I'm debating weaning Timmy now or in the near future. A month or so ago, I had a milk supply scare. I rebounded quickly, but some days I still feel like I'm running a little low. And it seems like Timmy is hungrier these days.
While I never really minded pumping, the time it takes to pump and wash the parts every day adds up to a lot of time I could spend doing something better. Having to be very conscious of what might affect my supply is really starting to put a damper on my love affair with breastfeeding as well. For example, alcohol and caffeine can really lower milk supply. And I love love LOVE my wine or beer with dinner and my morning latte. (wow, that sounds really immature)
Plus, I still have to wear nursing pads every day! Wearing a normal bra without absorbent pads sounds heavenly right about now.
So I started mixing in some formula in the breast milk I give Timmy in his sippy cups during the day. Just an ounce, then we worked up to 1.5. He still drank it, so I knew we were headed in the right direction. But then I realized, I didn't know which direction I was trying to go. What was my goal of giving him formula? I am pretty sure I'm not ready to wean him completely. So I thought maybe I would try to get him to drink formula during the day and nurse him at night. Or just give him formula once a day and breastfeed the rest? Would that actually end up being more of a hassle? And do I really want to add to the baby expenses by adding formula to our shopping lists?
If I just keep breastfeeding, I don't have to make any decisions. I've already gone almost 8 months; if I just make it another 4, then I can switch straight to cow's milk and skip the whole formula thing. I just wish that I knew Timmy would take formula if I ever needed him to. Right now he won't.
If anyone has words of wisdom or success stories about weaning, I would love to hear them!
5 comments:
I don't think there's a big difference between weaning an eight month old and a year old. But if you wait even longer until they are a toddler, then it will be harder for sure because it becomes more of an emotional attachment. Good luck! What you can try doing is weaning him at night off of waking up to eat, period. After they are six months old, they don't need to nurse at night anyways.
I've heard of people cutting down to just morning and/or night feedings. That sounded perfect but I found that once I cut out feedings, my supply diminished so that I didn't have enough for those occasional feedings either.
By the way, I took advantage of that Real Simple deal too -- just got my first issue.
We started weaning directly to cow's milk at 11 months, and finished just shortly after Charlie's first birthday. I was planning to keep going with the morning feedings (his favorite), but he's just not interested any more.
I would say, now that you know he'll take the formula, keep breastfeeding as much as you want and supplement with formula when your supply is low.
I began supplementing my milk with formula when Jack was ten months, for exactly the reasons you stated - I just couldn't face 3 pumps a day at work anymore. I would try, but meetings got in the way, and I could only muster up the energy to squeeze in two. We ended up buying probably 3 cans of formula all told, by the time he was a year - so it was worth the $60 investment in my sanity!
He took to it fine right away, and when I weaned him completely at 13 months (I took a month to do it, from 12mos-13mos) he was totally cool with it. We had two days of him lifting my shirt and throwing tantrums, but that was it!
Good luck. 8 months is a good long row to hoe, lady, you can start leaning a little on some supplements I think!
We started weaning at 9 months, I think - completely because work/pumping was killing supply and I was frustrated with taking time out to pump for half an hour for a mere ounce or two. We supplemented with formula; I nursed in the morning and at night. Then she stopped wanting to nurse at night - which was a little sad for me but also a little relief. We started cow's milk (with our pediatrician's blessing) at about 10.5 months, just a little, and only cold, in sippy cups. On Mother's Day (she was 11 months old) she stopped nursing in the morning. That was the saddest. But she was completely happy. And by her first birthday she was completely on cow's milk in sippy cups!
Good luck! I think the best thing you can do is listen to Timmy - you know him better than anyone. And if you go along with his natural rhythms, as much as you can, I think you can make a stress-free transition!
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