How did you decide to stop bf?
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Topic: How did you decide to stop bf?
Posted By: DJ
Subject: How did you decide to stop bf?
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 6:46pm
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Hi all
I'm particularly interested to hear from people who breastfed past 6 months. How did you decide it was the right time to stop, and what prompted your decision? Has anyone done a mix of formula feeding during the day when you are at work, but still bf morning and night? I'm interested because I'm supposed to be going back to work in mid- August for 2 months full time while DP stays at home. At present, I'm still bfing 5 times a day. Cheers ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Replies:
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 6:55pm
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Josh self weaned at 7 months for me. I think I may have helped him do it with introducing a bottle at night of formula at 6 months. I tried to keep BFing him but he wasn't interested in it. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: 2bmumof3
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 7:04pm
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DS1 weaned at 5 months as I returned to work, simply couldn't express and when I tried mixed BF and Formula he rejected me prefering the bottle. DS2 was 9 months and I was simply being a bit selfish as I had no reason other than I wanted my body back to myself.
No matter what or when it's a very hard and emotional decision to make, good luck. ------------- Sara Corban (22/11/04) Connor (18/04/06) Chelsea (21/05/08) 
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 7:08pm
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pick me pick me!
I went back to work fulltime when Michaela was 5mo. I tried to express her daytime feeds but heartbreakingly I couldn't get let down without her so at 5 and 1/2 mo she went onto formula part time. I'd express 1-2 bottles when I got home from work while feeding off the other side but most daytime bottles were formula and I BF'd her in the mornings and evenings/night feeds. I stopped BFing when Michaela was about 14mo.
Edited because I can't remember exact age of weaning, it was somewhere between 13-15 mo -------------  
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Posted By: kabe
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 7:51pm
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DJ, I decided to see at 7 months whether Eva would take a bottle of formula, as I was getting quite exhausted from all the bfeeding, and thought it would be nice to be able to offer her a bottle once a day. Over the next month she started showing less and less interest in bfeeding, and now she is fully formula fed. This wasn't my intention, but I think it commonly happens with babies this age, as it's much easier to get it from a bottle.
------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:04pm
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I decided before Jack was born that I would bf until he was one. It ended up that Jack was fed to sleep and as we approached 1yr and weaned him from feeding to sleep for me it became a chore rather than a pleasure.
Plus he didn't seem to mind not being bf, I remember one day I was feeding him to sleep at bedtime and realised it was the first time I had bf him all day as we had been out and both naps he had in the car. I cut down to just a bedtime feed and then cut that completely and he didn't seem to care so we stopped a few weeks after his birthday. As he was one when I stopped I didn't have to worry about formula ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: EmDee
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:31pm
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I returned to work full time when Ollie was 5 months old. I managed to express at work for about a month, but was getting less and less as time went on. We introduced formula for his daytime feeds while he was in care and he took it just fine. I kept bf morning and night until he was 16 months, the only reason I stopped was because I was preggers and it was hurting too much.
BTW we tried to introduce the bottle & formula before I went back to work, but he wouldn't have a bar of it, however when his carer tried he was fine with it?!  I'll be returning to work at the end of August & Lily will be the same age, I'll try to express longer this time around.------------- DS 8 DD 6 DS 4 DD 2 |
Posted By: FionaS
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:33pm
Elle weaned at 14 months. We were down to one feed her day and she stopped asking and if offered only hung on for a few seconds. I stopped offering and she never asked or appeared to miss it. It was very easy and very natural - she didn't get upset and I didn't get full or sore.  ------------- Mummy to Gabrielle and Ashley |
Posted By: Thirdtime
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:39pm
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Hi DJ, this is a good thread as I am curious about the same things. I am going back to work on a part time basis in September. I really, really want to keep breastfeeding, but have never expressed and don't know if it's going to work out. For now I am trying to introduce DS to a bottle. I don't want to but know I have to. He has had a bottle in the first 6 weeks, but now he just flat out refuses. I cannot begin to tell you how much of a boobs boy he is! And well I just love it. I honestly never knew I would enjoy breastfeeding this much. In all ways I just know I'm not ready for him to wean. It just makes me cry at the thought of not breastfeeding him anymore. I'll be doing shiftwork so will have to do some night shifts and call me crazy but I actually do enjoy feeding him in the night if he wakes. I'm am currently feeding him every 2-3 hours during the day. Do I need to just get over it? I'm so confused! And so sorry now DJ for being a thread-jacker! |
Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:50pm
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Hey nursie. I didn't bother introducing Michaela to the bottle before returning to work, she just took it quite happily. I'd say if you want to continue feeding then do it. Definitely try and get the hang of expressing before going back, if you want him to have EBF, I found expressing off one side while Michaela fed off the other was a great way to get lots of milk. Don't get too hung up on it tho, if you cant express don't worry, mummydee and I both successfully mixed BF and FF (as have many other mums). I loved feeding too and I loved that when I went back to work and she was cared for by my DH we still had this special thing that only we could do together. -------------
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Posted By: Jennz
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:55pm
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I decided in my mind that anything over and above 9 months I would be happy with. When 9 months came I felt she wasn't ready to wean, I didn't want to put her on a bottle (would rather wean straight to cup- but she still seemed too little for that) and she was still having quite a few feeds a day. At about 11 months she was down to 3 breastfeeds (morning, before her afternoon nap and night) so I replaced the evening one with follow on formula in a cup. Then after about 3 weeks I replaced the lunchtime one, then after another few weeks I replaced the breakfast one. I ended up feeding her until about a week or so ago- so just past 1 year.
