Breastfeeding/Lactation Consultant

Hi Everyone-

My DD is a little over 10 months old now and has been BF since birth. I have decided to try and let her self-wean over the next year or so--she is currently Bfing approximately 4 times per day and 1 time at night. She eats 3 solid meals a day. I have talked with my pediatrician about my decision to continue BFing after 1 year, however have had some difficulty with getting information about what it looks like.

For those of you who have, what can I expect? How frequently does  nursing occur at this point? How do you know how to balance the amount and frequency of solids, the addition of cows milk, etc with BFing? Do you still pump daily? IT seems like the advice from the books all stop at around one year.

Any help or advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated!! :)

  

Hi congrats on the decision to continue BF past the age of 1 year - there are LOTS of benefits. I BF my second DS until 46 months (through a pregnancy and tandem with new baby for a few months).

Kellymom has some great info on BF after the first year why it is good, how etc.: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/index.html

Some babies will be only BF a few times a day at one year and some will still be BF every 2-3 hours during the day - there is a WIDE variation. Many babies do go through a period where they become VERY attached to BF sometimes between 15-18 months and may increase the number of times they BF then. This is NORMAL. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/toddlernursing.html

There is no need for cow's milk (or nutrition equivalents) if baby is BF at least 3-4 times per day. And even if baby is BF less than that, cow's milk is NOT required as there are many other items that provide the same nutrients. http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/toddler-foods.html#cowmilk

As for solids, it sounds like your baby is getting a lot of solids. We generally recommend not adding a 3rd tasting of solids until 1 year. This is to keep moms supply good as well as keep BM, as recommended by medical associations, the primary nutrient in baby's diet. Most Solids (avocado is an exception) have fewer fats and calories than BM. In general solids are just for fun and tasting at this point.

"Some toddlers are eating very few solids, or even no solids, at 12 months. This is not unusual and really depends on your child - there is quite a big variation. We like to see breastmilk making up the majority (around 75%) of baby's diet at 12 months. Some babies will be taking more solids by 12 months, but others will still be exclusively or almost-exclusively breastfed at this point. It is normal for baby to keep breastmilk as the primary part of his diet up until 18 months or even longer. An example of a nice gradual increase in solids would be 25% solids at 12 months, 50% solids at 18 months, and 80% solids at 24 months." http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/toddler-foods.html#howmuch

Also there are some sample menus here: http://www.mother-2-mother.com/samplemenus.htm

My DS was still BF every 2-3 hours at the one year mark. We added a 3rd solids tasting just after a year. We did baby led solids, so he fed himself, we do not spoon feed. I basically continued to BF on demand, but I would offer if more than 3 hours passed with out BF. Shortly after 2 years I did stop BF in public and instead would offer a snack until we could get to the car or other appropriate place.

I did not WOH, but I did continue pumping as I was donating my pumed milk. Many moms that WOH do HUTH sometime after a year and continue to BF when they are with baby at night and on the weekends for months/years.

I am sure some of our other long time nursing moms will share their stories, but take a look at the info and follow up with questions etc.

For me nursing beyond 1 year was not really different than nursing up to that point.  Neither of my girls were big eaters, so we still nursed pretty frequently.  We began offering solid feedings BEFORE nursing instead of after and I did less offering just because they hadn't nursed in a while and would instead offer a solid snack if they wanted it.  I did introduce cows milk in small quantities (but mostly just yogurt), such as with a meal.

Technically we don't do "child led weaning" because I definitely begin don't offer don't refuse sometime closer to 2 years.  But my oldest was still nursing at bedtime several times a week on her 5th birthday and it took quite a bit of convincing (we now offer her a cup of warm milk before bed, which she accepts readily .... but WE had to come up with the alternative.  She wasn't just ready to let go of nursing).  My 2 1/2 year old still nurses an average of 4-5X / day. 

I just find that it's very natural.  There's not a lot of measuring or scheduling required.  Just follow baby's lead.  If she wants to nurse, nurse her.  If she wants solid food, feed her solid feed.  Eventually she'll begin to take more solids and will nurse less.  At some point, we end up nursing only at nap time and at bedtime (my youngest isn't there yet ... she still comes to nurse in the afternoon just because :-) and also still nurses over night, but she has some documented issues w/ food so nursing is important to her growth and health).

HTH - follow up w/ any specific questions you might have.  I'm happy to share my experiences.

Hi Stefanie,

Gosh, is Madeline coming up on a year already? I know it sounds trite, but it's so true, it goes by so fast!

I just wanted to jump in and say hi, and also to agree with what the PPs said. Nursing beyond 1yr does vary very widely, and it is a lot less stressful than nursing up to 1yr b/c now they are not as dependent on your milk as they were when they were younger.

Claire still nurses anywhere from 3x to 4x a day, and she gets 3 solid meals and a snack. But her nursing sessions are more for comfort at this point. She'll get 1 or 2 true nursing sessions, and the rest are just comfort/bonding sessions. I have a number of mommy friends with kids around Claire's age, and some have completely weaned, while others are nursing anywhere from 1x to even 6x a day. I stopped pumping around 11 months. I'm ok with stopping nursing whenever she wants to, so I don't feel the need to pump to keep up my supply, if she nurses more, I produce more, and if she nurses less, I produce less. Also, we've been giving Claire cow's milk with her Cheerios every morning. I haven't given her more cow's milk than that b/c my pediatrician follows the WHO recommendation of nursing (and no cow's milk) until 2yrs, so I follow her lead on that. I just give Claire the little bit of cow's milk daily so she's familiar with it "just in case" for the day she decides to wean.

So I guess all I'm trying to say is what nursing beyond 1yr will look like is completely dependent on you and Madeline. If you both want to do it a lot, great, if you both only want to do it once or twice a day, great. Just don't stress over it too much and enjoy it while you can. You're doing a great thing for your daughter. :-)