I need tips on how to stop breastfeeding!

[aanderson5]

First off congrats on BFing for so long.

DS self weaned at around 29 months. I was ready to be done so it worked well for us. I started encouraging/leading towards weaning when he turned 2. At that point he was pretty much down to 3-4 times a day. I stopped 'offering' and when he asked for milk I suggested milk from the fridge, which he took about 50% of the time (more often than that as time went on). I also dropped our morning session. We used to snuggle/nurse when he first woke up but I just started taking him downstairs and started our day. This was acctually harder for me to drop than him. LOL Next to go was before bedtime. We just changed the routine and DH put him to sleep. I would still let him nurse during the day when he wanted but it got less and less. I think the last 6 weeks or so he was nursing every 2 or 3 days. I eventually stopped producing and that was the end of it.

I think the big thing for us was changing the routine and dropping the sessions that were a habit (not the right word but not sure how to say it). Do what you feel is right. I am glad DS self weaned. Less tramatic for both of us.

I would not worry if your DS doesn't like milk. There are so many great sources of calcium as other PP have mentioned.

 

[disney_family_1247]

It's totally your decision, but in my opinion, weaning should be a long-term process. If your son has been cut back to only two or three nursing sessions a day, and he is sad about it, cutting out more right now will be hard on him. I have nursed three babies/toddlers long-term, and we go to Disney every year. I have only been in the baby care stations twice in all that time. I have found Disneyworld to be the most breastfeeding friendly place ever. No one will look twice at you for nursing on a bench, a ride, or at a restaurant, even if your son is a toddler. I was always discreet, and most people probably never had any idea that I was nursing at all In my vast experience, if you wean your son slowly, neither of you will have to go through much anguish over it. Setting a date will end up forcing the issue. I gently weaned two of my toddlers (different times) when I was pregnant again. My advice is to distract him when he asks. If he doesn't go for the distraction, then nurse him. Before you know it, he won't be asking much at all.

 

[CookingMama]

It doesnt always need to be a long term gradual process. I nursed all my kids till they self weaned. The trick is to stop offering, but dont refuse.
Also let something and someone else step into bedtime rituals. Let your s/o take part and do a backrub or cuddling instead of you.

 

[CLR4321]

I completely understand how you feel! I breastfed my son until he was 27 months old. By then it was becoming extremely annoying to me to stop. My son did not want to. I ended up going cold turkey with him. We both shed a lot of tears, but after a week or so, it was becoming normal for him to go to sleep without begging for his nursie. I felt terrible, but it just had to be done. I did change where my son slept to help...he has been sleeping with me, but that wouldn't have worked, because I would have ended up caving in the middle of the night, half asleep. Our bedtime routine changed from me nursing him to sleep to laying on the couch and watching a movie together. I went ahead and had him start sleeping on the couch at that point, because that was just what worked for us. It was so hard to be persistant with going cold turkey. Sometimes I would just think "oh one more time won't hurt...", but that would have got things started all over again. I did talk to my son about why I couldn't nurse him anymore (of course in the best way to try to talk to a 2 and a half year old!), I just told him that his nursie was tierd and were not going to make anymore milk. Even to this day it makes me feel a little sad to think about, because I felt like I was deproving my son of something that made him feel secure. It's a major emotional thing, that is for sure! Good luck with doing what works best for you! As for regular milk, he should be drinking it. If he will not or has a reaction to it, talk to your pediatrician about it. Kids do need milk to grow properly. Good luck!

 

[teacup princess]

This may be time consuming, but could you maybe pump to empty your breasts before feeding your son. My milk supply sort of dwindled off by itself but when it did he quickly became less interested in the breast and more interested in the bottle.

 

[Tiger926]

Not to threadjack, but that explains so much about my own dental history. I had /have asthma as a child (very mild now). I had to use inhalers a lot as a kid, and dentists have remarked dozens of times about what a train wreck my mouth is. I wonder now if the respiratory problems are to blame.

