Nursing Slowing Down

Sounds like she may be starting to wean herself.. lots of babies wean themselves around this age-- if she is ready to stop I would let her, formula for this last month and then cows milk after age one.. it is actually easier to let her lead the way on weaning- I had to wean my daughter at 15 months and it was a process- would of been easier if she had stopped on her own.

Greetings A.. I wouldnt supplement with formula. At her age she will only "snack" when nursing for most of the time. While your milk still contains all the wonderful nutrients its much less "fatty" than infant stage, so it is much more for thirst. By all means, CONTINUE TO NURSE - ITS THE BEST THING! You may want to provide her snacks in between meals if she seems a little hungry. crackers or fruit maybe.

My daughter is the same age.

Peace
T., Doula

It sounds like your daughter is doing what both of my sons did. They basically weaned themselves at 11 months and 12 months. They became less interested and then didn't want to nurse at all. It definitely made the weaning process much simpler, but of course it was a little sad that they were done. My boys went right to regular milk and baby food after nursing.

S.

If the nursing is slowing down, you can nurse her for a couple of minutes and then give her formula or put pump out your milk and give it to her in the bottle. I know at 12 months, you are supposed to switch to vitamin D milk which is good because the babies need the extra fat.

Hi A.,
I know the general rule is to nurse your wee one until one year old, but if your daughter takes the formula well, then I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of milk your producing. You can just easily wean her off the breast and go to the formula or whole milk. We put our son on formula when he was born, and then whole milk when he was a year old. No problem there. You're doing great, and it's ok to go ahead and put her on the formula for about one month, and then whole milk after she turns a year old. :-) Best wishes,G.

How often do you nurse her? When my son was 11 months I was down to three feedings or even two a day and with all the solid food he was eating he never seemed to go hungry. At this age babies usually nurse more for comfort than nourishment. Try incorporating more solid foods into her diet, breastfeeding in the morning, afternoon and night and see if your milk production is still poor. If so, you may have to wean her a little earlier than you had planned. Do you supplement with formula often? If so, that might explain why your production is a little low. Hope it all works out!

My pediatrician told me that breastmilk isn't enough because at a certain point (she said at around the 6 month mark) the baby isn't getting enough iron. Formula and rice cereal are good sources of iron, or there are iron supplements. Ask your pediatrician.

I totally agree with the first post from the doula. Don't supplement with formula. Supplement with REAL food for real nourishment if you feel she is still hungry. The reason babies chug formula is that they will chug most anything from a bottle or sippy cup. They require them to do minimal work to drink, unlike the breast. At her age, you won't feel as "full" anymore, unless you go awhile without nursing. This does not mean you are not producing. Continue nursing. It will do a world of good for her health, as well as yours.

Hi A.,
My son is 11 months old now and I too noticed a slow down these past two months, however, this past week, he has been nursing more often but just for a few minutes here and there and when he wants to nap. He is eating solids and the only time he gets juice in a sippy is when he's having hard bowel movements, we give him some prune juice. We live in Tucson where it is very dry, so we ALWAYS keep a sippy cup filled with water around so he can drink from that whenever he is thirsty. What it really boils down to is this: your child's needs will fluctuate from time to time whether it's solid food, water or breast milk. I agree with others that there really isn't a need for formula at all when you can provide water, breast milk and solids. Just offer your daughter something of each whenever she seems like she needs it and let her decide. You can't go wrong. A hungry baby will eat and a thirst baby will drink and whether that is from you or a sippy cup, she is getting to be old enough to decide for herself. Babies don't need juice is what my pediatrician told us. It's bad for their teeth and has way too much sugar. If you're worried about iron and nutrients in your milk, just make sure you offer her a balanced selection of solid foods. For our son, it was hard to figure out how much to give him from a jar because sometimes he would eat less or more depending. Now he is big enough for finger food as he has 6 teeth and I give him a variety of those to feed himself with a sippy cup filled with water. Once he starts throwing stuff on the floor and playing with his food, it's time to get out of the highchair. He lets me know if he wants to nurse then or not or sometime later if he didn't get enough of the solid foods.

Just trust your instincts and you really can't go wrong.
I really hope this helps. You've already done an amazing job so far by going this long so keep up the good work and you guys will figure it out!
Lucian's Mommy

I went through almost the exact same thing when my son was 11 months old. He was still trying to breastfeed but he was the opposite of your situation. He would stay on FOREVER but never seemed satisfied. When I tried to give him some formula he chugged it as well. I knew he must have been starving because he hated bottles and had never taken one before. I think I was just not making enough milk for him. Sad to say, he only took a bottle from that point on. He didn't want to mess with me and my lack of milk again. Good luck!

I breast fed my baby for 12 months, but, he started slowing down at 10 months. He wanted food. Is your daughter getting enough baby food during the day? (sorry, I don't mean to sound rude). He just wanted to nurse to be close to Mommy, but he wasn't getting enough nurishment from me anymore. So, I had to give him a sippy cup, after also. Or before, it depended.
I went through the mourning period when my baby didn't want to nurse anymore, but, when they are ready to stop, they let you know, sorry I sound so harsh!!
Just let her tell you how she feels, she's your baby, and you girls have bond that will last forever. If she wants to have a sippy cup to feel independant, make her feel like BIG GIRL. She will appreciate it. I promise you!! it's hard, but, it will be well worth it.