Katie turned 11 months old this past weekend, so I am beginning to wean her so that she will finish up with breastfeeding right around her first birthday. I'm not intending to recommend this age to wean, this is just what I did with Brayden and what I am also choosing to do with Katie. In addition to the age, she is also showing signs of disinterest in breastfeeding. This happens especially in public.
This is my process. I chose to drop the feeding after Katie's afternoon nap first. I chose this for two reasons. First, it is a pretty busy time of day around here. Stephanie will just be getting home from school so there will be plenty of activity to distract her. Second, I still cluster her feedings a bit in the evening so her next feeding will be 3 hours from now instead of 4. I always feed her shortly after waking. I usually take her straight from her crib to the loveseat to nurse her. However, just so I know she isn't completely reliant on this occurring I usually choose a random feeding each day to delay the nursing for a bit after waking.
In place of her afternoon nursing session, I gave her a cup with a straw with 4 ounces of whole milk. I sat with her while she drank what she wanted and then put the cup away. I'm leaning towards a cup with a straw in place of a sippy cup for all liquids. I am also teaching her to drink from a regular cup with assistance. I hope this saves me the trouble of breaking her from a sippy cup in the future. I do give her some juice in a sippy cup, but I don't want her to become reliant on it.
On a side note, I know that it is not recommended to give your child milk until they are one. I began two weeks ago giving Katie small drinks of my milk at meals to ensure that she would have no digestive issues. I also know she can tolerate cheese, yogurt and ice cream. I believe it is safe to begin offering milk.
I will continue to replace her afternoon nursing session with milk for the next week. At that point I will choose another session to drop. I haven't thought far enough ahead to know which it will be. Currently she nurses roughly at: 7 Am, 11 Am, 3 PM, 6 PM, and 8 PM. She also usually wakes one or two times overnight.
I should also mention that I have changed her meal times in order to get her ready for a complete wean. Until 2 weeks ago, she had her meal directly following when she nursed. She would then sit with us for supper only. She would play independently during our other meals. A couple weeks ago I began delaying her breakfast and lunch until we were all sitting down to eat these meals. So, Katie would nurse at her regular time but then wait approximately an hour until her meal. Since she is eating what we eat anyway, it made my life much easier.
Last thought for the post. I thought I would mention Katie's nap time for those with younger children. At 11 months, Katie takes two naps. They are each around 1 1/2 hours. Her first nap is from 9:30 to 11 AM. Her second nap is from 1:30 to 3 PM.
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