Nursing

lucypevensie said:

She doesn't have to stop if she doesn't want to. But I can totally understand too if she does want to. I weaned my kids before a year as well. Still, I'd advise her to not expect an absolute date to be finished or anything like that. It's best if she maintains some flexibility. If the baby gets sick or starts teething or something right at that time it would not be a good time to start weaning.

Both my kids were weaned sort of early - one at 11 months and the other at 9 months. I'm not sure if there was any one thing that made it happen so fast, but there are some things which might have factored in which helped speed up the process. Here are a few things I can think of:

1. My kids were not in the habit of nursing to sleep, thus they didn't need it to soothe themselves. They were fully awake at the end of feeding.

2. I introduced a cup rather early - around 6 months. They really enjoyed drinking from a cup. Never really used bottles though we did try. They just preferred sippy cups much more.

3. As milk supply dwindled I'd first feed them a small amount of formula in the sippy and then nurse to their satisfied fullness.

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MommaBuckaroo said:

Her doctor is wrong. Breastmilk should be the MAIN source of nutrition for the first year of life. If not breastfeeding it should be formula. The American Academy of Ped's says that a mother should breastfed for the first year of life and as long after as the mother and child chose. WHO (womens health organization) recommends you breastfeed for 2 years. She should NOT begin to wean until the baby is over a year old. Tell her to check out LLL and www.kellymom.com kelly mom has GREAT info on how long to breastfed etc. The American academy of peds doesn't even recommend giving a baby solids until at least 6 months and a mother can totally breastfed with no solids for a year. Her baby need the antibodies in breastmilk and just so she knows the earlier she weans she is putting her child at risk to get more ear infections and a whole lot of other problems. She can read about that on Kelly mom. She can even do a google search for how long is a mother supposed to breastfeed and find it says a year. I would find a new doctor if I had one recommend weaning a 9month old!!! My baby is 14 months and my doctor gives me kudos everytime we go in for continuing to breastfeed my baby.

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godismyabba said:

I have a co-worker who is nursing. Her son just turned 9 months, and he is eating step 2 baby food and nursing as well. Her dr. said since he is eating so well, she can wean him if she wants to. She has decided to start in about a month. She doesn't even know where to begin (I didn't nurse, so I have no clue how to help her).

Any advice?

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