I was just curious if anyone could tell me when is the best time to start weening to the bottle?? My son will sometimes take a bottle of pumped milk but more often then not he wants mom. This makes me not be able to leave him for very long and soon I am going to have to go back to work. Is there any easy way to go about this or am I going to have to hear him cry so very hard until I cave??

Hi indymom,

I don't think there is a 'best time' to wean your child.

A few ideas could be:

-it's easier when they're smaller

-it's much easier for other people (than the mother) to give them the bottle

-and yes, it won't be easy for either of you

So, take a lot of time, and make a plan :

which meal do you want to replace first, then when this works for a week, the next meal....

I found it was easier to replace the day meals first (starting with the intermediate ones, e.g. 10 am and 4pm), then the midnight meal(s), then the morning/evening meals (which become snacks after a while).

Make sure you have a lot of time, that makes it easier, psychologically (and also for your body).

I still found that it was like taking him off a drug (especially for the night meals)...so, if you go real slow, it won't be so hard.

Oh, and the night meals must of course not be replaced by bottles. This is the time to teach him to sleep through the night too, so, the night feedings are replaced by drinks of water (no calories).

Just ideas of course, everyone has their own experiences. For some it just happens automatically, they wean themselves off so to say...I heard.

And of course, whatever you do, as usual, stick with it.

:-)

Hi Indy,

Keep this in mind also,your son may also be using you as a pacifier.

I breastfed my youngest child. I weened her off at about a year, but due to some other issues that happened later, she immediately took it up again with a vengence.

I finally had to refuse her access to my bed so she would not try to nurse (she was on regular food)

I would make sure you stop the bedtime feedings. It will make the adjustment easier.

Good luck

I weaned my son when he was old enough to try to crawl on my lap and push up my shirt. That was embarassing to me in public. Or you could do it when he gets teeth. (OUCH) But I don't think any children have ever starved to death from not geting breastmilk. Repeat that over and over to yourself! If he's old enough, I'd try strawberry Quik. He might like it more, the sugar won't hurt him, as long as you don't let him fall asleep with a bottle in his mouth.

When my ex were together and the kids were being Breast fed.I had 'night-shift' were I already had bottles of 'expressed' milk.As I was usually up late studying and I was relieved around 9am to go to bed. This was a good solution as everyone got some sleep without disturbances.Once the time in between started getting longer I slowly switched over to water,until a full night sleep could be accomplished by the baby and everyone else.
I have found especially in the country(it is probably the Stiff Upper lip,we are famous for) that some people take offence whilst a baby is being Breast fed whilst out of the house.But I cannot see a problem as long as the Mom is comfortable with this.It is one of the most natural things in the world.

Regards,

Mark

Also, rice cereal mixed with water or apple juice before bed is good too. It's slower to digest and will stay in his stomach longer. The longer his tummy is full, the longer he'll sleep. If he hasn't had rice cereal before, try it first thing in the morning. That way you can see how his tummy reacts to it. Give that a couple mornings before you do it at bedtime. It doesn't mix well with breadtmilk though.

i am going through the same thing to a certain degree. my son is 13 and a half months old and will not stop breastfeeding. he has cut down but sometimes one to two small feedings in the day and at night it all depends he nurses to go back to sleep. hes allergic to dairy and will not take the soy milk at all. so i have tried to give him water at night when he cries it works 2 out of 10 id say and at night im just so tired i just let him nurse bcs it just natural for him to go to sleep this way. its a cylce i guess im so tired that he wakes up so much and i need to get sleep for my busy schedual. so hang in there i know what you mean!!!

Lol...all I can say is next time around don't listen to the nurses about "nipple confusion" and start giving the baby both mom and the bottle from day 1.
I had my second child on a schedule from day one (bottle in the day, mama at night) so she'd be ready for daycare.

Anything beats the screaming guilt trips from trying to wean my first born from mama to bottle, lol.
Good luck..have patience. Try the rice cereal in a bottle thing..they have baby nipples with little crosses on the top (fast flow)that'll let the cereal through at a slow rate if you get the ratio of liquid to cereal right..it worked well with my 2nd when she was 3 or 4 months old.
Keep all the bottles warm (of course) and if you haven't already ..try those odd shaped "like mother" bottle nipples.
Other than that..good luck and get ready for some screaming

hey bear..you probably already have... but did you try the lactose free milk based formula?
It worked with my picky but milk allergic little one.
All the flavor, non of the lactose allergy

I'm not even knowledgable in this subject, but thought that you nursing Mom's might laugh at this. http://www.flowgo.com/funpages/view.cfm/1784
My sister-in-law is currently nursing my 5 month old nephew and she couldn't help but send me that link.

thanks for all of the advice i have not weaned my son completly but what has finally worked for me is a sippy cup. i talked to my doctor about not being able to leave my son for long and she told me to try a sippy cup and to take out the no-spill plastic part. i just hold it up for him and he drinks it like you would from a cup. it works great for me and i thought that i would pass it along for anyone else who may read this and be having the same problem. i totally agree with Saving AMy Rose and next time around i will go bottle and breastfeeding fifty fifty !

Blindsky that was a super cute link!

SAVING AMY ROSE...
I HAVENT TRIED THE LACTOSE MILK YET BUT I JUST WROTE IT DOWN TO GET AT THE STORE TOMORROW! DO YOU RECOMMEND A CERTAIN BRAND?

hey bear,
there is supposed to be a natural weening period. what i mean by this is that there is a time when the baby won't want to feed anymore... it will be only slight... but when that happens... jump on that hint and ween away. it will be easier. trust me... just watch for it. most kids its 9-11 months i think... not sure on exact months... if you miss out on that natural break... it will hard to ween them. in my clinic i also see women who have weened their babies, but the breast milks just keeps on coming... so just to let ya know... there are things to take to slow that down as well.
good luck!