Wanted to wean from breastfeeding any suggestions?

Question

I have been nursing my twins since birth they are now soon to be 15 months old. I have weaned them down to nap and night time to nurse. I want to discontinue breastfeeding and wanted suggestions from other wean successful parents.Thanks

Answer 1

WOW.. you did good with twins!! i don't hear that very often! I nursed all three of mine. my first was weaned at 15 months , second 17 and third was 19 months... so since you are down to just nap and bed time you are almost there. Start giving them a sippy cup (i liked the Avent ones with the soft spout) at nap time and wear clothes that don't make for easy lifting. When you are holding them for their nap time sleep, don't hold them in the same area of the house that you would normally nurse them.. hold them with their back to your belly and rock or sing or read to them... they will try to turn toward you (but that is why you are wearing a dress or something that they can't tug on) and they will cry for a little while, but soon they will catch on that it's not there for nap time anymore.
once they catch on to nap times, start the same routine for bedtime... hang in there and be proud that you've made it this long... so many people give up too early!!

Answer 2

That's fantastic that you've nursed your babies to this point! My experience with my 6 nurslings (all singletons) was that there are "windows of opportunity" for weaning that come around at fairly predictable stages. The first one usually happens between 10-12 months, when baby is becoming so distracted and interested in the world around him that he can't be bothered to sit still long enough to nurse. Many moms actually mistake this for disinterest and go ahead and wean then.

But I found that, once they made it through that stage, nursing became a lot more of a comfort behavior than it was before. The attachment to breastfeeding just got much stronger as they entered toddlerhood. I didn't find much success in trying to convince a toddler that they were ready to wean, until sometime closer to 20-24 months. This was the average age of weaning for most of my little ones. At that age, they were able to understand simple things like "we'll nurse when I finish " or "milkies went night-night; you can nurse when the sun shines again". I could reason with them, and they could be patient enough to accept my delay tactics-- but I *always* followed through after delaying. If I told the child we'd nurse after I folded a load of laundry, we sat down and nursed when I was done. They already had a level of trust that I would meet their needs, so continuing that trust through the weaning process was essential.

You are already down to just naps & bedtimes, though. For that, I would suggest a tactic I used on my nursing toddlers when I was pregnant with a new baby and nursing was uncomfortable-- I would tell the child they could nurse while I sang a particular song, or counted to a given number, or until the end of Blue's Clues, or some other limit that made sense to them. At bedtime I would wear a bra & shirt (I didn't always when they were nursing full-tilt through the night) and tell them that the milk was tucked in and couldn't come out. We had our children in bed with us still (usually up until about age 2) and didn't want to do weaning *and* booting them out of our bed simultaneously. So I was right there next to them all night, and I know it was a frustrating temptation for the milk-deprived child. The middle-of-the-night feeding was always the last to go for us.

I'm falling asleep at the keyboard here, though, so I hope some of this is helpful to you. Good luck!

Answer 3

With my four, the nap and night feedings were last to go and part of the falling asleep routine. I found that they just needed to be really tired when they were put to bed. I'd do my best to keep them super busy all day. After about a week, they didn't need the comfort of nursing. Sleep was it's own reward.

Answer 4

Do they take a bottle or cup at all? Give them juice or milk make sure it is RB ST free! Good for you for BF so long. I did for almost three years! And don't hold them if you can help it when they drink from the bottle or cup the smell will make them want to nurse. Good luck. Also check out a WIC meeting you do not need to get the stamps in order to attend the meetings.

Answer 5

I personally believe in child led weaning. It has it's challenges but it is also joyful. I think it's also possible to wean more on your timetable in a loving way. I recommend checking out the book How Weaning Happens. It's very, very informative.

