For mom who have/are breastfeeding?

Question

ok here is the thing my son has been exclusivly breastfed to this point (he is 9 months), but I go back to work october 1 and wanted to have him weaned by the (he'll be 11 months) his doctor gavae us the go ahead with cows milk and we have tried it (with meals) and he does well with it.. I was wondering if I could start of (the weaning) with just nursing him in the morning and at bed time and us cows milk for during the day but then how do I get him completely weaned?

I guess what I really want is your experiences, suggestions, and ideas on how I can get him weaned, if as little stress as possible?

I do not want to breastfeed past a year

Answer 1

Have you considered not weaning?  You can go back to work and just nurse when you are home.  This will take the stress out of the situation.  At nine months, your baby is fine without the cow's milk (and probably better off without it) since you are still breastfeeding.  I would just keep nursing and your son will naturally wean when you are back at work.

Answer 2

wow  i thought i was the onlyone who feed this long but yes that will be fine that wot i did till my boys were 18 months old

Answer 3

I  did pretty much what you want to do - breastfed morning and evenings when i started weaning.  As your little one is on on solids now and will definetly be eating more solids by 11 months it will be easier for you to wean him off breast feeding completely.  I found with my son that the more he was eating during the day the less breast feeding he needed and as you will not be around him anyway and will be at work, he will be fine with drinking the cows milk with a bottle or a beaker.  He is more likely to want to breast feed if you are there.  Once he is used to having the cows milk during day time, you can then start giving it to him at bed time, once he's ok with that, you can then move to weaning him off breast milk in the morning.  

Answer 4

Start by reducing by one feeding per day.  If you currently nurse about 6 times a day, reduce it to 5 times filling in with cow's milk for the 6th feeding.  Do this for about 3 - 4 days (or more) to allow your body to adjust to the reduced demand for breast milk.  Continue on this schedule until he's weaned.  You could even give yourself a week per reduced feeding as it sounds like you have about 8 weeks to wean him.  

Just remember that breastfeeding is a supply and demand thing.  The less he demands from you, the less your body will make, but it will take time and you might have some engorgement and painful days. Keep a pump nearby and expel just enough breast milk to make yourself comfortable, but not enough to make your body think it needs to produce more for another meal.

Weaning is a bit of a tricky thing, but give it time.  You'll get there.  If you want him completely weaned in the next 8 weeks, I think now is a great time to start.

Best wishes!