It was a really good process actually- I'm really happy with how it all went. Proud of sticking with it for so long, glad she got that good start and happy with how smoothly the weaning went  ------------- Jen, Charlotte 7 & Kate 3 
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Posted By: peachy
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:56pm
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One day, about 5 weeks ago, Lauren just started rejecting the boob. After 3 or so feeds in a row and not wanting a bar of me, I offered her a bottle of formula and she loved it! From there on in it was a slippery slope to f/f. As much as I didn't want her to wean herself, I have since realised how much I am enjoying having my body back all to myself!
I really struggled to b/f in those first few weeks but am so stubborn I just kept on at it and managed to keep it up till about 7 months! As much as I thoroughly enjoyed b/f especially in these last few months, I am 100% thrilled to have my body back to me (except for the much smaller and saggy things called boobs that I now have  )
nursie if you give your baby a bottle to play with amongst his toys he will soon learn that the bottle can be his friend and he will take it! It took my baby about a week or so of "playing" with her bottle before she would even let me get the teat in her mouth! Phew that was a long post....sorry  ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Thirdtime
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 10:05pm
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Thanks heaps ladies I'm gonna try really hard to express and feed him..I hope that when he weans that it goes as smoothly for me, cos right now I would feel sad! I also had problems bf to start off with, he refused my boob in the first week and took a bottle. I almost gave up and thought it would be easier for both of us for him to have a bottle. But then he turned and was hooked on the boob. Sorry but I just wanted to ask...did you ever think that your babies would never wean themselves off cos of how much they wanted and enjoyed the boob? |
Posted By: Jennz
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 10:14pm
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Kate never would have weaned herself! She was showing no signs at all of refusing- basically if I offered, then she took! But in saying that, she was quite happy to take the cup when I offered it at 11 months. ------------- Jen, Charlotte 7 & Kate 3
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Posted By: peachy
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 8:34am
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I never thought Lauren would self wean, infact I didn't really believe a baby would self wean at all, but honestly she did!
The more aware she became of the exciting things around her the more and more she refused me. I think she just became far too nosey to be bothered with b/f, whereas a bottle she can be nosey and see whats going on! It was sad to stop b/f for me as I realised it was the end of an era so to speak and that my baby was growing up way too fast
Edited: cause its too early in the morning to make any sense ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: peachy
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 8:38am
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I was just giving her one b/f a day in the end, the last evening dreamfeed as she never refused that feed from me ever and it helped with my mega engorgement.
------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 8:53am
Definitely! Michaela was attached to me at the boob for the first few months. I was constantly feeding to a point where I was actually getting upset because I couldn't get anything done due to spending my whole day with my baby on my breast. I never got engorged because Michaela never gave my breast a chance to fill up. In actual fact most of the time she was suckling for comfort and so I stopped letting her suckle unless she was actually feeding. The only reason I then put her into routine feeds, instead of feeding on demand, was that she'd figured that if she wasn't feeding I wouldn't let her suckle and so she started taking so much milk she'd get overfull, throw up and then feed some more, get overfull, throw up then feed some more..... We ended up co-sleeping most nights until about 10mo so she could latch whenever she wanted throughout the night without waking me. What happened for us was that after her 1st birthday she became much more interested in everything going on around her and my nipples didn't extend enough to move with her when she turned her head while latched on Actually even now she has a bit of an obsession with my breasts (she loves shoving her hand down my top... -------------
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nursie wrote:
We dropped the afternoon (straight after work) feeds first. Then the nightime feeds and then last of all we dropped our first thing in the morning feeds (which were the least distracted ones).Posted By: LeahandJoel
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 9:05am
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Leah was fed both bottle and boob right from the start (we had a rough start and not much milk ) still managed to BF until 7 months when she self weaned. I was gutted and cried about it for days ( she chose mothers day of all days to quit!!) but she was happy and thats what mattered! Going to try for longer this time around, at least I have more of an idea of what can happen! -------------  
 
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Posted By: DJ
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 12:49pm
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Thanks girls. The time to go back to work is quickly approaching, so I'd better decide on a plan! She takes a bottle quite well, but has never had formula yet. I'm a bit useless at expressing- it takes me about half an hour to get milk that she downs in 3minutes flat. I'll most likely be doing contract work and can't imagine expressing in a strange workplace, so I'm thinking expressing during the day isn't an option. I wil miss bf, so it would be nice to keep a morn and night feed if possible, but if that doesn't work out it will be nice to have my body back and to wear a decent bra! In an ideal world, I would have loved a weaning experience like you had FionaS. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 3:11pm
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I went back to work (30 hours/week) when Kryssi was 8 1/2 mos. She stayed(s) home with her Dad. I would feed her at 8am (right before work), she would have expressed milk at noon (from the night before) and have another bf at 4pm, then another feed just before bed. So four feeds per day.