Answer 6

the terrific thank you to wean her is one feeding at a time. If she's 8 months, i visit recommend which you pass giving her a bottle all at the same time. basically commence with a sippy cup so which you do no longer ought to circulate with the aid of all of this lower back once you ought to take the bottle away! the two my daughters have been weaned directly to sippy cup. in the previous each and every thing I used the disposable ones, the extremely inexpensive ones that they do no longer ought to artwork at to get liquid out. I had a tricky time getting them to take milk from the different form of cup regardless of the undeniable fact that, they prefered juice or water from those with the handles and valves, like gerber or playtex. besides, as i grow to be asserting do it one feeding at a time so that's much less tramatic for the two one in all you. The trick is consistancy. If she refuses the cup ... DON"T supply her the breast. enable her fuss and cry and attempt to grant the cup lower back. If she refuses lower back, nevertheless do no longer supply her the breast. The feedings in the previous nap time grow to be what i began with, so if she stored refusing the cup i basically placed her down without that feed and enable her fuss for about 10 minutes, she'd many times nod off because of the fact she grow to be drained and then i might nurse her whilst she have been given up from her nap or if she hadn't calmed down in that factor physique i might nurse her. I did the comparable ingredient for the subsequent couple of days and she or he found out that if she wanted food in the previous nap, she'd extra perfect take that tumbler. whilst she formally took the cup that feeding (after approximately 5-7 days), i might commence on yet another feeding, like in the previous mattress. the toughest grow to be the evening feedings, yet after taking the cup all day the transition grow to be plenty much less complicated for her .. the engorgement grow to be difficult for me :P sturdy success and wait and notice.

Answer 7

WOw congrats on 15 months and with TWINS. I nursed both my children to 18 months and its best just to go cold turkey. Sounds mean but there was NO other way. You may have to leave them with a relative for a night or two maybe even sleeping with dad at night and having him do the bedtime ritual. It took me no more then 48 hours to totally wean them and it was heartbreaking. So the quicker it ends the better.

Answer 8

Weaning from breastfeeding means switch to other kind of nutrition. Which food should replace mother’s milk? Everything depends on a baby’s age, on the one hand, and state of his health, on the other. If a baby is still under 6 months, then only adaptive formulas for healthy babies and special medicinal ones – for babies with various problems can serve as a substitution for milk. In latest case, of course, only doctor can prescribe them. After 6 months, if a baby is healthy, you can switch to partially adaptive formulas or, what’s even better, adaptive formulas for babies from 6 to 12 months.

After 8 months, if there’re no contra-indications and negative reactions, you can include kefir in daily allowance. Usually babies drink it gladly, but still you shoulnd’t give more than half of daily allowance to sour milk products: it’s rather difficult for children kidneys to lead acidic metabolites out. On any stage of breastfeeding period such formula is fair: half of nutrition is fresh (say, adaptive formula), other half – sour milk. You can alternate formulas both in the process of each feeding (in the beginning of feeding, when a baby is hungry, offer the one he likes less, by the end of feeding – the one he prefers) and during a day. After 8-9 months you can include whole cow’s milk in your baby’s daily allowance, of course, if he has no allergy on it. A baby up to 7-8 months will, most likely, prefer switch to a bottle, older babies can learn drinking from a drinking bowl or even a cup.

Some ruses
If a baby treats your attempt to offer him a bottle negatively, ask some of your close people to feed a baby instead of you. It’s quite possible, that in this case he will treat this fact better. This concerns also night feedings in full measure, if you are not planning to keep them. Moreover, associations with sleep are usually more stable, and deviation from them can be treated more seriously. Allow father or grandmother coming to your baby: a baby will agree trying formula from a bottle sooner, without feeling smell of milk.
To intriduce a strange taste of formula to your baby, you can firstly treat him from a spoon.
For some babies place of feeding is of great importance. It’s quite possible, that in atmosphere, which he doesn’t assosiate with breastfeeding (for example, in other room), he will treat a bottle better.
If a baby demands breast hard, refusing from a bottle, nothing will help you, except your own persistency. Be cunning. Give him a possibility to refuse at this moment, but when he becomes hungry again, then, most likely, he will accept a “mom’s substitute” with less hostility.
At this moment a baby needs your kind attitude and caress like never before: he needs to ascertain that he is weaned only from breast, not his mother in general. For example, at night, when your baby starts crying desperately, trying to persuade you giving up your own prohibitions, you can swing him, walk along a room with him and sing a lullaby, even if usually you don’t swing him before going to bed. This stage is considered a new one, because it requires a refusal from old established rules. You can try switching your baby’s attention on some other thing: interest him with torches, he sees from the window or headlights of night cars. The main is to distract his attention from his own negative emotions.
Weaning a baby, who receives breast only in the evening or at night, is quite similar to other weaning (see points 1 and 5), i.e. it’s better, that some other person would come to a baby with a bottle at night. If a baby keeps on refusing hard, show persistency, trying to distract your baby’s attention on some other thing.

Answer 9

just do it. make sure they have full cups when they're thirsty. they'll get used to the change before you realize it. it will be harder on you.