https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:29:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364900 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:13:12 +0000 heartonastring 1364900@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you all so much for your responses. This really helped a lot. For some reason, I've had a really hard time getting my head around the weaning process, and your experiences clarified things for me.</p> <p>I think we'll probably go with the same approach that @Weagle: used and do don't offer, don't refuse and replace with milk and a snack. Thankfully, K is great with a straw cup, so hopefully she'll be okay taking milk from one. I also don't think she is super attached to the breast....we'll see though. She's also OBSESSED with solids, so that should certainly help the process as well.</p> <p>Interesting to hear that different milks that people have chosen. We're still debating between organic WCM and organic goat's milk. Again, that's something we're just going to play by ear. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364887 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:09:23 +0000 Mrs. Sketchbook 1364887@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is what we did. Around 11 months we introduced a straw cup. My son never cared for a sippy or a bottle, but picked up on straw within a month or so. So he practiced with a straw cup at that time. At the time he was nursing 4x a day-- morning, naps, and before bed. At 12 months I stopped nursing before naps. So only nursing 2x a day, and giving LO a straw cup at each meal and while he was playing. My goal was 8 oz of cow's milk a day. Basically just pushing cow milk whenever possible. Around 14 months I dropped the night feed because he totally lost interest. Now I am nursing once and he averages about 16 oz of milk. I usually have a straw sippy available to him at all times when he is awake. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364829 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 15:54:39 +0000 immabeetoo 1364829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It was a total non issue for us so far we are at 14m and night and morning nursing. He gets almond milk in a straw cup with meals and we added big snacks in and it's been fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364644 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:48:00 +0000 hilsy85 1364644@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sslm: totally fine to use a sippy! My LO never took to bottles either :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364628 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:43:53 +0000 sslm 1364628@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@prettylizy: your story is encouraging bc M hasn't taken a bottle either!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364626 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:43:22 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1364626@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sslm: ok to take milk in a sippy! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364624 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:42:20 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1364624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travellingbee: right now he's taking in about 5-6 oz each feeding! He gets solids 3x a day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364609 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:39:40 +0000 prettylizy 1364609@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@heartonastring: I went back at 12 months too, and she never took bottles through my entire year off. Between 10 and 11 months, she started dropping nursing sessions and we'd offer her almond milk in a sippy with meals starting right around 10 months instead of just water. By 12 months she was only nursing 2-3 times a day. By 14-15 months she had dropped both the morning and night feed all on her own. It was very gradual process but I never bothered to pump and put BM in a cup or bottle. If she nursed she got BM, otherwise it was milk in a cup. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364606 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:38:44 +0000 sslm 1364606@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: I'm just at a loss bc M doesn't take a bottle... So should I work on that or is it ok to replace nursing with milk from a sippy? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364586 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:33:36 +0000 Adira 1364586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sslm: I'm stressed about this too. Xander's almost 11 months and I don't even want to think about weaning, especially because he's allergic to milk. But I know I have to, because I don't think I can continue spending all my time at work pumping once he's one, haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364563 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:27:42 +0000 hilsy85 1364563@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sslm: I was SUPER stressed too, even more so when LO didn't like WCM :( But he eats plenty of other stuff with calcium/fat, so I made the decision not to drive myself crazy about it :) It has gone better than I thought!it would! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364559 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:26:33 +0000 travellingbee 1364559@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: How much does he take in each of those feedings? Right now L is having feedings at 7 (BF), 10:30 (pumped bottle), 3:00 (pumped), 5:30 and right before bed at 7:45. Then one overnight. I'd love to go down to pumping once a day at work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364556 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:25:21 +0000 sslm 1364556@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so stressed about this. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364526 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:17:26 +0000 hilsy85 1364526@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you plan to mix WCM and BM you do need to pump to have some supply of BM to mix. SO I would start pumping now to have a little stash, so you don't have to worry about it when you start work. Then I would just start dropping sessions and replacing them with snacks or with WCM/WCM and BM mixed/plain BM. If you don't want to do a bottle you can do a straw/sippy cup too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364458 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:55:02 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1364458@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>J is 11 months now, so I'm wanting to wean from the MOTD feedings too. For the last couple months he's had 4 feedings of breast milk a day… usually 7 am, 11 am, 4 pm, and 7 pm. Right now, I've stopped the 4 pm nursing session and replaced it with frozen breast milk in a straw cup. Next, I'll be eliminating the 11 am session and replacing it with milk in a straw cup.</p> <p>By 12 months I'm thinking he will nurse just morning and night, and I'll just give him WCM in a straw cup to go with his lunch. I don't plan on mixing milk unless he really has a problem with the switch. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364430 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:46:41 +0000 Weagle 1364430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also, our ped says that some of her patients wean to soy milk better than WCM because it's sweeter like BM. My LO preferred WCM, but it's something you could try. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364423 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:45:41 +0000 Weagle 1364423@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The mixing never worked for us, she preferred one or the other. We did "don't offer, don't refuse" starting with one nursing session a day. Once she dropped that we moved on to another. We didn't offer whole milk until after 1, but we would offer it in a straw cup during the day at meals/snacks and a bottle at night. She didn't really start drinking it from the straw cup until she was totally weaned. She also eats many other protein and calcium rich foods, so we didn't have an oz/day goal. It's a process, for sure, and don't stress if she doesn't get as much milk for a few days as "required." It's not going to hurt her for her intake to be off for a while before she figures things out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-talk-to-me-about-weaning#post-1364003 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 12:01:17 +0000 heartonastring 1364003@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just got home from DD's 9 month doctor's appointment and her doctor and I chatted about the weaning process. I will go back to work when she's 12 months and will, at the very least, need to day wean her by then. I have no interest in pumping at work, nor does my job lend itself to pumping breaks. I may or may not continue to nurse her morning and night - I haven't decided yet.</p> <p>Anyhow, her doctor said that at 11 months I can start doing a mix of WCM and BM. My main question is this: how does one do this without giving bottles of BM? Basically he said that we can do a blend of WCM and BM and gradually increase the WCM and decrease the BM, but what if I want to give her BM right from the source? I'm confused.</p> <p>Also, what's intake of WCM/day should I be aiming for by the time she's a year old? </p>