How to stop breastfeeding 16 month old?

[1t6y9o]

I would really like to stop breastfeeding my 16 month old but he loves it and isn't easy to distract away from it. We night weaned a few months ago so he's sleeping through the entire night. You'd think it'd be easy to give up since the night has been dealt with but no ... he will claw at my top for it various points throughout the day. He is very much comforted by it so even if plenty of water, snacks etc to hand he wants to breastfeed. If I sit down on my sofa he will be on top of me in seconds as he associates sitting there with bf.

Any idea how to stop? Obviously I don't want to be cruel and would love to ease him away from it gently but I genuinely do need/want to stop now. He will only become more and more addicted the older he gets too which strengthens my opinion that I want to act now.

Any ideas or suggestions much appreciated!!

[LouHotel]

Well done for breastfeeding for 16 months. Do you actually want to stop alltogether or would you be happy to continue doing a morning and evening feed?

I dont think you should worry about him becoming addicted as he gets older. Its actually the reverse as kids become more independent.

[LouHotel]

Also he can have cows milk now so you could try supplementing him the day with that instead of water.

[Lou573]

In the same position OP - with a boob loving 19 month old. Wouldn't have minded continuing if it was on my terms but she claws at me constantly. We initially cut it down to morning and evening only - during the day I just whisk her off and distract or offer a cup of cow's milk, and have recently cut out the bedtime feed which has gone surprisingly well. We made sure there was no feeding to sleep association by doing stories etc after breastfeeding and then just cut out that step completely. Next is to tackle the morning feed, but it's a lot easier to bring her into my bed for a feed and cuddles rather than get up at the crack of dawn to go downstairs for a cup of milk and distractions!

[TeaTeaTea]

I fed until 14 months at which point it was just the last feed before bed. If I wore v-neck top or shirt (i.e. easy access to boobs) then DS would try and reach in for them. But I wanted to stop as knew he was only feeding for comfort (I could offer comfort in other ways) and I was 2 months pregnant & sick every evening - worse timing!

Tackled it surprisingly easily by changing the bedtime routine. We used to do bath, PJ's and in his room for story and BF. Instead changed it to bath, PJ's and downstairs for milk in his cup and watched In The Night Garden cuddled up.
DS still had me there cuddling him, still had some warm milk, he took about 2 days to stop grabbing my boobs and take to the cup instead.

18months now and thankfully doesn't watch In The Night Garden - we're back to properly reading stories together in his room with warm milk, it's so much more enjoyable!
Good Luck! x

[Pickleshickles]

It's not as bad as you're expecting it to be, honestly. You've done the hard work by stopping night feeds!

Cut down to morning and night and distract in the day. You'll find it easiest by being out/up as much as possible. Then drop either the morning or night, probably morning as it's easier to get up and distract. Then change the last feed for something else like milk in a new cup. He may ask for it but within a few weeks you'll have it cracked.

You could go cold turkey, I had to at 18 months with one of mine as the boob thrush I'd had for months wouldn't clear. It took 3 days for her to stop asking.

[redexpat]

I moved in with MIL for a week and left dh to deal with it.

[peppajay]

I bf both mine till 19 months and I remember feeding my son for the last time. At the end it was just a feed before bed and as I increased his intake of food and cows milk he sucked for less time each evening. I remember the beginning of the week I stopped he sucked for 5 mins then only about 1 minute on the Fri night and i put him down without a bf on the sat night. He self weaned and I think they do it in their own time. But if you need to stop then increase his cows milk intake and food during the day.