8 month old starting to self wean??

I am fortunate that BF has gone so well for us since the beginning and even though I returned to work very early (went back when DD was not quite 4 months and work 3 days per week) I have continued to BF and express at work to ensure that DD has EBM at day care. I'm actually quite surprised and very proud of myself that I have managed this so well for so long :D

Lately DD has become very disinterested in feeding. She used to happily drink her bottles at day care but now she simply wont drink them, despite the poor staff trying their hardest and knowing that I am going to be upset that she hasn't had them. Even at home now she squirms away from me when i try to feed her and we usually only get good feeds in when she is tired or upset and wants the comfort of the boob! She has been a 'distracted feeder' for a long time but even so, she was still very interested in feeding (just wanted to do a million other things at the same time!). Now it's like she just doesn't care either way - she could take it or leave it and mostly she is leaving it!

She loves solids and eats really really well so I am not too concerned about her in regards to nutirion as I prepare all her food myself and make sure she gets a very balanced diet. But they do recommend BF until at least 12 months so I guess I don't really know what to do.

Is 8 months too early for her to be weaning herself? Should I keep trying even though she's clearly telling me she doesn't need it as much as she used it? Do I accept that she doesn't need to be BF as much as she used to and maybe try just feeding her morning & night and see if that works for us? Is that enough?

Has anyone else had a baby trying to wean themselves early - what did you do?

Thanks,
Fi

Hi Fi,
It depends what you mean by "weaning". It's too young for her to stop feeding completely - but it's quite normal for her to reduce feeds significantly at this age - so she may just be saying that she only wants 3 or 4 feeds rather than squillions.
Go with her pace - if she would prefer water and food at daycare then go with it! If you want her to have more EBM then put it on cereal, which can sop up a huge amount.
It's also a time when is probably feeding more effectively - so a couple of minutes may be all she needs. As long as the weeing and pooing and growing is all in order then don't worry.

I agree I think it is unlikely that she is weaning but it is very common for them to be very distracted at this age and be a lot more efficient with feeding.
Besides the bottles of EBM and bf is she having any other liquids? how many wet nappies is she having?
Before long things should settle and be ok.

Thanks girls. Well I think it was just a phase as last night and today she is back to loving the boob again! I think I freaked out because I mentioned to a couple of people that she was losing interest in BF and they said that their babies had self weaned at 8 months - although I didn't really think babies weaned that early?

I guess there will be days where she's not as interested and I need to accept that it is normal and nothing to get stressed about. She eats solids really well and loves drinking her water so she is still well nourished and hydrated even if she does go off her milk from time to time. I will just keep offering it and let her decide how much she wants.

Thanks again,
Fi

Their interest can wax and wane at times, and sometimes it's due to illness, or developmental leaps that distract them from feeding.
It is too early to self wean, but when their ineterest has waned, it would not be too difficult to facilitate weaning. If your baby goes through a fussy few days, you give up offering bfs and offer more bottles and/or food instead and pretty quickly you can have a weaned baby. So I can totally understand how it might happen. It does partly depend on the child of course - some will simply not allow that to happen!

Sounds like a good plan - she can let you know when and how much she wants.

DD2 went though a patch like that recently. She wasn't interested in the boob or the bottle and only fed well when she was sleepy or wanted comfort. But I wanted to get to 12 months BF so I just kept offering the boob when she wanted and didn't fuss if she refused. It took a few weeks of only feeding her when she was sleepy but now she is back to wanting it again. She even pulls at my top to look down it or up it trying to get a feed. It is very cute :)