Weaning One Year Old from Nursing

Have you tried adding some cereal in her nightime bottle? It may make her feel fuller and stay asleep.

With each feeding we cut, my husband took care of the usual routine for a few days (three, four) until the new routine was established. Maybe your husband could bring her downstairs and feed her breakfast and get her engaged in something else while you do your thing upstairs?

Nursing doesn't prevent you from getting pregnant. Lots of women conceive while they are still nursing, especially once their children aren't little infants anymore.

Dear B.: Who told you that you can not get pregnant while still nursing! I nursed all my 4 children and the first two are only 19 months apart! Nurse as long as you can and good luck ! M., Mother of 4

I have no advice for weaning...I always did the whole when the baby is ready thing, but I have heard that moms will take a mini vacation...maybe a weekend away from the baby...and then the baby weans just because you are not there. At that age, sometimes they are not interested in picking it back up when you get home.

As for getting pregnant while nursing, you can. Lots of moms have done it, intentional or not. Unless there is a medical condition, don't feel like you have to rush the weaning. That time never comes back, and it is so precious. I know, I've nursed 4 babies.

D.

My first two babies each weaned themselves when I got pregnant again...the first was still nursing 3X a day, the second only once at night. A friend of mine involved in LaLeche League said the flavor of your milk actually changes when you get pregant and that was why they lost interest so suddenly.
Good Luck!

You don't have to stop nursing to get pregnant. You can successfully nurse through out your entire pregnancy and after the baby comes nurse both. If you wanted to. I got pregnant while still nursing my first baby. He was 13 months old. If you do get pregnant your daughter may give up nursing because your milk will change. She will notice the difference and that would be a good way to stop. My oldest weaned himself between 13 and 16 months. He was completely done with the weaning process at 17 months. If you are truly ready to wean her you may have to be willing to just stay up when she wakes between 5-6am. That may be your only option. You could give her milk and then her breakfast that early and then put her down for a mid-morning nap. Good luck to you.

My son was 13 months old when I had no choice but to stop nursing, because I was pregnant with our second child (and remaining pregnant had always been a problem). Anyway, when you nurse for the last time, though you will cry, let your child know that this is the last time. You have to change your routine a bit. Read and cuddle instead of nurse. In the morning, try to let her be a little fusy or try putting her down a little bit later at night. I always let my kids come in bed with me in the morning to watch a half hour of cartoons. Good luck--it will happen.

Hi B.,
Have you tried adjusting naptime so she goes down and gets up later from her nap? Might make her sleep a bit later in the a.m.
Have you tried having dad take her out of the room when she first wakes up, give her milk and breakfast? If she's already had breakfast - and is sitting in the highchair or booster, and you come down already dressed for the day, she may not have that association with nursing. Also, maybe try wearing a dress so that your breasts aren't very accessible. Good luck!

Take it from me, you can get pregnant while nursing. I have a 20-month old, and PCOS, and just found out I'm pregnant. With my first, it took almost a year and I was on medication for my PCOS (a fertility issue)--this one I got pregnant on the first try. Good luck.

Have you tried bringing her down and letting her play or start having breakfast a little earlier. The cuddle time might not be enough to distract her from what she really wants, but playing might. I know 6am is early, but if you want to cut out that nursing it might help. My little man is an early riser also. I'm lucky to get to sleep until 6:30am, but it works for him. Good luck.

hi,
I weaned my first at 12 months and my second at 15 months. With my first, I went down week by week and then went cold turkey on the last feeding. It was harder on me than her. With my second, I went cold turkey from 3 feedings to no feedings within a week. I just changed the routine. My husband would do the final putting in the crib after we snuggled. We found it really helpful to change the area that we did the routine. I nursed my son in the chair in his room, so we moved the chair out of his room and sat on the floor to read books. In the morning, we tried having my husband get him out, and brought him somewhere that we usually didn't go in the morning. After a day, he was fine. I think it goes pretty well if you stick to the plan.

Good luck!

