When can I start weaning my daughter off?

Question

Shes 9 months and i want to wean her off before shes 1.Any suggestions,I'm a first time mom and breastfeeding and I have no idea how and when i can wean her off.When can I start giving her milk and other dairy?

Answer 1

Its always better to nurse as long as you can but 9 months is better than not having nursed at all, I nursed my daughter until she was 2 years old and how I did it was pick a feeding and cut it out and that should really be the afternoon nursing, once the baby gets used to that, then try stopping the morning feeding, then gradually stop the night time feeding.  9 Months is much too young to go on whole milk you can make your baby sick, so your going to have to replace the breast milk with a formula and thats when you should speak with the pediatrician to find out which formula is right for a 9 month old baby, they are not all the same and are formulated for various ages.  Good Luck

P.S. you are going to become engorged with milk so get ready for that, if it becomes unbearable stand in a shower and let the water run over your breast and express a little bit, just enough until you feel some relief but not enough to make the glands produce more milk.  In time your milk will dry up.  Please think long and hard as to whether or not you want to wean your baby.

Answer 2

I breastfed all 5 of my children, and the best way I found to wean them was to start by eliminating one feeding at a time......so you could eliminate one during the day and substitute with formula (no cows milk till after 12 months).  then after you are used to that (2-4 days) eliminate another one until you are down to one a day, like the bedtime feeding.  Then you can substitute a bottle one night and then breastfeed the next for about a week, and then when you quit for good you won't become engorged and sore.  I learned the hard way that trying to go from full-time, every day breastfeeding to a bottle in less than a week is MISERABLE!  Good luck.

Answer 3

Usually, they can have whole milk around 12 months but, I know people that have mixed milk and formula to make an easier transition at 10 months. You can wean her when you feel comfortable.  Talk to your doctor about it too they can help.

Answer 4

my daughter was nine months when i had no choice but to stop feeding, i got so weak i couldnt keep up, plus she was fussy and wouldnt take milk out of bottle  anyway, but yes you can start now, she lttle young for cows milk but find a good brand of formula that will give her everything she needs and go from there, it might be odd for her to start but it wont take her long to adjust to the change. good luck