11 months-old lost interest in breastfeeding

[Jeanmom]

Hi, all,

I've had a lot of good advices from this board and now I have some other problems related to breastfeeding again. As my 11 months-old grows, she is more active and gradually loses a lot of interest in breastfeeding. Our feedings drop from 4 times/day (morning, before noon nap, after nap, and before bedtime) at 9-10 months to 3 times/day (morning, after nap, and before bedtime) now.

She started daycare on this week, so I tried to pump in the afternoon and was not successful. I did it yesterday and today, after 20 minutes of pumping, little milk (only 1 oz combined) came out although it has been 8 hours since I fed her. (She had her breakfast milk at 6:30am). My breasts felt full but I didn't have let-down. I was thinking about my daughter and watching her videos but just no let-down. I am very frustrated and do want to continue bfing even though I am away from her.

After she came back tonight, I fed her again before bedtime. Let-down was slow and daughter just drank a little and pushed the breasts away. I was very disappointed as I thought she would have wanted the breasts more after a whole day away from me. Yet, she rejected them. She was obviously very tired but she'd rather sucking her fingers to sleep than my breasts.

She is very eager to nurse in the morning but not the other time thoughout the day. She is on 3 meals + 2 snacks, loves cheese and yogurt. But I am still a little worried about her milk intake.

It's very hard to leave her after being home with her for 11 months. I do feel sad. Plus, having this feeding issue, I am even more frustrated. My little baby is growing up and I kind of have the feeling that she will give up nursing very soon. The longer I nurse, the more I don't want to quit. This special bonding is priceless and I still want to give her all the nutritions that breastmilk offers.

Please help. Any advice is much apprecaited. TIA.

 

[geiboyi]

Hmm, I'm afraid it may just be about time to stop...both my babies made it very clear when they had had enough being breastfed - with my second she started to get really angry when I started to feed her so I had to stop, but I was very sad about it (I think it's worse if you know it's the last baby). For both of them it was at about 14 months.
Give it a while longer and see what happens, maybe it's just a phase. If not, take some pics so you can remember, and then move on. Good luck, I know it's difficult.

 

[Frenchy]

I'm not going to be on the helping side neither, as I'm stopping BF these days... I used to pump so my husband could feed our son sometimes (he is 8 months now). I was still BF in the morning, but he seemed not so interested, just a nice moment to share with his mum.
Then... we moved to another place and I couldn't pump during the moving day, so I put him on the breast, and he was just there, mouth opened, smiling and looking at me, wondering what he should do ! he was so cute, but really not interested !!
I've started the formula last week, to make sure he has got all the nutrients, and enough quantity also. I still pump once a day to give him at 4pm.

Maybe also your pump is not the right shape for your breast, too large or too small, and it can stop your milk supply.

It makes me sad too, I loved so much these moments I could share alone with him... I guess it's the beginning of independancy !

Good luck !

 

[bekyboo44]

My son did a similar thing at ten months- he just refused to nurse from me. It was sad and frustrating but in the end I had to listen to him and stop, and accept that the days of nursing him were over!

Fortunetly now I have a new baby to feed and am hoping to nurse her for as long as possible.

 

[Jeanmom]

Thank you for the replies. I burst into tears when reading them. I am truly upset that my little girl who used to hang on mama's breasts is now rejecting them. She is fast approaching the one year mark and has grown so much in the past couple months. Yeah, maybe it really is the time to let go.

The pump I am using is a Medela which I used a lot for the first 3 months after I had her. I was able to get quite a lot at that time (like 4 ozs in each breast at 11pm).

Anyway, thank you all. I wil definitely take tons of picture. Fortunately, she still drinks very well first thing in the morning. Mouth wide open and so eager to drink, my cute little girl~~I will miss it a lot.

 

[carang]

i would say, don't push it... if she's happy with once per day, then leave it at once per day.

it is sad, but we all know that they will eventually stop...

you know what, i can tell you from personal experience, that although it's nice to bond while bf, you WILL find other ways to bond with your child!!!

so, chin up, you've done a magnificent job so far, and you will continue to be a wonderful mother, wanting the best for your child. you just need to remember that what is best for your child changes as they grow up. it's hard to believe that you are going to enjoy the next stage as much as you've enjoyed the past 11 months, but you know what.... YOU WILL! and you will think back on bf with fond memories, knowing what you have done for your child.

each stage of childhood gets better and better (until, of course you hit puberty... that's a whole other kettle of fish! LOL!)