Return to the Parents of Infants Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
I need tips on beginning to wean a 10 mo old
| | |
Posted by Jill_NC (My Page) on Sun, Jan 20, 02 at 23:01
| My DS is a happy, healthy 23+ lb 10 mo old little baby who has become QUITE the handful when nursing. He nurses well in the morning, when he first wakes up and it slowly goes downhill from there. I didn't have much luck trying to pump any b'milk at this stage, so I've given him an occasional cup of formula at mealtimes and he'll drink about 2-3 oz with his meal. I don't really offer it any other time. I should mention that I nurse him 1st thing in the morning (7:30 or so), then 11:30, then around 4 and then he'll nurse for comfort before he goes to bed. He's not nursing for very long at the last 2 feedings. He eats mostly babyfood, but has started to enjoy foods with taste--mashed potatoes, chicken soup, and he likes biscuit gravy (LOL). He does horribly with textures, but actually ate a couple Cheerios today! Progress!
My goal is to only nurse him in the morning and before bed, and then only 1x/day. I don't really have a time schedule, but I hate to admit that I don't enjoy b'feeding as much as I did when he was little. The morning & evening feedings are quiet, cuddle times...those I like!
Here are my questions:
-Do I need to worry, at this point, about exactly how much formula he's getting as he nurses less?
-Should I just continue to feed him on demand?
-How does the weaning thing work anyway??
Thanks, in advance, for any information!!!! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: I need tips on beginning to wean a 10 mo old
| | |
it sounds like your little one is weaning himself. if you continue to feed on demand then you won't be able to slack off any and your mild supply will stay up there. the less he eats the less milk you'll produce till eventually you'll produce none.
take out one of the middle of the day feedings. say the 4 one since he's not eating well at that one. distract him during that time. give him a snack. play with him. take him outside and walk around.
keep doing that until he gets used to not having that feeding anymore and then you'll be all set since you just want morn., one during the day, and then at night. good luck!!! |
RE: I need tips on beginning to wean a 10 mo old
| | |
| I started the weaning process at 10 1/2 months, and we stopped nursing at one year. At 10 1/2 months I started to introduce a small amount of cows milk (whole milk) with the expressed breastmilk that she got while at the sitters. I would still nurse her at home first thing in the morning, dinner time and at bedtime. Weekends I was nursing her for all feedings. So I also gradually got her to all sippy cup feedings during the day on the weekends so I was just nursing the morning, dinnertime, and bedtime, for all 7 days of the week. I then eliminated the dinnertime nursing, because that was the one she was not really nursing anyway. She was getting more and more playful. So that one was easy. Meanwhile, I was gradually increasing the ratio of cows milk in her sippy, while decreasing the amount of breastmilk until it was all cows milk. I then eliminated the morning nursing, and the bedtime nursing was the last to go. I thought she was going to freak about that one, but she was TOTALLY fine with it. It was ME that was freaked out!! (LOL) We just made sure we adjusted her routines so she would not miss it. For instance, at bedtime we replaced the nursing with a bedtime snack, and extra bedtime stories. I also did not have an engorgement problem when I stopped nursing, I believe because we did it so gradually. To specifically answer your question about should you worry about how much formula he is getting - I would say no. At that age, they are taking in less and less breastmilk/formula and taking in more and more food. Hope this helps. If any of my rambling did not make sense, just let me know. I would be glad to answer more questions about how it all worked for me. |
|
|
|
|
