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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

When and why did you stop breastfeeding?

18 replies

Sleepy27 · 01/02/2012 21:03

Just curious and wanted to hear some different points of view.

How old was baby?
What made you stop?
Did you combination feed for long and did you consider this still bfing (e.g. if you were only giving 1 formula bottle a day)?

I'm on the fence about the future for us and it would be great to hear what others have done! :)

OP posts:

TruthSweet · 01/02/2012 21:09

DD1 was bottle fed to start with (first 8w) then ebf to 6m then bf with food to 3.6y when she self weaned.

DD2 was ebf to 23w then bf with food to, well, today (and for how ever long she goes on for). She is 4.2y

DD3 was ebf to 6m then bf with food, again until she decides she want to stop. She is 2.3y.

kirrinIsland · 01/02/2012 21:12

DD was ebf til 6 months and then mix fed til 9 months, when I went back to work. I aimed for 6 months ebf so was happy with how it worked out, and I was ready to stop tbh.

thisisyesterday · 01/02/2012 21:13

ds1 was breastfed until he was 4.5 months, then mixed fed to 6 months and then formula fed. I stopped because I couldn't pump anything without taking domperidone, but it was making DS1 sick and I had terribly mangled nipples.

ds2 was exclusively breastfed to around 6 months and then fed alongside food til he weaned at 16 months due to my milk supply dropping as I was pregnant with ds3

ds3 same as ds2, but is still feeding now at 2.5yrs

ThePetiteMummy · 01/02/2012 21:13

I bf dd until she was 14 months. We were down to just one feed before bed. I was advised to stop by my obstetrician, as wanting to start trying for dc2 (have PCOS, so wanted to give ourselves the best chance). I was dreading how I'd feel about stopping, but it was surprisingly easy. Dd didn't seem bothered, but has never taken to formula or cow's milk. Just made sure to give sufficient alternative dairy. For me, I felt it was a good time to stop, as dd wasn't too aware of what was going on. She's 22 months now, and I can imagine it would be a lot harder at this age. Whilst I loved breastfeeding, & was apprehensive about stopping, I also found if quite liberating when I did. About to start all over again when dc2 arrives in August!

By the way, I never particularly set out to bf for so long, but it just seemed natural for us. Before dd, I somehow imagined that they don't have much milk once they start weaning! When it became apparent that they still need mainly milk for a good while past that, I just kept going!

RitaMorgan · 01/02/2012 21:17

I stopped completely when ds was 13 months. He had a bottle of formula at night between 4-8 months and cups of cow's milk from about 10.5 months. By 13 months he was having 1 breastfeed and 3 cups of cow's milk a day, and one morning he refused the bf and that was that!

Tamdin · 01/02/2012 21:18

Sleepy ds is 13 months and I WANT to stop but don't quite know how to go about it! He's had the odd bottle of formula since around 9 months when he's been with my mum or mil so I could go to the gym or an appointment etc. I do still consider him bf though.
I guess the reasons I want to stop are purely selfish... He uses me as a dummy at night, pulls at my clothes if he's tired, I'd like to wear nice underwear again some time soon!
All that being said I find the comfort it gives him so satisfying and a very bonding experience. I'm slowly working up to weaning and want to do it with as little upset for him as possible

nannyl · 01/02/2012 21:18

DD is 4.5months and EBF, has never had anything else

when she is 6m (6 weeks today and i am counting down ) she will have 1 bottle (bedtime) of formula a day, from daddy, but will continue to BF any other feeds she wants / needs for as long as she wants to.

