Only falls asleep bf, wanting to wean

[rollachick]

Anyone have tips on how to wean when the only way she will fall asleep is if i give her a breastfeed? She only has bf when she wakes, before her nap and before she goes to bed at night.
Is there anything i could substatute for the breastmilk? She will drink a bottle of cows milk as a snack so could i try just giving her that to see if she will sleep? Has that worked for anyone else?
Only reason im wanting to wean is im pregnant and just soooo exhausted so my husband wants to try and help with night time but he cant atm coz she will only want me for the boob
Shes 13 months

 

[Larkspur]

You could definitely try a bottle of cow milk. Does she sleep through?

You may find that as your milk supply diminishes through the pregnancy, she naturally weans, or at the least, night weans. The first trimester is the hardest for exhaustion - in a few more weeks you will probably be feeling much better, and your baby might be less interested in feeding when there is very little reward.

That's what happened to us - my toddler weaned himself (of night feeds and night wakings) at 14/15 months during my pregnancy, and was STTN beautifully by the time Baby #2 arrived!

13/14 months is also a notoriously bad time for sleep, there's a big regression then. You still have a long way to go with your pregnancy, so don't panic just yet! There's a lot of time left for things to sort themselves out.

 

[runawayface]

Definitely in the same boat right now... my daughter is 13 months old as well and falls asleep every night from BF. We've slowly gotten her down to just 2 feedings a day, one in the morning and one at night, but that last one of the day is what gets her to fall asleep for the night. What we've been trying for her naps is feeding her a larger lunch with lots of cow's milk to get her belly nice and full (that usually makes her sleepy) and then I just put on soft music in her room and walk her around the room, patting her back to the rhythm of the music until she falls asleep on my shoulder. Unfortunately, though, it does get tiring after awhile with a 20 pound baby and sometimes it could take her a good 20-30 minutes to get sleepy enough. But, if your goal is for a solution that doesn't require you to BF, that could help... DH could walk the LO around the room while you get your rest.

Admittedly, it's really not the most ideal solution, so I've also been scratching my brain on finding a better way to get her sleepy. We're looking to start weaning her from the nighttime feedings but that's how she's fallen asleep every night so we're not sure what else to do. Good luck!!!

 

[ChocolateC]

We just recently did this for nighttime feeds, when DD was about 16 months. My hubby had to do all the work at first, so if yours is willing to help, that's fantastic. We did the whole nighttime ritual--bath and story with a snack--but instead of coming to me for bf, my hubby held her against his chest and hummed to her softly. She fell asleep and he put her in the crib. After 3 weeks of this, I tried it and succeeded! She didn't try to bf anymore.

But we still haven't weaned yet. It's the morning one that's the hardest to stop, especially since she's started waking at 5:30 and it gives me a chance to lie down another 20 minutes!

Naptime is another issue. Hubby does naps at home and then she naps at daycare during the week. With me, she just wants to bf to sleep at naptime (hubby uses a bottle but she won't take it from me).