So what do I do now....

Just putting this out there looking for some opinions & suggestions... sorry it's so long!

* although I am EE I am putting it in the weaning section because I am interested in general weaning, I have tried to be 'infant-lead' as much as possible & looking for advice on how to wean her also - mods I hope this is ok

So...
I have been exclusively expressing for Pie since day 5.
My first goal was 6 months, the second 12 which we have almost made.
So my plan was to start thinking about weaning around about now, and finish up altogether around or just after her first birthday.

Just in the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about going a bit longer though. It kind of seems silly to me because there's no emotional attachement to feeding (certainly not to the pump, lol) but I guess there is that feeling still that I am 'feeding' her.

She is teething atm & off her food a bit, so her bottles have increased and I'm a bit wary of putting her onto a lot of cows milk after 12 months of BM.
Is that reasonable or am I being weird about the cows milk?

She hasn't seemed to be all that attached to her bottles either, although they are a bit of a sleep cue & help with resettling during the night.
Last night she had 300ml bottle overnight ... it is unusual for her to have such a big bottle overnight but not unusual for her to have something.
So should I be trying to night wean her first or just go with cows milk night bottles if she needs them?

And if she's not demanding 'bottles' how much milk does she actually need during the day? I kind of offer BM all the time but I wouldn't do that with cows milk.

The other thing is if I'm going to wean I'm not sure how to go about it.
Currently I am expressing 3 times a day -
between 5:30 & 7:00 in the morning, I get around 450 - 600ml
around 1:30-2:30 pm, I get between 300 - 500ml
at night around 8:30 - 10:00, I get between 300 - 500 ml.

The other day I got caught up at work & skipped the midday pump, which didn't do much but made me leaky for the afternoon & next day.
So I was considering doing that to start weaning...and then what?
I can't just stop altogether...would I go from a morning & night pump to one? Or would I make each of those two shorter & reduce a bit first?

As for whether to wean...:dunno: DH says it's up to me which was a big surprise but awesome of him cause I know he was keen for me to finish up.

Anyway, would love to hear how other mums weaned (both BF & EE) and how their babies took it.

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Currently I am expressing 3 times a day -
between 5:30 & 7:00 in the morning, I get around 450 - 600ml
around 1:30-2:30 pm, I get between 300 - 500ml
at night around 8:30 - 10:00, I get between 300 - 500 ml.

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:clap: I just wanted to say that this is awesome and that I think EE mummy's don't get enough credit, congragulations on your EE journey.

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Is that reasonable or am I being weird about the cows milk?

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I personally don't think your aversion to cow's milk is wierd and I have watched some disturbing documentaries on what cow's milk does to cat's over generations. Have you thought of weaning onto rice or oats milk? generally they aren't recommended for under 2's or 3's (can't quite remember at the moment) but I am sure that is due to the fat content (very low). While cow's milk is generally the main source of calcium there are plenty of other options eg cheese, yoghurt, salmon, brocoli. I personally don't give DS much milk straight it is mainly with cereal of if he asks for it (which he doesn't often). So as long as milk isn't the main source of calcium it would be ok for her to have this as an alternative (there are some mummy's on here that only give thier LO's rice/oat milk for various reasons)

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Just in the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about going a bit longer though. It kind of seems silly to me because there's no emotional attachement to feeding (certainly not to the pump, lol) but I guess there is that feeling still that I am 'feeding' her.

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I don't think it is silly and while I am not an EE I can still see why you are emotional. You may not have her physically at your breast but is still your milk and body that is nourishing her and I know I get a real sense of achievement knowing that when I feed DS that I am producing that for him perfectly and that if he is sick that BM is always the most gentlest thing I can give him.

Which brings me to my next point. I can't really help you with the whole weaning thing as I am still feeding :p I have only tried to night wean and that hasn't gone down well. Our day feeds seem to be getting less and less and we have the odd day that he doesn't feed at all through the day but then he get's sick or teeth and wants to feed more often.

I would think shortening your pumping time for one feed, to begin, until you drop it completey would be a good way to do it. :dunno: I am sure someone will pop in with more experience then me :D

I suppose when I think about weaning I always ask myself 'why' if it is because I want some of me back (and this is a very legitimate reason) then I try and cut the number of feeds. So if you wanted to and it is workable for you you could always cut down to 1 or 2 feeds (pumping sessions) to make it easier for you.

I found when I reached those magic milestones and thought about weaning I would come to the conclusion that for me there is no difference between yesturday and today and as DS still wanted to feed I kept going (although I know that isn't for everyone just sharing my point of view)

Thank you Kelebek :)

:bump:
Anyone else? I know my original post was long :redface:

in short - How did you go about reducing pumps / BFeeds;
how did you wean onto cows milk, how much does she need & can i mix it up with say rice milk (thanks Kelebek ;))
and how about reducing night feeds?

I'm still screwy in the head about it...

