Encouraging baby to wean off breast

Hi Guys,

Not posted on here for a while so quick update... We've now been breastfeeding for over 8 months and love it my aim was 6 weeks and i've defo smashed that target! I'm so proud of myself & Ellie and have really enjoyed feeding her.

I'm hoping to wean her off breast by the time she's 1 year old, I'm looking for advice on how to encourage her to self wean rather than forcing her. We have a few months so would like it to be a gradual thing. Its taken us until only a couple of months ago to get her to have EBM in a bottle & she wont really have it out of a cup apart from a few sucks shes a fussy madam I've been giving her a couple of oz of EBM in a cup with her dinner to get used to it & she takes a bit but nothing significant. One thing i'm worried about is the fact that she uses me to go to sleep, her naps tend to be after a feed therefore she sees breast as comfort alot still, she will go to sleep with a bottle sometimes so I spose thats a good thing.

At the moment her typical routine is something like:
6:00am - Quick BF & back to sleep
9:00am - Breakfast
10:30am - BF & nap
12:00pm - Dinner
2:30pm - BF & nap
5:30pm - Tea
8:30pm - BF & Bed

What can I do to encourage her to drop a feed? I find it hard cos the easiest feeds to drop would be the 10:30 & 2:30 but when ive tried its been impossible as she then wont nap & gets mega grumpy... ALSO why do I feel soooo guilty when I even think of giving formula?? Would it be better to wait then go straight to cows milk? How much milk should she be having at 8 months?

I've rambled on a bit there sorry :iconredface: Any help appreciated!!
Thank u :flower1: xx

First of all well done hun!! welldone for getting this far :bighug:

Olivia weaned herself at 13 months, I noticed she no longer wanted much boob before her naps, and she started to drop them one by one.

To be honest trying to encourage self weaning, I personaly dont have many answers for.

I did find by the age of one, she understood more about her nap time and knew it was time for one and was ready herself to go and didn't require me to help her fall asleep, she started doing that at least by 11/12 months, but when she got up I would feed her then instead if she wanted it.

Breastmilk is still the most important part of her diet up to a year old, it should come before food, and its good your trying to give her some in a cup with food too.

So are you trying to say you want her to drop her day feeds and replace with formula?

Because at her age she should still be having breastmilk at least 4-5 times a day
So really until she after the age of one you really dont want to be encouraging her to drop her feeds, unless of course you are going to put her onto formula, I can understand feeling guilty, you have fed her your self for the past 8 months

Personaly I would wait, you have got so far, your not doing anything wrong, shes happy, your happy and the self weaning will happen when it is meant to if thats what you would be willing to do.

Its upto you of course, but why stop whats working :group hug:

I thought that she should be having less breastmilk now so was going to drop a feed, she has very little in the way of solids to be
honest and kinda wanted to increase those by dropping a breastfeed
maybe?

So do you think by 12 months ish she will have decreased the amount of milk she takes? Then I could poss move her straight over to cows milk? How much does baby usually feed at 12 months & would it be easier to move over then? Could I do this a bit earlier or is the 12 months for cows milk really strict?

My main reason for stopping is that I want some of my freedom back, I want to be able to go for a meal or drink and not have to worry about her wanting feeding etc. I also want her to be able to go to sleep without me as her comfortor so that if we do go out then i know she can be settled and doesnt need me there to go to sleep. I wouldnt mind still feeding her at bedtime & first morning if that was all she wanted but at the moment shes still feeding alot and using me to go to sleep so i'm finding it really restricting.

Like I said bm is the most important int he first year of life, more so than food hun.

She will possibly decrease after a year yes, it would be easier and better to wait until after one if you want to wean.

Oli used to me to fall alseep, this will change and they either stop on their or if you want to encourage it, keep her awake if you can before putting her down, so she is aware your putting her to bed for her nap.

Though to be honest she will proberly do that on her own.

Honestly hun she wil do all this on her own, have some faith in her, she knows whats she doing.

I totaly understand how you feel, and honestly the time goes by so fast, she will be running around and you wil be wanting another to do it all over again

If it were me, I would start to express more and get her more used to EBM from a bottle or cup if your freedom is the issue. It does seem a shame to put her on formula when you have done a fantastic job so far :aww:
I personally dont think she is having that many feeds.
Corey is 7 1/2 months and has much more than this, and still feeds regularly through the night too, so i think she is already doing a good job of seeing solid food as her main source of food, and the breast is more for comfort (and at 8 months, this isnt a problem in my opinion).
If you can hold off until 12 months and go straight to cows milk, i would hun, like i said, maybe increasing your pumping in the mean time.
Just my own opinion though! :aww:

Well done on getting so far considering your goal was 6 weeks!

She used to have alot more feeds than this (approx 8-10 per day) but i've cut alot of them due to her hardly taking any solids, its not helped really and she still takes very little solids.

I think i'll see how things go & try to get her having a cup/bottle more often. Thanks

Hi, firstly well done for getting this far. From reading your last post you said it's not really helped so I'm thinking maybe she's not quite ready to have her amount of milk feeds dropped. I agree with the others about trying expressed breast milk.

I have heard (from HV) that babies need roughly approx a pint of milk a day till they are a year old and then it drops down to roughly approx 3/4 of pint.

I personally would start dropping the feeds when she's a year old and be replacing the feeds slowly with cow's milk (as well as adding a few prunes!). I would still keep as you are and that's BFG on demand. It has to be on demand, b/c we don't know how much milk exactly is baby taking cos sometimes they suckle and sometimes they just wanna a bit of fore-milk just to quench thirst etc.

If you do wanna drop the feeds now then you will have to either replace it with formula or expressed BM to make up the 'guessed' amount Ellie's not having. I say it's just easier to BF and let Ellie guide you and lead you for now b/c the baby's 1st year is still the most important time.

:bighug: :bighug: :gdluck:

Pink Rose wrote:I have heard (from HV) that babies need roughly approx a pint of milk a day till they are a year old and then it drops down to roughly approx 3/4 of pint.

Just wanted to say this not including dairy products.


My HV did give me a leaflet on the calcium requirement for babies and toddlers. But I didn't follow it, b/c it sounded a bit obsessive to me I just BF on demand and chucked in a couple yoghurts and cubes of cheese.