Ending breastfeeding

[Jodieb]

My daughter is nearly 11 months old and i'd like to stop breastfeeding in the next month or so. I was hoping to do it very gradually and a couple of months back thought i was well on the way to this, switching her two main feeds of the day to a bottle. But although she's been fine with this and now gets only a little bit of milk from me (I don't have much left anyway), she's really attached to breastfeeding for comfort, specially at bedtime and early morning and becomes inconsolably distressed if i try to refuse her. I'm still hoping that she'll decide one day she's had enough but I'm beginning to doubt this and wonder if I will have to get tough. I feel this would be really hard for both of us so would love to hear any tips for a trauma free ending!

Well now that you ask Sml, I hoep to use them one day but I assumed these sorts of things have a use by date. Also have a couple of packs of unopened ovulation test sticks - now that is something I hope not to need again.

No, bells2, I didn't mean to give the impression that I thought you had given the impression you thought I was being aggressive....!! Gosh, what an outbreak of politeness : )

I don't think there is a general downside or upside to expressing early - it's all up to the mother and what she feels like doing. It's daft to say she must and daft to say she mustn't....HVs who say dogmatically one thing or the other need to be asked why they feel so strongly.

Well I did use the second of a two-pack pregnancy testing kit about 6 months after the 'use-by' date and it was still accurate, so you might want to hang on to yours Bells...(you never know what might happen)

Is it true that ending breastfeeding can give you temporary 'depression'. One thing I read said that the drop in prolactin can make a mum miserable, another said that the prolactin response is only active in the first few weeks, so therefore after 6 months of feeding there shouldn't be any prolactin anyway.
I'm just trying to work out if I'm miserable because I'm moving ds onto bottles or if it's the same 'low' that I've been in for the last 6 months dipping even lower.
Sorry if this makes little sense, brain not working well today!

dm2, I don't know about falling prolactin levels, but I certainly felt very sad when we ended breastfeeding just before Christmas, so I do sympathise.
After well over a year of just a quick bedtime drink, our son self-weaned at 2 and a half. I wouldn't say I was getting panicky, but he talks well for a child of his age and I knew it wouldn't be long before he was making embarassing remarks in public. No tears, no tantrums, and such a relief for me (big time diet at last and bras with wires in!), but I still felt surprisingly down about it.
I do hope you feel better now and the transition is going well.
And I'd like to say once again a huge thanks to Eulalia and others on mumsnet who posted about extended breastfeeding, it's been great to find such support and info.

When I gave up breastfeeding, all three times, I felt about a ton lighter, really happy and generally fantastic. So I guess the reaction is pretty individual.

It sometimes irks me when I hear people say that it is just a myth that breastfeeding makes you tired. With my third baby, the last six months, I didn't realise how drained of energy I had become, until I stopped the breastfeeding.

Sorry, dm2, that sounds like gloating, it wasn't meant to be! I hope you feel better soon.

DM2, I didn't breastfeed as such but I expressed vast quantities of milk for 3 months and when I stopped I didn't feel worse for it. However, I think I probably had mild PND after ds was born for about 6/7 months. I certainly had alot of the symptoms but I put most of it down to exhaustion - ds was a trully awful sleeper. Consequently, I never went to see anyone. Maybe if you are feeling generally sad, you may be a little depressed. Are you taking any vitamin supplements? It may be worth thinking about some iron and B vits. Many women's iron levels are borderline anaemic for quite a long time after having a baby and that can often contribute to feeling less than perky.
Don't get too "low" without doing anything. Have you got a decent GP? It really may be worth popping in and telling them how you are feeling.
Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for all your replies - I guess I'm clutching at straws, my health visitor has already expressed concern about my mental state, but I've been putting it down to lack of sleep, lack of time to eat, etc. and I guess giving up breastfeeding was this week's excuse to avoid facing how sad I feel.
Oh well, GP appointment tomorrow, roll out the prozac!

I am still breastfeeding my 6 year old , the 4 year old gave up last year but I can't get the 6 yr old to stop, what should I do, its not a problem for me but people have been making comments, I try not to do it in public but sometimes its the only thing to calm him down