I'm in the same boat as you (nursing a 14 month old 2x/day) so I don't have any good advice on how to wean, but maybe try to get rid of the 5-6am feeding first so you're truly down to 1 feeding per day. My baby is really eager to nurse when she gets up in the morning too.

You can still get pregnant again even if you're nursing. I got my period back when my baby was 10 months, and my friend did when her baby was 6 months and at the time she was nursing exclusively. You can actually get pregnant before your period starts back up because you can ovulate before you get your first post-baby period.

I also heard that when you get pregnant, the taste of your milk changes... it becomes salty, so some kids will self-wean at that point.

FYI you can nurse and be pregnant at the same time!!!!

Nursing once a day WILL NOT prevent you from getting pregnant. I have friends who successfullynursed through an entire pregnancy, then tandem nursed (toddler and newborn) until they were ready to wean the older child.

Your daughter might be at that age where she is starting to assert her independence, but still need reassurances that you are there for her. If you only want to stop the last feeding so you can get pregnant, keep letting her have that morning nursing a bit longer.

tricky one... can you try pushing the bf, back like 15 minutes at a time and then when it gets close to breakfast time you can just go give her regular breakfast and skip the bf or milk?

Or can you let her cry it out a little(we did this to get ours to sleep through night and skip night feeding). first time 5 minutes-exactly timed out(watch clock). Then hug and cuddles, then next time i checked went in was 10 minutes, then 15 minutes. Next day 10 minutes, 15 minutes( i never had to go past that . and after the second day he was totally fine. first day was hard though.

My son just recently weaned at 2y 4m. I was ready to wean sooner, but like you I did all the right things to coax him to wean, but he just wasn't ready. In my opinion, if she's down to one nurse a day, what's the big deal in continuing a little longer? You can get pregnant while nursing. I did with my first and actually getting pregnant is the most natural way to wean a child, because your supply depletes so quickly and dramatically, the nursing toddler usually just gives up and it's her own decision. That's what hapened with my daughter (weaned at 19 months). It was SO much easier than my son.

My son needed a lot of redirection and substitution of cuddles, sippy cups and refusal. It was hard and that morning nurse was the last to go. It was a great comfort to him and it was nice for me, because, like you, it bought me another hour or two of sleep. Now he's up with the chickens as my mom used to say! LOL

Again, you are doing all the right things to try to wean, but if she's truly ready, she'll respond to all of it. If she's not, why battle your little precious. Good luck with TTC and feel free to email me for more details if you like.

actually you can definitely get pregnant while nursing but at some point you'll need to stop because the growing baby will need the nutrients. I'm in the same boat as you, nursing-wise, not trying for another. my daughter is almost 20 months and we do the morning dance that you are doing AND she's back to nursing on demand - not sure how that happened. I thought she'd just naturally wean but it hasn't gone that way. so, I don't have any real weaning advice, just wanted to clarify, if you needed clarifying, that you can absolutely get pregnant while nursing, and then maybe that would give you the impetus to wean - I think you can still nurse for several months of a pregnancy. if you do have any great advice, I'd sure love to hear it!

This sounds like my EXACT situation from earlier this year. My daughter is now 20 months. Well, it sounds like you have the right idea changing the morning location to downstairs once she wakes up. I did the same thing. Unfortunately, you may have to deal with her getting mad/fussy for a couple of days. I would play games, watch tv with her....anything to distract her from the fact that we weren't nursing. My husband would also step in and play with her. You could even take an early morning walk...anything to get out of the routine of nursing first thing. My daughter was mad for about 2 or 3 days and then the habit broke. It was well worth dealing with a few days of fussiness. Literally, it has never been an issue since those 2 or 3 days. Good luck!

That is not true that you can't get pregnant while nursing, unless you need medical intervention to get pregnant. One of my bf's mom got preggers with her sister while nursing her. So, if your period has returned or if you are noticing the signs for ovulation then, but all means you can get pregnant. And since your only nursing once a day. There really isn't much in the way of you "trying".