Until 3 weeks ago she had a bottle of expressed milk every night (from daddy) but her sleeping was not good and its much better when she drinks direct from my breast, hence me doing it for 6 more weeks

i was also getting +ly upset expressing as i just hated it, and expressed 3+ times a day for 3 months

NeverKnowinglyUnderstood · 01/02/2012 21:23

DS1 was 11 months 2 weeks and he just stopped. I didn't know about nursing strikes and I just took it to mean that it was time to stop. It broke my heart. He refused the breast for 48 hours so DH offered him a bottle of formula and he drank 8 ounces. I cried.
DS2 was just less than that and he stopped like DS1 but this time instead of faffing with formula I managed to convince DH that those couple of weeks ahead of the 12 months for cows milk wouldn't matter.

cruelladepoppins · 01/02/2012 21:30

DS1: I stopped at around 9 months because he kept biting me, really hard. Exclusively breastfed to c. 6 months, then mixed feeding. I had gone back to work when he was 15 weeks and had expressed like a demon.

DS2: I stopped at around 9 months because I was going back to work and frankly he wasn't bothered.

They both had been taking expressed milk from a cup since they were tiny as well.

mamalovesmojitos · 01/02/2012 21:41

Stopped at 13 months as I felt it was the right time. Partly tiredness, but mostly because I didn't have any experience of extending bf and thought it was appropriate to finish after the year mark.

Introduced solids around 5/6 months. Didn't use formula.

claireinmodena · 01/02/2012 21:45

8 months dd1 and 9 months dd2. They both self Weaned as started fussi g and getting distracted, feeds were taking aaaages. Tried a bottle abd they downed in 2 mins. It was a bit sad, but at least it was easy.

KD0706 · 01/02/2012 22:27

DD was breastfed till she was 18 months, she stopped of her own accord, I think because my milk supply dropped as I'm pregnant with DC2

She never had formula, just went straight on to cows milk.

I was really sad when she stopped as I'd wanted to make it to the recommended two years mark. Shes 21 months now and the other day she was so tired and just wouldn't nap and I really wished then that she was still bf as its such a wonderful tool for calming her.

Heebiejeebie · 01/02/2012 22:37

Exclusively bf until 24 weeks, food, formula and morning/ breast feeds until 51 weeks and he bit me so hard I bled and cried.

sleeplessinderbyshire · 01/02/2012 22:38

stopped bedtime feed at about 13 months when DD started shaking her head and asking for "ottle mummy" kept going with overnight and early morning feeds til 15 months when she got her first 4 teeth and bit me so regularly that my nipples were bleeding and kept asking for "ottle ottle mummy" so I figured she was self weaning. I still felt guiltwracked not to go on til 2yr but looking at how much milk she chugs down from a cup at bedtime I think I'm actually glad I stopped

Parietal · 01/02/2012 22:45

Dd1: ebf to 5.5 months then started weaning. Tried to give her bottles of expressed milk or formula but she wouldn't. Big problem cos I was going back to work. Ended up doing night feeds until 14 months. I'd have stopped sooner if I could

Dd2: ebf for 7 weeks, then started on one bottle formula per day. Increased the bottles as I went back to work and stopped bf altogether at 7 months. Much easier than dd1.

PeggyCarter · 01/02/2012 22:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

exbrummie · 02/02/2012 11:01

very similar story to never knowingly understood.ds stopped at about 11 and a half months and looking back it was probably a nursing strike but I didn't know about them either.
I was planning on feeding him for a year so it wasn't the end of the world for me although I presumed I would be the one to instigate it not him!

thefurryone · 02/02/2012 11:25

DS was ebf until 7 weeks, at which point he started having a bottle of formula at night. I did consider him BF at this point as he would still BF every couple of hours, although I would say he also had formula. He's recently gone to nursery now at 8 months so he has 3 bottles a day and up to 3 BF a day, I would say I'm now mixed feeding but I still consider myself a breast-feeder, because I still breastfeed IYSWIM.

Currently 7 week pg with DC2 and would quite like to stop BF at around a year, if I wasn't pregnant then I'd probably just carry on, but I can't face the thought of tandem feeding and I don't want DS to associate new baby and stopping BF so it would seem like a good time to bring it to an end.

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