Gosh, ya learn something new everyday. Thanks! Glad your son got his 2nd one fixed, and best of all, you know the possibility of the meds, so you can better protect him from the ill effects.

Thank you and glad this info helped you, Tiger

 

[tinker&belle]

My dd stopped nursing at 7 months (she had a bottle with expressed milk and sometimes formula at daycare and she discovered she could crawl on her knees with the bottle instead of being tied down to mommy.) I was sad it was over so soon.

I am subscribing because she still loves her bottle and I am trying to slowly switch her from formula to milk. She doesn't take the bottle to go to sleep now but she still LOVES it and asks for it all the time.

 

[crashbb]

I know nothing about purposely stopping a child from nursing.


But your calcium concern is not valid. Dairy has calcium added to it. Dairy TAKES calcium in order to digest the protein. Dairy protein takes MORE calcium to digest it than it has added to it. With each glass of milk we drink, we are at a LOSS in terms of calcium.

So look for other sources of calcium. And lastly, if you think baby is too old for mama's milk, WHY introduce a cow mama's milk? There's nothing in it that is good for humans, there's just no point. Many other foods have the things that are *added* to dairy milk, find those!

Can you provide a source for your statement that dairy causes use to lose calcium? One not written by a PETA and/or vegan group.

Perhaps milk is different in the US then it is here, but here, vitamin D is added to milk - calcium is there naturally. Whilst it is true that there are many other sources of calcium out there, milk/dairy is a source of calcium (not a calcium leacher).

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Can you provide a source for your statement that dairy causes use to lose calcium? One not written by a PETA and/or vegan group.

Perhaps milk is different in the US then it is here, but here, vitamin D is added to milk - calcium is there naturally. Whilst it is true that there are many other sources of calcium out there, milk/dairy is a source of calcium (not a calcium leacher).

Don't waste your breath. The poster does this all the time. Offers nonsense posts and gives no evidence to back them up. It happens everytime.

Calcium is a very important part of a persons diet and milk is a primary source. But it can be given other ways. I didn't b/f , but my kids didn't like milk. I gave them yogurt, cheese, even ice cream. There are plenty of things out there.

Now at 10 and 5 they love milk.

 

[tzolkin]

If you're worried about your Disney trip, I'll give you my experience... My son was about the same age last May when we went on our Disney trip and he was bfing about the same amount (nap, bedtime, maybe once or twice otherwise during the day). He had no interest in bf while we were at Disney. He maybe nursed once a day (we went back to the room for naps), but honestly he often napped and went to bed without it. He had no interest when we were in the parks. I think he just got caught up in the Disney magic and sort of forgot about it.

He did continue to bf after we got home, but it was about the same. One day maybe twice and then none for two days. This stretched into longer periods of time until he just decided he was done in Nov. I did not offer, so he only nursed when he thought about it. He was much more active, playing outside with his sisters all day in the summer, reading books, etc so he really just lost interest.

My middle daughter also self weaned, but it was more abrupt and earlier. She stopped nursing at 22mos. I'm not sure if it was because she got more active and lost interest or because I was 6 mos pregnant (I was still producing milk, but I have read that the quality may change during pregnancy. She never said anything about it though).


My kids do not drink much milk. The two little ones maybe have one cup per day (about 1/2 a sippy cup), but they do eat cheese, yogurt, and veggies throughout the day. Our doctor has no concerns with their lack of milk, but suggests that they take a vitamin supplement.

 

[princess pooh]

Good Luck! I'm planning on weaning my almost 12 month old within the next few weeks and I think we're both looking forward to it. My kiddo likes whole milk but I bought a case of Enfagrow just in case. Does your little one like cheese or yogurt? A few of my friends had babies who wouldn't drink whole milk but they got calcium from other sources. Maybe you could ask your doctor for suggestions?

 

[rluey29]

And lastly, if you think baby is too old for mama's milk, WHY introduce a cow mama's milk? There's nothing in it that is good for humans, there's just no point. Many other foods have the things that are *added* to dairy milk, find those!

