You may remember, my first attempt at weaning Titus was total failure. Well, it’s been a whole month since I’ve nursed him, and I’m happy in saying that he is finally weaned at almost 18 months. This was long enough for me, it was time to let go. Plus, I’ve had some health issues that I need to take care of that had to wait till he was weaned.

For those of you who are thinking about weaning your baby, or who are wondering how it’s done, I am by no means an expert, but I’ll tell you how I did it. This is the same method that I used with my daughter, who I nursed for 14 months, so I can say that it has worked well for me!

By the time Titus was a year old I had him down to 3 nursings per day. Once when he first woke up, once in the after noon, and once before bed. He was eating table food by then, so I decided it was time to start slowly cutting down on his breastfeedings. Since he had been drinking water/juice from a sippy cup for quite some time, I decided to introduce him to cow’s milk in the cup. That didn’t go over so well. After trying it numerous times (warm, cold, and even with a little sugar in it to sweeten it), I decided to try Soy milk. After a few times tasting the Vanilla Soy milk, Titus decided he’d sip on it a little. I just left his cup sitting around and occasionally he would toddle over and take a sip. Before too long, he was used to the flavor, and was drinking a full cup.

When he started drinking a cup of Soy milk I decided to let that take the place of a nursing. Since he wasn’t really asking to nurse at night I decided to drop that feeding first. I’d feed him dinner, then give him a cup of Soy milk. I didn’t offer to nurse him, and he never asked. That was easy! I went with this plan for a couple of months. I wanted to be slow about it, and gradually stop the nursing sessions, since I wasn’t really in any kind of a rush.

Next I replaced his lunch time nursing with a bigger “real food” meal, and water/juice or milk in a cup. I made sure that he was getting plenty to eat and wasn’t still hungry. Sometimes he would ask to nurse, but I would distract him and he would forget all about it. If he was persistent with wanting to nurse I would give in and breastfeed. After a few months of mid-day nursing only when he asked for it he soon lost interest in the whole process. He would nurse for like 2 minutes, then be done. When that started happening I knew he was only nursing out of habit and I dropped that feeding completely. So, I was down to one.

The morning nursing was the hardest to stop. Every morning when I’d go to get baby Titus out of the bed the first thing he would say was, “milk! milk!” and his little hand would be signing milk as fast as it could. Due to some medical issues I’ve been having, I decided that it was time to stop this final feeding. My first attempt was failure. I gave in. But, I didn’t stop there. I tried again. In the mornings instead of sitting down on the couch first thing to nurse him, instead I would take him straight to the high chair and chop up a banana for his breakfast. Bananas are his absolute FAVORITE thing to eat, so that made him totally happy, and he quickly forgot the routine of immediately having milk.

Four days went by, and with that same distraction of bananas for breakfast, Titus was doing wonderfully with the weaning process. When he did ask me for milk, I would hand him his cup, and soon he learned to drink happily from it instead, which made it much easier for me. I, on the other hand, was quite uncomfortable with the whole engorgement deal! And since he had only been nursing on one side for the last two months, my upper half was pretty lopsided to top it off! I’m talking noticeably lopsided… like a big ‘ol “C” on one side, just about to burst, and a poor “A(-)” on the other side, pitifully dragging along! I did my best to hide my embarrassing chest problems.

Then on day five, I caved. I don’t even remember why I gave in. I think Titus might have been feeling badly, or something, but he asked to nurse, and he kept asking to nurse. At first I told him “no”, that the milk was all gone. But he was crying, and I knew that he would feel better if I just nursed him, so… I did. Ah well, what are you gonna do? BUT, what a relief to me! Phew, finally no more engorgement. Titus was soon happy again, and I was a whole lot more comfortable. And do you want to know the best part? The milk never came back! Titus never asked to nurse again, and the milk didn’t come back in. No more engorgement to deal with at all! So, it actually worked out perfectly.

I wondered to myself if the milk that he was drinking (that had been sitting there for going on 5 days), could be soured, and make him sick. Honestly, I wondered that. But, I guess it can’t go bad while it’s still at your body’s temperature. So, it worked out well, and now I’m happy to say that he is drinking milk from a cup no problem, and has completely forgotten about nursing. 18 months was long enough for the both of us.

That’s my story, now what about yours? Do you have a weaning success or failure to share? I’d love to hear your stories, tips and advice! Or if you have any questions or concerns about weaning baby, I’d love to hear from you as well.

This morning when I woke up I decided that today would be the day that I completely wean 17 month old Titus. I haven’t been planning it; I didn’t tell myself before I went to bed that today would be the day; before I heard his calls from the crib, I just decided it. I’ve been thinking for a while now that I’d like to wean him, and I think he’s ready. I don’t even feel like he’s getting anything most of the time when he does try to nurse.

