Weaning at 1yr old

[AK89]

My initial plan was to breastfeed for the first 6 months but quite early on I realised I wouldn't actually want to give it up at that stage.. I definitely want to carry on until she's 1 now, but one thought occurred to me the other day... If we wean at about 12 months, will it kind of be like weaning a baby off a dummy?? In that she'll be a lot more aware by that age and it'll be a thing of comfort for her and she'll actually be sad that we're not breastfeeding anymore...? That would break my heart 'cause it's gonna be really hard for me too! Or is it something that will just happen gradually around the 12 month mark and won't be such a big upheaval for her..?

Any advice on weaning (off the breast, not onto solids) would be greatly appreciated, at any age!

 

[Ganton]

My little one is 13 months and I'm planning to wean him anytime now, but keep putting it off because I don't want to stop.

I largely stopped daytime feeds when I returned to work 3 months a go, but would still occasionally feed him before his afternoon nap at the weekend. I've stopped that completely the last few weeks, and when he starts to get tired he says "Mulk" and then buries his head in my chest I have no idea how he'll take to cutting out bedtime and morning feed, but I think it's only going to get harder the longer I leave it

 

[AK89]

My little one is 13 months and I'm planning to wean him anytime now, but keep putting it off because I don't want to stop.

I largely stopped daytime feeds when I returned to work 3 months a go, but would still occasionally feed him before his afternoon nap at the weekend. I've stopped that completely the last few weeks, and when he starts to get tired he says "Mulk" and then buries his head in my chest I have no idea how he'll take to cutting out bedtime and morning feed, but I think it's only going to get harder the longer I leave it

Aww that's definitely gonna be the position I'm gonna be in! My OH is being all funny with me about wanting to carry on too! I think I had 6 months in mind 'cause I was really conscious about not BF til she was too old but now she's actually there she doesn't seem too old at all, and I love it, and I just can't see any logical reason why I should stop and start giving her formula! So I thought put it off 'til she's 1 'cause it gives us a bit more time and then she could wean right onto cows' milk. But my OH keeps being really funny about it, as if that's far too old to breastfeed. I've had a few other people say similar things too. I know it's my decision though and I don't really care what they think! Haha.. I'm just wondering what's gonna be in store for me when we get there..

How old was your LO when you started giving him 3 meals (solids) a day? 'Cause I'm a bit confused as to how it works 'cause I've heard a lot of people say you work your way up to 3 meals a day pretty fast and each meal pretty much replaces a BF session (or at least your BF gets cut down a fair bit, especially through the day) which would make it easier I suppose..

Blaaahh. I know I've got another 6 months but I'm dreading it!

 

[EcoMama]

Hi, I'm currently weaning my 18 month old off as she is becoming too forceful and it hurts. I went away for 3 nights/4days. I think that has helped with the process. My oh has been hreat and has done all the nighttime routines for the past week so she doesn't get tempted. It's been nearly a week and she still tries to get in to my top but I distract her, which sometimes isn't easy!.... I dread when my oh goes to work this eve as he will be away for 3 weeks so I'll have to do bedtime!
Good luck x

 

[EcoMama]

There certainly is no logic to replacing breastmilk with formula at 6 months. It is recommended that babies are bf until a year anyway x

We have gone cold turkey and have a constant source of cows milk in a beaker available

With my son He weaned himself off at 15 months and was soooo much easier than my dd, who would be breastfeeding on her way to school if she had the chance :/

We also did babyled weaning, so both dc weren't on solids fully until about 13 months old, we started very slowly from 6 and a half months, the bf didn't really slow down until around 10 months, and was still done on demand

 

[Ganton]

Like Ecomama, I continued to feed both mine on demand whilst weaning on to solids. We started out with traditional weaning, but they preferred finger foods, particularly DS2, so it ended up closer to BLW really. I always offered 3 meals a day and snacks, but neither of them really got a decent appetite until about 11 months.