Time to stop breastfeeding?

[snowleopard]

I'm mixed feeding DS (8½ months)- breast morning and night, bottle during the day - started doing this so he could go to nursery. Now he's becoming less and less interested in breastfeeding. He bites, then comes off, looks at nipple and prods and tweaks it, then grins at me. Especially at bedtime feed.

Was planning to go on until 12 months, but this way he's not really getting much milk from it. Should I stop and give him bottles morning and night? Is that all there is to coming off "The Breast". Feel a bit sad...

How long has he been doing this for? Ds has done this and then gone back to it, so if you want to carry on, I would just keep offering. HTH.

DD is same age and mix fed also. I would feel the same sadness about stopping so I would be strongly inclined to keep offering and hope it is a nursing strike (though it sounds more like a nursing 'cheeky playtime'!) I haven't read much on strikes (kellymom.com) and assumed they would be head-turning refusals, but maybe it is this kind of messing around also. I think it is too soon to give up if you want to continue.

This is what my DD did at around 8 m, she just couldn't have been getting much milk from me, so I, reluctantly and very sadly gave up, and cried!! Then read later that it is very common to happen and just a phase around this age as they are more interested in what's going on around them; saying that my 20 week old is aware of everthing and quite often takes my nipple where his eyes go and chuckles!!!If you don't want to give up just perservere and I'm sure it will pass. Perhaps make sure that you feed in a quiet room with no distraction if possible. I cover DS's eyes with a cloth so he can't see...seems to work!!

ds (nearly 10 months) does this fairly often, i just stop and try again later. he usually does it when has had enough or isn't hungry.

Hadn't thought it might be a phase - thanks.

It could also be that it's too soon after his tea and he's not hungry, so could try feeding himn earlier/less - but HV is saying feed him more! Also he's increasingly bored with it in the morning too, when you'd think he'd be starving.

Will persevere. Ha ha button at the cloth idea - would love it to work but know DS will just see it as a hilarious jape, fling it off and laugh his head off! (At least he's in good spirits I suppose! )

LOL, that is exactly what DD would do if I put a cloth over her!

It's tricky getting the balance right of meal and bedtime drink, eh? The bedtime drink is the only measurable one for me as is a formula feed, so I guess I have it easier to know if I've been feeding too much solids. I think it's odd to say feed more solids as the milk is more important at this age. But what do I know? First time mum vs. HV. Um...

dd did this and I yelped and got cross so bfeeding went a bit downhill from there . It was at the evening feed so dropped it first,a and replaced it with formula instead havign b'fed her before tea. Kept the morning feed going until she was over a year, with no similar problems.

Have experienced similar probs with DD who is now coming up to 13 months. Still bf morning and last thing at night. The night feed varies as to how much she takes - I feel its more of comfort thing and she'll usually go to sleep on breast. Mornings are more fidgety. Have noticed for past 6 weeks that she will feed for 5 mins then want to sit up and look around and interact with me or reach out for anything interesting to play with! She will latch herself on when she wants more - or I will offer. Difficult on a work morning as in a rush! I would say keep perservering as they do go through many differnet phases and it would be a shame to give up if this were the case. Anyone got any tips on what to do when they bite? DD has done this when teething - even drew blood last week - very painful

am bf day and night and dd is 19 months.finding it very hard to stop.wish had stopped when she was small!!

dont' have any advise on the biting as my son once he started, he did it every feed untill I got too stressed and scared to let him get near my breast- at 11 mnths and 3 weeks old i stopped as i could not even let his head near it as I was scared of the pain, drew blood every time, hope your just stops biting. people say if you tell them off or stop feeding when they do it they will stop but it had no effect on my ds he was too small to see the cause and effect.

Hi, read this thread with interest.

My DS3 is was exclusively breastfed until approx 5mo. I then introduced him to 3 meals a day (one at a time) and at 7 1/2 mo he's on 3 good meals a day plus he breastfeeds before breakfast, before tea and at night-time.

The major problem I am experiencing at the moment is that he's dropped the lunchtime feed (and probably soon will drop the teatime feed) and my let-down reflex is now a minute or two slower than it used to be. He is very impatient and will not wait and bites at every feed now and cries and thrashes about. I've tried to hand express until the milk is just letting down and then latching him on (instant reward) but obviously I can't do this all the time...

Any suggestions? I've had advice from a MW at a breastfeeding group we're setting up saying that the "quality" of my milk will go down now he's dropped a feed and therefore I should be expressing at some point in the day (not a lot - to keep my quality up - which I don't necessarily agree with) whilst other members of the group say it's just a phase he's going through and he'll soon stop biting and the impatience will also pass (I'm not so sure it will, he IS a biter).

I'm not sure what to do, he has refused to feed on some mornings (he has had an ear infection AND is teething so that doesn't help). I am aware that supply and demand still applies, I have plenty of milk, it's just the let-down I believe. He won't take my milk in a bottle or a cup.

I'd like to go back to work so realistically don't want to go back to feeding him at lunchtime (which he won't do as I've tried and he clamps down with his teeth) - but I'm quite prepared to express my milk off 3-4 times per day to make sure he has a morning and night time feed.

p.s. he is cows milk intolerant and I don't want him to have artificial milk, although he does have supermarket soya milk with his breakfast. He also sleeps all night.

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

Snowleopard, I've been having the same problem and think I've cracked it now. My lo was biting consistently and it's because for the first 30 seconds or so he doesn't get ANY milk so he was biting with frustration.

I've now started to massage the breast and hand express some milk off first, pretty much until I get a drop come out at each squeeze then I latch him on. He bites me and looks at me as if to say "oh, you've got milk then..." and then feeds ok.

My let-down can take a while now I'm not feeding so frequently so I say "shhhhhhhh" to him and then "good boy" in a very quiet calming reassuring voice and this keeps him patient until the milk does let-down then I continue so he doesn't choke on the sudden flow of milk and this seems to have pretty much eliminated most of the biting.

Towards the end of the feed (I keep eye contact with him throughout) if I think he's due to come off I'll do the "shhhhhhh" and "good boy" again and he tends to come off easily - when he's ready and doesn't bite.

Hope you are still breastfeeding and hope that this may help you or anyone else having difficulties.

Must say I'm very proud to be ploughing through this difficult stage and am now breastfeeding beyond what I managed with my previous two sons!