Extended BFg and weaning

Vishalini3 · Jul 18, 2010

Mommies,

Those who are/were nursing your child till/beyond their toddler ages, please share your experiences. Mine is 10months old. Takes 3 times solids and 1 snack. Otherwise he is BFd on demand. I tried scheduling his nursings, but it didnt work so far. Am a SAHM. I am confused whether I should wean him by 15months or BF beyond that age. I am hearing enough stories that extended nursing has its own pros and cons. Cons - its too tough to wean, the child would become a crybaby, irritable and uncomfy after weaning. My paed said, I can start with cow's milk, quarter cup in the mid-mornings and gradually increase the intake, thereby cutting down my nursing times. Is this the right way? Am somehow not getting the courage to start cow's milk to my DS. Share your views mommies
In his infant ages, I have never been confident of my supply, all the time I used to worry that I dont have a formula handy. But I cant believe, my supply is still now sufficient for him Touchwood! Help me in planning my future nursing sessions )

loonypooh · Jul 18, 2010

Pon, i think maybe as he nears his first bday, u can slowly start giving cows milk....initially just a little, graduating to 1 feed and so on, and breastfeed him only at night? does he still ask to be fed at night?then thats a tough one.

but if he is going through the night without feeds, or maybe 1 feed, then u can breastfeed him only at nights, and give him cows milk as his morning feed, and the rest of th day

Vishalini3 · Jul 18, 2010

Poonam, after the other thread on scheduling, i tried noticing his night feed patterns, most days he settles down by 9.30pm feed. Or max 10pm feed. Then at 1am, 4.30am and straight at wakeup time. Somedays, only once at 3am and then at 6.30/7am. His night sleep timings are not yet regular. May be once we work on a particular night sleep routine, I could figure out his night feeds i guess. I am just deferring this cow's milk all the time to NEXT WEEK and it has never come so far, lol!

asha_karthik · Jul 18, 2010

Pon.. if your supply is good, and can afford to bf longer, my suggestion would be that. i bf-ed (only milk till about 1.5 years since my supply was good and she fed well too) dd till 2 years exactly. and i let her cry to wean off and abruptly (didn't like it that way, but that was a different story). in fact she has become a cry baby only after the weaning; before that she was sweeter & happier. so i dont know if its true that a bf-ed child has lesser appetite, is crankier etc. i personally haven't experienced it that way, though dd bf-ed very well unlike ds these days.

now with ds, i have scheduled bf-ing during the day (in the creche), apart from evenings to mornings, when it is on demand. i see you are feeding on demand. you can slowly start having scheduled bf... but my suggestion would be to go very very slow.. no hurry, just a 10m old child he is. all IMO !

bhuvnidhi · Jul 18, 2010

Vishalini, I think it is better to feed them as long as you have a good supply and till you are comfortable.I fed my DD till 2+ years.We planned to stop BF once we (went)go to India so that she will not feel seperated.It worked as well.I stopped feeding her and she had totally forgotten the same by the time we came back to Qatar.One good thing was she never had single instance of fever or severe cold till I BFed her.Nothing changed after that.

VidyaaJ · Jul 18, 2010

Pon,
I have no experience on this. But I am planning to BF her as long as possible... I havent yet thught about giving her cow's milk.. may be after a month, I may start to give her.. She now takes just once in bottle (expressed bm) after i go to work. but we are trying to give her dairy in other forms also... as i am working, she has some schedule in bfing.. but for the past four days, I was completely with her and i know how difficult it will be for you to schedule..so think about it

Vidyaa

loonypooh · Jul 18, 2010

Pon by nearing his first bday i meant at 11.5 months or so... i think it wld be unnecessary to give him cows milk right away.....
breastfeeding is such a wonderful feeling, and i wish i could bfeed her for longer but for my milk supply....u are blessed to be a SAHM who can meet ur LOs demands...if i were u, i wld schedule his daytime feeds.... and gradually nights...i am planning to start cows milk with DD only after her first bday though

Vishalini3 · Jul 18, 2010

Thankyou for all the suggestions girls.

