Hi girls,

Hope that you and babies are all well. I haven't posted for a long time on here but used to post occassionally on Due in January.

I have been exclusively bfing my son, he is now 9 months and I have started to wean him off the breast. I thought that this would happen off his own accord however he is not very interested in solid food so we are BLWing him. This of course means that he is not actually eating all that much food therefore is hungry for more milk. Until 3 weeks ago ge point blank refused to take any kind if bottle, after trying most. He then one day took a whole bottle, and we ate now trying no breast during the day (2 bottles instead) and just breast first and last feed, and for any night wakings.

The problem is that I feel so cruel, he has been used to the breast for 9 months for food, but also for comfort (he normally falls asleep on the breast and always had done for his naps and during last deed). Therefore we have issues with many night wakings due to association and needing the breast to fall back to sleep. So...

Sorry for my rambling...

I am now trying controlled crying for his naps in the day so that even though he is being bottle fed (doesn't always take it depending on mood, but I try really hard not to offer breast), he still needs to nap. If he us near me he just gets more and more upset and frustrated wanting the breast. Today he had taken half an hour for his morning and afternoon nap, crying hysterically with me going in every 10 mins sshhing and reassuring. Is this the right thing to do in the long run?

Any help or responses on any of this would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

oh hunny, its a hard thing to do isnt it.

associating breast with comfort is a hard cycle to break, but you will get there.

my baby stopped wanting breast at 8 months so it wasnt too bad for me but i think if you persevere he'll understand soon, just make sure he knows you're still there and that he is safe.

xxx

i think if you are doing cc you need to do it for day and night so he isnt confused, might be worth doing a little research into cc as you start with 5-10 mins returns and slowly increase over time, cc doesnt work for every baby so you may need to look into different methods too

good luck

Why would you do something so pointless? Your baby is 9 months old not 19 months old, so what if he wakes in the night, didn't you realise that's what babies do? He's crying because he's distressed and you feel guilty because it's not the right thing to be doing. Sorry I know it's fashionable here to mindlessly support everyone in what they're doing but what you're trying to achieve here is empty and what you're losing is yours and your babys peace of mind. Stick him back on the boob whenever he wants it for heavens sake!

My SIL broke the breastfeeding habit by getting her OH to feed baby from a bottle whilst her milk dried up. Once it did and baby couldnt smell it she had more success in feeding with a bottle. I agree with piggypops that you might have more sucess if you move to bottlefeeding completely, I have used controlled crying for my daughter to get her to take naps in the day. Previously she would only sleep on me and as soon as I put her down she would wake and cry. I have to go back to work fairly soon and I know that a nursery will not rock her to sleep in their arms and then let her sleep on them so I have to break the habit. However, I only let her cry for two minutes before picking her up, giving her a cuddle and then putting her back and moving away. Usually, it only about 10 minutes for her to get the message that I am not going to leave her and that it is nap time and then she falls asleep. Good luck, it is a hard thing to do but you are not going to harm your baby by letting him cry for a few minutes. He will learn to associate being put down in his bed with nap times, it will just take a while for him to break his boob association x

I already responded kindly to this in the bf forum.

As to daytime naps, my lo will only nap on me, but when he is at nans, he settles himself happily. When mummy is about he wants to be with me and I love that!