As of three weeks ago, we have officially and successfully weaned. I started the process back in September when my goal was to gradually get down to three nursing sessions a day, then two, then one, then nada. Well to my surprazz, we went from three sessions to one session within a few days and Gabe didn't even flinch. He didn't have grabby hands towards my shirt or even make any signs of wanting to nurse at all during the times we were essentially skipping. We continued to nurse in the morning when Gabe would wake up, around 5:30 am, and go back to bed until 7 or so. We did this for a few weeks, mostly for my sake. I wanted the cuddles and I wanted the extra sleep. I was terrified that once we stopped nursing in the AM that Gabe would be up at 5:30 and be ready to go. But finally, I decided enough was enough and that we had to cut out the morning nursing. It was getting uncomfortable and I wasn't able to fall back asleep...which defeated the whole purpose.
So one Saturday morning, when Gabe woke up, John took him downstairs and gave him breakfast. From that day on, we were done. And you know what? Since then, Gabe has been sleeping in a bit later, sometimes even until 7:30, which is freakin awesome. We've gotten through a bad teething period and the past couple days have been smooth sailing. Of course, any parent knows that as soon as you talk about it, it will change, so I'm just enjoying the relatively easygoing little guy we have right now and a sleep schedule that totally meshes with mine. Plus, I'm having zero emotional issues, which is a nice break. I feel like I've been on a hormonal roller coaster since giving birth. So, I'm crossing my fingers that Shannon is back to being Shannon. Life, right now, is good.
Putting my still present milk supply to good use...
Meanwhile, the normal thing for kids to do once they are done with breastmilk or formula is to start on cow's milk. So I picked up a gallon of whole milk and proceded to give Gabe a taste. He responded unfavorably...you know, which the blechhhhh face. I tried again and again. I tried different temperatures, different flavors, different varitties all together. He refuses to drink them all. The only thing he drinks these days is water. Of course, I've been pumping him full of yogurt and cheese and mixing milk into his food whenever I can to get his dairy in but it's baffling me as to why he won't drink it. Has this happened to anybody else? In my head, every kid drinks milk. But in reality, I'm pretty sure that's not the case. So short of shoving a bottle of YooHoo* in his face, I'm at a loss. Suggestions?
*I know YooHoo is not milk. But I did not know that YooHoo is a social network. Did you? Should we all join?
13 comments:
My little guy didn't really dig the taste of cow's milk right away either. I tried soy milk and he seemed to like that. I guess because it's thinner and not as milky tasting. Once he got used to it on the regular, I tried cow's milk again and he totally went for it. Now, at 3, he goes through a gallon of milk a week!
I have heard about kids not liking the cows milk. I'm sure he will eventually get through this stage.
But congrats to you! Not only did you nurse for a full year(awesome), but now you don't have to worry about pumping and dumping. Color me jealous ;)
LB
I have had several friends whose kiddos didn't like cow's milk. All of those friends nursed like you and weaned after 1 year. I think it's a consistency, temperature and taste thing all combined together. One friend tried cow's milk, soy, and finally almond milk. She wasn't sure but she thought maybe the consistency & sweetness of almond milk was closer to breast milk. Another friend, just kept trying the cow's milk and finally got her daughter to take it by adding a tiny bit of strawberry syrup.
All the other kids I know who switched with no problems to cows' milk were all on formula or ate a combination of formula and breast milk.
Keep trying, eventually he'll learn to like it! :)
Are you still producing milk? You could try pumping and diluting it with cows milk until he's drinking 100% cows milk. That's what we did with my son (although, he was a formula fed baby after 7 months). We just mixed his bottles with half cows milk and half formula for a few days, then gradually decreased the amount of formula until it was all milk.
I am so not looking forward to this process! Luckily, we are still months away (hopefully!). But I really appreciate your tips and letting us know how it went!
My daughter (14 months) is the same way she refuses to drink any milk other than breastmilk and I'm still not mentally strong enough to wean her.
I also tried everything from Ovaltine to Vanilla to Strawberry flavor and she was not having it. I have also been giving her lots of yogurt and cheese during the day. Her pediatrician said as long as she is getting her calcium and Vitamin D from other sources it's okay not all kid's drink milk.
Welcome to your new ta ta freedom! My son also wouldn't have anything to do with milk from a sippy cup. He would drink water like a pro from the cup, but never ever milk. I finally relented (we were having trouble with him gaining weight, likely because my booty was holding all of his weight hostage)and warmed the milk one day and put it in a bottle. He sucked the whole thing down. So from about 1 year to 18ish months we gave him a bottle in the morning when he woke up, and then one after his nap. Other than those two daily bottles he just drank water out of a sippy cup, and then around 19 months we took away the bottle and after a week he was all about some milk from a cup. So random, but it seemed to work. Good luck!
wow - sounds like your weaning process was pretty easy! i've been trying to wean nate now since your last sept post and it's been horrible!!!! he cries until i give in...literally hours on hours into the night and right into the mornings believe it or not!
but we are giving him milk still as his nursings throughout the days are being cut with different activities ... but instead of cows milk he drinks almond milk which has just as much calcium as cows milk. nate's not a big fan of cows milk but unsweetened almond milk he'll down like it's sugar water!
Congrats! Sleeping in till 7:30 is like a dream...
I tricked my son by mixing in a bit of light chocolate syrup and he drank it like a champ. I slowly started cutting back on the chocolate and now at 2 1/2 I can usually get him to drink one cup of plain milk in the morning.
Wow! I'm so happy to hear that it went so well. And I'm impressed that you made it the full year. I have given myself the six month target with breastfeeding. It's not ideal according to AAP, but I've never been ideal. :)
Hey Shan, My friend is having the same dilemma, but when they were visiting us the other week, her little girl went right for Colin's bottle (I guess it was more tempting when her boyfriend had just put his sweet lips on it). She found that the type of bottle I was using was better in terms of her wanting milk for some reason. If you are interested- it's the Pampers brand training cups- they have a silicon zippy nipple (gross, did I just write that?!). I got mine at CVS- they are super cheap. She thinks it is maybe the fact that she switched from the kind of bottle she would feed her breast milk in. In the meantime, she was just dousing all cereal in milk and then found her daughter would drink the milk after it was done. That might help.
Have you tried organic? I can totally tell the difference between regular and organic.
I have so much to learn about being a mom... good thing I'm not with child yet, or any time soon. Did I just jinx myself?
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