Any tips to wean EBF baby?

He just turned 1 this month and my goal is to have him fully weaned by July of next year, as I have a week long travel commitment for grad school and I cannot afford to bring him with me. I just have this feeling that if I don’t make any efforts to wean him, he’ll be nursing until he’s in preschool lol. What can I do now? Is there a better time to start? How much would it eff up everyone’s sleep? One of the reasons I chose to nurse is because it helped him sleep so good, which meant sleep for me and greater wellness.

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Weaning is tough work- it’s good you’re thinking about it in advance! I would recommend dropping nursing sessions gradually until you’re only left with one or two and then you pick a day to be your last day and you don’t do it again even when you want to give in. I co-sleep with my babies and breastfeed well past a year (still nursing my 15mo), so I understand what you mean about it being helpful for sleep. Start by rocking him back to sleep every other time he wakes- you can still nurse him when you want to but try to get him used to being soothed by you in other ways.
Also- remember that if you and baby aren’t *ready* to wean you shouldn’t feel like you have to. You could always leave milk behind for him when you go on your trip (by that age he won’t NEED it for nutrition sake) and you could bring a pump with you)
Either way you’re doing great!

Breastfeeding is the thing I will miss the most about having little babies ♥️

Also I should mention as you drop feeds be prepared to offer more food and water than you normally would. Try not to offer it “in place” of the boob if that makes sense. Like if you usually nurse him when he gets hurt don’t give him a snack instead because you don’t want him to get used to be soothed by food. I just mean that on the days you begin dropping feeds you should try to bulk up his meals and snacks and have water available throughout the day and night! :)

Thank you so much for your encouragement and suggestions! Honestly I’m so sad to think about weaning! I love our breastfeeding journey together. I’m afraid I won’t be ready to stop… I think worst case scenario, I’ll have to bring him with me to my summer intensive because I can still nurse at night and have someone be with him during the day while I’m in classes. But I won’t be able to bring him to the november intensive, as that will be in a remote location for a whole week. He’ll be two by then. I still feel like I won’t be ready haha. I know, I’m thinking way ahead.

in our community

Can someone pls help i keep making this post and nobody is responding

My boyfriend booked a trip for us to go to mexico for a week as my push present. I have severe anxiety leaving my 7 month old with my mom. I know she will be in good hands but she’s exclusively breast fed for the most part but accepts bottles just fine. i have all my pumping parts packed and will pump when baby normally eats but i don’t want baby to forget me or have latch issues when i return!! any mommas ever experience this?

Postpartum

I’m only 3 days postpartum (FTM) and already have extremely bad anxiety. I’m crying every night, as I think of another night of no sleep. My baby will not settle in his cot, he cries every moment we put him down unless in his chair rocker. So me and my partner are having to alternate after 3/4 hours of being awake with him downstairs. I’m trying everything to get him to settle. It’s a load of overwhelming stress. I’m 23, I was desperate for a baby and now I have one and feel completely useless. I miss it just being me and my partner.

When does it get better?

I was crying on the phone with the perinatal mental health team today and the lovely lady, bless her, kept assuring me that it gets better. I kept telling her I hope so because people have been saying that since having my LO and it just feels like it keeps getting worse. She assured me it gets better....

Night time routine

Heya, my 3 week old daughter is currently exclusively breastfed and I’m not pumping. Can anyone recommend the best way to share the load with my partner? At the moment I’m doing all the feeds/burbs/settling and my partner is sleeping through which obviously isn’t sustainable, I’m trying to work out the best way to get him involved. Any advice very much appreciated!

Rapid cool/ hot shot method

Sorry if this sound stupid but how are we doing the hot shot method?
Are we boiling the kettle and letting it cool a little before adding to hot flask? Then with the cool water do you boil the kettle and leave it to cool right down before putting into another flask?
My baby brain is fried trying to work out the easiest way!

Rant/WWYD

My sister (youngest, 24) has two kids, 4 & 1, and i (oldest, 30) just have my one who’s 6mo old right now, so i ask her for advice or call her to vent about things sometimes. Well im tired of her turning around and telling my other family members that I’m “losing my sh*t.” Literally have not lost my sh*t nor have i ever freaked out to her about my baby, i just call her to talk and tell her what stage my baby is in or talk through how im feeling, but she chooses to tell people that im like a complete nutcase or something which worries me that my family is going to start being judgmental about me as a mother or looking at me funny like I’m some fragile ticking time bomb.

What would you do in this situation? I’m already pretty much decided that I’ll stop telling her anything about my struggles, but I’m almost at the point where i feel like it should be confronted because she, of all people, should understand what I’m going through.