If you breastfed, how did you decide when to wean?

[Anonymous]

I just saw this and wanted to say two things --

I put away the pump at 9 months, continued breastfeeding on demand until 12 months, then weaned down to 1x/day (morning only) until 14 months. Loved it and thought this timeline worked really well for me.

You are wise to be aware of the hormonal changes from weaning. I was NOT prepared. While weaning, I had the worst mood swings of my entire pregnancy/birth experience, as far as I can remember. So apologize to your husband in advance, and good for you thinking about it. I loved breastfeeding and was VERY sad to end (even though I was ready), but it WAS nice to be done with it once my hormones readjusted.

[Anonymous]

We are still nursing at 17 months. I work from home. If I worked outside of the home, however, I would have done the exact same thing you're planning to do. DS does not drink a ton of milk, but does decently on solids. If your child is doing well with solids, you can do this even without replacing your milk with cow's milk (he really doesn't need that much milk during the day if he is eating solids, he can have water instead). Of course, cows milk works well for some children who prefer to drink their meals. I've heard that Pat Shelley quote as well, but I do think that it is a bit cheeky of her to suggest this is true for all moms. If some moms have always struggled with low supply or an underweight baby, i would probably not just rely on advice like this but rather do what's best for the baby in question. However, OP sounds like this is not an issue, so it's fine to reduce or skip the daytime pumping and just catch up when together. My friend is doing this, however, and she does caution that her DD nurses so much more when she's home that sometimes her poop is yellow and breast-milk looking again!

Congrats on keeping a great perspective about breastfeeding past a year. What a wonderful time to treasure. And, good luck with your PPD. I think a gradual weaning is probably best in your situation, but I actually don't have any reason to say that other than what "seems" to be right. (not an expert).

[Anonymous]

We gave DD cow's milk at 1 y.o. and I stopped pumping. I nursed her at night and in the morning until she stopped on her own. First it was the night feeding, then the morning. She just pushed me away and that was that. She was fine and I didn't experience any problems at all.

Hope #2 is that easy!

[Anonymous]

I'm in the process now. DONE pumping at 12 months. Feel fantastic because of it. Nurse in morning and night but plan to slowly take those away in the next couple of weeks while DD gets used to cow's milk. So far, we are doing just fine. We made it to a year and I feel great about that. And, I think we are ready to move on to the next chapter in our relationship.

[Anonymous]

At a year I basically stopped pumping, gave cow's milk with meals, and BF when DS wanted to (he was night weaned, though). He BF'd 1-2/day but short sessions, he was already too busy to BF. We kept up the minimal BF until about 15 months and then we were done.

Congrats on making it a year! That's wonderful. I think you should definitely ditch the pump, add cow's milk, and see what happens.

[Shopmom]

You always have the option to discuss weaning with a lactation consultant...this is often a free service provided by a hospital.
www.mybabysleepsatnight.com