Hi Mamas -
My DS is 11.5 months and for the past month he has cut WAY back on nursing. He used to nurse every 2 hours round the clock. Then he stopped wanting to nurse mid-morning. Then that morning time stretched out more and more so now some days he goes 6 or 7 hours without really nursing (although he still nurses at 3-5 times at night). Basically, most of the times he is nursing now is when he is sleepy, either falling asleep or just waking up.
I keep offering to nurse and he keeps signing FOOD. It doesn't seem to change by being in a quiet place, at home or anything. It used to be that whenever he got near my breast he would at least take a few sucks (!) but now if I offer and he isn't in the mood, he yells and squirms. When I give him FOOD after he signs it, he will eat a ton. Like, 4 oz of trout and a whole zuchinni for instance. He also signs WATER a lot and wants to drink water instead of nursing
Also, he keeps biting and this has been going on for a long time now. I don't think its teething, and even if it is, there is no change after I give him something cold to chew on. He seems to bite mostly when he doesn't really want to nurse although last night he started really biting in his sleep for the first time ever:
My mama's intuition is that he just wants to nurse less but not stop completely. But I'm scared that this pattern could lead to early weaning. I am pumping twice a day just in case this is a phase and my supply seems great.
What else can I do?? Should I give him less food even though he wants it or is that nuts?????
My DS is 11.5 months and for the past month he has cut WAY back on nursing. He used to nurse every 2 hours round the clock. Then he stopped wanting to nurse mid-morning. Then that morning time stretched out more and more so now some days he goes 6 or 7 hours without really nursing (although he still nurses at 3-5 times at night). Basically, most of the times he is nursing now is when he is sleepy, either falling asleep or just waking up.
I keep offering to nurse and he keeps signing FOOD. It doesn't seem to change by being in a quiet place, at home or anything. It used to be that whenever he got near my breast he would at least take a few sucks (!) but now if I offer and he isn't in the mood, he yells and squirms. When I give him FOOD after he signs it, he will eat a ton. Like, 4 oz of trout and a whole zuchinni for instance. He also signs WATER a lot and wants to drink water instead of nursing
Also, he keeps biting and this has been going on for a long time now. I don't think its teething, and even if it is, there is no change after I give him something cold to chew on. He seems to bite mostly when he doesn't really want to nurse although last night he started really biting in his sleep for the first time ever:
My mama's intuition is that he just wants to nurse less but not stop completely. But I'm scared that this pattern could lead to early weaning. I am pumping twice a day just in case this is a phase and my supply seems great.
What else can I do?? Should I give him less food even though he wants it or is that nuts?????
We went through something very similar at the exact same age. DS started to crawl on his 11 month birthday, and once that started he refused to nurse during the day except lying down before or after naps. Never in a chair. He's 13.5 months now, and he's been back to nursing frequently for several weeks. I suppose at some point the novelty of being mobile wore off?
This is what I did, and I was frequently able to give him the pumped milk in a cup.
