Ask:
My dd turns one in a week and I'm trying to wean her from breastfeeding and switch her to cow's milk. She has been drinking 2 bottles of formula a day as she is in daycare, otherwise I nurse her when I am with her. So far I have eliminated my morning pumping and am trying to eliminate my lunch time pumping. My goal is to not be pumping at all next week and then decrease my actual nursing after that. Should I start mixing her formula with cow's milk at first or go straight to cow's milk? Also, I am wondering if I am doing this weaning process correctly? How will I know when I'm done producing milk? I didn't realize quitting nursing would be so difficult.
Answer:
I nursed my older son for 13 1/2 months and I am still nursing my 16 month old - although just in the morning (he dropped his evening feeding on his own at just shy of 15 months) - he also drinks cows milk from a sippy cup with lunch and/or dinner. I'll be weaning the 16 month old completely next month and plan to do it the same way I weaned my older son.
My suggestion would be to drop one feeding at a time, but do it gradually...give yourself a couple of days to a week or so for your body and your daughter to adjust to the change before you drop another feeding. My boys went straight from the breast to cows milk in a cup (no mixing), but it took a little while for them to adjust to the taste of the cows milk...as far as I know there are no issues with mixing milk and formula so I would do whatever you feel most comfortable doing.
When I got to one nursing session a day with my older son (at this point he had already adjusted to the taste of cows milk and was drinking it during the day), I started giving him a choice of the breast or milk in a cup (of course he always picked the breast at first). I also started shortening the actual time I let him nurse each day. When he finished nursing, I offered him the cows milk. Eventually he was only nursing for a minute or two on each side and then he would drink milk out of his sippy cup. One day day I gave him the cup and didn't offer the breast and that was it (I think I was more upset than he was).
Because I stopped so gradually, I had no discomfort or leaking. I am pretty sure that your body can continue to produce milk for awhile afterwards, but it shouldn't be much of an issue if you do it slowly. My cousin was told (incorrectly I might add) that she couldn't breastfeed her daughter when she had the flu and quit cold turkey. She had been nursing 4 times a day...ouch!!
Answer:
I can't help with the breastfeeding part, but as far as going to milk, I never put milk in a bottle. I started mixing milk & formula in the cup and gradually worked up to all milk. A freind of mine told me about this. The theory is is that they will prefer the sweetness of the cows milk over the formula and that if you don't ever offer the milk in the bottle, they will take the cup easier. HTH for the bottle to cup part.
Answer:
My son is 13 1/2 months old and he nurses about 4 times a day. When he was 11 months, I started supplementing with cow's milk. I am in no rush to wean him, but sometimes he wants to nurse for long periods of time or gets distracted and wants to go back in forth between playing and nursing. I am trying to get it down to 4 times exactly. If he only wants a little milk and then wants to come back in 30 minutes for more, I will give him cow's milk. Once I get him to 4, I will go from there.
Part of the problem is that I only believe in giving him organic cow's milk and Have you seen the price on it? But that is another story!
Good luck!