Weaning a toddler, how do I give up that last feed?

[YankNCock]

DS is nearly 21 months and we seem to be reliably back at 1 feed a day in the morning for the last week or so. (He was feeding/snacking up to 9 times a day).

So now what? He is definitely not the type to self wean, and I've got a few reasons I'd like to stop soon, mainly about medications I need to take but have been avoiding, and also I think breastfeeding has been having a bad effect on my energy levels and general mood. Definitely noticed an improvement in cutting down to 1 a day.

What's it like dropping that last feed with a toddler? Will I get ridiculously engorged? Get mastitis? How long will it be before milk production shuts down?

DS has adapted to one feed a day much better than I thought he would so I'd like to drop that final one in the next few months. Any advice appreciated.

Will be watching this thread as am trying to drop final feed for my DD 6 months. Somehow I did this a few years ago for DS now 4 years but just cant remember how...

Bumping hopefully....

Have been advised to reduce length of last feed, so yesterday was 40 minutes (with a few minutes here and there while he fiddled around) and today was 20 minutes. Going to try to keep it under 20 for a few days and then gradually reduce time I think.

I just stopped, and we were both fine.

That doesn't help much, does it....??!

The way it happened with DS, who was 2 and a bit at the time, was that I spaced the feeds out, there would be days when I didn't feed him, days when I would and so it trailed off in an easy and natural manner, no trauma for him, no engorgment for me. It was easier for me as I had a job with an erratic schedule so had a good excuse to miss some of the feeds iyswim, perhaps if i was at home with him all the time, it would have been harder.

DD (2.4) is now down to 2 feeds a day, but we've tried putting her to bed without one few days ago and she was fine with it. I also have been offering her a glass of milk before feeds, so she's not that hungry and feeds for a short time.

winny, that's sort of my problem, I'm home with him all day. The morning feed is the only one we're doing, and he wakes up demanding it. I might try sending DH in there with a cup of milk first and see how that goes! He'll probably get it thrown back in his face.

I would give him a few days warning, remind him every day, then just stop. I did this with both my children, both times I thought they would be utterly traumatised, and both times they whined a little for a couple of days and then forgot about it.

Good luck - it won't be as bad as you think!

Oh, we got rid of the first feed of the day by DP picking her up from her cot and taking her down for breakfast- he would ask her "DD, would you like porridge or banana or whatever" and she was very happy to do that-even if the first thing she would say would be 'mamaaaa, maaamaaaa', the prospect of a bowl of porridge with a sprinkling of brown sugar on top was more exciting than mum's boob. Again, it was done slowly, over few weeks, some days she would bf, some not, and over time it became more and more rare.