first one in the morning, I was surprised how easily she gave it up - we just cuddled and played and she didn't seem to care.
We had been giving her water from an early age in a cup, she never drank from a bottle, we started giving her a sippy cup around 8 months which she loved, at 9 months I had to supplement with formula which we gave her in a sippy cup. Her pediatritian wanted us to wait until she was 12 months for milk, but that may have been because she was a little thin and needed the calories from formula and breastmilk.

First determine which feedings he needs more than others. Does he nurse to sleep? Does he love the cuddling when he wakes up? Drop the ones he doesn't need as much and always offer something else before letting him nurse. Sometimes he's just thirsty and will be happy with water or juice instead of BM.
Different people will say different things about starting cows milk early. You could start introducing small amounts at 11 months. If he doesn't like it, try other versions like organic cow, soy, almond, rice, or even goats milk (which is the closest to human milk).
Also, if you are down to one or 2 feedings by the time you go on your trip, you can probably take a hand pump and pump and dump just enough to not be engorged and by the time you get back, you will have lost almost all your supply and he will have had that time without nursing and may not need to any more.
Good luck and don't push too hard:) Nursing is about so much more than nutrition for babies, you don't want him to feel denied of all the emotional stuff that goes along with it because you stopped too fast for him.

Book suggestoins:
"How Weaning Happens" by LLLI
"A Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning"

Hi A.,

I weaned my oldest child from breastmilk to soy milk because I worried that cow's milk would be too much of a shock. I started by cutting out one feeding day. The last to go was the night time feeding--probably more for me than him.

Good luck!

I weaned my daughter at a year also. She would never take a bottle so I went straight to a sippy cup. I introduced the sippy cup with water, watered down juice, and milk a few months before her first birthday. The doctor will say no milk before a year, but she did not take much and I was just getting her used to the cup. I would offer a snack like crackers that would make her thirsty so she would accept the cup. I starting to drop feedings at age 1. I did one at a time. I started with the morning one as she would drink best for me then. Then I dropped the 2 daytime feedings one at a time, so you can give your body time to adjust. Wait a week or more between. I kept the nighttime feeding until 13 months then just offered a little milk in a sippy cup before bed. She did ok with the dropping the daytime feedings, but the nighttime ones were the hardest. I had my husband put her to bed for a while. She is now 16 months and doing well with the sippy cup! Good Luck!

Congratulations on nursing! It's a hard road. I waited until 1 year for cow's milk with both my boys and then mixed pumped BM with cow's milk (increasing the proportion of cow's milk each day). This can also be done with formula. (I did that with #1 before his first b-day.) We always used a sippy because I didn't want the challenge of breaking from the bottle.

As for dropping feedings . . . be careful!!! If you drop too quickly, you may end up engorged or with a blocked duct. (Very painful)

Good luck . . . weaning & trying for #2.

Hi! I also wanted my son to go from breast to cup. I nursed him until he was 15 months. In hindsight, I think weaning him was harder on me than on him. What worked for me: I weaned him off the day feedings first, taking away 1 feeding a week. I increased his food intake and he began drinking milk from a cup after he turned one. Then i decided which feeding was more important to him (first thing in the morning or right before bed).When I would go get him in the morning I would bring milk and we would sit together in the rocker that i used for nursing, and he would drink his milk and i would read him a book. About 2 weeks later i took away the night feeding the same way. He was done nursing without a single protest and we just moved on. I hope that advice is helpful and weaning goes as smoothly for you. Good luck, J.

Hi! I wanted to make sure we started transitioning to cows milk at the same time I weaned my then 10 month old, nothing bad happened when I gave her samples of milk, but it can be hard on baby's system to digest--she showed no signs of tummy trouble, even though she was not quite a year =-) oops, broke another rule, haha. She goes to daycare a couple days and they serve milk with meals, so I wanted to make sure we did it at home first!
She didn't immediately like whole, so I started her on skim and we worked up to whole, which is what she's on now. My advice on weaning is to drop your least favorite ones first, drop one at a time and give your body one week to adjust before you drop the next. Good luck!

