Weaning baby off Breastfeeding and Starting Solids: Tips for picky eaters

Hello world,

Hope you all are doing well. Today's post is one I have been meaning to do for a while and I'm glad that I can finally post about it. My daughter - Zuri - who is 11 months old now, was totally weaned off breastfeeding/breastmilk at 9 months old. It wasn't cold turkey and it was harder on me than it was on her.  I have created a detailed youtube video on how I weaned her off of breastfeeding in THIS VIDEO. 

When I look back on things, I am in awe of how far we've come. The child who was once dependent on my breastmilk now LOVES to eat and enjoys feeding herself. I have shared with you all on my instagram stories all of her eating adventures, and the most question I get from you always revolves around how I transitioned from breastmilk to solids, and also about the highchair you see her using. I'll get into our weaning story in a little bit, but the highchair is from Inglesina and you can get the exact one by CLICKING HERE.

 I love that the highchair is easy to clean, doesn't take too much space in our home and was very easy to assemble. You can adjust the height of the chair and you can also take the tray out for easy cleaning.

CLICK HERE to watch Zuri eating on this highchair.

Now, lets get into our weaning story! I hope you're ready? 

After Zuri's birth, I prayed that I would have enough milk production to feed her exclusively for at least 3 months. I started with direct breastfeeding, went on to pumping milk so that she can be bottle fed by others, and I managed to continue to produce enough milk to not need formula supplementing. I was happy to do this and furthermore decided to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. Was it hard? Yes! I don't miss all those times I spent pumping milk and using a ton of nipple cream, but I am so happy I did it! I shared my breastfeeding journey in THIS POST on my youtube channel so check it out.

 As someone who breastfed exclusively for 6 months, I was a little concerned how well my daughter would do with eating solids. Will she be stuck on the milk-life or will she actually embrace eating regular food? 

I noticed at about 4 months old that my baby girl showed interest whenever she saw us eating. She would reach out for our food and salivate while watching us eat. Oh this was hilarious to watch but I waited till she was about 6 months before slowly introducing her to mashed/puree foods. She didn't like the traditional baby foods but was happy to eat mashed versions of whatever food we ate. I guess baby girl loved flavor and wasn't about that bland baby food life. LOL

Once I saw that she enjoyed eating our food, we started to prepare them for her but in very soft mash-able textures. Rice, beans, avocados, spaghetti and my big mummy even fed her amala (a Nigerian food swallow) accompanied with ewedu. Let me tell you something, baby girl LOVED it! That was literally the beginning of her eating solids and she's been in love with "regular food" ever since.

I was still giving her breastmilk (directly and through bottle feeding) through all of this but we continued to introduce her to solids slowly. 

Somewhere before she was 7 months old, I started to toy with the idea of weaning her off direct breastfeeding - so I began to limit our direct feedings to night time only. This meant I had to pump more so that my supply wouldn't decrease (because baby girl was not yet on formula). 

Around this same time, I started to look into formulas and after trying a few different formulas, she took very well to the Enfamil Neuro Pro. This was when I started to pump less, and only directly breastfeed her at night. Here was the real CHALLENGE. Trying to wean her off night time breastfeeding and in essence, breastmilk/breastfeeding in general. 

 Truthfully, I personally had more of a hard time with weaning her off breastfeeding than she did. I had gotten used to the bonding moments and I enjoyed watching her fall asleep after breastfeeding. That moment when she smiled in her sleep and sighed a sigh of great relief. I thought to myself: I can't possibly let this go EVER?! 
I even started to convince myself that she would never fall asleep on her own and my baby needed direct breastfeeding because that was my job here on earth. (oh, I am laughing as I type this because I was SO WRONG).
Yes she cried initially, but since I transitioned slowly by reducing the amount of times I directly breastfed, we only had the night time feedings to focus on and put a stop to. Since Zuri took well to bottle feeding, this played a huge role in weaning off night time direct breastfeeding.
I basically had to stand my ground whenever she would go towards my breast.
I realized that the more I personally came to terms with THIS being the end, the easier it was on her. It was like she fed off my energy and could sense my resistance in the beginning. Babies are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for, so let me tell you, THEY KNOW when you are just bluffing or not really going to do what you think you want to do. I'm convinced Zuri sensed that I myself wasn't ready to let go of our breastfeeding bonding initially. LOL... But once my resolve grew stronger, Zuri took the note and stopped yearning for the night time breast feedings at 9 months old. She would take a bottle and sleep. Her sleeping times got longer and everyone was happier. 

This brought an end to my breastfeeding journey and Zuri has been taking formula and eating real food ever since.

If you have any direct questions for me regarding this topic and anything else, please leave a comment and I'll be sure to reply.

Additionally, here are some points I want to mention regarding this topic

- Yes, I exclusively breastfed my baby till she was 6 months old. This means she took breastmilk ONLY till around that age. Nothing else, not even water.

- Initially we made her food different from ours (because we had to slowly ease into solids). We cooked with salt and oil only, but now she eats whatever we eat.

- You should slowly ease into solids because you want to be able to identify which food your baby doesn't take well to, especially with regards to food allergies.

- DO NOT feel pressured into weaning your baby off breastmilk/breastfeeding. Consider your lifestyle and make the decision that works best for you.

- Formula is NOT the devil.

- Do what feels right for you and your baby. A well fed and happy baby is the goal at the end of the day.

- Always discuss with a pediatrician.

- Allowing the baby to feed themselves (no matter how messy it gets) really encourages them to eat solids.

- Your baby may not take solids when you are ready. Don't be sad. They will eventually grow up and eat regular food.

- You might have better success with weaning if you do it slowly by cutting down the amount of times you directly breastfeed. 

- While you cut down direct breastfeeding, still make note to have bonding moments with your baby. Play time really helps. I wouldn't advice just "running away" from your baby. 

- Again, do not feel bad if your baby seems "needy" or "just won't let go". Yes the baby is attached to you and wouldn't want to let go at first, but remember, you are the mom and when you're ready, baby will catch up. 

- Your mental health matters, your freedom matters, you are not doing anything wrong by being tired of breastfeeding and wanting to wean your baby off. 

Don't forget to watch THIS VIDEO for more in depth details and tips for feeding babies solids. 

Thanks for visiting,

Till Later, God Bless.