How I weaned my [boob-obsessed] babies from breastfeeding.

Let’s talk weaning...

Earlier this week I mentioned that we had gone 3 full days without breastfeeding Franky. I’m 15 weeks pregnant (for those of you who don’t already know) and while my doctor gave me the go ahead to continue breastfeeding through this trimester and to just feel it out in the third trimester, I was ready.

In fact, I’ve been ready to wean from breastfeeding Franky for a long time now. I absolutely loved breastfeeding Ava - loved it. I don’t know if I’m just busier now with two kids and a business that’s far more time consuming or what but with Franky, it felt like more of a task. I honestly feel terrible saying that out loud because I wanted to love it as much as I did with Ava but it was just... different.

Of course we have precious moments, moments where I just soaked him all in and loved every minute of it and those are memories with my little man that I’ll forever cherish. And you’d better bet I loved those morning feeds (aka an extra 30-45 minutes of staying in bed) more than anything but for me, I just felt ready to be done. He eats like a champ and drinks milk like it’s his job so breastfeeding at this point was really just for bonding and for him, for comfort.

Anyhow, when I mentioned this week that he was weaned (or at least I think... who knows if I’ll give into his begging demands in the next couple days), so many of you asked HOW.

So I’ll go through how I weaned Ava and how I weaned Franky and how they were just different. But of course, feel it out for yourself and your baby and see what feels right!

Let’s start with how I weaned Ava —

Ava was addicted to my boobs. And I’ll be honest, I loved it as much as she did. She barely ate food and I had such a huge milk supply that for the first two years of life, she basically lived off of my breastmilk.

But this weaning process took a good 4 months or so as I knew it would take a while for both of us and here’s what I did:

For her whole life up until then, I breastfed on demand with no schedule whatsoever. So when I decided to begin the weaning process, I set a maximum number of times per day I was going to feed — 4 or 5 times per day, I can’t really remember exactly.

For a couple weeks, I stuck to that and didn’t feed her anymore. If she asked, I’d give her a snack instead or a sippy cup with milk. A couple weeks later, I went down to three feeds — morning, afternoon and evening. Then a couple weeks later, two times per day — morning and night. And then finally, I moved down to morning feeds only. At this point, I didn’t have a date planned to stop for good but one morning, she slept in super late, until like 9am or so and that was that. I was so sad I didn’t get that “last feed” but I knew it was the right moment and I just went with it. And honestly, she barely begged at all after that and it went more smoothly than I imagined but of course, it was a long process which can definitely be sped up if needed or wanted.

Now weaning Franky -

Franky is currently 13 months old but since very young, he’s always struggled with weight gain. My supply was fine and he was actually born huge (9lbs 4oz) but for some reason, the weight just wouldn’t come. We did allergy tests, blood tests and monthly weigh ins. At six months he immediately started eating like a champ (he legit eats more than Ava most days and has since he was 6 months old) but still, the weight didn’t seem to come.

Around that same time, we started trying for baby #3 but since I was still breastfeeding, I was not ovulating (I tested every day). A couple months later, we added some formula into his diet to see if that would help with the weight gain (it didn’t) and I began to slow down my breastfeeding to try to plump him up with formula. I was down to around 2-3 breastfeeding feeds a day and by 11 months, most days I only breastfed him twice and I was okay with that because we were still trying to get pregnant and that was the only way I’d possibly ovulate.

At 11 months, I got pregnant and continued to breastfeed Franky 1-2 times a day and then last week, I decided on a whim that I’d bring him straight downstairs for a cup of milk and cereal for breakfast without bringing him to bed to breastfeed. And that was that. It wasn’t really a planned out date but I’ve been ready for a while and honestly, I want some time before I begin in all again with our baby boy come October.

So there you have it. He begs sometimes and I just offer milk or snacks instead and he’s fine with it. If I’m sitting and he’s on my lap, he wants to feed but if I stand up and distract elsewhere, he forgets immediately. So I’d say that’s key!

I can’t guarantee we’re 100% done with him (or that he won’t want to start again when baby boy starts breastfeeding since he’s such a mama’s boy) but we shall see! We’re just playing it by ear and whatever happens, happens!