Operation Wean Shasta has commenced. Gulp. Today we introduced whole milk before her second nap. She didn't want much to do with it, but she drank some and that's all that really matters to me. This is probably going to be a really slow process since I have no idea what I'm doing, and that's okay because we have all the time in the world. Tomorrow we will try again.
I know I did a nursing/weaning post before and most of the advice was to take it slow, but I'm looking for some other tips. How often should I give her whole milk if I'm only cutting out one feeding (afternoon nap) at a time? Should she associate milk with sleeping and waking up since that's when she gets it now or should she have it more often? Right now she nurses 4-6 times a day depending on what time she gets up and if I try to put her down for a nap and she decides after she's done nursing that she isn't tired. Should we stick to that schedule and as we wean out a feeding we replace it with whole milk? I'm suddenly feeling completely lost! Help!!!
4 comments:
I would stick to the same schedule for bottles as you do nursing. If you want to cut out one feeding at a time, give her a bottle of milk in place of it. If she balks at the bottle, DON'T give in to nursing. It really does take a while for them to adjust to cow's milk, so she might not take it for a few days or even a week. She'll be totally fine missing a bit of milk. I know she's tiny, but really, she can make up the calories in other food if she doesn't want the milk at first. She'll eventually take the hint. When she's good and settled on a bottle for that one feeding, cut out another feeding and give her a bottle instead.
I hope that helps - honestly, every baby is SO SO different. Just try that and if it doesn't work for you than do something else. You know her best! DON'T doubt yourself.
I agree with Tannie. Replace the nursing feeding with a bottle and dont give in. :)
With Emmett I started out by giving him a sippy of milk at meal time (breakfast, lunch dinner). Just a little bit and I would help him drink some. This made it so he got use to the milk without us having to miss a feeding. After about 2-3 weeks he was totally fine with the milk. When he was one I was only nursing him 4 times a day so we started with the before snack nurse (right after he got up from his nap) and replaced it with a sippy while he ate his snack. Once he was good with this we then did the same with his before lunch nurse, then before dinner nurse. With his before breakfast nurse I just kept nursing him until he did not want to anymore. This whole process was about 5-6 weeks. It was gradual and not traumatic for either of us! Hope this helps a little.
I liked having a feeding schedule for nursing, then giving a cup of milk at other times when my kids seemed thirsty. I mean, do YOU have a set schedule of how many cups of milk you drink a day and when? It doesn't take long for them to let you know when they want a drink. Just go with whatever you feel comfortable with. There is no right or wrong answer here. You are doing great!
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