Question:
Help, I have to wean 11.5 month old quick?
TeGo
2008-06-20 08:12:45 UTC
I am a stay-at-home, nursing, co-sleeping mom with an 11.5 month old. I am 5 wks 1 day pregnant and nursing is deffinately causing uterine contractions ( I can feel cramping when I nurse) and I have a history of miscarriage. So, I have to wean as quick as possible. My DD has never accepted a bottle and only taken a few sips at a time from a sippy cup. And she had never accepted a pacifier either.

How do I wean quickly with the least amount of trauma? Do I wean to a bottle so she still has the sucking sensation? Do I wean to cup because she is older? What do I give her? Stage 2 formula smells gross, like blood, I think because of the iron they add to it. But I don't know if she is ready to regular milk. Should I mix formula and milk? Also, what brand of bpa free bottle or sippy is best for transitioning a breastfed baby?
Six answers:
anonymous
2008-06-20 08:22:56 UTC
The cramping during breastfeeding is normal and is not associated with miscarriage. Your best bet would be to take red raspberry leaf and vitamin C.



Honestly I don't know what would be worse weaning and then miscarrying and knowing what you took away from your daughter. Or continuing and miscarrying and blaming yourself even though it has nothing to do with breastfeeding.



Realistically the chances of miscarrying are the same either way.



There is no way to really wean abruptly with no trauma, and any gradual method is going to take you out of miscarriage range anyway. The only way to figure out what cup she will take is to try. However you are probably going to have to stop sleeping with her as well, I can't even imagine the stress of stopping both at once.



She has no need of either formula or cow's milk as long as her diet is sufficient.





The nature of breastfeeding contractions

http://kellymom.com/nursingtwo/excerpts/03bfcontractions.html





http://kellymom.com/nursingtwo/excerpts/02miscarriage.html

What are miscarriage and preterm labor experts saying?



Lesley Regan, PhD, MD, heads the Miscarriage Clinic at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, the largest referral unit in Europe, and is the author of Miscarriage: What every woman should know. She was surprised to hear that anyone considers issues related to miscarriage to be reasons for weaning. She added:



Once a pregnancy is clinically detectable, breastfeeding should pose no added risk of pregnancy loss. There isn’t any data suggesting a link between breastfeeding and miscarriage, and I see no plausible reason for there to be a link.



Obstetrician David Weismiller, MD, wrote a synthesis of research on preterm labor for the American Academy of Family Physicians; he is an assistant professor and director of women's health in the Department of Family Medicine at East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, NC. He concurs that there is no evidence that implicates breastfeeding in increasing the risks of preterm labor in healthy pregnancies.

... from Chapter 12: Health Concerns



Read other excerpts from this book



"It has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to read this authoritative account on breastfeeding during pregnancy. I am delighted to have been asked to comment specifically on the risks of miscarriage for a breastfeeding woman. Hilary Flower has provided a detailed explanation that is easily accessible to the lay person, as to why the normal pregnant uterus only responds weakly to the action of oxytocin hormone until the very end of pregnancy. Undoubtedly, this is one of nature's own safety checks to prevent miscarriage and preterm labour in women continuing to breastfeed regularly during their next pregnancy. I feel sure that this book will provide women with confidence and reassurance to believe that 'breast is best' for their baby."



Lesley Regan, PhD, MD

Head of the Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic at St. Mary's Hospital in London, the largest miscarriage referral unit in Europe, and author of Miscarriage: What every woman should know







http://kellymom.com/nursingtwo/articles/bfpregnancy_safety.html#uterus

The well-protected uterus



The specter of breastfeeding-induced preterm labor appears to spring in large part from an incomplete understanding of the interactions between nipple stimulation, oxytocin, and pregnancy.



The first little-known fact is that during pregnancy less oxytocin is released in response to nipple stimulation than when a woman is not pregnant.5



But the key to understanding breastfeeding during pregnancy is the uterus itself. Contrary to popular belief, the uterus is not at the beck and call of oxytocin during the 38 weeks of the “preterm” period. Even a high dose of synthetic oxytocin (Pitocin) is unlikely to trigger labor until a woman is at term.6



Instead, the uterus must actively prepare in order for labor to commence. You could say that there are two separate states of being for the uterus: the quiescent baby-holder and the active baby-birther. These states make all the difference to how the uterus responds to oxytocin, and so, one can surmise, to breastfeeding. While the baby is growing, the uterus is geared to have a muffled response to oxytocin; at term, the body’s preparations for labor transform the uterus in ways that make it respond intensely to oxytocin.



Many discussions of breastfeeding during pregnancy mention “oxytocin receptor sites,” the uterine cells that detect the presence of oxytocin and cause a contraction. These cells are sparse up until 38 weeks, increasing gradually after that time, and increasing 300-fold after labor has begun.6,7 The relative scarcity of oxytocin receptor sites is one of the main lines of defense for keeping the uterus quiescent throughout the entire preterm period—but it is not the only one.



A closer look at the molecular biology of the pregnant uterus reveals yet more lines of defense. In order for oxytocin receptor sites to respond strongly to oxytocin they need the help of special agents called “gap junction proteins”. The absence of these proteins renders the uterus “down-regulated,” relatively insensitive to oxytocin even when the oxytocin receptor site density is high. And natural oxytocin-blockers, most notably progesterone, stand between oxytocin and its receptor site throughout pregnancy. 8,9,10



With the oxytocin receptor sites (1) sparse, (2) down-regulated, and (3) blocked by progesterone and other anti-oxytocin agents, oxytocin alone cannot trigger labor. The uterus is in baby-holding mode, well protected from untimely labor.4
pru
2008-06-20 08:36:42 UTC
we weaned to a bottle, people say don't, then you'll have to wean from the bottle, but at 11 months old, she may be pretty picky, i'd try both and go with whatever works. You need to take care of yourself at this point. We weaned from the bottle to a sippy at 18 months with no trouble at all... good luck
lisa_nicole
2008-06-20 08:18:12 UTC
Regular milk is fine for her now. Give her that in a sippy cup. Buy a variety of kinds. (the straw ones are great and my 5.5 month old takes a straw pretty easy!) Praise her A LOT for taking it. Give it with other foods that she LOVES. She only needs about 16 ounces per day (2 cups). Good luck to you!
Jen
2008-06-20 08:18:26 UTC
Your daughter should be eating most solids already shouldn't she? Maybe start feeding her runny baby cereals with a spoon to get her used to it, it would be easier then getting her onto bottles and then right away having to teach her to be spoon fed. If she wants the sucking sensation give her a soother, hope this helps
Ava
2008-06-20 08:17:37 UTC
once the baby is 12 months she should be weened off the bottle/breast and on regular milk. talk to your dr about this.
~Lacey~
2008-06-20 08:18:26 UTC
Call her pediatrician.


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