giving up the last breastfeed

[littleweed]

We're struggling! my 8m old will now take a bottle from anyone at any other time of day but not bedtime - oh boy does he like boobs! we've tried dh doing it - he'll drink so much then scream for me. i've tried giving him boobs first then the bottle, and vice versa, but he only seems happy if he getsboobs last of all. any ideas of any way round this appreciated - I'd like to get my boobs back before they disappear comlpetely!!1

[strangerthanfiction]

Well, I'd be tempted to say why not just carry on for a little while longer? It's obviously something he loves. But if you absolutely don't want to then you'll just have to go cold turkey, tell him the milk's 'all gone' and in a few days / a week he'll forget all about it. I gave up dd's last feed at around 16 months and she'd point at my chest and say 'all gone' a few times a day but within a week forgot she ever got any milk there.

[muddaofsuburbia]

LW - I agree with STF. If you really feel that enough is enough, then you just have to be tough and deny the boob once and for all. The screaming will stop - honest! Either don't be in the room at all when he's being fed or if you are there, take your ds on your knee for a cuddle and a story instead and change the routine he's used to. After a few nights he'll expect a snuggle rather than a feed and he'll forget altogether.

I fed ds till he was 17 mths (one feed from 14 mths) and we gave up when he wasn't interested anymore, so that was really easy.

It will be harder because your ds doesn't want to give up yet, but I would think there'll only be a few days of anguish before everything's back to normal. All the best and don't panic about being tough - he honestly won't remember

[poppyseed]

If he enjoys it so much and he's had them for 8 months it may be difficult to give them up at that time of night when all he wants to have is a cuddle and home brew. I agree with MOS and STF if you really want to stop then go for it and he'll soon get the idea, but I also think that it may be quite nice for you both to continue a bit longer. Our DD fed until 16 months at which point I just swapped my boob for a book! DS continues to feed but in the morning only - not interested at all in them at night as he's eaten me out of house and home and is stuffed from tea! Contemplating stopping so that I can take antihistamines as well but there's something special about it and I can't bring myself to stop just yet!!.....

[susanmt]

Littleweed, I'm sorry to tell you but its doubtful if giving up now will make any difference to the final shape of your boobs. Most of the 'damage' is actually done during pregnancy, rather than bf. So if you want to continue for other reasons you may as well. After 3 babies my boobs are totally shot lol!

[skerriesmum]

I gave that last feed for a couple months, finished in early March. I miss it sometimes. My boobs are a bit saggy still, but apparently the fat gets redistributed after awhile. What we did to get him out of bedtime boob was have dh do the bedtime routine... your partner might have to take over and give him a bottle. It might take a few days but soon enough he will forget! Good luck!

[littleweed]

thanks for all teh advice. think we'll carry on giving him the bottle first, then finishing off with boobs in the hope that one day he'll just drain all the bottle and not want anything else.
BTW I didn't ahve any boobs before i got pregnant so am not expecting anything JOrdan like, just fancy not having to whip my bra off anymore!