I Have Been Breastfeeding My 11 Month Old Exclusively. How Can I Get Him To Start Weaning?
October 25, 2009 by Guest Author
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
I don’t want to stop breastfeeding just yet, but I started school and pumping my breastmilk isn’t working anymore. My little one hates formula, as soon as I put the bottle to his mouth and he takes a sip he refuses to take any more. How will I be able to wean my baby in the future if he keeps this up?
good for you, eleven months is no easy feat!
forget formula, he’s had “the good stuff” and isn’t going to be too interested in formula. your babe is old enough to eat mostly solid foods and nurse as a ‘bonus.’
an easy way to start the weaning process is to offer the food first, breast milk later. this way baby is a bit more filled up on the solids, requiring less of your milk. you’ll still be nursing but can drop at least one feeding per week. he’ll be so excited by all the new foods in front of him, plus learning to walk and explore he will just be too busy to nurse often!
also, maybe it is the bottle that is the problem. try using a sippy cup. my son never liked the bottle and even though i returned to work time when he was 10 weeks old, he stopped taking a bottle at four months! so we sped right along to the sippy cup, he liked the ones with the straws (i want to say nuby by gerber from target…) and otherwise he ate rice cereal when i was away. needless to say, due to necessity he started solids pretty darn early.
finally, unless you are ready to say goodbye to nursing, you don’t have to wean just because you are returning to school. your son can still nurse at night, maybe in the afternoon if you are around and in the morning. You can continue BFing for quite some time this way. kind of a parent weaning baby weaning compromise, lol.
good luck with school, weaning, nursing and your son!!
Drop one feeding at a time with a combo of milk (if you’re comfortable with starting whole milk, if not breast milk – either in a sippy) and solids. Make it a mid day feeding so that it’s not one that’s a ‘comfort’ feed time (early morning or evening).
As he starts to take that, after a week or two replace another feeding with sippy milk. Gradually wean him off of breastfeeding this way. My son is 11 months and has weaned from all but a morning and evening breast feed. He just wasn’t that interested anymore in breast feeding. We’re still using bottles but plan to start switching more to sippy’s in the upcoming month.
Good luck!
At this age he may prefer eating more solid type of baby foods. My little ones never went to formula. I breastfed them for about ten months and then they went straight to food because they too did not like formula. He really is old enough that breastmilk/formula is not that important and he would benefit more from a variety of foods.
To Roselyn: Not only is your comment irrelevent to the topic at hand but you are rude and ignorant. You have no right to tell someone how many children they can or should have and you have no right to presume people with children are being supported by the government. My husband and I both have jobs and sure we’ve been effected by the economy but we’ve learned how to save and use our money wisely. This allows us to support ourselves and our children. If you don’t have a constructive comment to add to the question then just refrain from answering.
It’s not like this woman has stated she has 22 kids and lives on welfare. She’s asking a question about breastfeeding/weaning…geez!
I would try solids. Cereal, baby fruits and veggies, whatever he likes. In theory, they will fill him up so he won’t be as hungry and won’t nurse as much. Many babies still want to be nursed before going to sleep but you could try giving him meals and supplementing with breastfeeding
mix the formula and breastmilk together in the bottle making it mostly breast milk and 1/4 -1/3 formula. try increasing that amount day by day until by the end of the week its only formula. and try solids.
At this age I wouldn’t bother with bottles or formula. Nursing while you are at home, and solids + water/juice and any pumped breastmilk you might have in a cup while you are at school should be fine for him.
Solids? He may like those?
Wow – 11 months! Awesome! Why is pumping no longer working? Are you using an electronic pump? Also try using a hands free pumping bra along with it…it will allow you to pump completely hands free. I have twins and had to pump all the time…this bra was a life saver! Check out: http://www.easyexpression.com.
Good luck!
Twin Momma Kathleen