BF - this a sign it's time to give up?

[PessimisticMissPiggy]

My DD is 19mo and Mon-Fri she has a morning and a bedtime BF - she may also have one or two during the night if she wakes up (comfort - generally when teeth are coming through) and the odd daytime snack at weekend if she asks. She will ask for water to quench her thirst.

Recently she has been under the weather with sickness bugs (new nursery) and bf has been reassuring for us to know that she's saying hydrated.

I'm starting to feel irritated and upset whilst BFing - I generally feel okay for the morning and bedtime and enjoy the one to one time together. MIL put DD to bed for me at weekend (I was out) and not feeding didn't bother me in the slightest, where as previously I'd have missed it and felt pangs of guilt (daft I know!). I've been feeling run down for a couple of months and I worry that continuing to BF is sapping my energy. I still have a lot of milk!

DD loves BF and I'm loathe to give up and 'deny' what she needs, especially when I can see the benefits when she is ill.

Time to give up or work through it?

Children rarely self-wean before two. You are describing a normal feeding pattern for a toddler of that age.

Personally I would always recommend feeding through illness. You could start to think of bm as a natural medicine or vitamin supplement instead of a drink.

Good luck.

Bad days are normal! It doesn't mean that you have to give up. It's normal to have thoughts about giving up too.

Breastfeeding often gets blamed for tiredness but really it is knackering looking after a 19 mo whether you are breastfeeding or not. If you are feeling really wiped out then it might be worth getting your iron levels checked, a lot of women are anaemic.

Only you can decide whether to carry on or not. It can seem daunting if you don't see an end in sight- do you think you would feel better if you set a date for you to review how you feel?

Thanks for the replies.

I don't I articulated it very well, I think I'm feeling an aversion to BFing. The sensation irritates me and I feel uncomfortable. I'm lay BFing now and it's making my toes curl!

Will this pass?

Could you be ovulating? Sometimes bf can get irritating around this time. I also think only you know the answer to whether or not to give up. It's easy for outsiders to give advice when they are not in your own situation. What would you tell your best friend to do? That's probably your answer x

I only got that feeling when I was pg with dc2. Any chance?

Otherwise I agree with Mampig, the comfort level is different with my hormone cycle.

Nursing aversion is utterly horrible and at this stage you should absolutely not continue if it is that bad. At one point I nearly threw DS1 across the room when he latched on.

mamapig I think that you're onto something there - ovulating about now. Not pregnant. No way!

Best friend thinks I'm weird for BFing past 6mo and don't have any friends that haven't given up by 14/15mo. Family not very supportive and find it odd especially now dd is quite chatty!

I had that irritated feeling for a while - but ended up BFing til DS was just over 3. Before then there was always some reason not to stop - often illness, or he just seemed too little, or too attached to it.

As it is, in hindsight I'm glad we carried on as long as we did and stopping was natural and not traumatic at all, as he was old enough to understand what was going on. After a few weeks of discussing 'big boys of 3 not needing to have milk', from recollection I gave him the choice of 3 stories or 1 story and BF (he fed before nap and bedtime). Generally he went for the 3 stories, a couple of times afterwards he then asked for milk and I'd tell him he'd chosen, but he'd could have it later (by when he'd forgotten about it). And it naturally tailed off over a week. We'd also have a cuddle and chat instead of feeding, so we still had that close time. :)

What helped with the irritation in the meantime was limiting it, e.g. to the length of song on cd player - I think I felt more in control - and/or sending text messages - I think I felt less isolated and bored/irritated that way.

Good luck with it whatever you decide though.