Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

DD is almost 10 months and I think I'm about done. I feel terrible but I'm just sort of "touched out". I'm ready just to have my body back to myself ( I know that sounds selfish) There are times when I still enjoy but more so than not lately I find myself getting annoyed (which is terrible to say...I'm feeding my child after all!) So was just curious if anyone else went through this? Or if you were ready to wean before your child? What did you do? DD doesnt seem interested in weaning and still nurses to fall asleep at night.

Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

My DS was ready before me. I was trying to make it to a year but around 11 months he was done. I never nursed for him to fall asleep - I wanted him to learn to fall asleep on his own. Might help if you weaned her off that first. Also maybe increase solid foods so she doesn't want as much from you. Do you pump at all? Maybe you could start with more bottles so its less directly from you and she will lose interest.

Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

My DS is 21 months and shows no signs of weaning any time soon. If it's not working for you anymore, I'd definitely try to stop sooner rather than later. I feel like there was this sweet spot around a year when he would have weaned easily. At that age, I think it's easier to change routines. Like in the am, offer her a bottle instead of the breast. You could also have your husband handle wake up and bedtime since those are the times a lot of babies want to nurse the most.

Re: Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

We made it to almost 13-14 months, I forget exact timing, and that mainly just included night time before bed feeding since he started whole milk around 11 months. We kind of both were done around then and timing worked out perfectly. I still miss it months later, but it was time.

Re: Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

We both were done at about 15 months. I was back to work for about 3 months at that time we were down to 1-2 feedings a day.

Message edited 2/2/2016 8:44:20 PM.

Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

It's a very personal choice. I was done before my DD was ready (but she was much older). At 10 months I would try to continue for a few more months then slowly wean.

Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

I was "done" at around 13 months. My DS probably would have went longer but he was finally getting his front teeth at that time and kept biting me. It hurt! We nursed till he was 14 months and then I threw in the towel. Looking back, I wish I nursed a little longer but he didn't have an issue stopping so it worked out in the end.

Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

I was ready way before dd. She's now 19 mo, and I'm pretty sure she would still be happy nursing, but we weaned at a bit over 13 mo. I tried earlier but she wouldn't drink milk, and I ended up going away to wean her since she stopped taking bottles around 11 mo

Re: Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

Yeah in some ways I'm like you.
DS is 9 months old & the main reason I want to be done with it is to get my period back & regulated before too much longer... for me this won't happen until I stop completely... also in the spring when it's nice out I want to exercise & I find it really hard to do with heavy boobs. I'm also getting tired of pumping at work & everything that goes along with that. So ready or not I will probably want to be done completely by his first birthday.
And I don't think he'll be too happy about that. Whenever I cuddle with him, he goes after my boobs & I don't know how to break him of that association. I know it's comforting to him & I also feel guilty so I always let him BF. But I enjoy it too for lots of reasons so maybe I'm not really ready to be done either.
I've been able to decrease the frequency of feedings by giving him more solid food. Over the next few months I plan to increase the solids a bit more so he will want less milk. Now when we are together & I'm not at work I always BF but I guess eventually I will have to start giving him the milk in a bottle or cup even when I'm with him which kind of makes me sad. BF is a special thing we share & the thought of being done with it actually makes me really sad so maybe I'm not ready emotionally so much as I am rationally... so I don't know how successful I will be ultimately in my attempt to wean especially if DS still want to BF.
Often when he BF's he only takes a couple of sips & then gets distracted & stops, so maybe he will actually start to lose interest soon, it's hard to tell. Also although I BF right before he goes to bed for the night, he usually doesn't fall asleep while he eats anymore. So he's not really relying on it to fall asleep, although it may help relax him so he can fall asleep on his own.
So I'm kind of torn on the whole thing. I didn't have these issues with my older son because he only drank pumped milk, so I was able to cut back & stop on my own timeline. But now having to consider what the baby wants, I think I will just play it by ear & see what happens over the next few months. I'm ready but I'm not ready to wean & I don't know if he's ready either so I'm just going to continue but increase the solids & see what happens. Also I might stop pumping at work soon (gradually) & just BF when I'm with him.

Weaning from BF...who was ready first...you or baby?

I was over it first. It was around 1 year for me, I was happy with that since I reached my goal. DS on the other hand had different plans. Even though I was "done" I decided I would follow his cues when he was ready. By 14 months I had cut out all pumps at work and he was just nursing some mornings and every night before bed. Around 16 months we dropped to just night and that's where we have been stuck. He's 19 months and that's still where we are at. I am thinking in the next month or so I'll cut him off completely. I'm not sure he will ever fully self wean if I don't take the lead.