I am thinking about weaning my baby off breast milk

Question

My daughter is 2 months, 3 weeks old. I was going to try to breastfeed for at least 6 months, but I am having some problems. My daughter is a snacker. She eats every hour for about 10 minutes. I try to make her eat more at the same feeding session, but she won't have it. The doctor told me to distract her from eating, by giving her to daddy with a pacifier, but he works full time. I can't distract her for long and I am going crazy. We can hardly go anywhere, she cries as soon as we get in the car. Also, I will be starting in-home day care next month and I can't be sitting down with Evelyn (my daughter) all the time. I would love to breastfeed for longer because I know it's the best thing, but it is really stressing me out! My husband is about to deploy for 8 months and we might want to get pregnant before he leaves (in Jan) so I kinda want to give my body a little time without breastfeeding or being pregnant. Any suggestions? Please no rude answers, some women don't even try to breastfeed at all!

Answer 1

If you truly want to keep breastfeeding, then you can.  All of the problems you described are easily solved.

For the frequent nursing sessions, try breast compression.

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/15breast_...

No, you can't be sitting down all day when you start FCC!  Learn how to nurse your baby in a sling so you can still move around.

http://www.mayawrap.com/video/clip7a_pop...

http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info...

Really, breastfeeding is not meant to be stressful.  Bottles are a lot of work, breastfeeding is easy!  I recommend that you give yourself a break by continuing to breastfeed--bottles are very time-consuming.

You can do it.  She will start to become more efficient soon and the feedings will become shorter and less frequent.  I had an all day nurser, and it was frustrating until we got it all figured out.  I'm so glad I stuck with it!  I'll be nursing my third baby soon.

Answer 2

Any amount of breastmilk is good. I totally understand your situation. dont feel bad about it! You need to do what is best for all of you and maybe she would eat better with formula.  I breastfed for 3 months until i had to go back to work. When weaning off just start with 2 bottles a day.  see how she does. Hope it goes well. :)

Answer 3

You are doing a great job and should proud for keeping it up this long.  I agree with you, six months is a great goal.  I just weaned my son at 5 months.  As a birth doula, I work with a lot of mom's having breastfeeding issues, so hopefully I can help...

Your doctor is right.  Think of it like this.  If you wake up hungry and just eat a rice cake, you are going to be hungry again in 20 or 30 minutes.  Then if you keep eating rice cakes you will continue to want to eat every 20 or 30 minutes.  The only way to fix your hunger is to eat a real meal.  So you need to slowly increase the time between feedings.  Start with going an hour and 15 minutes between feedings.  She'll be a little hungrier and eat more.  Do that for one day, then go to an hour and 30 minutes between feedings for a day.  Then an hour and 45 minutes for a day, then 2 hours.  By the time you get to 2 hours, her little tummy will be able to hold more food and you should be able to get a good break between feedings.  Ultimately, she should be able to go 3 hours between feedings.

If that doesn't work or you are still feeling frustrated with nursing, you may want to switch to bottle feeding a few times a day and nursing a few times a day.  Or bottle feeding during the day and nursing at night.  There's no right or wrong way to do it.

I'd certainly encourage you to nurse as long as possible.

Finally, you can contact a lactation consultant, or Le Leche League.  The lactation consultant will charge a fee, but Le Leche League will help you for free.  You can find a LLL Leader at www.llli.org.  Good luck!

Answer 4

hi yeah your right some mums don even try, have you tried pumping some milk for her ,that way dad can help .and it gives you a break from the breast ,you could talk to you gp or health visitor see what she advises , you could always introduce formula for one or two feeds , its completely up to you anything you decide will be your best decision ,you can pat yourself on the back for giving it your best well done

Answer 5

Does she take a pacifer?

How long does she nap for?

You could try some compressions when she is nursing it will help to put more milk in her mouth - hopefully filling her up a little bit longer. At the bottom of this website there is video clips it will teach you how to do the compressions. Make sure when you feed her you are in a quite room so she wont get distracted.

http://www.asklenore.com/breastfeeding/a...

Try giving her a pacifer - dipped in breastmilk.

Answer 6

I tried breastfeeding.  After about six weeks I was pumping every few hours and we had bottle and bottles of breast milk in the fridge and had a cooler that we filled when we wanted to go somewhere.

On another note, it sounds like a bad time to start an in-home daycare.  Your kid is still very very young and your husband isn't around to help as often as you may need.

Why in the world would you want to get pregnant before he deploys?  My husband is currently overseas and being pregnant right now would be a nightmare.  I have enough going on with just the one kid 24/7, if I was pregnant I would lose my mind.

Answer 7

Your description is truly a very normal routine for a baby so young.  I know exactly how you feel because I went thru the same emotional stress with my first baby girl.  I was only able to keep up the breast feeding until 5 months. My 2nd baby is now 6 months, and is still drinking my milk - both from me directly and bottles.  I am wiser with my second and more patient too.  I promise you: It WILL get easier and she WILL feed less often. Just give her some time! I would encourage you to keep breast feeding.  It is truly the very best thing you can do your her. You may also want to invest or rent an electric breast pump. If you buy it and have another baby, then you'll be able to reuse it again. Then you can put your milk into a bottle and store in the refridge or freezer when she wants a snack. About 3-4 months, lots of people add a teaspoon of rice cereal to the bottle.  At 4 months, try giving her rice cereal.

And re-examine the car seat. Perhaps she's not comfortable? not enough padding? Does she have one of those head pads that snug around her head and neck? Sometimes we parents make the straps too tight - I know my husband does!

Answer 8

She won't sleep long because shes hungry.

Try changing her from side to side every 5 minutes with a burps in between. She may just need more burping!

Hang in there, its not just cheaper, its the best!