Stopping BF after a year

[kimberlina]

I'm back to work in 6 weeks and want to stop BFing totally at about that time. DD will be 11 and a bit months so I know technically slightly too early for cows milk but she eats well and a good balanced diet so I'm thinking it'll be ok.

Currently she breastfeeds twice a day - morning and evening. She's never been much of a milk monster and I'm fairly sure that the morning feed she can take it or leave it. I was planning on keeping going another 2-4weeks (as it means I get a few more minutes in bed) but after that stopping the morning feed. I don't think she'll miss it as she only feeds a short while now and never asks for it.

The bedtime feed might be a bit harder. She doesn't feed to sleep but it does seem to get her into the zone. I want to stop with minimal discomfort to me (is it possible to avoid engorgement?) and minimal upset to her.

My main question is should I just go cold turkey and not offer or do you gradually limit the time on the breast to give both me and DD time to adjust to less milk? If so over what period of time to totally stop?

Thanks

Does she ever get bottles of expressed milk? What I did was to start cutting the breastmilk with cow's milk between 11 and 12 months to get her used to cow's milk, because I wanted to stop expressing during the day - I was working before 12 months. We kept the after work, bedtime and night time feed, though, and dropped them over the next few months. We weaned completely at 15 months.

I wouldn't go completely cold turkey, if you've gone this long it's probably easier on both of you to be a bit gradual. But it certainly shouldn't take three months, that was just because I didn't care about stopping particularly at 12 months.

Yes she does have bottles of expressed milk infrequently (if I'm out at bedtime for example). But she will drink some cows milk out of a doidy cup so I'm not too worried about her refusing cows milk. It's more about how to phase out the breastfeed. Probably more from a selfish point of me not wanting to get really uncomfy or leaky.

Would you recommend just reducing the time she feeds in the evening over a few weeks until we end up not feeding at all? Or do one side one night and the other side the next for a bit (or will this just make me lopsided??!?)

The HV didn't really have any answers for me

I found that dropping a feed at a time was fine by that age. Boobs didn't get uncomfortable. And if they do, you can always hand express a bit in the shower and it'll go in a few days. Drop the morning one first since you said you could take it or leave it, then drop the evening one. I think reducing the time will just confuse you both, really.

If she already takes bottles that'll help. We had DH do the evening/bedtime routine for a week or so, because she was used to taking bottles from him, and then I went back to it and she never asked again.

Good luck!