Weaning Question - Spring, TX

Just like with a bottle, stop offering him the breast. Change the bedtime routine, change the morning routine, sing songs or read books or something,,,just no boobie! If he wants milk he'll eventually drink from the cup. Try puting chocolate or strawberry in the sippy cup.

Amy,
Congrats on bf-ing!

Are you putting your expressed milk into a sippy? Or cow's milk? Not all 1yr olds can tolerate cow's milk very well. Both of my kids rejected cow's milk until they were much older...and now neither of them drink it at all.
All that to say, it doesn't have to be cow's milk that you put in the sippy. You could use goat's, rice, oat or almond milk.
I avoid soy milk for my family b/c of all the controversy surrounding it and hormones. I have not done the research to decide for myself, but with 4 alternatives I haven't felt the need.

As far as weaning down to twice a day...
You didn't say how often you are currently nursing. General guideline is to not rush. LLL recommends reducing by no more than one nursing per week. This will help ensure your body has a good chance to adjust and not get plugged ducts, etc. Below are three links to good pages on weaning and weaning FAQs.
http://www.llli.org/FAQ/weanhowto.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_faqs.html

HTH
K., mama to
Catherine, 5.5y
Samuel, 2.5y
Baby due 9/09

We are the only species that consumes the milk of other species. The biological reality is that cows milk is made and designed for calves, not humans. Goats milk is made and designed for baby goats, not humans. The only proper milk that is made and designed for humans is human milk. And it does a pretty good job too.

The amount of people who are intolerant to dairy foods is therefore not surprising.

If he's thirsty give him water. If he takes it easily then you have no problem.

If you provide a variety of healthy foods for him to eat, fresh veges, fruits, meats and grains, he will not need milk. He will get all the calcium he needs from his food. He'll be just fine.

Cutting down breastfeeding can be done just with distraction. Perhaps take him out for a walk or play to a park at times he would want to feed and you don't?

Also, humans have developed to feed our young with our milk for the first few years of life. The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding for the first 2 years. The USA is a country where this biological reality is seen as somehow odd, or yuckky, and when you think about it, how weird is that! If you want to continue don't let others opinions pressure you to stop. If you want to stop, same applies. It's your choice. Just be aware of the disconnection between our biology and cultural attitudes to breastfeeding.

Good luck!

Obviously if he can take water from a cup he can take milk from a cup. Just stop offering water only offer milk. He will start drinking it when he gets thirsty.

None of my kids really liked milk for awhile after being weaned from breastmilk. My now 27-month-old still will only drink milk if it's mixed with drinkable yogurt (I buy the Yoplait ones for kids because they have 25% less sugar and have DHA added; there are also organic varieties). The ratio ends up being about 1/3 yogurt and 2/3 milk. My 4-year-old just recently started drinking milk more often, and my 7-year-old, who refused to drink milk for several years now drinks several glasses a day. You can still wean if he's not drinking milk; just make sure he's getting calcium in other places. My older kids as toddlers did drink LOTS of orange juice, so I got the calcium-fortified juice. Hope that helps and offers some reassurances!

Amy,

You mentioned that your baby will drink water out of a cup. Are you talking about your breast milk or whole milk? I started with mostly breast milk, then mixed it with whole milk and gradually switched over. Don't give him anything to drink but milk in the cup starting today. When he gets thirsty, he'll drink it:) Once he's cured of that, he can have the water again. And NO flavored milk!

Peace,
C.

It might be a matter of getting used to the taste of a "different" milk. When I had to stop breastfeeding abruptly, one of my girls refused milk. Just feeding her the milk by spoon (about the size of a teaspoon- plain or mixed with oatmeal) for a few days during meals helped her adjust to the taste. We still gave her water by sippy but not at meals, and eventually she took milk - in the cup - at mealtimes and water at other times.

Hi there! I'm just weaning my son too it's so bittersweet for me, ah well...my husbAnd and I had been introducing little sips here and there with a straw for the past two months since he was like 10 mo he's just turned one this week! My point is it's a slow process and u just have to keep introducing the straw in steps. My son is or was exclusively BF till his birthday we started the weening and it just cAme together. It's hard to expect that he will transition so fast. So just start slow let him play with the straw and let him see you drink from it and let him see liquid drip from it too. After a while he will do a few accidental sips and learn from there. My son doesn't like bottle either And he's barely getting used to his sippy cup we have to hold it up for him -- he doesn't understand gravity heehhee YET...Oh yeah I just discussed with my husband and he reminded me that he would hold the straw with liquid and let it drip into his mouth ... Hope that gets the process started then you can enjoy seeing your son drink like a big boy :). PS: I put some banana vanillacustard pudding with rice ceral in with the whole milk BC breastmilk is sweet, and now he drinks it all. Take care ;)

The pediatrician told me not to worry about it. My daughter refused any milk out of a cup until recently. The doctor told me that she was probably just holding out for breast milk. We now only nurse twice a day and I am limiting the duration of those because the milk is drying up and it is not very comfortable now. The nurse told me to try to flavor the milk with strawberry or chocolate and that helps. Now she will drink about 2 ounces of milk a day (maybe) but it is a start. I was concerned about nutrition and they told me that little ones her age needs 3 servings a day of dairy. One serving of milk for them is 4 ounces. She loves cheese and yogurt. I also give her broccoli which is high in calcium. The doctor also reminded me that we are the only mammals to drink milk into hood. He gave me the spill about the dairy association promoting milk to increase their business and told me that it is not neccessary to drink milk to be healthy. We can get good nutritian from a varried and balanced diet. Don't get me wrong though-I love milk and will still try to get my daughter to drink it. But I feel better now when she only drinks an ounce or two a day. Hope this helps!

I nursed my first two for 18 months and just offered a regular sippy cup farely often and by the time we weaned they were OK with it. My last child I nursed for just shy of two years because I knew it was my last one and by the time we weaned she was drinking out of a cup. I did not try to force the cup, just offered it with meals and during the day whenever I and the others were drinking. My kids would try it because they saw others drinking from a cup and wanted to imitate. Just maybe relax and slow the whole process down so they do not feel pushed to take it.
Good luck.