My daughter will turn 1 on January 19th and my husband and I would like to go to Vegas to see Garth Brooks on February 26th. I know it's kind of lame but I've always wanted to see Garth and it's his last concert at the Wynn. My mom will come stay with her and they do great together so I am not worried about her being cared for. I just want to make sure I can totally wean her before we go. She refuses to take any formula so I cannot start weaning until she can have cows milk. She also does not take a bottle so this will be with a sippy cup.
Was weaning a huge deal for you? Is 6 weeks enough time?
She also still wakes up 2 times a night to nurse. I can start working on dropping at least one of those feedings now.
Why wean her? Go on your trip and come back and nurse as usual. No formula needed, just leave some breastmilk for a sippy and when you get back she will pick up right where she left off! Breastmilk is super important especially this time of year, cold and flu season!
First- go see him in concert. AMAZING!
You can wean her in 48 hours if you want to. Don't worry about the bottle- most kids are transitioning to a sippy by 12-18 monts anyway.
Just some thoughts...
- There is no need for her to wake up at night to eat from a nutritional standpoint, so keep in mind that your first "real step" is to get her to sleep through the night. Do you have a plan for that? I'm a CIO momma, but that's a personal decision. You may want to go "cold turkey" and cut out both of those feedings first and foremost.
- You may want to consider having someone help you with this b/c weaning is difficult, especially b/c she doesn't take a bottle or formula meaning it's YOU and ONLY YOU, right? Sounds funny, but when my youngest sister (I'm 9 yrs older) weaned at 8 months, I had to do it for my mom b/c they were so incredibly attached. Just a thought.
- Once you decide to wean her, use expressed milk in the sippy so that it's not so many changes at one time (you can start this NOW)
Once you commit to weaning, have a plan and STICK TO IT! She will cry and refuse to take the sippy, but she will not starve. Truly, I weaned my son in two days. It was really difficult and we went "cold turkey" at the pediatrician's recommendation. My husband was a huge help b/c he was young ( 7 months) and daddy had always fed him with a bottle using expressed milk.
Don't cave or it will take forever. But to answer your question, yes you can do this. Your daughter is older so her habits will be much harder to break, but have a plan, stick to it and ask for help if you are struggling!
A couple of things, as a mom of 3 girls, let me tell you you that 1yr old, your daughter should not be waking up to eat anyway. She should be sleeping through the night. I learned this the hard way with my first.
You do not have to wait till her actual 1st birthday to introduce cows milk, She close enough that you could already start introducing it. Maybe give her a ippy cup of it whn you have her in the highchair eating, I"m assuming you have already started introducing real food.
When my kids turned 1 it was an automatic, bottles were gone, sippy cups were given and real milk was introduced. We didnt give them a choice, If they were hungry then they drank it. It only took a day before they realized that it the choice they had and within a week they had forgotten about everything else.
Good Luck and enjoy the concert, As parents we all need time away, its good for us, our marriage, and kids
I don't think it's 'lame' at all. I think it'll be good for you (especially if you're going with your husband) to go off and enjoy some grown up time!
But I don't see why you have to wean her before hand. Keep pushing the BM in a bottle, cut back on a couple regular nursing times. Tell her 'no mommy's milk. Time for a bottle or a cup'. Pump what you would nurse for that feeding. Try mixing a tiny bit of formula with mostly BM, see how that goes before you increase it.
Can Dad go in with a bottle for those two night time feedings? Maybe he can pick her up, rock her, show her there's comfort OTHER than the breast, and there SHOULD be comfort other than the breast at her age.
I hope this helps, and I hope you get to go (you can pump while you're away too)!
Good Luck!
:)
yes, you can do it, but don't stress about it, or she will feel it. I would drop the night feedings now. Can you pump and try the sippy cup now? I had the best luck with the Gerber Nuk, as they were the most natural suck for the transition. It is hard. My son screamed when he realized what I was trying (he was already taking the cups at daycare). I held the cup in his mouth and when he took a breath, he realized that there was milk there. It was a fight for the first 3 days or so, but I stuck with that one meal until he accepted it - about a week.
I then added another meal (the daytime ones were the easiest) and did that one for about a week until he was good with that. Don't save the hardest till last though.
Good luck and I am SOOO jealous of Garth Brooks!!!!
In my opinion bottles should be used weather feeding breast milk or formula. for many reasons, one in which you are facing right now. I would not leave my child though to go to a concert, just my opinion. Connie
I agree with Becky W.
