If you breastfed past 6 months, when and why did you finally stop?

[putthekettleon]

Just wondering really as this is all new to me... I stopped BF DD1 at 5 months for various reasons, mainly she preferred the bottle and I had enough of expressing!

DD2 has been a dream to breastfeed, completely refuses a bottle and we're still going strong at 7 months. I definitely want to carry on til 12 months at least but after that I've no idea how or if I would stop. She loves BF, it's the only way to get her to sleep or calm her if she's hurt/tired/teething etc. I love it too but at the same time I look at DD1 (2.9) and think I just can't imagine still BF a child who can walk and talk (and can bite!)

When did you stop? Did your child decide for themselves or did you just have enough?

Still going at 2.3 years (and 36 weeks pregnant) I never set out to go this far, 6 months was my original goal but I saw no reason to stop when it was going so well and also I became more aware of the benefits of continued BF.

Now I intend to let DD self-wean and if someone had told me that when she was a newborn I would have thought they were bonkers. To me though, she is still my baby and there is no real difference between feeding a newborn and feeding a toddler other than it's not as often.

I love that it's an easy way to calm her down, get her to sleep or cheer her up if she's fallen over etc. It's a great weapon in the arsenal of the lazy parent

And she's only ever bitten a couple of times when she's been bunged up from having a cold. They quickly learn not to bite the boob that feeds!

Anyway, I suppose what I'm trying to say is that you carry on as long as it's working well for you and your DD.

DS is 13 months old and we're still going strong! He has been very poorly of late (hospita admission in a foreign county) and wouldn't eat anything. I was SOOOOO glad that I was still feeding him. It calmed him down, helped him sleep, nourished him and kept him hydrated. I most definitely am going to let him self-wean.

Still going at 51 weeks and aiming to stop by about june time (dd will be 16 months). Stopping because I would like a lie in and a night out (dd wont take EBM from a cup) and because I want another baby and don't want to be breastfeeding whilst pregnant. I never thought I would come this far and I am proud to have given dd such a great start in life! Not sure about the how...will work it out!

9 months and haven't stopped yet. Not sure when or why I'm going to, but the more often people ask, the longer I'm likely to continue

14 months with SD, wanted to stop at 12 months but she was ill.
14 months with ds, wanted to treat them the same.

When DD3 said "Mummy, I need some more booby juice!" in a very loud clear voice in the middle of Sainburys!! Was a bit but saw the funny side! She was 14months and we carried on a bit longer as I was really loathed to give up.

DD1 gave up at 11months (her choice), DD2 at 14 months, and DD4 at 10months. Whatever is right for you and the babe.

DS - 15 months, he was down to mainly one bedtime feed, and I wanted to be able to get someone else to put him to bed occasionally. Gradually made feeds shorter over a couple of weeks before stopping.

DD - 13 months, she went on nursing strike - suddenly starting biting and refusing to feed for several days, and as she was already happily taking milk from a cup and I didn't plan to carry on any longer than for DS, I decided that there wasn't any point in pushing her to start feeding again.

BF dd until 22mo - in the end when I fell pg she went off the taste of my milk and my boobs were too tender so we sort of made a mutrual decision to call it a day, was lovely while it lasted. DS has just past the 6m stage, no idea when we'll stop, but about 2 seems about right to me.

My goal with dd was 6 weeks

Ds bit me at 8 months, so that was the end of that! Ouch!

Stopped at 14 months as DS just lost interest. I would have carried on with bedtime feed indefinitely otherwise.

We just stopped last night at 13 months (weep!) We were down to one feed a day and she really wasn't that interested and just kept breaking off to grin at me. That was all lovely but the grin was often quickly followed by a sharp bite and I am a coward decided it was best to stop.

Ds 13 months because he gradually self weaned and just stopped asking for it.

Dd 20 months (I think, maybe 19) because although I love the idea of self weaning Iwas feeling very constrained as she was waking several times in the evening in addition to at night and nothing could soothe her other than breast so I couldn't go out at all, not even between bedtime after feeding her and 10/11pm.

