Weaning Bea: To Beaker From Breast

I think I want to start weaning Bea from breastfeeding

I have been feeding her for almost 10 months

We started introducing solid food at 6 months

But Bea, like her little big sister in the sky

Would much rather just have milk

I do not want to stop feeding all together

I would still like our early morning and evening snuggles

But during the main part of the day

I would like to start offering Bea beakers of milk

Formula to start with

Then introducing cows milk when, if, she reaches 12 months

The last almost 10 months seem to have passed in the blink of an eye

I feel like Bea is still newborn

Though I know, of course, she is not

My beautiful rainbow baby

Will hopefully be a toddler very soon

How can that possibly be?

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The decision has been prompted by me needing some dental surgery

I also want to spend more time with Esther and William

This is difficult when I am always feeding Bea

And I do seem to always be feeding Bea

When I am not around

Bea can go from lunch to tea with no milk

But if I am there she will happily suckle all afternoon

I think it will be good for me

And for Bea

Not to mention the rest of the family

I would also very much like another baby

And I think I will struggle to conceive

If I am still full on feeding

So the question is how do we begin the end?

How do we start to finish?

How do we wean from day time breastfeeds?

I must have done it with Esther and William

But I really cannot remember how

Can you help me I wonder?

I know that all babies are different

But I would be very grateful if you would share

Any tips for weaning from breast to beaker

And also

What is your daily routine at 10 months old?

bea

I am hoping as Bea feeds less

She will eat more solid food

And I will start to eat less!

I am looking forward to no longer being lopsided

(Bea only feeds from one side)

And wearing normal clothes

Will be lovely in the heat of summer

Not to wear two layers of clothes!

I am ready

I hope Bea is too

Our relationship is growing and changing

As we aim to move to beaker from breast

4 thoughts on “Weaning Bea: To Beaker From Breast

  1. Yo is a couple of weeks younger than Bea, and she has one feed in the morning, one in the afternoon and one at bedtime.. However, she feeds more when she is teething..so i sympathise with the all afternoon thing! I am hoping to swap the daytime milk to a beaker, but I haven’t been brave enough to try yet! Good luck! xx

  2. Hi Jennie, I’m with you on the wearing of two layers in the summer months, it’s such a pain isn’t it! Phoebs has just turned 11 months and is on the same routine she was at 10 months which is…7am breastfeed, mid-morning snack, 12ish lunch, 3pm breastfeed, mid afternoon snack if she’s hungry, 5.30 dinner, 6.45/7 breastfeed before bed. Sometimes she doesn’t have the afternoon breastfeed and to be honest I need to cut it out before I go back to work in a few months, so when I do I will just offer her a beaker of water instead and a snack. She happily drinks water from a throughout the day when I offer it too. Good luck xx

  3. Hi Jennie! I am a first time mom so have no real expertise at any of this, but I thought I would share that I fairly recently weaned my son (now 14 months) from daytime breastfeeding. Keep in mind that I have a baby who is not typical at all in terms of progression to eating. (At 12 months he was still refusing all solids, would not drink from a bottle, and although he would drink water from a cup or straw would not – and still will not – drink formula, cow’s milk or even pumped breast milk.) Weaning during the day was not easy, but since I was returning to work we had no choice (and I want to conceive again too so I was ready to make some changes).

    The week before I went back, I stopped feeding cold turkey, with a bit of a gradual approach- I would not allow him to nurse between 8 and 1, next day between 8 and 2, and so on. In the interim, I offered him food at regular intervals and water (as well as pumped milk but he always refused that). It was quite tough for those first few days, but I tried to keep us busy with outdoor activities and visiting family. For almost a week he went without any food all day (and drinking water only), but slowly over the last two months he has begun to accept some foods (though the list of foods he’ll eat is very short and he still won’t drink formula, cow’s milk, or pumped breast milk!). It did help that I went I started working I was leaving him with a nanny so he was away from the source all day. Now at 14 months he goes from 8 am to 5 pm every day without breast milk without complaint, but nurses A LOT in the early morning and evening.

    I have not heard of feeding with a beaker but our little guy learned very quickly, at about 11 months, to drink water from a cup and from a straw (using a Rubbermaid bottle). He has never wanted to drink from a “sippy cup” or bottle!

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