When he woke up and I heard his calls for me, “Mama! Mama!”, I went into his bedroom to cheerfully get him up. As soon as he saw me come through the door he sat up and immediately started signing and saying “milk”, like usual. Normally I would take him straight to the couch where I would sit and nurse him. Not today. Instead I sat down with him and a warm sippy cup of milk and said, “Here, this is milk.” He angrily pushed the cup away, whined, and signed and said “milk!” I said, “Here buddy, this is milk.” He wanted nothing to do with that cup. He kept pushing it away. Finally, I sat it down and said, “That’s your milk, baby.” And I went about making breakfast. He whined for just a second, then decided he’d play. About 30 min. later he crawled up on the couch and again, whining, asked for milk. I fed him some breakfast and he quickly forgot all about it. He went the whole day without nursing… until 5:00 came.

When he woke up from his afternoon nap, he was signing “milk” again. I tried another cup of warm milk. It was a no-go. Again he just angrily pushed the cup away, and could not understand why I wouldn’t nurse him. I started to feel bad and rationalized with myself, “He’s still young. I can wean him in another month or so.” And I gave in.

What am I to do? I weaned my daughter at 14 mos no problem. I guess all baby’s are different. I’ve heard that boys are harder to wean. Is that true? I even added a tiny pinch of sugar to the milk, but it didn’t help. He just won’t ever drink cow’s milk. Now, I have found that he will drink vanilla soy milk. Is that okay for him to have every day? I need to ask his doc. So, I guess I’ll try again in a few more weeks and see how that goes.

Any advice for me??

*I thought I’d add a little note: I’ve gotten the nursings mostly down to just once a day; first thing in the morning. Sometimes he asks for milk mid-day, but when I nurse him it’s only for like 1-2 min. and then he stops. I don’t think he’s getting anything during those second feedings. So, I’m just trying to stop this final feeding in the mornings. But you know, if he isn’t ready then I can wait

• That I would wake up in the morning with my shirt completely soaked the day my milk came in, and for several days afterwards.

• That I would go from a size B to a D, and back down again in a matter of hours.

• That the first two weeks of nursing would be very painful, even though my technique was right.

• That I would get so cracked and sore that my curious 3 yr. old would ask me if the baby was drinking blood!

• That these two products would save me tons on agony: Lanolin and Soothies . These are WONDERFUL! I gave them both to my sister when she had her baby.

• That I needed the baby to nurse, just as much as he needed me! Can you spell ENGORGEMENT!

• That there aren’t many public places that will accommodate a nursing mother. Try nursing your baby in a public restroom with no chair to sit in. Fun!

• That at first, trying to pump milk was like trying to get juice from a banana! You’re lucky if you get a few drops!

• That my entire day would revolve around this one person’s hunger.

• That I would be able to sleep nurse successfully!

• That I would learn to twist my body into uncomfortable positions at times in order to nurse my baby in cramped spaces (try an airplane seat!).

• That my long hair would come in handy to cover embarrassing leakage in public. I suggest you keep nursing pads close by!

• But most importantly: That I would never feel such a fulfilling, rewarding joy as knowing that I was able to personally sustain and nourish my beautiful child. I wouldn’t trade it for all the formula in the world!!

I’m dedicating this post to my friend Kim, who just had a beautiful baby girl. Congratulations you guys!

Breastfeeding women need an extra 500 calories than they normally take in. And it makes sense! When you breastfeed your child, your body is doing a tremendous job producing “liquid gold” to sustain your child. If you do not consume adequate calories to maintain this work, your body will start tapping into “reserves” and you will find yourself:

• Fatigued – making it hard to take care of your home and baby
• Having a hard time producing enough milk
• Losing too much weight too quickly

In order to maintain your energy and milk supply you need to drink adequate amounts of water and eat nutritious foods (just like you did while you were pregnant).

A good way to get the extra calories is snacking . I remember when I first started breastfeeding being particularly thirsty and needing to snack throughout the day. I made sure to keep a bottle of water and a snack (be it cheese cubes, dried fruit or a granola bar) by my “nursing station” to keep my energy going.

When snacking, choose foods full of nutrients and packed with protein in order to provide you with the energy and nutrition that you need throughout the day. Don’t indulge yourself with junk food – this will only increase your fatigue and irritability.

Here are some power-packed snacks for lactating women:

• Yogurt
• Cup of Berries
• Baked Sweet Potato (simply bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees F in casserole dish)
• Healthy Granola bars (full of nuts and grains)
• Handful of Nuts
• Bowl of Whole Grain Cereal
• Multi-Grain Crackers with Cheese
• Guacamole and Corn Chips
• Fruit Smoothie
• Avocado Slices with Whole Grain Crackers
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Whole Wheat Pita with Hummus
• Bagel with Cream Cheese
• Veggies and Dip
• Apples slices with Peanut Butter
• Salads – colorful and full of variety
• Fresh fruit
• Orange juice
• Dried Fruit

If you’re like me, you’ll forget to snack, or because you haven’t prepared a snack ahead of time for quick grabbing, you’ll grab for something easier…like junk food. So here are a few helpful tips to make healthful snacking possible:

• Make a list of snack ideas and stick it on your fridge so that if you need a snack, you won’t be lost for an idea!
• Stock up on healthy snack foods.
• Prepare your snacks ahead of time (like chopping fruits or veggies, etc.) and put them in convenient containers.

Happy snacking!