8 months with DS, and then about 18 months with DD.

After about 6 months they were obviously both eating solids and drinking other things too (water and some formula), but I kept going with 2 breastfeeds a day as long as I could.

Kept going a lot longer with DD for two reasons.

(1) We were in USA and it seemed to be there that if you WERE breastfeeding you kept breastfeeding until at least 12-15 months.

(2) I knew DD was going to be my last baby and didn't want to stop.

DTs at 19 mo (on Mother's Day....awww) as it just seemed right and they were losing interest. Was down to just morning feed by about 15 months. I was very sad at that last feed though.

DD3 currently only 10 weeks and I don't know how long we'll continue, certainly to at least a year and probably longer as it is so helpful for when they are ill, travelling, etc. We'll probably continue until 19 mo too as then everyone has been treated fairly!

13 months with both mine. first time i was pg again and boobs simply hurt too much. second time i was just sick of it. i really wanted to get to age 2 with both as i believ in it so much but just didnt have the strength and stamina to get there....

DS1 - until around 14 months. He lost interest so was pretty easy to finish bfing then (was just down to pre-bedtime feed).

DS2 - fast approaching 2 and still bfing him. I did think I'd give up when he turned 2 but cant see that being taken well. Will carry on for another couple of months then gently try to encourage him to bring bfing to a close. He's probably my last baby so tehre is a little bit of I dont want to stop in there too

I breastfed until 9 months with ds stopped only because he self weaned - was very sad :(

18mths, down to 2 feeds by about 14mths and then down to 1 about 16mths (dropped feeds as he wasn't particularly
interested). Felt 18mths was about right time for
both of us though was sad to stop and had a special 'last' feed and then a couple of short adhoc ones after that but once I stopped offering ds stopped wanting it and lost the ability to latch on within a couple of weeks and seemed absolutely fine with not having it so I think the timing was right for us.

DD- one week off 6 months, she really bit me and drew blood and I was mixed feeding at this point so called it quits on grounds of pain. I had gone back to work the previous month and was beating myself up with not being able to express etc. So figured it wasn't worth the upset it was causing.

DS-18 months- fizzled out when he lost interest in evening feed and no longer woke at night. Survived me going back to work part-time when he was 8.5 months though, he just worked around it and held out for boob!

I weaned DS1 at 20mo because I was pg and it hurt too much. I think he would have carried on indefinitely! He was only feeding twice a day, I distracted him for a few days til he forgot about it.

DS2 self-weaned at 14mo when teething badly, he bit and fussed at the breast and got really upset and I couldn't get him back on :(

When DS2 was 7 months, I felt exactly the same as you. Then he started cutting his first teeth and I couldn't/wouldn't put up with him biting me so we made it to 8!

wow, lots of replies, thanks! Good to see lots of people carrying on past 12 months, I know a few people who seem to be moving over to formula around 7-8 months and I've been asked a few times when I plan to stop (mainly from anti-BF MIL )

I guess I'll see how I feel at the time, I've also got the thing of it being my last baby so not wanting to stop. Can't imagine ever being able to deny her so I think I'll probably wait til she self weans (unless those 2 tiny teeth she has start growing and I change my mind...)

I let DS self wean by himself. He was around 4 years when he stopped...although it was so gradual at the end I can't really remember when he had his last feed. He had a full set of teeth for at least a year and a half by then and had been walking and talking for 3 years...didn't feel the least bit strange.

But I think it's normal when you first come across the idea of self weaning and BF'ing older children to find it a little strange. When I was pg with DS and saw some older children feeding at the LLL group I too thought it was a bit weird and remember saying so to my DH afterwards. But I'd never really thought about what happened with bf'ing after 6 months and the more I read and saw at LLL and the more I found out how normal (biologically speaking) 'extended' breastfeeding is the more I felt that was something I wanted for my DS...so I just carried on feeding him

DC1 18mths - stopped as I was pg and had had enough

DC2 12mths - stopped cos I felt dreadful, turned out the hosp had messed up my medication

DC3 currently at 8 mths, will see how I feel, hope to get to 12 mths