I plan to start weaning once LO is a year old. I work so DH bottle feeds her pumped milk when I'm at work. Once we start weaning does he still give her a bottle while I'm working and just skip the feeding that we are working on dropping at the time? Or should she start getting pumped milk in a cup?
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This is a good question! Bumping for some answers.
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The easiest way to wean is to just try Whole milk and see if she'll take it in a sippy cup. If not you can try a BM and cows milk mixture and over time change the ratio to more cows milk
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@Thehistoryofus: I have a pretty decent sized freezer stash. So I don't give her that until it's gone? I think it'll kill me to dump it!
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@jennylynn: Go ahead and give her all the BM from the freezer. For example, when my daughter was a newborn at daycare, she would take three bottles and I would pump three times. When I slowly started decreasing pumpings, she still got three bottles. Eventually her bottles merged to go with her meals so she has a typical breakfast, lunch, dinner with milk.
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Absolutely, do not dump your freezer stash. Continue giving that to her until it's gone. Whether you continue to bottle feed her or transition to a dippy cup is up to you, though I personally feel that after a year a sippy cup is easy for them to use. My son started drinking water from a cup/sippy at 7 mos and after he had mastered it, I started leaving sippy cups for the BM as well. Didn't phase him a bit. We don't drink milk in our family as a beverage (though we do eat dairy like cheese and yogurt and use milk on cereal, etc.) and I know that's not usually the norm... So my son never actually drank milk in a sippy. However, like able poster mentioned, as your freezer stash starts to dwindle, if you will be giving her whole milk you can mix it at first and slowly change the ratio or just intro it to her and see if she likes cows milk straight from the get-go. Some kids just accept it tastes different and doesn't phase them, others you have to do the mix and gradually switch. You will know quickly which type she is!
Weaning from the breast is totally different though than weaning her from BM from a bottle while you are working. Getting a bottle is mostly just nourishment for her, but getting BM from you while nursing is so much more than just food and some babies are not keen to give that up easily because they get so much comfort from the cuddle time and sensations of nursing together.. In fact, a lot of woman can continue to nurse when they are home, but not pump anymore at work wiithout actually fully weaning. This diminished supply can sustain for a looooong time. However, some woman find that once they stop pumping, their supply doesn't sustain enough for at home nursing for too much longer. So, your experience is going to totally vary and be personal to your situation and supply, and both your daughter's and your needs/wants.
I would encourage you to ask yourself what you want your nursing relationship to be after one year and if weaning fully is your desire or just to stop pumping after one year... Both options are usually do-able.
Best of luck to you!
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@mama_byrd: thank you for that! That was super helpful and answered a lot of questions I had. I'm definitely looking forward to dropping some pump sessions, but I'd like to take weaning from the breast slowly, for both me and DD.
Glad to know it's possible!
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6 comments