Weaning advice

RBXChas

My son is 10+ months old (10 months and 6 days to be exact). With the exception of nursing before bed, he is very distracted during nursing sessions, even if there's nothing to distract him, and only wants to nurse for a few minutes (less than 10). I planned to wean him at a year if he didn't wean earlier on his own. As such I've got an eye towards weaning now that he has learned how to drink from a straw cup. (Sippy cups were a no-go, which is totally fine, and open cups were a mild success, but I can work on that later.)

I know when you wean you should shorten one nursing session until you drop it, then move on to the next, etc. However he keeps all of them pretty short except for nighttime, which is the last one you generally drop anyhow.

Here's his schedule:

First BF somewhere between 6:30 and 7:15, depending on the day

Mid-morning BF around 9 or 9:30, depending on when fussiness sets in (sometimes he'll catch a cat nap here)

"Lunch" at 10:30 or 11:00, solids plus a straw cup

BF before nap between 11:30 and 12

Nap from 12:30 to anywhere from 2 to as late as 3:30 (if I'm really lucky)

"Afternoon snack" upon wake-up, solids plus a straw cup

Mid-afternoon BF around 4

BF before bed around 6:15, lasts about 20 minutes, sometimes more

Sleep from 7ish for roughly 12 hours, usually no middle of the night wake-ups

Today I put him up for his nap, and he nursed for all of two minutes, max, before he showed no interest in latching back on. Do you all think I should move towards dropping this BFing session? He eats lunch (and drinks a little - probably 1-2 oz - from his straw cup) right beforehand, which is why I think he's been showing almost no interest in nursing then. It's been this way for a couple of weeks now.

Thanks

Edited for typo/clarity

Amandawith3kids

thats actually a normal developmental stage at his age. they just get too busy with the world around them. i wouldnt wean yet. stick it out till a year. if you do wean, prepare to give him formula till a year, not cows milk. i was also told to nurse first, THEN offer solids or liquids other than breastmilk. (pumped or whatever you are giving him to drink)

however, if you really feel he isnt doing anything but goofing off at that particular session, you could drop it. keep in mind though that older babies are MUCH better than a younger baby at getting milk. is he actively nursing at that time? or is he just goofing off/using you as a pacifier? if he's actively nursing that whole time, then i would keep it.

RBXChas

thats actually a normal developmental stage at his age. they just get too busy with the world around them. i wouldnt wean yet. stick it out till a year. if you do wean, prepare to give him formula till a year, not cows milk. i was also told to nurse first, THEN offer solids or liquids other than breastmilk. (pumped or whatever you are giving him to drink)

however, if you really feel he isnt doing anything but goofing off at that particular session, you could drop it. keep in mind though that older babies are MUCH better than a younger baby at getting milk. is he actively nursing at that time? or is he just goofing off/using you as a pacifier? if he's actively nursing that whole time, then i would keep it.

Thanks for your response!

To answer your question, no, he's pretty much latching on for a second or two, then popping off, laughing, smiling at me, pinching me, etc. It's cute (well, the pinching hurts), but he's likely getting very little, if any. Other times he's quick but does actually nurse, which is why I'm wondering if maybe he really doesn't need that session.

I'm not planning on weaning now, just aiming towards it so that it's not an abrupt change at a year. I have a decent frozen stash plus some formula on hand, which I'll donate if I don't use, so if he self-weans before he turns one, we are set.

My dad is a pediatrician, and he ok'd my use of my older son's 2% milk in *very* small quantities to help him learn to use the straw cup because I don't have breastmilk frozen in small enough quantities for that! Right now the purpose of the straw cup is so that he knows how to use it and is happy to drink from it, which is why I offer so little. He doesn't get more than 1-2 oz. a day, but (***DISCLAIMER***) I wouldn't recommend that others do that before talking to their doctor. My father knows my son and all his health stats, plus he trusts that I'm not using his ok on literally a couple of ounces a day to mean I can feed him as much cow's milk as I like, whenever I like.

The only reason I don't nurse him before solids is because I am trying to spread out nursing sessions during the day, plus the nursing session before his nap at least used to be to wind him down. If I nurse before and after solids (so that he gets nursed before his nap and doesn't have a super long break in nursing between the end of nap time and bedtime), I'll be nursing 7x/day, which I can do but feels excessive, especially when he's Mr. Distracted.

Maybe I should move up solids earlier in the morning so that he's a little hungrier before his nap to see if that helps.

Amandawith3kids

when my lil nurser it about a year, he nursed as much as a newborn. it was nuts. now he's over 2 and nurses about 3 times a day, mostly at night. he nurses to sleep the lil stinker.


i would adjust his mealtime like you said and see where that gets you. that sounds like the best course of action.

tinybry

With my daughter I just found she gradually dropped feeds one at a time - she was not asking so much so we gradually had fewer feeds. At 8 months she had first thing and bedtime plus usually 2 other feeds (on demand rather than scheduled) and gradually that dropped to one additional and then none - she just wasn't interested in the day.

At about 13 months she lost interest in the morning feed and I dropped the evening feed at 15 months when she didn't seem fussed either way (and to be honest I felt ready for it to finish too...).

I don't know if that helps, but we just found we shed one feed at a time without any real plan...