Will he ever stop?..just wants more more more..

[Fiftyshadesofposset]

Desperate to stop BF 17 month old DS whilst causing mimimal distress to both him and me. I work 3 days a week (long hours) and during that time he survives, though admittedly never drinks that much. When I am at home with him he just constantly wants breastmilk. Lately it has just been ridiculous, literally if he could he would be feeding every half anhour. I try and distract him, give him snacks etc but he just cries and cries until eventually. I give in. The only way I can see that I can manage this is to go cold turkey. I would be happy to give a morning and evening BF but have tried this and it just seems to confuse him. Any ideas/help?

feed him for the last time and take a photo for happy memories.
tell him to say goodbye to milk, there's no more, it's finished, bye bye milk!

the next time he wants it offer him milk or juice from a cup or his food or whatever.
smile and keep repeating to him - bye-bye milk, no more, it's all gone!

just be casual and don't show that you feel sorry for him!

don't look back and don't go back!

even if he refuses other drinks or he'll take a few days or weeks to settle , just ignore/divert his pleas, distract him, get him a special big boy toy.

he'll be fine, he'll get used to it....good luck!

Some older babies just feed morning and night but what you're describing is normal, if a bit annoying sometimes!

Have a look at his habits when he asked to be BF during the day- do you sit in a certain chair? Does he ask when you sit down for a cuppa? If you can make small changes then you should be able to gently persuade him to just BF morning and evening. Distraction goes a long way- could you take him out more?

How long have you been back at work? A lot of children go through 'reverse cycling' where they suddenly start BF more, especially at night, because they need to reconnect. Lots of cuddling, maybe massage or having a bath together, are other ways to reconnect if you're not happy with BF so much.

What have you tried so far?

Tactics so far have been offering milk/water in various types of beaker as well as snacks. When DH is here I do try and get him to distract too. All has been relatively unsuccessful. Have been back at work a while now (6 months), so not sure it's that. I do spend a lot of time with him at his level playing on the floor, so he can easily climb onto me and get himself into his usual BF position! Maybe I'll try and let him play a bit more by himself and get out more. It's a shame really because Id be happy to carry on as long as he needs me, but the frequency is intolerable so I feel my hand is forced to stop.