Feeding FAQ: 6-9 months – Breast Feeding

I’d like my eight-month-old to stop breastfeeding

Katie is eight months old and I have been using the routines since she was born. I am still breastfeeding but am going away for six days at the end of March. She has been breastfed exclusively and but she did take the bottle while we were feeding her at 10pm with expressed milk, although that stopped when she was 15 weeks old. I have a month to wean her off my boob. Can you please advise on the best way to go about it? I’m not sure whether to go straight on to a cup or beaker rather than a bottle, and which feeds I should stop breastfeeding with first. Your help would be much appreciated. Thank you,
Helen

By the time Katie is a year old, she should be taking all her feeds from a cup so I would wean her straight on to one now. She will probably already be using one at lunchtime when having water with her food.

Begin to wean her off the breast at the 2.30pm feed. Offer her a small amount of formula in a cup and see how much she takes before finishing the feed. Over a period of a few days, gradually offer more formula and decrease the time spent on the breast until the feed is exclusively from the cup.

Once that feed has gone, eliminate the 7am feed in the same way. At her age, Katie should be able to wait until 7.30am and be offered milk in a cup with her breakfast. Offer her a small top-up feed in the same way at the end of breakfast and gradually decrease in the same way over a period of a few days.

Finally, drop the 6.30pm feed in the same way. By eliminating feeds slowly, you should not experience too much discomfort and your milk should have disappeared before you have to go away.