How to wean?

jammowifey

New Member
Hi mummies. I've been a lucky mummy and have been successfully breastfeeding my DD.
However, a little too successful. She's almost 3 years old le.

My problem is, how do I wean her off now?
She's able to speak and make demands for bm and even help herself at night when i'm sleeping.
She's taking 2 full milk feeds, one early morn before I work, and one night feed before sleeping.
(some inbetween for comfort as well)

Anyone has BF your child to about the same age? or still bfing beyond this age?
 

jusrach

New Member
Hi Mummy, I also have the same situation with you! my boy is 11month and I jus cant seem to wean him off!
Would like other mummies advise too
 

jammowifey

New Member
hiya! it's been 2 and a half months since i posted this thread. i've managed to wean my girl since about 1 month ago.

I guess it's really quite simple afterall.

It was this one day, when i said to myself, enough! so from that day on i told her 'no more neh neh',
and just offered her alternatives (fresh milk, powdered milk, fruit juice, water).
she cried quite a bit, and was visibly upset, but i made up my mind to go through with it.
after abt 3 days, she gave up asking for it, and would also say 'neh neh spoilt, no more'

And she's been okay ever since!
 

diza

Member
Wow!! Congrats to you for doing such a wonderful job. How did u manage with work and all. I don't have any friends who BF that long. The longest was only 6mths. I'm aiming to BF my boy as long as I can but I worry abt my supply. I always have at least 3 litres of frozen EBM. And if I thaw 3 packets, I make sure I pump out the same amount. I'm worried that as time goes by, my supply will drop and eventually none left coz now I can only pump once every 4 to 5 hours.
 

jammowifey

New Member
I got there by telling myself I have to do what's best for my DD no matter how tough.

Sheer determination got me to 14 months on exclusive BM, then up to 3years with half formula and half BM.

first 14 months I managed to pump every 3-4 hours, but I did not have a very big store.
Meaning I was intent on pumping what she needed for the next day.
the 'stress' was to make sure i pump often enough daily to ensure constant supply and not to rely on any stored.

then work commitments caught up, had to decrease pumping once a day at work, hence had to introduce formula.

I also don't have friends around me who have breastfed that long.
some are amazed and help me to appreciate the effort I've put in,but some also have that 'why on earth you wanna do that?' attitude.
after 1.5 years of feeding, I had a few friends keep asking 'when are you gonna stop?', as if i was doing sth wrong!

so i realised its really impt to surround yourself with ppl with good attitude to bm. own relatives, esp hubby's support is key.
my hhubby totally supported me all the way, while understanding that i was tired at times, he would reassure me that i'm going through it for DD.
at no point did he tell me 'if you're tired, you should stop'.
instead he said 'you're doing it all for DD, try your best'
so that's what i did, up till 3 years. =)
 

JacTan

New Member
My daughter is currently 20 months and I am still breast feeding her. She used to take a little formula milk at night as an add-on. However, a few months back, she refused formula milk. Not sure why. I did not change the brand. Initially, I thought it was her not wanting to drink from teat so I change it to straw and sprout. No luck. She will push the cup away while giving me the gagging look. I gave a cooling off period before reintroducing again but still no luck.

I have since given up trying to give her formula milk. She doesn't like fresh milk either. Hence, I gave her Meiji chocolate milk althought I still need to coax her to finish that small amount. She is on mummy's milk 3 times a day. Before her formula milk strike, I planned to wean her off breast milk at 2 years. But now, I am not sure as I don't know what she can drink if I were to do so.. :shyxxx:

By the way, care to share how do you stop the milk supply? I am not in favor of using medicine as i am worried it would affect the supply should I have another baby.

Thanks :)
 

jammowifey

New Member
At 3 yrs, my DD was nursing twice a day, so when I decided to stop, I just stopped feeding her and didnt pump either. |
First two days were engorged, massaged a little and just bear with the discomfort, then after that the supply just went off on its own.
Total of about 4 days to stop the milk supply after I stopped BF.
Suggest to use some breast pads especially around the regular nursing times, just in case! =)

Maybe JacTan you could try some different brands of formula? Perhpas she didn't like the smell of the brand you were giving her?
 

JacTan

New Member
At 3 yrs, my DD was nursing twice a day, so when I decided to stop, I just stopped feeding her and didnt pump either. |
First two days were engorged, massaged a little and just bear with the discomfort, then after that the supply just went off on its own.
Total of about 4 days to stop the milk supply after I stopped BF.
Suggest to use some breast pads especially around the regular nursing times, just in case! =)

Maybe JacTan you could try some different brands of formula? Perhpas she didn't like the smell of the brand you were giving her?
Thank you Jammowifey for the advice. Cheers :)
 
Just to share.. Im still bf-ing my daugther who is 18mth old, and honestly i love doing it. I only did for 16mth with dear son and he wean himself off when DD was 4 mth along in my tummy. So i would like to bf until she 2.5-3 yr old. And i did get comments from relatives or friends that shes too old already... And sometimes i got weird stares too at bf rooms outside.. So what i did is tell DD no 'neh neh' outside and thankfully for the past 1 week she listens well. I've been giving her formula since she turned 1, i use nestle nan as recommended by her pd, initially gave enfa series but she rejects it. She doesnt drink using bottles or teats or spout but by syringe feeding. Its the only way she would take the formula, otherwise i mix small amount in her cereal also. Reason for giving formula is she didnt suckle hard like her brother, so i can feel the supply is not as much though it still flows well. She likes to suckle for comfort instead and can go on for an hour, unlike my son who sucks hard for 10 min and over.
 

lyra

Member
Honeylicious, how did he self wean? I'm 4 months preg now n my boy still addicted to breastmilk. I'm perfectly fine with it except that nipples are starting to sore due to the preg hormones n I'm worried abt having to feed both him n my newborn when bb is born.
 
Honeylicious, how did he self wean? I'm 4 months preg now n my boy still addicted to breastmilk. I'm perfectly fine with it except that nipples are starting to sore due to the preg hormones n I'm worried abt having to feed both him n my newborn when bb is born.
I started to intro him formula since i found out about 2nd pregnancy. So what i did is before i bf i feed him formula so he's full and suckle less. He normally suckle 10-30min, but since he had some formula he only suckle about 10-15min so my bf eventually reduced.

But introducing formula is not easy, i think you read on other thread too that bf babies not easy to intro formula. My boy rejects teats so i gotta spoonfeed him, slowly after a month of teaching to use spout he get used to it and eventually use straw bottle and up til now. So you have to be patience and persevere.

Btw you can also ask your gynae if your condition allows tandem bf-ing as i knew some gynae allows it. For me my uterus contratcs alot therefore i was advised to stop bf-ing my son asap as it risk miscarrying the baby.

Hope that helps
 

lyra

Member
My gynae said bf is alright. Did u feel contraction when u bf? Is it very painful? I felt slight pain once in a while but I thot its just the uterus expanding as the pain is similar to what I had when I had my first baby. My son drinks water from a sippy cup n sometimes milo so I guess he could accept formula milk in straw cups. I actually feed him lots of stuff, drinks, food, milk etc but he still requests to be bf. It's difficult to break as its a habit n not bcoz he's hungry or thirsty...
 

Lea Lu

Member
Wow, what an amazing job you did!!!! i'm so shuck. it's physically and mentally tiring, but fully impossible. :Dancing_wub:
 
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