Sad about the end of breastfeeding

[Icanonlytry]

Ds will be 1 in two weeks and has decided he doesnt want to bf anymore.
We had an awful start, he lost lots of weight in the early days and we were admitted to hospital where they 'advised' me to ff him because bf obviously wasnt working. I was offered no other support and because I was feeling overwelmed I strated topping up with ff after each bf. Despite this we have managed to continue bfing until about two weeks ago when ds decided he didnt want to feed from me, wouldnt latch on and was getting stressed when I tried to feed him.
I always said I would stop bfing when ds decided to stop but I wasnt expecting to feel sad about it.
Still having lots of cuddles et which is nice just feels strange to not be feeding anymore.

You've done a fantatic job feeding him for so long :) (Is there any way to say that without sounding patronising?).

Take care of yourself, lots of cuddles sounds good. It is pretty normal to have a bit of a hormonal dip when you stop feeding so don't be surprised if you feel worst than you think you should about it.

I hope I am not speaking out of turn but it sounds more like a nursing strike than self-weaning (this generally occurs between 2 1/2y & 7y and is characterised by a gradual decrease in the number of nursings - this may take months if not years, or by the child being unable to latch due to the change in the shape of the jaw due to the development of the 1st set of adult molars [not milk teeth]).

You can still keep offering (in a low key way), doing skin to skin, sharing a bath, taking a nap together skin to skin. Lots of info on nursing stopping suddenly here.

What ever happens, you have done a fabulous job and try to be gentle on yourself as the sudden loss of bfing hormones can make for a bit of a rough time. All the best.