I nursed until my daughter was a yr old. I started a few months before just replacing one nursing with a snack or milk. I also went straight to a sippy cup. If he hasn't had cow's milk, start with whole milk so he still gets the fat he needs. But, just start taking one nursing session away one at a time. I usually left the morning one for last because I liked having that time first thing in the morning. Once you think he's ready for another replacement, try it. You will also want to go gradually so that your milk supply dries up, too. You may have a day or two where you feel really full or that you leak...just be prepared if you can!

My daughter did fine. It was almost like she didn't know. I probably started whole milk at 9 or 10 months. Also, I never did pump at all, so it can be done going straight to cow's milk.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to send a personal message! Good luck!!

I weaned my first at about 16 months or so. Same situation. What I did, actually when he turned 1 I gave him milk in a sippy cup to replace one of the feedings. I started after the morning nap. Go from there. I would stop the bottle now if you can and start the sippy cup, it makes it a lot easier. You can give them at 10 mths water in a sippy cup. I have a 10 mth old right now and I do that. He does well with it, and when it is time for milk I am not going to worry much. Congratulations on nursing so long that is a great thing. If you need any more help please let me know.
J.

Hi A.,
I am still nursing my 2 year old, but my best friend weaned her son when he turned one. What she did was choose one feeding per week to eliminate. Whenever he "asked" to breastfeed, she offered him something else instead or would play with him to distract him. She tried regular cow's milk, but he wouldn't touch it so she ended up giving him chocolate milk (she laughs and says she knows she's a bad mom for giving him that, but I say Whatever Works!) Within a month, he just stopped asking to breastfeed. Of course, over the next couple months if he got sick or really needed comfort, she still nursed him, but it got to the point where he stopped completely on his own (at 15 months if I recall correctly). Of course, it may not be that easy for everyone (there is a reason my daughter is still nursing at two, haha), but I wish you luck!

All my best!
A.

I picked my son's shortest feeding (lunch) & put EBM in a sippy cup. This started @ 10 months. He was at daycare, so he'd gooten used to not nursing. At 12 months, I started mixing cows milk in, gradually reducing the amount of EBM. by 12 months, he was only nursing at night before bedtime. As we dropped each session, I'd keep him busy during that time so he wouldn't miss it as much.

Hi A.-
While I did not wean my kids as early as you are planning, i totally suppor your decesion. One thing that I did with my ealriest weaner- (18) months....... I just quit being avaiable for her to nurse at thise times and I gave her WHOLE milkin a sippy cup. My pediatrician insisted on Whole milk for the first 2 years. I did notice that if it was the normal "time" and I gave them the cup and acted really busy or got them engaged in something else, it usually did the trick. the early morningwas the easiest and late evening especially late evening were the last to go. Early morning I started cuddling and when the time came for that last evening thing to go, we had established a really sweet cuddly routine withbooks and laying down with them and tickling one anothers arms a lot of relax technics be prepared for ALOT of tears the first few nights. Just stand strong and don;t do it. It will probably take 3-4 nights of the new routine to take place with out fuss. Also, kids can understnad you even when they can not verbalize yet. When you tell your kiddo no, we are not nursing or what ever you call it, say it hurts mommy, or you are too big for that now and one year olds do this....ALso I would STRONGLY reccomend that you do NOT for even one night put milk in the sippy cup at the night feeding only water... why??? milk before bed is an even harder habit to break and when kids drink a sippy of milk in bed before/during falling asleep the natural sugars in milk will cause quick rotting and decay and your child will develop cavaties sooner then if no milk at night.

GoodLuck!

Hi A.,

I began weaning my daughter at one year. She, like your son, was nursing 4 times a day at one year. I started by dropping one nursing at a time. Pick one daytime nursing that is closest to a meal so if he is hungary he may not notice he is missing the nursing. I just gave my daughter milk in sippy cup and she took it fine. I dropped out one feeding right at one year. Then a week later I took out another daytime feeding. I let her nurse just morning and night for another month or so and then stopped nursing in the morning. My daughter then stopped wanting the bedtime nursing about two weeks later. I made sure she had milk and a small snack before bed so she would not wake up hungary. She was completely weaned by 14 months. You could speed this up to make it work for you since you have to go on a trip

I too wanted my body back between babies. I had mine back for two months between nursing #1 and getting pregnant with #2 but it was worth it. I now have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and a 6 month old son.

