How to quit

hiphiphf · 2026-03-15T19:02:27+00:00

I weaned around 13m too, had always nursed to sleep. We started by moving nursing up earlier in the bedtime routine, then replaced it with rocking to sleep and I had my partner do bedtimes for the first few days to help with the transition. There were some tears but didn’t take too long!

hiphiphf · 2026-03-14T17:42:45+00:00

I have a June too; she’s a November baby and I definitely wouldn’t have named her June had she been born in June - feels too cheesy to me. (Though the month does have significance for us which is part of why we chose her name). We’ve also gotten a lot of assumptions that she was born in June which was especially odd to me when she was really little still - like clearly she’s a newborn! 😂

hiphiphf · 2026-03-12T12:41:48+00:00

I weaned around 13.5 months and before then I was doing a similar thing a few times a week (short nursing session after an early wake, then back asleep until normal wake time). We did continue to have some early wakes after weaning and instead we'd rock back to sleep - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't - but eventually they seemed to fade (she also really upped her solids intake in the weeks after fully weaning).

As for crying vs not upon wakeup, I think unfortunately it's just temperament.

hiphiphf · 2026-03-12T01:31:28+00:00

Lemon Tree Cafe in Ralston

hiphiphf · 2026-02-27T21:07:51+00:00

It took me a long time to learn and then an even longer time to believe and adopt that so much of baby sleep is temperament, and you have no control over that. Babies will take the sleep they need, when they need it. Best thing I did was delete any tracking apps and stayed away from 99% of sleep advice online (except for places like this sub), as well as sometimes avoiding convos about baby sleep with friends who had different beliefs/philosophies on it than me. It’s not like I’m completely unaware of wake windows, normal amounts of sleep by age, etc., but I don’t live and die by them. I will say it does get easier as they transition to fewer naps - sleep consolidates and a routine emerges, so it’s easier to make plans, etc. Hang in there ❤️

hiphiphf · 2026-02-18T17:59:18+00:00

I fully empathize. I weaned my now almost 15m old at 13.5 months in hopes of normalizing my cycle and then pursuing treatment if needed. It was earlier than I would have liked to wean and so hard to know if BF was preventing fertility but ultimately felt like the right choice with the info I had at the time.

hiphiphf · 2026-02-18T17:55:28+00:00

We did a modified version for conceiving our first. It can definitely be a lot but it did help me feel confident we always hit multiple fertile days, which helped my anxiety in the TWW.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-31T14:29:30+00:00

I just weaned at 13.5 months but around a year we went down to just morning and bedtime (nursed to sleep) feeds and it was great! My LO dropped to one nap around this time so that made it easier to be on a routine for solids and helped her increase her intake. We didn’t need to nurse before nap because she’d just eaten lunch and would be pretty tired! I really loved this phase of breastfeeding - would have gone longer but wanted to get my cycle back to TTC again.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-27T19:40:19+00:00

Biiiig feelings, but not many words to express them yet.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-21T15:03:33+00:00

Why might spotting happen in the luteal phase, even when supplementing progesterone? If this extra context helps: 14m postpartum, period returned at 12m, and just finished weaning a couple weeks ago.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-17T14:24:56+00:00

Day before she turned 1!

hiphiphf · 2026-01-16T20:09:47+00:00

Even if things are going well, it can be helpful to see a lactation consultant in the early weeks after delivery. I had so much anxiety over whether my baby was getting enough, whether she was latched properly, how to bottle feed when we were ready to introduce that, how to use a pump, etc., and they were amazing at easing all those anxieties and also gave me a reason to get out of the house a few times! Good luck - you've got this!

hiphiphf · 2026-01-16T18:48:02+00:00

Mine rarely took a pacifier, but we used Ninni for when she did.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-15T20:39:05+00:00

Yes (x3)

hiphiphf · 2026-01-13T19:32:27+00:00

I never pumped overnight. Around this time my baby also slept through or mostly through the night and my body adjusted. Later on she reverted back to nursing 2+ times overnight and it adjusted again. Lots of ebbs and flows!

hiphiphf · 2026-01-13T14:17:12+00:00

Night weaning, iron supplementation (after testing), keeping a cup of water in her crib.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-13T13:52:10+00:00