I have heard that babies don't need cow's milk before. I wonder why has it been pushed for years that they drink cow's milk? Can you give me some suggestions for the alternate things?

 

[rluey29]

You are the grownup in the scenerio, correct? Time for baby boy to grow up. When he throws the Boppy pillow at you, you discipline him. After a while, I'd bet he'll drink any kind of milk.

No, I will not be disciplining my 21 month old just because he's upset about it! I will talk to him and I can definitely wean him but he's a great kid and that's a little extreme.

 

[mjmoon]

I have heard that babies don't need cow's milk before. I wonder why has it been pushed for years that they drink cow's milk?

It's a mass conspiracy to keep money in the pockets of the formula and milk producers around the world.. didn't you know that?

Seriously though, I'm sure if you worked hard to find foods and drinks with the same nutrients you could get away with not giving him milk.. but milk is easy and readily available.. why work harder than you have to?

I don't buy into the whole "cows mommas milk is for cow babbies" crap. The human body uses nutrients from many different animal and plant sources to function properly. Milk is a good source of some of that nutrition.

 

[rluey29]

I don't buy into the whole "cows mommas milk is for cow babbies" crap. The human body uses nutrients from many different animal and plant sources to function properly. Milk is a good source of some of that nutrition.

I agree with you on that one. My DS eats alot of cheese and yogurt, but doesn't cheese contain alot of bad fat??

 

[mjmoon]

Cheese comes in all kinds of nutritional and fat levels. There are a lot of lowfat cheese that are wonderful and healthy. Stay away from overly processed cheeses and stick to more natural forms and you'll be fine.

Yogurt is a great source of nutrition as well and it too comes in lowfat/low sugar varieties.

I don't even think whole milk is necessary for a child your son's age.. you'd do fine trying 2%. I sometimes add chocolate ovaltine as a treat.. it's higher in sugar but adds a lot of nutrients and the kids think they're getting chocolate milk!

 

[bookgirl]

I'm going to have to go with cow's milk being bad for kids as BS.

Not only could my mom not produce milk, but she couldn't afford formula. My brother and I were both raised on Cow's milk. Him from about 3 weeks on and me from birth. The only difference is that we both started on very runny fortified infant cereal early so that we were getting more calories.

As for weaning, soy milk is sweeter, or if they are over 1 year old a little local honey will sweeten the milk and make it more appealing. But I think if it's mainly a comfort thing then finding a alternative like cuddling or being allowed a special item to comfort is appropriate. But do whatever is comfortable for the two of you.

 

[mjmoon]

I'm going to have to go with cow's milk being bad for kids as BS.

Not only could my mom not produce milk, but she couldn't afford formula. My brother and I were both raised on Cow's milk. Him from about 3 weeks on and me from birth. The only difference is that we both started on very runny fortified infant cereal early so that we were getting more calories.

It's amazing we all survived our parents ignorance when it comes to these things, isn't it?

It's funny that people have been drinking cows milk for as long as we've known how to milk cows. Why then, all in the sudden, is it so horrible?

 

[MegaDisney]

It's amazing we all survived our parents ignorance when it comes to these things, isn't it?

It's funny that people have been drinking cows milk for as long as we've known how to milk cows. Why then, all in the sudden, is it so horrible?

It's just another way for some parents to feel more superior to others. And it's a load of bull.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I have heard that babies don't need cow's milk before. I wonder why has it been pushed for years that they drink cow's milk? Can you give me some suggestions for the alternate things?

Rice milk. We can't have any animal milks in our house. (allergies) Some people use soy milk but too much soy is not good for boys or girls. Especially the way that soy is processed to make soy milk. There are plenty of foods that are calcium enriched and/or full of calcium naturally. Orange juice is one of them. Leafy greens also.
Bumber is actually right in that it takes your body more energy to process the proteins in milk than you will actually absorb in terms of calcium.