@Pooh - Am not planning to wean early and would not go for cow's milk for atleast another 1.5months. I understood what you meant! Though i feel like getting back to work, this nursing thingy totally floors me down and i feel blessed to be SAHM ))))))

@Vidyaa - yaa even i think being SAHM, scheduling feeds is difficult. He sometimes cries uncontrollably for nursing, but would do fine, if someone else sooth/divert him by back rubbing, singing, et all

@bhuvinidhi - are there any challenges that you went through, while BFg? Wont they ASK for nursings when they know mamma is lactating?

@Asha - I know you would reply here I am dreading that tearful weaning part sooo much already.

I want more opinions regarding the below, from extended nursing mommies.

1. Appetite/interest in table food - I hear a lot that once you wean the child, the kid would get more interested in table food, but not soo great till you nurse them. Is this true?
2. Night sleep patterns - I also hear that kids who take bottles at nights sleep better than BFd ones. Is this true? My elder DD was bottle fed, woke up only once by 2am, slept like an angel.
3. Scheduling day time feeds - All mommies who have feeding schedules for the day, pls do share, I will see if I can bring in something for me
4. Tantrums/mood teasers - I also hear that whenever toddlers get workedup, low mood, they nurse to calm down. Is that so? Will nursing become the only way to calm them down?

TIA for the replies girls
My supply dwindles somedays, but its fine if I pump more or add lactares. I love love love nursing my child )))))))))))

asha_karthik · Jul 19, 2010

Vishalini3 said: ↑

1. Appetite/interest in table food - I hear a lot that once you wean the child, the kid would get more interested in table food, but not soo great till you nurse them. Is this true?
2. Night sleep patterns - I also hear that kids who take bottles at nights sleep better than BFd ones. Is this true? My elder DD was bottle fed, woke up only once by 2am, slept like an angel.
3. Scheduling day time feeds - All mommies who have feeding schedules for the day, pls do share, I will see if I can bring in something for me
4. Tantrums/mood teasers - I also hear that whenever toddlers get workedup, low mood, they nurse to calm down. Is that so? Will nursing become the only way to calm them down?
Click to expand...

1) Didn't face that with dd... in fact she used to eat 2 idlis with no qualms at 1.5years.. after she was weaned, making her have half idli was herculean to me. again that was only coz of her growing up, but i didn't feel bf-ing and other foods were any related though i kept hearing about it at least 2-3 times a day till i stopped bf-ing her.
2) No experience with bottle feeding; but dd slowly started sleeping full night with no major issues. till about 1.5 years she used to wake up for feed 1-2 times in the night. then that stopped too. its the nurse-to-sleep session that she couldn't give up so easily at the end.
3) As i said its a demand feed between 7pm to 9am. first feed at creche as soon as i drop him (around 10am.. advancing it to 9 9:30 these days); again 12:30 i visit him to check on his lunch but sometimes end up feeding if he is awake. then 4pm; then 7pm when i go for pickup. the 12:30 and 7 ones are real short feeds.
4) MMmm.. again no in case of dd.

tikka · Jul 19, 2010

Pon, I think by now you will know my answers pat.
So, I will address the one about sleep and behaviuor. It was our pet peeve too, DS managing to sleep through the night only after his second birthday. But all that I have read and observed is making one thing clear to me, sleeping is totally unrelated to a full stomach. DS did not, even with a full stomach. It instead had to do with his ability to wind himself down and get himself back to sleep. So, a bfing mom, with milk readily available, may be a source of distraction for the child ;-).
Behaviour/tantrum can be dealt with two ways, bfing to calm down (and I have used it a million times to heal a boo boo) or setting boundaries gently and firmly and showing the child how much you care for him. It may take a while, but I dont see bfed toddler as being a mother coddled toddler, IMO. good luck with your decision.