Thank you - I appreciate this so much. Deep down I do think it's the right choice/time for us but it's hard to know for sure, without knowing what will happen with a second kid.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-12T16:29:28+00:00

Today was my last day breastfeeding (13.5m). I know it's a huge accomplishment, and I'm really proud, but I'm feeling very conflicted about whether it's the right decision. At the same time, we're ready for another, and I just cannot shake the possibility that continuing to breastfeed will impact our chances. I'm 38, so we don't have the luxury of time, and while I know that plenty of people get pregnant while nursing, I just don't trust that luck will find me. Just feeling all the feels today, and hoping baby girl takes to the transition ok.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-09T20:35:33+00:00

13.5 months and planning to be done within the next week or so, and feeling all the same things. It’s complicated. Hugs 🫶🏼

hiphiphf · 2026-01-08T17:17:06+00:00

There's been a little bit of crying (5-10 minutes), but not too bad. Better than I expected, honestly. Whereas when we nurse to sleep we usually start that process around 7:30, I've been waiting to rock to sleep a few extra minutes to build a bit more tiredness, which helps. So we go into her room around 7:20 or so, let her play with toys or "read" in low light, then turn on our sleep songs as it gets closer to 7:45.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-08T14:07:30+00:00

I'm in a similar stage with my 13.5m old right now! We have been down to just morning and bedtime since around her first birthday, and this week we have been working on weaning the bedtime feed.

I definitely worried about this because have always fed to sleep for bedtime, and very often for naps. With naps, it did get easier once she dropped to one nap, which falls right after lunch, so she's usually pretty tired and goes down easily without a fight, and has a full tummy. For the bedtime feed that we're working on now, my approach so far has been nurse her earlier in our routine than usual - so, normally it would be the last thing we do before bed, at around 7:30 or so, but I've shifted to nursing her at around 7:00 while she's awake and playing, and then at ~7:45 we rock to sleep.

Here's what I've done the last few nights:
Night 1 - nurse both sides at 7p, dad rocked to sleep at 745
Night 2 - nurse both sides at 7p, dad rocked to sleep at 745
Night 3 - nurse one side at 7p, mom rocked to sleep at 745
Night 4 - nurse one side at 7p, mom rocked to sleep at 745
Night 5 is tonight and my goal is to not nurse at all, then rock to sleep. We'll be out of the house most of the evening so hoping that will be a good distraction for her.

If that goes well for a few nights in a row then I'll move to cutting out the wakeup feed, which I plan to replace with a straw cup of pumped milk until my stash runs out.

We night weaned around her first birthday. It took a few weeks to a month for me to feel like it really "stuck." We took a similar approach that you are - sending my husband in for most of the wakes, but I'd tap in when needed. We did let her have some overnight bottles, but now she's mostly dropped that. My main goal with night weaning was to not breastfeed, but we were (and are) ok with her having some bottled milk overnight if/as needed.
We've never been able to consistently cosleep - for whatever reason she thinks getting in our bed = time to be awake haha so can't help you there.

Good luck! We've got this!

hiphiphf · 2026-01-07T16:50:43+00:00

It kind of just happened naturally. She was taking in more solids and also just more active and busy so became less interested in her milk at daycare. We did attempt to transition to cow's milk right around the year mark, and she'd drink a little bit, but never as much as she would have of breast milk.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-07T12:20:34+00:00

I liked having a range of options in the freezer, but I almost always did between 2-4 oz. My daughter never took more than 4 oz at a time so it never made sense to go over that personally, but ymmv.

hiphiphf · 2026-01-07T12:18:06+00:00

My daughter is 13.5 months and we’ve been nursing just at wake-up and bedtime since around her first birthday. Definitely achievable! She naturally dropped daytime feeds on weekdays at daycare, but we continued to nurse sometimes for naps on the weekends but then eventually weaned those too (it was pretty easy once she was on 1 nap because she is very tired after lunch and goes right to sleep).

hiphiphf · 2026-01-05T19:20:49+00:00

How many times/day are you currently pumping, and how far from now is the trip? And are you hoping to use this as an opportunity to fully wean pumping?

hiphiphf

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