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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you remember your last breast feed with dc or even knew it was

93 replies

Rosebyanothername19 · 31/07/2021 19:43

Firstly, how you feed your child is your business and I have absolutely no judgment any which way. This is a question for those who chose to bf and to some extent chose when to stop.

My LO is 2 1/2 and I love having her fall asleep on me and every now and again coming out with the most random things in her half asleep state. It's a special little time we have at the end of every day and one of the things I miss most when she is staying with her GPs

So I was just wondering if people made that conscious decision to stop or did your LO just decide one day to stop? Did you know that their last feed was going to be their last?

If you made thr decision, how did you know it was the right time and do you remember the last one?

OP posts:
CastleCrasher · 31/07/2021 19:47

Both mine stopped themselves around 18 months. I didn't know the last few would be the last, and I don't remember the last few for either. Lots of lovely memories of feeding, just not specifically that one.

meow1989 · 31/07/2021 19:49

I had recurrent mastitis that landed me on IV antibiotics by day 10 so stopped soon after, though expressed a bottle a day until 8 weeks. My last feed was when ds was about 14 days old and dh and inwere watching hannible (the film) 😅

firstimemamma · 31/07/2021 19:50

Yeah I did know it would be the last time! Picked a date and stuck to it! Ds was 16 and a half months and we'd been cutting down extremely gradually ever since he turned 1. I won't go into the reasons but it was just the right time. I loved breastfeeding so was incredibly emotional! I just tried to soak up every single second of that final feed and dh took a photo of us which I'd recommend as that's such a special photo to me now. After it was done and ds was in his cot I treated myself to some chocolate. I was very emotional but after a week or so I felt better. Pregnant now - only 7 weeks - but already dreaming about breastfeeding again! Not feeling so thrilled about the prospect of cluster feeding though

Good luck whatever you do Smile

Juanbablo · 31/07/2021 19:50

I don't remember the last feed. I wish I had taken more pictures though. My youngest stopped by himself at about 15 months and I was really ready for it. I do remember him feeding less and less but I wish I remembered and cherished the last feed.

WhiskeyNeverStartsToTasteNice · 31/07/2021 19:50

Yes, I stopped at 7.5 months for various practical reasons. It was a conscious decision and I was very aware the last feed was the last. I do remember feeling slightly emotional.

TheGriffle · 31/07/2021 19:50

I made a conscious decision to stop so know when dd2’s last feed was (I’ve written it down so I remember!) I can’t really remember with dd1 and wanted to make sure I remembered after 3.5years of feeding.

MotionActivatedDog · 31/07/2021 19:51

I stopped BFing DS when he was 22 months old. I had depression & was feeling really trapped by it even though it was only a morning and evening feed by that point. I put off stopping for ages as I thought it should be up to DS to stop but I couldn’t take it anymore and woke up one morning and decided just to take him straight down for breakfast without offering a breastfeed. He never looked for it. Not that morning, not ever again. I was dumbfounded tbh. I thought it would be a real battle and I’d have to pull him off me all the time. Nope. He didn’t ask for it a single time. Made it so much easier for me.

elizabethdraper · 31/07/2021 19:52

Yes, I remember it clearly. Just before their 2nd birthday.
I felt we were both done so I went away for 2 nights.
When I came back, he tried to feed, I said all gone and that was it he never looked for it again Sad

I remember that last morning feed so clearly

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime · 31/07/2021 19:53

DDs last feed was the night before she turned three. She was barely feeding at all by that stage anyway. She finished her feed, pulled my top down, patted my boob and said "Byebye boobie, I'm a big girl in the morning" and that was it. She wasn't pressured to feed or to stop so it was quite interesting. She also did the same when she potty trained at 2.5years, "I'm not wearing nappies anymore I'm a big girl!" and that was it, she only had one or two accidents after that. To be fair, she has always been incredibly easy going and barely needs parenting, I've been very lucky.. Although she starts high school in September so she could become a Kevin.

MuchTooTired · 31/07/2021 19:55

I don’t remember the last attempt at bf, but do remember when I gave up my attempts at expressing. Felt awful for quite some time that I’d failed them, but I didn’t produce enough milk in 24hrs worth of expressing for one feed each as they grew. They were 6 weeks when I stopped.

LordFoofingtonismyMaster · 31/07/2021 19:57

With dd1 I actually don't fully remember as I was on my fourth bout of mastitis in three months and so fed until it unblocked and then fully moved to bottles. With dd2 we fed for 3.5 years which was I had never contemplated. I do actually remember the last feed as like others she was winding down and I actually started to feel really awful while she was feeding to sleep that night and came down with a bug later that night. I was floored for two days and she knew not to come near me and that was that, she never asked again.

