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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

When did you stop Breastfeeding and why?

36 replies

Cheffie100 · 18/09/2013 08:07

Trying to decide when my Breastfeeding mourning should end and interested to hear others views and reasons.

OP posts:
LeslieKnope · 18/09/2013 08:09

Stooped when DD was 2.3 - she self weaned gradually then stopped when we were abroad visiting family.

I was Sad but tbh I was ready to get my boobs and a bit of freedom back.

TarkaTheOtter · 18/09/2013 08:13

13 months because she stopped asking and I wante my periods back. She would have probably continued if I had kept offering but I took advantage of easy weaning as I was ready to stop. She's only really shown an interest in bfing now, 6 months later. She doesn't want to feed herself and doesn't seem to remember doing so but she has started noticing other babies feeding and pulling my top down to see what's there.

leedy · 18/09/2013 08:13

DS1 was 2.3 or so as well - self-weaned (with a bit of a nudge) when I was pregnant.

bigwellylittlewelly · 18/09/2013 08:16

DD1 self weaned after i took a don't offer don't refuse approach when she was 26months.

dyslexicdespot · 18/09/2013 08:17

I would love DS to self-wean, even if that means BF a 4 year old. He is 23 months now, and none of his friends are still BF as far as I know.

My mother BF me until I was about three and I still remember the feeling of absolute comfort and love. I really want DS to have similar memories.

JustBecauseICan · 18/09/2013 08:17

Almost 6.

Self weaned.

HootShoot · 18/09/2013 09:46

My dd just went off it after her first birthday. I'm not sure if it was genuine self weaning or not as everything I read says they don't self wean that young. She stopped asking and when I offered she would take a suck, wrinkle her nose and have an amused quizzical look on her face. I was very sad as I wasn't ready to stop and I really missed the closeness of bf. The positive was that I never had to enforce weaning or refuse I guess.

minipie · 18/09/2013 09:52

Stopping now at 10.5 months, because I am going back to work and dd will be going into childcare from next month.

girliefriend · 18/09/2013 09:55

About 11 months, I had cut down to two feeds a day when I went back to work when dd was 7 months. She wasn't really interested anymore and then got a heavy cold and screamed if I put her anywhere near my boobs Sad would have liked to of gotton to a year but hey ho was proud I managed 11 months tbh Smile

FetchezLaVache · 18/09/2013 09:59

DS is just in the process of self-weaning at 3.5. We carried on for so long because there was never any reason to stop, as I work from home and he loved it! I did don't offer, don't refuse for ages and he's just cut down and down on his own- latterly it's been just every couple of weeks when it occurs to him to ask for it. A fortnight ago, he asked for it when we were cuddling on the sofa together, had about three seconds on each side and then stopped- it felt very much like The Last Time.

How old's your LO, OP?

80sMum · 18/09/2013 10:01

Stopped at about 11 months for both of mine. They both had lost interest by then and also ds had discovered an interesting new game called "now that I have teeth top and bottom, let's bite mummy's nipple and see how high she jumps"!

NomDeClavier · 18/09/2013 10:05

26m self-weaned as I'm expecting DC2. Apparently the milk was yukky :( He'll probably want to try again when he sees baby doing it and I may let him but he'll almost certainly have forgotten how.

sewingandcakes · 18/09/2013 10:07

9 months, 10 months and 11 months. All three of them lost interest at the same rough age.

MacNCheese · 18/09/2013 10:10

Just to add a different experience I stopped at 6 months. I was happy with that amount of time and wanted the freedom of bottle feeding because I didn't like feeding in public (ridiculous I know).

Weegiemum · 18/09/2013 10:11

Dd1 - around one year. Just seemed like the right time.
Ds - 15 months. I was (unexpectedly) pregnant and didnt know, when he started head banging on the boob - turned out I'd dried up (I know it doesn't happen to everyone).
Dd2 - around 2 years. One morning she got into our bed and (precocious chatterbox) said "No more mummy mok" and tried to grab ds's cup of milk. Very much her decision.

I didn't feel sad to never be pregnant again, but I was pretty wistful and sad when my bf days were over.

Rooners · 18/09/2013 10:12

16 months, then about 54 months roughly when ds2 started school.

We just carried on as it was difficult to stop, and frankly a lot easier that way...and it did him no harm.

Sleepybunny · 18/09/2013 10:12

Technically 8 weeks, dd struggled with reflux and rarely latched well anyway. So I have been expressing her milk feed ever since. I just gave up expressing last week as it was really starting to interfere with our play time together so it seemed sensible to let it go. She's 10 months old.

Although she's not feeding from me directly , I still feel emotionally attached to the whole process. We have a freezer supply that will keep her going for a few weeks yet. Planning to mix feed, then move on to just formula until she is one.

Rooners · 18/09/2013 10:13

Macncheese - not ridiculous at all. I hate it too. I avoid feeding in public unless I have to. I can't be doing with all the negativity and staring.

kalidasa · 18/09/2013 10:39

I went back to work early (five months) so mix fed from then but am surprised to find that I am still feeding him a bit (usually just an evening feed to wind down before bed) at 10 months. He is getting all his nutrition from food and formula now I think but he still loves the breastfeeding and I enjoy it now too (really didn't enjoy it at all for months and only carried on because he liked it so much).

I don't think it's silly to dislike feeding in public. However much you believe that it should be absolutely normal and natural and OK that doesn't mean that you have to relish proving that point. Actually what got me down wasn't so much the self-consciousness as the practicalities of it all - constantly having to wear horrible bras and totally different clothes from what I would usually wear and having these enormous breasts that didn't fit anything. I much prefer it now that I can wear ordinary clothes/bras during the day and just undress for that last evening feed at home. I can see now why you could end up continuing the occasional feed almost indefinitely.

I find it surprising that at this stage even if he doesn't feed for several days (e.g. if I'm away) I don't seem to get either totally engorged (just feel a bit fuller) or dry up. Is that just how it works at this stage? Will I go on producing a bit of milk for a long time even if he's not feeding often?

VisualiseAHorse · 18/09/2013 19:09

8 months. He just lost interest. He had been mixed fed (one bottle a day) from about 5 months, and by the start of the 8th month, he just lost interest. Even as a newborn, he didn't give any feeding signals, he didn't root etc.

I do wish I'd tried harder to BF for longer. But what's done is done.

VisualiseAHorse · 18/09/2013 19:11

Oh, and I was also suffering from several mental health issues, so am also very proud that we did make it to 8 months! But stopping breastfeeding actually helped lift that final part of depression.

Xmasbaby11 · 18/09/2013 23:23

6 months. I was weaning her and also wanted to get it done well before going back to work at 9 months. It was very easy and DD didn't seem to notice the gradual reduction in bf - but I was mixed feeding so DD already took a bottle.

Charlottehere · 18/09/2013 23:31

Lat two babies, 2 years, DS is now 9 months... Started weaning him off boob at 6 months.

Charlottehere · 18/09/2013 23:31

Same as Xmas baby

Charlottehere · 18/09/2013 23:33

Hats off to just because