I found though that because I was bf so little, it was actually kinda painful to express my 'flat' boobs for her. So we introduced formula for the lunch feed at about 9mos. Then because I wasn't bf her much at all by that time, it didn't take very long for us to go right onto formula. I can't remember exactly when that was, but it ended up being 3 feeds/day so let's say it was 10mos. With my other girls I didn't go back to work so my plan was to bf until 12mos, however with getting pg with the next baby right before then, I weaned them both (straight to cows' milk) at 11mos. -------------  |
Posted By: jaz
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 5:18pm
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I found expressing was difficult and Caleb was happy to take a bottle during the day so I kept up the BFs before and after work and a final one just before bed. He used to have one or two bottles during the day but now he's eating three meals plus afternoon tea so doesn't need bottles, just drinks water, eats and BF's.
During the weekends I used to BF during the day as well as the usual feeds but now find he is a bit more interested in what is going on around him so he doesn't really want the extra feeds. And yes, I don't think he's ever going to self-wean. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: LJsmum
Date Posted: 05 July 2008 at 6:23pm
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Luke has decided to self wean never ever ever thought it would happen ever. He loves breast milk and did right from day 1.
On thursday he just didn't want it i offered and he sucked for a bit and that was that he just smiled and wanted to go and play. So it's bit sad end of an era.... but wahooo new bras here i come.
I had the dilemma of when to stop, how to but Luke decided to so that was great. i was at the doc's on Wednesday and he said "you can stop breastfeeding now you know!!" Hah i said i will contuine till he's 2 ys old if he wants it. By the way good luck with your decision i went back to work full time when Luke was 9 moths old and still Bfeed morning and night until now. Never got engorged or had to express. But some woman do. -------------  
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Posted By: oneplusone
Date Posted: 07 July 2008 at 8:05pm
| Great thread ladies, I've just been wondering the same thing myself. Somewhere between 5 and 6 months I started to find expressing really hard and was hardly getting anything. In addition J used to get really frustrated with his night feed. Suckling for a couple of minutes then crying. Plunket said he was probably frustrated that milk wasn't coming out fast enough and to switch boobs but sometimes I found myself switching up to eight times. Stressful for both of us. He's taken to solids really well and seems less interested in the boob. At 7 months I introduced formula at his 6pm feed which he loves. This now means I have enough milk when he wakes at 3am without it being a drama. Have noticed lately that he's less interested in his lunchtime feed from me so maybe he is self weaning too. Funny emotional time. On the one hand I'm looking forward to wearing normal bras again, but never realised how sad it would be to realise that BFing might nearly be over. |
Posted By: Highlander
Date Posted: 11 July 2008 at 8:23pm
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Hi there, I went back to work when my baby was 6.5 months old - he'd been exclusively breast fed since birth, pretty much on 5 feeds a day and I basically started getting him on the bottle at about 5.5 months - took 3 weeks, very slowly replacing one feed a week really. When I went back to work he was on formula during the day and breastfed morning and evening.
I stopped completely when he was about 8 months as I don't think I was producing enough milk - took a few gos to stop because I got quite emotional at giving it up, and I still miss it (especially if he wakes up in the middle of the night hungry - it was sooo easy to give him a boob instead of making a bottle!). But yes, I agree end of era - but good to be able to wear all my underwired bras again!! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: mumtooboys
Date Posted: 13 July 2008 at 1:22pm
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Hi ladies,
To DJ, I went back to work part time when DS1 was 5 months old and he had formula all day then a bf in the morning and before bed. When he was about 8.5 months he "dropped" the morning bf himself and we were down to the night feed only. Less than 3 weeks later he refused all together and after 3 weeks of trying to coax him in, I decided that it was too stressful for both of us. I found that once you start introducing formula, this usually leads to a premature end to your bf relationship, even if that is not what you intended when you started. It might be surprising, or interesting to know (for all of those ladies saying that bubs has "refused" ), that just because they refuse once doesn't mean they are ready to wean. Babies very rarely self wean before the age of 1 and unless it was a gradual process it's not truly weaning but what is known as a nursing strike. There are various reasons for this, including illness and teething and as long as you don't make a huge deal of it they should come back if that is what you want. I am lucky in that I am not having to return to work anytime soon (and in fact had to quit my job due to other issues) but I think that because Alex (DS2)has never had formula that it has kept us going past when his brother had decided to stop. Expressing is a learned skill, just like bf and some ladies, no matter what pump they buy and how hard they try can get a pump to work for them. When I started I was lucky to get 20ml off both sides in 20 minutes (with letdown, which is the key) and after about a month I could get 90ml off in the same time from ONE side. Basically you have to "trick", or teach, your body that it needs the "extra milk. Alex hadn't fed off one side for 12 hours at the beginning of last week and I got 150ml off without even trying! 
So just thought I'd throw that information out there in case anyone was interested and wanted to file it in their memory banks for next time.
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