Good luck with everything.
K.

I'm a mom of three children. I breastfed all three for a year. I weaned my middle child and am currently weaning my 12 month old baby onto a cup. Neither drank from a bottle. In the book, What to Expect the First Year, it say's the American Academy of Pediatrics approves introducion of cow's milk beginning at six months if adequate supply of solid feedings are also given. To ensure that your baby is being properly nourished use only whole milk, make sure he has a good source of iron such as iron-fortified cereal or vitamin drops with iron(cow's milk is iron-poor), and 1/3 or his calories should come from a varied diet. I started by offering milk in a cup with meals and between when thirsty. Instead of offering water all the time use milk and start weaning by offering a snack and milk in a cup when you would nurse. Do this first at a nursing time that may be easier to give up like after nap time and leave the hardest(or time you both cherish the most) like before bedtime for last. You can offer milk with meals now and start weaning a few weeks before you would like him to be completely weaned. Soon he won't even notice he isn't nursing anymore. Just do it slow. Drop one nursing time and wait a week or so before you drop the next. Hope everything goes well for you and this advice is useful to you. Good luck.

I don't remember the exact details - but with more solid food, we were nursing less. Around 10.5 months i think was only nursing him at night and in the morning, then around 11 or a little later we were only doing nights. With our prior checkups at the doctor - he was doing fine on everything. I think we started cow's milk almost right at 12 months. Oh, and my son sort of weaned himself - i think we were done a week or so before 12 months.

One by one I replaced BF with a cup of milk. First the lunch time/naptime BF. Then I gave a cup mid-morning, then a cup with breakfast. I was down to just the bedtime feeding. I did this over a three or four week period of time. The last feeding changed to dinner time. I gave water at night because it was better for teeth. I ended up with milk at breakfast, lunch, dinner, juice for mid-morning snack, and water before bed. This worked well for me. Good Luck.

For me, weaning was simple. I got pregnant again, lol. I was severely dehydrated (happens to me during early pregnancy) and was not producing any more milk.

We started giving our daughter cow's milk on her first birthday. Before that, she had no dairy at all. Dairy is difficult for little ones (and adults even) to digest. My poor little guy gets very constipated and gassy if I have too much dairy in a short period of time.

From what I have heard, you should replace one feeding at a time with cow's milk or other liquids. This gives your body a chance to adjust to the lack of him nursing. I would say to do this for at least a few days to a week before removing another feeding. Don't stop all at once because not only will he not be happy with that, neither will your body, lol.

God bless,
A.

Hi A.,

I agree about not doing cow's milk until one.
I didn't breasfeed but my friends who did have mentioned how very helpful la leche league has been to them on the weaning since it was very tough for them.... If you have time to attend their meetings.... I believe you can find them online.

If not, let me know since I know one girl who said she's in the organization who could provide me more info.

I stopped nursing my son at 14 months, believe me a year is plenty long enough, and it is wonderful to have your body back, but we never gave our son a bottle so didn't have to worry about weaning him from that as well. Around 10 months I started cutting out feedings and starting taking my sons cues, when he really wanted it and when I thought we could get away with not. By 13 months were down to one feeding a day (comfort feeding I think) and then I would go a few days without feeding him at all and if I found him getting really grumpy I would nurse to comfort and soon he just didn't need it as fuel or comfort. We didn't start giving him cows milk on a regular basis until one, but he would get a hold of his older brother's sippy cup and have a few drinks from time to time. For our son it just wasn't that hard of a transition the older he got and the more distracted he got, and really liked being like his older brother and drinking from the "big boy" cup. I think the most important thing is to watch your child's cues, and if it is a time that you ususally nurse and want to cut it out distract with a walk outside, or game play, or going to the store. Congrats on nursing this long, it can be hard, but so worth it!!

Don't start cows milk till he's one. It can have some harmful side effects if you do it before that. When I weaned my dd I cut out one feeding at a time until she was done. She was only 5 months though, so I replaced one feeding with formula. When you start cows milk, mix it with a little breast milk, water or Ovaltine (much healthier than NesQuick) if your little one doesn't take to the milk right away. I bet if you dropped one nursing every three or four days, you'd be done by the time we went on your trip. If you're still pumping, you could cut that out totally. It will just depend on how your little one does without nursing. Some kids could care less and others are very difficult to wean. It will really just depend.

