In your opinion what age is a good time to start weaning baby from BF?

[Firsttimemummy19]

And how long does it normally take?

Whenever it’s right for you! I started cutting down with DS1 once he was on 3 meals, and by the time I went back to work he was only fed morning and night, and then stopped completely at a year.
DS2 had allergies, and never got the same comfort from it as DS1, he always seemed to be fighting me, so started him on formula and think within 2 weeks I had fully switched.
DS3, I’m not sure when I’ll stop, but he’s still tiny!
I’m sure it could be done sooner, I just wanted to go slowly so I could avoid any problems for myself. Good luck!

I didn’t want to deal with formula so I weaned mine at 15/16 months. They were happy with food and cows milk from a cup and had gone through the very difficult mental leap at around 14 months. It was pretty easy for me both times.

WHO recommends at least until the age of 2 so I planned on DC1 to go as long as he wanted. However he weaned himself off around 13 months when I was pregnant with DC2. DC2 I plan to let him wean himself off also.

Towards the end, DC1 was only feeding before/after naps and bedtime, so about 4 times a day (morning, before nap, after nap, bedtime).

I also decided to let dd self wean and she carried on until she was 3, then just stopped. It was morning and night only from 18 months

When it suits you! DC1 only managed 6 weeks ebf and 5 months of mixed feeding before we stopped. DC2 kept going til she was 3.5!

Whenever the baby naturally weans. For me, this meant 4.5 years with DS, though many naturally wean earlier. I didn't want to give him formula or animal milk, and wanted him to keep having all of those nutrients and immunoglobulins, so I was very happy to follow his lead.

I did the same as Methyl although my DS was 4.2. By that time it was down to 3 or 4 feeds a week; he'd sometimes ask in the mornings.

Whenever works for you and the baby - I think it's easier if you are able to get past a year as they will (hopefully!) be eating a reasonable amount and they are old enough that you won't have to use formula.

DS1 abruptly dropped night feeds and began sleeping through at 15 months (cannot tell you how relieved I was!) then gradually reduced day feeds until we fully stopped at 18m.
DS2 is only 5m now so who knows!

I dropped feeds in preparation for going back to work. So at 7 months I introduced a formula bottle and by 9 months I was back at work and had stopped BFing completely. It coincided with her growing her teeth so that was fine by me.

DC1 - just over a year, when I decided I wanted to start TTC again and I didn’t like the thought of being pregnant and breastfeeding at the same time.
DC2 - weaned herself off around 11 months
DC3 - I moved him onto formula at 8 months in a desperate attempt to improve his sleep (it didn’t)

All three times it was a lot easier than I expected.

DS is 2.5 no sign of stopping yet.

He has finally started drinking other milk so hoping this is the beginning of the end now

Whenever feels right for you both!

I don’t want dd to have cows milk, so we’re still going. I ask her if milk comes out because I don’t get engorged at all anymore, and she tells me it does! She’s 2.4 now. We can go a couple of days without a feed and she’s quite happy. It’s still really handy if she’s mid-meltdown or poorly.

I need to start medication for psoriatic arthritis in the coming months, so there is an end date in sight.

Depends whether you're sick of it and desperate to stop I guess!

I night weaned two of mine (one at 9 months and the other at 12 months - worked with one, made sleep worse with the one night weaned later) in the quest for sleep and stopped breastfeeding at around 12-14 months. That way there's no need to buy formula or bottles.

It's so easy and convenient to breast feed by 6 months that it seems counterintuitive to stop and replace with daffy, expensive formula. However I was heartily sick of it by a year and not that happy breastfeeding wriggly toddlers. So around a year made sense to me.

It can be done over the space of two weeks if you're feeding lots and want to stop all at once (I did this with my youngest who still wanted to feed hourly, day and night, at 14 months and preferred breast milk to all other sources of nutrition so barely ate) or you can cut back gradually til your just doing morning and night and those fade away by themselves/ the baby stops looking for them if they're older and eating well and drinking cow's milk etc.

*faffy not daffy

I wanted to get to the year so I could skip formula altogether and go straight to cows' milk but she was down to only a couple of feeds by then anyway. Dropped the bedtime feed, which was the last one at 14/15 months. I was going to keep going till 2 but kind of wanted my baby back and DD took to it much better than I expected.

DS was 12 months for daytime, 15 months for night feeds. I had had enough by then.

I find the whole idea unnecessary, unless there's some medical or particular reason you want/need to? They stop when they're ready.

AnxietyDream BF suppressed my cycle so I had to stop BF to TTC. I'd already night weaned and stopped pumping at work but still no action. I got pregnant one month after weaning. So yes there are reasons to stop before baby decides depending on you priorities.

Both of mine stopped at around 2 and a half. I forced DS1 to stop because he breastfed alot and was still not eating much food. DS2 self weaned which was a much happier and less stressful experience. If you can, and want to, I would recommend letting the child self wean.

I weaned my oldest at 13/14 months because she had so many allergies and I was fed up of my diet being that limited.

Still feeding my youngest, planned on carrying on until at least 2 but starting to get fed up because he is always on the boob (he's 14 months so I expected him to be down to just a few feeds a day now but he comfort suckles on and off all day long) but I know I'll miss it when I stop so I won't just yet. Wish I could get him to stop comfort suckling so much though!

Completely depends when you want to...I did 16 weeks with my 3, I'd absolutely had enough by that stage, but they'd always had a bottle from 5 or so weeks, so were used to bottles.
If they aren't used to a bottle and they're too little for a cup that can be very difficult to swap over.
I also just stopped being rather than cut it down and then expressed off if I became uncomfortable. I'd had mastitis several times before and it seemed to be the breastfeeding rather than the quickly stopping that was the trigger for mine.

@Natsku completely empathise, going through exactly the same. Sometimes he'll worm his way on to it without me even realising

I stopped feeding bm at 2.5 with the first and nearly 4 with the second. We all really enjoyed the closeness of feeding in the toddler years. I think it gave the kids comfort and a feeling of security at bedtime.

@MkandMe I've half a mind to reintroduce the dummy to give my body a break but I expect he'll reject it now

I needed to for my own mental health. I needed my space and not my baby pulling at my top and biting my nipples multiple times a day 🙄