Hi Moms!

I usually post on BIA 2006 so I hope you don't mind me jumping in and asking a question of this group. It's a good LLL question, but we just moved to a new area and I haven't found a group yet.

DS will be 1 in 2 weeks, and I think he's really losing interest in BF. To give you a little history, we do no bottles or formula, just BF and "family" table food. He is a HUGE fan of solids and feeding himself, and about a month ago we introduced a sippy cup with water and he loves and is proficient at that too.

I noticed after we introduced the sippy that he would from time to time start to nurse, nurse for a minute or two, and then pop off really fussy and annoyed. My guess is that he's frustrated that the letdown isn't as quick as the sippy cup! This has progressed in the last week or so to basically not wanting to nurse during the day much at all. If I offer, he'll take a few sucks, then physically push me away, sit up, and go off and play. He will nurse during the day if he's a little tired, like before a nap.

Tonight at bedtime, he was walking around saying "Na na na" (his version of night-night I think). I got him ready for bed and tried to nurse him as is our routine. Well, he pushed me away, looked at the crib and repeated, "Na na!"
So I just put him in and he rolled over and fell asleep. Uhhhh....wow!!!

He does wake at night to nurse, usually around midnight and at 4-5 am, and nurses well then and goes straight back to sleep.

Ack! Think he's telling me he's ready to be done with BF??? You'd think I'd know, but DD weaned on her own (very very) gradually at 18 months, and she was a comfort nurser. He never has been- he eats, and he's done. He is an active, happy little guy, growing and gaining weight well and hitting all his milestones.

I had hoped to BF him as least as long as I did DD, but I want to respect his needs and readiness (as long as we can hang in there a few more weeks until he's 1 so I can intorduce cow's milk)!

Any thoughts? Have any of you ladies experienced something similar? What did you do?!

TIA!

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Suzanne

Proud mommy to Katie and Rob

loys of thoughts, but not many willmake sense until tomorrow when i've had a chacne to retyoe them after getting some sleep, lol.

anyways. a couple of ideas:

it could be that he is just too busy playing during the day to nurse. has he learned a new skill recently? running, jumping, or climbing on something perhaps? has anythign around the house changed? any chance he has an ear infection? (ear pain can be worsened by suckling)

he could be almost fininshed, but it isn't common for childrne this young to actually wean themselves. as long as it is working for your fmaily to keep nursing at night and early morning though, you can rest assured that he is still getting the benefits of nursing, and they can go on for quite some time with only a couple of nursings a day- or even once a day when they ar eolder, and that can continue for quite awhile.

good job making it to almost a year so far mama! :cheer:

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a big huge duh to me. you just said you moved.


(where are you at,btw? i'd be happy to help you locate a new lll group )

anyways, the move could have a ;lot to do with him striking right now, some little ones are more sensitive to changes than others... how long ago did you move?

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DS has gone through several similar phases. I personally wanted to practice WHO guidelines of to 2 or beyond and child led weaning so I continued to offer. There were times he'd only nurse in the evening and since he slept through the night, there were times I'd go in and rouse him just enough to nurse. Each time, he'd spend a week or two, sometimes a bit more, this way and then be back to nursing like a champ. He nursed until he was 2 (barely) but would have kept going if I hadn't been pretty dry from pregnancy. He's probably exicted by the new house, going through a lot of milestones (or about to) and just needs to explore. Keep offering as long as you are comfortable with it and I suspect he'll happily come back as soon as hes adjusted to whatever new thing is drawing his attention.

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Kerri, educated, opinionated, attached, sometimes cloth diapering, formerly breastfeeding, babywearing non-vax'ing, gentle disciplining, future unschooling, semi-crunchy, mostly non-judgemental and totally liberal mama to Kierdan(12/4/04), my sensory guy, and Kyler Jane, my g-tuber (2/1/07) and loving partner to one babywearing, attached fuzzy man with a hint of crunch


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Somone new when the Christmas trees go up

Hi Suzanne and WELCOME to the BF forum! Everyone's welcome to jump in and post with us!

I agree about babies "striking" like this for a week or two and then returning to nursing......my cousin's baby has done this twice - the first time was just after a year (and she was very upset b/c she thought DD was weaning) and then again around 16 mths or so......she's still nursing now at 18 mths though, so it was just a temporairly thing. I'd say keep offering but don't press it if he's not interested during the day (you definately don't want him frustrated there)......and you're still getting the 2 great night feeds so he is taking what he needs from you You can go for months on just a feed or two a day.......

WTG on making it this far too!

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I agree with the advice already given. I just wanted to congratulate you on nursing your baby boy. You've obviously given him an excellent start and given him a strong sense of security and independence. Good JOB!

Definitely keep offering the boob, just to remind him that they are there. If truly is weaning he won't go back to it. Personally, I think he may be going through a phase.

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Nadine,

mommy to Ashleigh (11), Madison (6), Olivia (5) and Samuel born October 9, 2006 weighing 8 lbs, 4 oz.