one nap and weaning

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putput

Registered User
How can you tell when your baby is ready to go from two naps to one? My daughter has just turned one so I think, and am hoping, it's too soon!!!! Also, any tips on weaning? Hate the idea of making my baby cry for her milk. She pulls at my top and gets into position at her scheduled feeds and I feel guilty at the idea of not giving her what she's used to! My supply is dwindling so I don't think she's drinking that much now, more comfort sucking, I think....
 
or maybe she is, but it just doesn't feel like alot compared to when I felt fuller and could feel my breast being emptied.
 
at around 12 months most babies drop their morning naps. it's always the first one to go. my son who is 15 months, has yet to drop it though....i think the baby will naturally just adjust their own schedule and it might take a couple of weeks for them to figure it out.

if you are weaning off nursing, i dropped a feed every 3 days and replaced with a bottle. Will she not take the bottle at all?
 
Thx Southside,

As my daughter is a year old, should I be introducing her to the bottle at this stage? She can drink out of a cup but I think she's comforted by sucking so should I offer a bottle? She's been exclusively breastfed pretty much since she was born.
 
I would suggest sippy cups instead of a bottle because then again u have to wean her from the bottle. So why not just do it once. Our son's milk intake did decrease but then he was having solids so we were not freaked out
 
You will know when your baby is ready to drop the morning nap as you should notice that they are getting tired later and later in the morning. In my case, once my 14 month old started to only seem tired at 11-11.30am and cried if I put him down earlier I knew it was time to drop the nap.

Regarding weaning, I think the ideal is to go from breast to sippy cup and bypass bottles altogether. That way you don't need to wean your baby off the bottle later. Perhaps you could do something to make having the cup as enjoyable as the breast. Maybe let her watch a special DVD that she likes when she has the sippy cup or read her a favourite story. I realise these aren't great ideas - maybe other mums can come up with good ideas to make the cup seem as special as the breast!
 
if your baby can already use a cup then definitely stick with that. we acutally nursed, bottle then sippy cup without any problems...we use the doidy cup because of it's slant and my son can see the liquid coming.
 
I think it'll be a struggle for her feeds that she relates to sleeping. I don't nurse her to sleep but I do nurse her before I put her down for her afternoon nap and at bedtime. As soon as her grobag's on, she expects her feed and sees it as very much a part of her routine. I think I'll be able to get round the afternoon nap one somehow but I know she'll get upset when i take away the 'just before bed' feed.
 
perhaps try replacing one of your nursing feeds before naptime with a cup and see how it goes? your baby will get upset initially if she doesn't receive your milk before bedtime, but it might only be an adjustment period of 3 days. We dropped our son's bedtime feed at 9 months and it took about 3-4 days for him to get over it and realize it just wasn't coming. I made sure he gets a all he needs through dinner and a bit afterwards. Then he plays for about a half hour before bedtime.

By 8 months, your baby should be able to be fine with just her dinner feed and that's it. many times, it's actually the mother who doesn't really want to give up that time with the baby.....
 
I know this might not be answering your question re weaning exactly, but do you HAVE to drop the `just before bed` feeds? Are you through with breastfeeding, or do you just think that after 1 year you are supposed to stop?
By the way, imagining your daughter getting into position and pulling at your top really made me smile. My son`s barely 3 months, but I`m already thinking about these things.
but like some other mothers suggested, I would forego the bottle and stick with the sippy cup - that`s what i`m planning to do.
 
I admit I'm sad about bfing coming to an end. I just think it'll get even harder for my daughter to adjust to the change the older she gets. I guess there is partially 'pressure' in terms of it seeming to be the done thing, but additionally I know she doesn't really need my milk anymore so it makes sense to stop. Plus, I can relax about what I can consume - food, antibiotics, for example, when I stop bfing.

I guess I'll have to just go through the process slowly so that we're both comfortable with weaning, or as comfortable as can be! The bedtime feed will be the last to go.
 
Yeah, I can understand that. My mother asked me the other day when I was planning on stopping and my answer was as long as it`s going well, I won`t stop before 12 months. It does seems to be the done thing, but I don`t see any harm in going past that - tons of moms do. As long as you`re not one of those moms on 20/20 who`s still BFing your 8 year old, I think you`d be fine if you don`t stop right away. And some kids naturally wean themselves, especially once they get a sense of themselves as not a baby anymore (is that when they start sporting mommy`s handbag?).
It really is the end of an era.
 
I know... and you're right. I'd love it if my daughter self weaned as then I wouldn't feel guilty but there's no chance of that happening. She loves bfing, as do i, and she often gives me this cheeky smile or laugh while she's feeding. Uh-oh, I'm getting all nostalgic now!
 
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