Weaning a breastfed baby?

Question

My daughter is almost 6 months old. She just recently (within the last week) has been refusing the breast quite often through out the day, but will still nurse fine at night. I have been worried, so I called her ped. and he told me to supplement her with formula if she is refusing to nurse at all, to make sure she does not get dehydrated. (For some reason, I cannot pump milk no matter what pump I use ... so that is not an option)

My doctor suggested starting to wean her, because she now prefers a bottle, and not the breast.

My question is, how did you wean your baby ... ??? Did you feel guilty... were your b*****s really sore ... did you wean quickly, or slowly?? Any advice/info is greatly appreciated!!!

And please no rude comments about weaning at 6 months :-)

Answer 1

"Help -- My Baby Won't Nurse!"

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby...

Answer 2

I weaned my baby when she was 9 months old. I started at the 8th months to give her the bottle whenever we are out and then bit by bit i started decreasing the breastfeeding. Then you have to decide on a day to never breastfeed again. I didn't feel guilty but I felt sad cause it was a nice experience. My b*****s stayed sore for a week. I had to wear a tight bra all the time and then it passed.

Good luck.

Answer 3

i guess this isnt exactly all to the answer, but if you want to continue to breastfeed, i will say my baby did this same thing just recently, she would refuse the breast all day long and nurse only at night. it lasted 5 days.   my baby does not take a bottle, bc she refused, so i had no other option but to just keep trying, and she took it again, slowly, and now nurses as normal again.  goodluck, sorry i wasnt of help on the weaning part.  

Answer 4

I'm not trying to be rude out all, but I'm going to have to 2nd or 3rd, kellymom.com. It's very possible that she's not ready to wean and is just having a nursing strike. Maybe due to a growth spurt or teething or some other issue.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby...

Answer 5

I'm not trying to be rude, but I do feel like I should point out that the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended AT LEAST 1 full year of breastfeeding for optimal baby health. So your pediatrician's recommendation was irresponsible, in my book. I see that you have 2 other kids. Please keep in mind that 2 years or more of breastfeeding (all kids combined) has been proven to make you much less likely to get breast cancer. My mom--who was encouraged to switch to formula early-- just died from breast cancer last week. (I wish I were making that up to make a point, but I'm not.) Please consider just supplementing instead of weaning, for your own health. It should be more physically comfortable for you, and it is awfully nice to have BFing as a soothing tool when you need one.