Weaning

Hi P.,

If he doesn't use a bottle and is using a sippy cup, I wouldn't introduce a bottle now. Just go right to the cups. I added the bottle for my first when I weaned him and it was just another thing to get him off of. With my second - she went from breastfeeding to the sippy cups - a much easier transition.

Jen

skip the bottles and just do sippy cups, you can either slowly wean him by reducing the number of times you nurse him, or if he only nurses here and there, just stop, thats what I had to do with my yougest at 15 months, all she wanted was to nurse, and it was surprisingly easy! Good luck!

Since he already drinks milk from a sippy cup at meals, I'd skip bottles completely and just go with sippy cups. Otherwise you'll be trying to wean him off the bottle in a few months...

It sounds like your son is a good eater. You may not need to bother with bottles if he is already taking liquids form a sippy cup. Introducing the bottle now might just confuse and complicate the process. If he is doing well with the sippy, he will eventually move right to a cup. Breast to sippy to cup works great, no need for bottles.

Weaning at this point depends on how many feedings he is taking. The old saying for weaning goes, Don't offer and don't refuse. If he is busy with an activity, he may "forget" to nurse, which is how a lot of kids start to wean themselves. All you have to do is not remind him that it is a nursing time, and make sure he is eating enough at his meals. Also, when the time comes, eating parsley and sage helps to naturally diminish your milk supply, to lessen engorgement and discomfort for you.

Good luck!

Hi P.- My daughter just turned one several weeks ago and I have successfully aleardy weaned her (finding out I was pregnant put a little more pressure on the desire to wean, but that is a whole other story!)

Anyway- she was drinking milk from a cup/bottle during the day, but I was still nursing her first thing in the am and first thing at night- We started w/ the night feeding first- I got a sippy cup of warm milk ready and she drank it while I read her a couple of books and then I gave her her paci and she went to bed- Same thing in the am- we just started getting a sippy cup ready first thing in the morning- I'd pull her in bed w/ the cup and she didn't argue once! Hopefully your transition goes as smoothly!

i think that if he is already taking a sippy cup with meals, that i would skip the bottle all together! you can still snuggle him on the couch with the cup instead of nursing/giving bottle. my oldest 2 were about 15 mos or so when i took their bottles away. they get just as attached to a cup vs a bottle for that security thing if thats what you are concerned with. good luck!

Hi P.-
Sounds like you're doing a great job already! I would definitley NOT give him a bottle... just another thing to wean from, right? :) My Pediatrician recommended that I give my son whole milk in a sippy starting a week before his 1st birthday. She also said they need about 4 cups of milk a day. I am still nursing first thing in the morning, but replaced his 3 other feedings with sippy cups of milk. If the milk doesn't coordinate (ie he finishes it before the meal) with a meal time, I give him water with the meal. It usually works out like this: nurse around 6am, milk at 7am, breakfast at 8, milk after morning nap around 10:30/11, lunch 12, snack/milk at 3ish/after afternoon nap, dinner at 6 with water.
Hope this helps! Sounds like you know what you're doing :)

I'd stick with the sippy cups. As for the nursing, do you ask him, or does he ask you? If you ask, I'd stop asking. Let him lead the way. One of my boys nursed till 2&1/2, the other until right before his 2y b-day. I did both by not offering, and they did fine cutting down on their own.
Just remember, your little one may be nursing to reconnect with you, not just for food.
Good Luck.

Have you tried a soft nippled sippy cup? I am trying to wean my daughter and although she accepts a bottle occasionally - I question it.

Do I really want to wean her off the breast and then in a few months attempt to wean her off a bottle as well??????

Well, thats the way I look at it, I hope it helped somehow.
PS - I use a soft nipple sippy cup by Nuby (they also make cups with straws that are great as well)

If he's already taking milk from a sippy cup, don't even bother with the bottle. It will only confuse him. He's on the right track, so keep it that way.