Weaning

[Pollyanna]

By the time you've had your fifth child you'd think this whole weaning process would be a piece of cake. All our other kiddos weaned themselves by 11 months at the latest, I had to do very little it just happened. This does not seem to be the case with our Evangeline. She started nursing about 2 minutes after birth and shows no signs of stopping. While this is not a huge deal its seems like now that she is one she should be drinking more cows milk. Also, we are considering another little one and I've never been pregnant and nursed at the same time. She will sometimes drink milk from a bottle as long as I am no where around but if I am in the room she will simply tug on my shirt indicating her preference. So, should I begin to direct the weaning or continue to allow for a more child directed approach. I am completely in the middle.

[scrub-jay]

Also, we are considering another little one and I've never been pregnant and nursed at the same time.

Obviously I have no advice on the issue, but is it an old wives tale that breastfeeding is a natural birth control? I have known people on both sides of this...including those who believed it and ended up with siblings very close together.

And can I just add - for considering another one... (pregnant me talking!)

[HouseofWool]

Tara - I've got no advice for you. My sister said that when she got pregnant with #3, #2 weaned herself pretty quickly. Apparently, the pregnancy hormones change the taste of the milk.

I am stuck in the middle too. Knowing that Sophie is most likely my last makes me want to keep nursing a bit longer, but at the same time, I soooo ready to have my body back.

[peggyfromwastate]

J weaned herself at about 14 months. She was already drinking cows milk from sippy cups (never took a bottle) and we just dropped feedings here and there b/c of schedule conflicts. When I finally dropped the last one it was so anticlimatic. I was sort of sad-- really, shouldn't she have wanted to nurse?? She didn't care. She was just as happy with her binky. Clearly she wasn't getting anything out of nursing...

Anyway, I forget how old your little one is, but I usually found with some of the others who didn't want to wean that there was a window when they got really independent and distracted, then I just made the feeding shorter and shorter and supplemented more with other food or milk.

Obviously I have no advice on the issue, but is it an old wives tale that breastfeeding is a natural birth control? I have known people on both sides of this...including those who believed it and ended up with siblings very close together.

And can I just add - for considering another one... (pregnant me talking!)

Yeah, it's not. Have I mentioned Quinn, my 2nd child, just 17.5 months younger than his older brother?? I didn't actually *think* it was, but I did think "Aw hell, I'm still nursing, my husband is a resident, how much sex do I have anyway??" .... apparently it only takes one time.

Tara - I did stop nursing Jacob when I had my OB appt. confirming I was pregnant w/Quinn and there was a heartbeat, etc. Jacob didn't seem to care much, although I cried and cried. The one upside is that your breasts don't seem to go through the same torture b/c they're already all sore from being pregnant ... it just wasn't as bad as when I weaned Quinn or Mattie. Mattie nursed until just last month (just shy of 15 months). She always was willing to take a bottle / cup, so I didn't have that problem. I kept nursing her when she'd wake up and before bed for about a month, and then finally gave in when I looked at her lovingly while nursing and she shoved my face away.

As far as *should* be drinking more cow's milk, I don't think that is a concern. If she's drinking your milk she's getting the nutrients she needs. I don't think humans actually require cow's milk if they're getting mom's milk -- the one that is tailored for them, after all.

[scrub-jay]

Yeah, it's not. Have I mentioned Quinn, my 2nd child, just 17.5 months younger than his older brother?? I didn't actually *think* it was, but I did think "Aw hell, I'm still nursing, my husband is a resident, how much sex do I have anyway??" .... apparently it only takes one time.

This is good to know...very good to know.

[spotty_dog]

Obviously I have no advice on the issue, but is it an old wives tale that breastfeeding is a natural birth control? I have known people on both sides of this...including those who believed it and ended up with siblings very close together.

The Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth control is the most effective non-surgical non-IUD method, with perfect use. But even with perfect use, there is a failure rate, just like any method (even surgical sterilization). And perfect use means A) no bottles or pacifiers B) nursing on demand around the clock (I think you can have a gap of 4 hours at night, but no more) C) constant or near constant contact with the baby AND D) only effective until 6 months postpartum or your first period, whichever is first. I used LAM with Eddy, then tracked my cycles loosely, and got pregnant on the second cycle trying (he was 19 months). Natalie was a binky baby and a good sleeper, so I went for the IUD pretty quickly with her.