Congrats for nursing for a year! I always waited to wean until after the first birthday with my other kids and plan to wait with this baby, too (she's 9 months). I never had any engorgement issues. I would suggest to wait until 1 year to start for a couple reasons. One is that once you start to wean, your child may lose interest quickly and want to drop all feedings within a week or so. If that happens before a year, there's a much higher chance that you'll have engorgment (which can be painful) or blocked ducts. When I decided to wean, the kids were done within 1-2 weeks. I just did the "don't offer, don't refuse" thing and it worked great. If there's a feeding that your child really wants to hang onto just change your routine. My son really didn't want to stop the first-thing-in-morning feeding so instead of doing the normal thing of getting him from him room and bringing him into my room to nurse and then play while I got ready, I woke up earlier and got ready. Then when he woke up I just took him right downstairs to play in the family room and he never seemed to miss that feeding.

Definately go straight to cup and forget the bottle. My oldest never took a bottle at all and my other 2 just had one once-in-awhile. You don't want to add another habit to break. :-) Many kids don't like the taste of cow's milk - especially breastfed babies. My kids hated it and it took a few months for them to come around to liking it. Some people suggest doing half breastmilk/half cow's milk for awhile to transition. I never could pump so that wasn't an option for me. I just went straight to cow's milk, giving a small cup at snacktime (we do water at mealtimes so the kids are more likely to eat the food instead of filling up on milk). At first our son would only drink it with chocolate added and our older daughter would only drink it with strawberry added. Over the course of 1-2 weeks we cut back on the amount of flavoring until it was just barely there and they would drink the milk plain after a couple weeks. The extra sugar wasn't a big deal because the milk was healthy and they didn't get other sugar-added snacks/foods/drinks. Besides, some of them have extra stuff added like vitamins and calcium and are very low in sugar.

Also remember not to freak out if your child never likes cow's milk. We are one of the few countries around the world where it's common for people to drink it. In most countries, people don't drink milk once past breastfeeding. Milk isn't a magic food - everything good found in milk is found in other foods and is easy to add to the diet. Also remember that once a child turns 1, just 2 cups of milk a day is fine - but you want it to be whole milk because the fat is good for a toddler's development. Yogurt and cheese also count but try to get the whole milk variety.

When my oldest son was nursing at one year old heennet to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend. It took him 2 whole weeks before he wanted to nurse again (I did not offer). All I did was tell him ninny is gone and he was fine with it.

Congratulations on nursing for a year! I made it 13 months, so I know what an accomplishment that is! I know it wasn't easy, I hope you're proud of yourself! :-)

I introduced cows milk in a sippy cup around 10 months and cut down the nursing to twice a day. He wasn't crazy about the milk at first, but after a couple weeks, he loved it. Around 12 months, I only nursed once a day, in the morning. And at 13 months, stopped altogether.

Every baby is different though, you'll need to follow his cues. My son was starting to lose interest on his own, so it went smoothly for me.

My advice to you would be to get it down to once a day by 12 months. That will give him 2 months before your trip to wean himself. He may quit on his own before the trip. But if not, if he's only used to nursing once a day by that point, it won't be overly traumatic while you're gone.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be glad to share more.
Good luck! And again, congrats on a job well done!
A.

I weaned my daughter at 14 months. She used nursing mostly for comfort, so I was really nervous. We had already started giving her sippy cups at meals with juice and water. I can't remember if I had given her milk before that or not. For a few days before I cut her off, I used the "don't offer, don't refuse" method. She was probably nursing 4 or 5 times a day, but usually only for a couple minutes, so my supply was really low anyway. I tried to cut it down each day until one day I just stopped. She cried once wanting to nurse (in the middle of the day), and I cuddled her and soothed her in other ways. That was it. I didn't have any issues with engorgement with either of my kids (my son weaned himself at 7 months) and I think I probably nursed both of them several times a day right before stopping. For me, it was a lot worse thinking about doing it than actually doing it. :) Good luck!