Desperately need some advice on breastfeeding my 14 month old DD.

[missrose]

We've gone from a really wonderful breastfeeding experience to something where I feel as if I can't cope with the physical and emotional demands anymore.

When I'm with her she wants to feed every half hour or so during the day. Nights are just a disaster. She's gone from waking twice (which was hard but doable) to waking every couple of hours. Last night it was literally every hour until I handed her over to DH at 3am and she slept until 7 . We are cosleeping.

What I'd like to know is if this is normal. I know every baby is different but why has she started to feed so much recently? She also wants to feed to sleep again which massively worries me as I'm back at work and often have to work late.

I'm feeling as if I may have to stop breastfeeding even though I really wanted to get to 18 months. I just don't know how long I can continue with this as I'm now utterly exhausted and feel like crying all the time.

I always try to get her to eat something during the day before I feed her but I'm baby-led in my approach to parenting so do give her milk when she wants it. Should I be denying it and being more firm? I just feel like I'm making a lot of mistakes and don't really know what to next

You are doing brilliantly to get this far so please don't feel you are making mistakes.

At 14 months she really should be on 3 small meals & 2 snacks a day with milk as top up. I would say she is having a growth spurt & is hungry therefore demanding more milk as it's easy to fill up on & comforting!

I think you would be wise to feed her AFTER her food as a top -up so she isn't taking the edge off her appetite with the milk feed but then getting hungry quicker as it doesn't sustain them when they're older.

My DD2 went through a stage liike this at about the same age & my HV recommended giving her a late supper/snack of a banana or one weetabix so she had some "stodge" inside her & then a feed about 10-ish to top up. It seemed to work as the carbohydrate sustains them longer.

HTH good luck & remember if you do decide to give up don't worry you've still had a wonderful experience & given her a great start.

My 11 month old sleeps much better if dh puts her down in her own room after I've fed her. I hate co sleeping now because she wants feeding for what feels like all night. I know she can sleep through. So it is working better for us for me to feed then dh put her down.
I don't have the same frequent feeding in the day however. Could she be distracted with a book or toy where she has your attention to lengthen the time out between feeds? Sorry it sounds like you're having a miserable time at the moment

Could she be teething and want milk for comfort? My DS is 14 months old and knows the sign for 'milk' - he's teething at the moment and is asking for milk CONSTANTLY. I don't feed him at night any more but he is constantly dragging a cushion into my lap and laying on it/doing the 'milk' sign when we're at home, and I'm pretty sure it's beacuse he's unconfortable and wants a snuggle & a warm drink.

No advice though, wish I knew how to cut back myself as I'm getting 'touched out' by it, plus I've got 4yo DS1 to look after so can't spend large chunks of the day feeding DS2.

Hi, thanks for your comments - all really useful. I think I was having a particularly bad day yesterday but don't feel quite hopeless.

I've made sure we've been busy all day and had tea at a friend's so she actually ate a decent amount for a change. She's also sporting a new, wonky little tooth so there we go.

She's still very clingy but that's ok, nothing a hug can't sort out! I've been meaning to night wean for months and haven't done it as I'm too scared but I'm going to have a think about it again once this bout of teething is over. I spoke to a couple of friends today and they seem to have had a similar experience with their children at this age.

Glad to hear it's been a better day today! We found night weaning to be a lot easier than we thought it would be - I just cuddled him/offered water/stroked his hand when he woke and he seemed happy enough just to have someone there, I think the milk really was just a habit. He still wakes 1-2 times a night but usually cos he's lost his dummy/escaped from his covers/wants a cuddle. It's not ideal but at least it only takes a monet to settle him rather than sitting in the dark wishing I was back in bed!

Good luck whenever you decide to do it, hope it's quick and relatively painfree :)

Monet? Moment! Sorry