https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 24 Apr 2026 02:07:05 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553382 Fri, 20 May 2016 15:54:47 +0000 Kemma 2553382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My big girl nursed until she was 3y4m but I gave her a gentle shove towards dropping her remaining before-bed feed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553321 Fri, 20 May 2016 14:48:53 +0000 regberadaisy 2553321@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD1: me at 25 months because 2 was my max and I was pregnant and had zero interest in tandem nursing. It went easier than I thought since she was a boob monster!!</p> <p>DD2: is 20 months and is also a boob monster , even more so than her big sis! Ugh. She is no where near wanting to wean. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553312 Fri, 20 May 2016 14:42:42 +0000 maddyz 2553312@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Combo, I got pregnant when LO was 10 months and we nursed until a little over 13 months. By 10 months we were mostly just nursing mornings and nights and once during the day most days. At a year we only did mornings and nights and started giving WCM in a bottle. These all fell away very easily. We all had a terrible tummy bug and after that my milk dried up. He didn't miss a beat moving to milk in bottles.</p> <p>I think we would still be happily nursing if it wasn't for my pregnancy. It felt like he understood it was getting to be too much for me and was happy with a bottle. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553269 Fri, 20 May 2016 13:14:36 +0000 catlady 2553269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wanted to let her lead, but it was always me.<br /> At 13 months - dropped all except morning/evening sessions (except when she was sick)<br /> At 18 months - dropped the morning session<br /> At 27 months - dropped the last session</p> <p>She always gave up each session with no fuss though, so she was ready. She just didn't drop anything on her own. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553208 Fri, 20 May 2016 11:37:32 +0000 kes18 2553208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ultimately, me (when she was 2)</p> <p>9-12 mo is a time where there is usually some disinterest and nursing strikes. It is usually not weaning, since babies don't self-wean that young unless there are other factors (like pregnancy and mom's milk has dried up could be one). BUT you can take advantage the distraction and strikes to wean if you want (not offering is a weaning technique).</p> <p>Mine was very distractible from 9-12mo and often refused completely. But she still drank her bottles so I ended up pumping on weekends (I already did at work). I usually always offered the breast (because I didn't want to wean her) but she didn't have too much interest. Stuck it out. When she got to a year we ditched the pumping and she just nursed morning and bedtime and one time overnight (so much better than before). At 15 mo she had sort of a renewed interest and asked all the time from about 15-21months. Around 21mo she went back to morning and night and I did refuse sessions during the day if I didn't want to nurse. I got pregnant when she was 23mo so I have start working on trying to wean her. I cut out her bedtime session without much protest so now we are just with 1 morning one (on only one side haha). I still tell her no we can cuddle instead if she asks before bed. Just one to go! I don't offer at all in the morning, but she always asks. I'm gonna wait her out another month or two but I will probably try distraction (offer a banana instead) if she hasn't weaned by the end of june (I am due thanksgiving). She can't be getting very much at all but I am only 13 weeks so hoping the milk drying up as I get into the 2nd tri will help persuade her.</p> <p>If you want to outlast this stage and make it further, just keep offering the breast and pump to keep your supply up. Once they hit one it is great because you don't have to worry about how much they are getting. And then if they only want to nurse 2x a day, you can do that. SO MUCH BETTER than having to pump and nurse all day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553206 Fri, 20 May 2016 11:35:50 +0000 MenagerieMama 2553206@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Me, slow process finishing at 18.5 mo. Pretty sure LO would have BF every 2 hours 24/7 until college otherwise! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553201 Fri, 20 May 2016 11:28:30 +0000 oliviaoblivia 2553201@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I nudged DD1 when she was 15 months. Didn't offer one morning to see what she'd do and she didn't care or ask for it again.