I never switched to another milk - it's not essential really. She does need calcium and stuff like that, but it doesn't have to be from milk. Does she eat well? DS refused (and still refuses) any other sort of milk. He seems ok without it.

There are lots of ways to try night weaning - maybe have a look at the night weaning sticky or some other thrads on the topic. It comes down to whether she is hungry or thirsty or seeking comfort. My DS still needed to be fed during the night till 18 months. I night weaned and we switched to bananas. If she's thirsty you can try water. if comfort - then whatever else that works.

I also think EE is awesome - it must be at least double the effort! Well done on doing it for so long

Good luck!

Jasp, it's wonderful that you've been EE for nearly 12 mths!! And look at the quantity you get in three expressions - wow! :clap:

If you want to wean, the best way would be to drop the expressions and amounts gradually, so you aren't in any discomfort or risk mastitis. Rather than quantity, how long do you express for? Pick the time you'd like to drop and perhaps only express off half of what you would normally do the first day and decrease from there. Once you've gotten that one down to only needing to perhaps express off a little by hand for comfort, go to the next feed you want to drop and follow the same process. Then you've only got the last one to go. I wouldn't rush it, our bodies are designed to go through this process much more gradually than we are led to believe!

Call the ABA - they'll have more advice! 1800 mum 2 mum

Oh hun well done you :clap: That is such an awesome effort to have EE for almost 12 months. I have done a (very) little expressing in my feeding of DS and it is HARD work. You should be so proud of yourself.

Just wanted to pop in to also say that I found DS dropped a number of feeds on his own right around the time he turned 1. Within a two week period he'd dropped the lunchtime feed, the after dinner feed and then the late evening (10-11pm) feed as well. We actively night weaned him because I was returning to work and he was waking very frequently for quick feeds and we felt it was for comfort more than nutrition. We followed (loosely) the Jay Gordon method of doing this. I do kind of regret doing that as it hasn't stopped the night waking and now we give him cuddles (and if they don't work) cow's milk to help him resettle (only once or twice a night but still I would rather it be bm).


He wasn't that keen on cow's milk initially and I wasn't either to be honest but he gradually drank more (offered with meals usually). I don't think he has that much a day really and he would much prefer cheese, salmon, broccoli and yoghurt. They are some of his favourite foods. We are down to one morning feed per day now.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

ETA - in terms of how much she "needs" I was told by my CFHN that at 12 months old, babies "need" the equivalent of 600ml - either milk or equivalent calcium from other foods. I personally think that every kid is different and I would prefer to be guided by DS as to how much he wants to drink/eat. It was a bit of a moot point really because I can't tell how much he has in his one feed per day but thought I'd come back and add it in because you can measure what your DD drinks.

Fleur you have done such a fabulous job, you should be incredibly proud of yourself!

I'm also toying with whether or not I want to wean and can't quite make up my mind so I figure we'll just keep going for the time being and when the time is right I'll know it is iykwim?

I have been trying to do a bit of research on weaning and introducing cows milk, but there really seems to be very little out there which is a bit frustrating... However, one thing I did come across is that like the others have said, cows milk isn't a necessary part of their diet, but it is a good source of calcium. Apparently BM actually has very low levels of calcium (this was a surprise to me), so encorporating whatever forms of calcium is really important whether your giving BM or not... But the thing that stuck in my mind is that there is now minimum amount of cows milk you should give, but you shouldn't give anymore than 500mls in a day.

TBH I don't know very much about the rice milk and soy milk etc, other than I personally like it, but I am pretty sure it is not recommended for infants. In fact I remember seeing a thread around here about why you shouldn't give it to them, I'll have a dig around and see if I can find it.

HTH

Hi Jasp,
I am just browsing and had to stop and say what and amazing effort to have ee for so long, and what incredible amounts you express lol, I am in awe and totally jealous. I am doing as Jennifer says to wean my twins (want to try for number 3) was getting up at 2am each night to express but the girls were sleeping through (crazy i know) and when expressing just cut down expression time by 2 minutes each time until I was at about 6 minutes I stopped expressing. This works really well congratulations once again you should be so proud for going so long best off luck xx

Thanks everyone for your replies, I really do appreciate them :)

Yesterday DS1 had football in the middle of the day & it was going to be a bit tricky to manage the pump, so I just skipped it. I expressed a bit earlier last night & got loads but I wasn't too uncomfortable in the meantime.
So I said to DH I am thinking about dropping the midday pump & just seeing where we go from there. We still have a month to go until she's one ... I might have more of a leaning one way or the other then.

She's sick ATM & a bit off her food & she had almost 300ml overnight... so I still reluctant to drop it altogether just yet.

But as I said, I'll give it a bit longer until I have to decide, and in the meantime things will get a bit easier again if I drop the midday pump (although I think maybeI will still express for comfort if I have to, until it reduces a bit).

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was getting up at 2am each night to express but the girls were sleeping through (crazy i know)

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Lol, I did the same until 6 months & that was enough! I think that's just amazxing of you to do with twins! :o well done :)