The La Leche League has a book called Adventures in Tandem Nursing that is great for information about nursing while pregnant, and beyond. I found it invaluable in making the decision NOT to tandem nurse, it gave me great information about the physiology of pregnant nursing (the effects of progesterone on your milk and supply can make weaning easier depending on your child's personality), and it helped me to wean Eddy very smoothly when I was nearing the end of the first trimester (he was 22 months). But it also has good information about how to make tandem nursing work for you and the older nursling, and about some of the benefits of nursing siblings together.

I find it so much easier to deal with toddler pickiness and tantrums when I have mama milk to nourish and soothe my little one. Good luck to you and Evangeline either way you choose to go! Way to go making it to a year, not everyone does even if they start out with that goal.

[Auspicious]

I had planned to wean at 12 months in order to start TTC #2. I introduced cow's milk at 12 months and Cora rejected it. So at the 12-month ped appointment I explained and asked the ped how many ounces of cow's milk I had to get her drinking before I could wean. She said the two were basically unrelated and I should go ahead and wean when I wanted to regardless of cow's milk, but also keep working toward her drinking 12-24 oz of cow's milk a day.

We took it slow and dropped the last nursing at 14 mo. Cora was a good nurser but I would just distract her at our normal nursing times and she never seemed to notice the missing nursing sessions, and neither did my boobs. Easy-peasy in this particular case. If I had to do it over I would do it the same.

I don't think of nursing as reliable birth control, but I don't think it optimizes fertility, either. Plus I was pretty much ready to be done.

So I guess I think in your scenario I would gently direct the weaning.

If there's anything in all that rambling that helps you or anyone else, then hooray.

[Michele]

Re: Weaning

Daegan continued nursing through my pregnancy with Kai (and he nursed several months after Kai was born). I had an IUD after Daegan. I don't know when I started cycling. My milk definitely decreased 1st trimester and disappeared sometime in the 2nd. But came back in the middle of the 3rd. Then of course Daegan got colostrum poo which was kinda gross for a while. But it normalized when my milk really came in after Kai was born. Latch hurt during the 1st trimester. But was better after that.

I second the book Adventures inTandem Nursing. It helped me make the decision TO tandem nurse. I found the book to be really neutral on the subject. It didn't push one way or an other. It gave good examples of both sides.

Daegan never really had cows milk. He's only had a few glasses when he's been at the sittershouse and everyone else has it. He went from breastmilk to water. Kai has been the same. He's just over a year. He nurses several times a day and gets water in his sippy cup. The doctors haven't said my kids were deficient in anyway and they both seem perfectly healthy to me. They do eat yogurt each day, but to drink, it's mainly water.


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[rockgirl]

I am working on weaning our 1 year old DD right now, omitting feedings gradually. She is a little more attached than our DS was but I am hoping to wean completely in the next few weeks.

After I was down to just nursing at night (for DS) I had changed up the routine for bed after our pedi suggested it. I had always bathed, dressed, book, nurse, bed, in that order. So I nursed him before putting the jammies on (only got peed on once) and a few weeks later went straight to the jammies and book and he didn't even notice. Made me sad but it worked.

Daytime feedings were not as much of a problem to cut out since there is so much going on during the day. good luck!

[v-girl]

My monkey boy didn't wean until about 19 or 20 months (I liked my c-cup boobs and didn't really try). We did try to introduce cow's milk well before then. He didn't like it. We did goat's milk instead and then gradually got him over to cow's by mixing the two. Goat's milk is pricey though. Be prepared for sticker shock if you go that route.

[KCwife]

Just wanted to second (or third) the LLL Adventures in Tandem book (thanks Michele , we are 14 weeks pregnant and our Evelyn is 11 months old (and has never taken a bottle). This book covers lots of the "what to expects" on milk supply, feelings, etc.

[Pollyanna]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone!! I think we will just continue to let her direct the weaning with a little help from me. We will likely eliminate the nighttime feeding first because she just is not too interested in the evening. Then I'll just see what happens from there. I'll probably be the lady nursing her kid before preschool while the other moms go....

Heehee. Thanks again!!

[alison]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone!! I think we will just continue to let her direct the weaning with a little help from me. We will likely eliminate the nighttime feeding first because she just is not too interested in the evening. Then I'll just see what happens from there. I'll probably be the lady nursing her kid before preschool while the other moms go....

Heehee. Thanks again!!

I'm no help here, but I do like the idea of another little one.