</p> <p>DD2 quit at 9.5 months. She would scream if I tried to nurse her. :crying: I was six months pregnant and my supply was barely there anyway but I didn't want her to quit. She refused any formula </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553195 Fri, 20 May 2016 11:17:23 +0000 travellingbee 2553195@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Me at 13 months... but he didn't object at all. I stopped offering and he stopped asking. So maybe I could say it was mutual :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553193 Fri, 20 May 2016 11:16:17 +0000 Jess1483 2553193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At a year, I initiated a huge drop in feedings because we were having weight gain issues. DS's ped thought if I stopped nursing, he would gain (he was losing weight.) I quickly dropped all but one session and he started gaining like crazy.</p> <p>We kept that session until 19 months, when LO initiated the weaning. We were on vacation and there were just too many more exciting things going on :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553191 Fri, 20 May 2016 11:13:18 +0000 winniebee 2553191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It was me. I just decreased the number of sessions until we were down to one, then none. And he never asked for it. It was kind of strange, but very easy. I guess he was over it! He was 13.5 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553190 Fri, 20 May 2016 11:11:42 +0000 Foodnerd81 2553190@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO initiated, but it was a long slow process and I just sort of encouraged her as she dropped them. I stay home and she never really liked bottles, so gradually as she dropped naps we ended up dropping sessions, then she started waking up from her one nap and not asking for milk, so I would offer her a snack instead of offering to nurse. If she asked to nurse I would but she rarely did. Then it was just morning and night. One morning she didn't ask for it and was happy to cuddle, so I went with it. Finally for the bedtime session, she had gotten to the point where I had to ask her a few times if she wanted milk before she would nurse (this was at 20 months) and I knew she would be ok without it. So one night I didn't ask and just put her to bed like normal, and that was that. I still consider if her leading since if she had asked I would have. She asked once or twice a week later and I said the milk was gone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553184 Fri, 20 May 2016 10:58:32 +0000 youboots 2553184@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we switched to WCM mostly she was starting to refuse. I had been dropping sessions and getting her accustomed to WCM. She loved it. After a day or two of refusing most sessions at 12.5 months I stopped offering and we were done. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553167 Fri, 20 May 2016 10:26:47 +0000 psw27 2553167@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@simplyfelicity: I pumped and pumped and pumped... Until 14 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553165 Fri, 20 May 2016 10:24:58 +0000 brownepiano 2553165@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Similar to psw27 LO decided he was done around 10 months. He would fight me and bite and was just super distracted. We just switched to wcm at meals and nothing before bed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553162 Fri, 20 May 2016 10:24:22 +0000 Ms maths 2553162@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@simplyfelicity: I think you were probably asking about LO1, who weaned at 10 months. We started offering formula around 8 months, because I was a few months pregnant and suspected a drop in supply. We continued to nurse until 10 months, and we had enough breastmilk in the freezer to give him some in bottles until 11 months. But I was nervous about him refusing formula and us running out of breastmilk well short of a year.</p> <p>With LO2, we started offering cow's milk around 12 months but had plenty of breastmilk to use as well. Since I have restricted nursing more, she has completely refused bottles :( We're slowly getting her to takes sips of cow's milk from a cup. (We did run out of breastmilk, but she had already been refusing a bottle for a while, so I don't think it has anything to do with the type of milk.) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553155 Fri, 20 May 2016 10:17:05 +0000 simplyfelicity 2553155@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@psw27: Just like my question to ms.maths, Did you supplement with formula or go to WCM? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553134 Fri, 20 May 2016 09:57:41 +0000 mfa_lady 2553134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Um, technically me but she was totally cool with it. She's at a sitter's 5 days a week and took a bottle there, AND she slept better when she got a bottle (instead of nursing) before bed, so by 12 months we were only nursing once a day anyway and a few extra times on the weekends. </p> <p>By the time I got pregnant (she was 14 months old) she was nursing for less than 5 minutes a day, first thing in the morning. When I really started drying up a few weeks later and stopped offering, she was completely un-fazed. She asked for milk from me and pulled on my shirt one morning a few days after we stopped, and I just told her there was no more milk in there and we had to drink milk out of our cups. She was totally fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553132 Fri, 20 May 2016 09:54:49 +0000 snowjewelz 2553132@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I voted 50/50. I was drying up which I think contributed to her weaning herself. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553127 Fri, 20 May 2016 09:51:48 +0000 psw27 2553127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Lo for sure. He was also around 10 months and just was distracted and not latching and moving around... So I just stopped offering. And he was cool with it. I didn't make a big thing of it cause I didn't want to be sad about it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553117 Fri, 20 May 2016 09:41:28 +0000 Mama Bird 2553117@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I sort of chose the timing with DS, but he was ready and didn't seem to mind, so it was kind of 50-50. He did ask for milk two years later when he saw DD nursing, so maybe I did wean too soon... or maybe it was just a sibling jealousy </p> <p>DD on the other hand... I hate the thought, but I may end up battling her on weaning. She's a huge comfort nurser. At night. From like 3 am on non stop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553114 Fri, 20 May 2016 09:39:05 +0000 josina 2553114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I voted 50/50 because DS dropped sessions on his own around 12/13 months (before daycare and then after daycare) and then at 14 months I quit offering and it didn't phase him at all. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553111 Fri, 20 May 2016 09:35:27 +0000 ShootingStar 2553111@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I started losing my supply around 7 months thanks to a massive sinus infection and decongestants, plus having difficulty finding time to pump at work. And then with low supply, DS fought BF-ing more and more. I wasn't up to working on my supply so I gave in and quit and we moved to formula. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553102 Fri, 20 May 2016 09:28:54 +0000 simplyfelicity 2553102@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms maths: Did you supplement with formula with LO #2 or go to WCM? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553081 Fri, 20 May 2016 08:59:44 +0000 autumnlove 2553081@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I initiated with LO 1 at 9 months because I was pregnant and she wasn't getting full anymore. LO 2 lost interest at 17 months so that was easy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553075 Fri, 20 May 2016 08:53:58 +0000 Ms maths 2553075@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>With LO1, he did and we stopped altogether at 10 months. I think it was a combination of him not being interested in nursing and my supply dropping due to pregnancy (and then his lack of interest caused further drops in supply.)</p> <p>With LO2, it's been all me. At 12 months, I forced night weaning, at 13 months I limited to 3 nursing sessions during the day, and at 14 months I limited to 2 nursing sessions (morning and night). She's been ok with each reduction but definitely showed no interest in doing it ahead of time. She's currently 14.5 months and is generally a little frantic around nursing time, so I don't expect she is going to initiate dropping the last two sessions on her own either. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553065 Fri, 20 May 2016 08:48:04 +0000 Mamaof2 2553065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS- me at 20 months</p> <p>DD- her at 15 months </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553064 Fri, 20 May 2016 08:47:53 +0000 Rescuemom10 2553064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It was all my LO. At ten months she refused to nurse anymore. She had been going to daycare and at that point was so use to the bottle and she caught on and realized a bottle is much easier and she would scream and cry and refuse to nurse. It was sad. I was not ready to be done. Really wanted to go to a year. I at least had enough in the freezer to get her to a year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553056 Fri, 20 May 2016 08:42:51 +0000 Truth Bombs 2553056@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Me. At a year we were transitioned to whole milk during the day and only nursing at night and in the morning (and overnight for my little sleep hater). At about 15 months I had to travel for a week for a work so I used that as an opportunity to wean and didn't offer any more once I got back. Before I left she would go to sleep for my husband totally fine, but if I was around, she would physically assault me until I nursed her and I was just over it :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/who-initiated-the-weaning-process#post-2553050 Fri, 20 May 2016 08:39:54 +0000 simplyfelicity 2553050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Was it you, your LO or a combo? DS is 10.5 months and seems to be getting bored of it. He nurses before daycare, gets two bottles of BM at daycare, and will barely bf in the afternoon and evening. He gets so distracted and latches and unlatches. I really want to make it to a year. </p> <p>Anyway, who initiated the end of BF for you? Multiple votes for different LOs. </p>