Cow's Milk and Weaning

So my little one will be turning one (gasp!) on Saturday, and I'm hoping to wean her shortly after that. I know that breastmilk is excellent for her and all, but I've been struggling to keep weight on and she doesn't take a bottle (I got lazy when she was about 6 months old and didn't pump for a couple of weeks, and when I tried to give her one she'd forgotten how to take it), so I can only leave home in certain "windows." My husband and I are looking forward to going out on dates that don't have to start after her bedtime feeding. =)

So here's my question: for those of you who have done this before, how long did it take (days, weeks, months), and did you have to get our kiddies settled on cow's milk first? I know you're technically supposed to wait until they're 1 to even try cow's milk, but I cheated and tried it last week from her sippy and she was very uninterested! She did have a little though, and didn't seem to have problems with it (she doesn't have any other allergies, so I figured it would be fine). Any suggestions for introducing cow's milk or for weaning in general?

Pumping at night

Thanks to Richard Ferber, NJ is sleeping through the night. He was since 6 months but then went through a regression and now he's back. He'll usually sleep a 10 hr stretch, wake up for a mini breakfast (1/2 a boob's worth), then go back to sleep for another 2 hours. Then he'll wake up and have the other boob.

I've been pumping before I go to sleep at night, usually around 10/11. Is this advisable? I know that my boobs need to be "trained" that they don't need to produce as much milk at night and the pumping might be throwing things off. But I think they're transitioning anyway b/c when I first used to do it, I'd still be really engorged around 2/3am and even be woken by the discomfort. Now, when I nurse NJ at 5/6am, they don't even feel full.

Thoughts?

My baby has ADD while nursing

NJ is exclusively breastfed and he is having a harder and harder time nursing. He is way too distracted! He will latch off to any little noise he hears. And nursing while we're out and about? Forget it! He is the same way when I try to give him a bottle. All of my old tricks aren't working. the only time he will nurse a decent amount is right after he wakes up. That is the ideal time to nurse him but it doesn't always turn out that way. When he is sleepy, he will nurse anywhere from 10-15 minutes. When he's awake, I'm lucky if I can get 3 minutes out of him. I don't think he is nursing more efficiently while he is alert either. Anyone else? Any suggestions?

oh baby legs...

I posted this on my own blog but thought it'd be nice to share here. I got a pair of BabyLegs for my almost 8 months old and thought it'd be good to DIY using scrap from home. I had a pair of cotton dress socks and a pair of thick stockings that my 2 yo daughter never used. Didn't take long to snip away the ends and Hayden loves it!
(btw The BabyLegs we got was cute but it's very tight around Hayden's thighs and calfs. I ended up using the DIY more often).

toy recall

Fisher Price has recalled over 80 toys that hit stores AFTER MAY 1st, 2007. go to this website to see if you have any of these toys. they were recalled b/c of high lead content.

http://service.mattel.com/us/recall/39054_IVR.asp?prod

Milk Intake

Ok. Ladies....question for ya'll. At what point did you switch to nursing or giving formula only 3x/day. I'm still at 4x/day, but the last feeding is a struggle.....whether I nurse her or give her a bottle of expressed milk - same result. The other night, I gave her a bottle, and she refused it after 2 oz. At most, I got her to take in 2.5 oz. Then I pumped and only squeaked out 3.5 oz, so it tells me she's taking in less at night. Which to me, is interesting.......she eats kinda like we're supposed to eat: King for breakfast, prince for lunch and pauper for supper....I can sense that she staggers her intake like that.

So, I've started the phase towards 3 meals a day differently. I used to give her solids at 7, 11, and 3 - her first 3 nursings of the day. But the other day, I switched it to giving her solids at 7, 11, and 7, and only breastmilk at 3. And, she seems to nurse a little better at 7PM now.....she's calmer, a little hungrier and not crying like she used to. I guess being tired and forced to eat when you're not that hungry make for an unhappy baby. Couple that w/ teething and possible gas bubbles, I now have a baby that's crying hysterically. And that of course, makes me more tense, which in turn, makes her more upset....it's a vicious cycle.

Anywho, it seems like in the next month or so, something will have to give. I'd like to continue to line up her meals w/ ours....promote the family mealtime and whatnot, so I'm wondering how ya'll did that and if you transitioned to 3 nursing or formula sessions, etc. I try not to hyper-schedule, but sometimes it's hard not to....even though it stresses me out to be too scheduled. Vacation really taught me to go w/ the flow, and I'm more than happy to do so (w/ some basic structure in place), but I cannot keep up w/ nightly pre-bedtime meltdowns.

The solid schedule switch that I've done actually seems to work at night. The only downside is that she's woken up a little cranky in the morning and is eager to nurse - but I don't feel like she's draining me like she was previously. Hmmm. So, I wonder if it's like it is for us - ever notice when you eat a lot at night, you're more hungry in the morning? I have to wait first for her constipation issues to clear up, as that might be the issue right now. I've also added some yogury these past two weeks.....I thought that was supposed to help w/ digestion, so I don't know. Her belly is making her quite uncomfortable lately, so hopefully, once that clears up, I can see if her 7PM intake of solids is making her cranky in the AM or if it's really her bubbly belly that's bothering her.

Thanks for your input ladies:)