Puddlelane123 · 31/07/2021 19:57

I made the conscious decision to stop and therefore knew it was the last feed. There are pros and cons to this approach. In some ways I liked knowing it was the last feed, as I was able to be totally ‘present’ for it (no scrolling on the phone whilst feeding!) and took it all in for the last time. I was playing nice music and my dc fed to sleep. I found it very emotional and I found myself in tears by the end of it, even though I knew it was the right time to stop for both of us. If dc had been left to their own devices they would probably still be latched now, and I did feel guilty forcing the issue. It would have been easier in lots of ways if dc had self weaned and I hadn’t realised when the last feed would be as I found it really emotional and a difficult decision to make as to when would be the final feed (and sticking to it).

DramaAlpaca · 31/07/2021 19:58

I remember my very last feed with my youngest child. I was very emotional afterwards, because it was sooner than I wanted to stop.

Topofthepopicles · 31/07/2021 19:58

Yes I did, and I took a video of it. Which is probably very odd Blush but I wanted to note the moment and the end of a chapter.

MerylSqueak · 31/07/2021 20:02

My DD stopped by herself over a period of five days at 19 months. She went from frequent feeds to none. I didn't know that the last was the last and I don't remember it. It was a big surprise as she was Very keen. I do remember she tried a couple of weeks later as she saw a wee friend feeding and I decided on the spur of the moment to distract her with a toy as I wasn't conceiving and was worried bf was playing a part. I was pregnant the next month.

Second time, I stopped Ds deliberately as he was a jealous sod and using it to stop DD coming near me. He was two and a half. I went away for a week. I don't remember the last feed that time either.

I do remember bf as a really happy thing is and have lots of nice memories of it. I'm really glad I did it I've forgotten its frustrations. Mostly.

It's an emotional time, but it passes.

TwoLeftElbows · 31/07/2021 20:05

Yes with my youngest. We started giving him a big drink of cows' milk about half an hour before bed, and then at bedtime he had the choice between BF with me or story with dad and big sister. It took him a few nights of progressively shorter feeds before he went straight for the story. I don't have any memories of last feed with my older one.

stargirl1701 · 31/07/2021 20:08

DD2 stopped at 5 and half years. I don't remember the last time exactly. DH took photos on her birthdays so I do have a 5 year old photo. She chose when to stop. I'm left with no regrets.

GremlinDolphin4 · 31/07/2021 20:17

I remember dd2’s last feed as she was just over a year and had got teeth and we just naturally stopped so her last feed was on holiday in Greece! I was very emotional as I knew I wouldn’t have another baby and that was that. I loved feeding her and she was such a lovely cuddly little baby.

Dd1 I had to stop feeding very quickly at 4months as i discovered I had a brain tumour which had to be operated on immediately. Stopping breast feeding was for me the most traumatic bit of the whole situation as there was no one to help me go from full throttle to nothing so quickly! In hindsight I also feel I could have carried on if some one had helped me as I recovered very quickly and was not in medication afterwards but it was all unknown territory.

(Had I not got pregnant with dd1 I might never have had symptoms from the tumour and it would have got more invasive and destructive without me realising so she actually saved my life)

DaisyWaldron · 31/07/2021 20:18

My two self-weaned when they were at the start of primary school. It happened gradually, and I don't remember a last feed any more than I remember last crawling, or last babbles. The feeds just got shorter and shorter and further and further apart for months.

Teaandakitkat · 31/07/2021 20:20

I dont remember at all. I'm quite glad I don't, I would have found it quite sad I think. I loved feeding and I look wistfully at women doing it now.

Apeirogon · 31/07/2021 20:21

DC1 was 12m - my decision because we started TTC again and I didn't like the thought of breastfeeding while pregnant
DC2 was 11m - her decision
DC3 was 8m - my decision as I thought formula might help him sleep better (it didn't!)

Charley50 · 31/07/2021 20:23

Mine stopped at 11 months. I was ready, and he was ready too). He still used to hold my breast for comfort after that but pretty much stopped feeding. Actually maybe one night feed carried on for a bit longer - he's 18 now so it's hard to remember 😂. I do recall that he wouldn't take a bottle before then (hardly ever), but at 11 months he moved onto a cup with cow's milk in.

SmellyBumMum · 31/07/2021 20:25

When DD was 2 and I found out I was pregnant with DC2. Last feed was that evening. I wanted my boobs back for 9 months!

DappledThings · 31/07/2021 20:25

Both were 14 months. With DC1 I was pregnant again and I didn't want to tandem feed so it worked out.

With DC2 the pattern of reducing had worked so well with DC1 that I replicated it. Took about a year before I stopped feeling twinges of sadness about it.

I have no desire for a third, never did but almost considered it just so I could start the bf journey again. Used to get twinges of jealousy whenever I saw a little baby being breastfed, nothing else make me feel that way about the baby stage!

Defaultuser · 31/07/2021 20:26

I had to stop earlier than I wanted to (at 15 months) due to chemo. It was heartbreaking knowing it would be the last time. Thankfully he seemed to be at the take it or leave it stage anyway and never asked for it again.