How do you know if they're weaning?

Just wondering . . . some nights (it's the only feed we have left) Kai just doesn't seem all that interested . . . usually when he's overtired. Will come off, try to sit up, look around. If I almost force him back on sometimes he'll suck for a little while, sometimes he'll settle in. Is this the start of him weaning himself? I'm not in a hurry for him to do so, just curious. To be honest, I don't think he gets very much milk - I don't hear a lot of swallowing!! :lol: I think it's more of a comfort/part of our routine, so I wonder if he's trying to tell me he's ready for bed and I should put him in it!

Thanks!

Hi,

It's hard to say if he is weaning or not. some children are happy to continue with just the one feed for a long time - others are less so. But it is pretty common at this age if he is only having one feed for them to continue on the natural progression of weaning that has been started. Have you tried putting him in his own bed and see what happens? If he goes to sleep easily, then perhaps how is the time to accept that he is weaning. You have done a great job.
Warm Regards
Barb

I knew my DD was weaning herself at 13mths when she started comfort sucking only, no proper feeding. But I was pregnant with DS at the time and I don't think I was producing much, if any, milk for her. One day I tried to put her on but she wasn't interested at all, so that was the day I decided to stop. And she didn't miss it. She started to put herself to sleep too, instead of me feeding her. Just keep offering Kai but if he isn't really interested, he's probably ready to wean?

My experience was very similar to Jess. I fell pg when Jack was 11months old, and although I could no longer get much milk when expressing, Jack kept feeding, but dropped one feed at a time until we were just down to the pre-bed one. I didn't even notice him losing interest in that, but one night (he was 14months) he just didn't want to feed, so we cuddled instead. I was so sad that we had had our last feed without me even knowing it was the last feed IYKWIM? At least Tom is now still going strong at 11 months so hopefully I'll get to 2 yrs this time.

It does sound to me like he might be weaning. As Barb says, maybe try not feeding and see what happens, but I understand how hard it is when you really want to keep feeding. The one thing I'm really glad about though is that Jack did it his way in his own time. That's the most important thing for me.

From what happened with my boys I knew that they didn't want it anymore because they didn't want to lay back and latch on and once they did they would only suck for a little while before pulling off or spitting out the milk or blowing rasberries on my boob :(