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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

How do I stop breast feeding a 14 month old?

12 replies

yorkmum · 13/08/2006 22:58

My son is 14 months old - he is still being breast fed in the morning and evening. We are giving him a milk feed in the morning but he only takes a bit and still wants breast milk. If he doesn't get enough then he really cries for it. Any one got any tips on stopping?

OP posts:
cece · 13/08/2006 23:00

distract him with games? or food?

mummy2ashton · 13/08/2006 23:13

i really recommend the book "mothering your nursing toddler". it has a whole big section on how to wean them off the breast in a kind way. hth

HarpsichordCarrier · 13/08/2006 23:15

hi there - sorry if this sounds like a rude question but why do you want to stop? is there any way you could carry on for a while? there are lots of benefits to carrying on till 2 and beyond.

eidsvold · 13/08/2006 23:55

i had no choice but to totally wean dd2 off breastfeeds at around 18 months - contracted a nasty case of food poisoning that required very strong antibiotics and they were not to be taken if breastfeeding or pregnant - so figured I Needed to get better more than she needed the milk. She got a bit cranky ( only on night and morning feeds) but seemed to accept it. Don't know what I would have done had she been younger.

Pinewood · 14/08/2006 07:57

Hi Yorkmum.

A friend told me a rather, in my opinion, cruel but nevertheless effective way of stopping that her older sister had used. She put the stop nail biting stuff (sorry can't remember what it's called) on her nipples to make them taste bad! I'm not sure if I could have done it but she said it worked very quickly !

Mum2FunkyDude · 14/08/2006 08:30

At the same point in time, I had a look at this it is practical avise on how to do it.
hth.

Original poster
yorkmum · 14/08/2006 21:02

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your tips. I may try the book as want to try and avoid him (and me!)getting upset as part of the process, if possible. Have tried distraction which works to delay the feed but then he still remembers he's missing something, when he remembers he just says 'mum' repeatedly until he gets fed! I've thought about bringing his breakfast forward to 1st thing so he's not hungry and as a distraction, however am reluctant to do this as will make work mornings even more chaotic. As for stopping and why now, I feel ready and also suspect it may be harder to wean him as he gets older as he's got much more aware of the process in the last few months. If anyone can give me reassurance that this may not happen or has experience of a baby naturally weaning themselves later than 14 months or any further advice, I'd love your tips!

OP posts:
HarpsichordCarrier · 14/08/2006 23:31

Yorkmum, my dd1 has just weaned herself at around 3.2. This may be alarming for you to think about but it was gentle and easy and really helped to ease the transition into toddlerhood and beyond. IT also helped when the new baby arrived.
I followed the "don't offer, don't refuse" route. I also set some rules/limits about when I would and wouldn't feed, and I also used a certain amount of distraction when she wanted to feed and I didn't want to. As they get older, it is easier to distract and reason and explain of course.

hth

threebob · 15/08/2006 00:49

Don't offer, don't refuse. Think of yourself as practising extended weaning rather than extended breastfeeding. I weaned ds when he was 2.5 as I went into hospital unexpectedly and was there a week. He cried (quietly - tears only) once when I explained I was unable to give him a mummy drink because of my medicine, then he looked all brave and got on with something else.

Don't think that keeping going at 14 months will mean he is tied to you forever. 14 months is tiny.

WellieMum · 15/08/2006 02:46

Hi yorkmum

I did the "never offer, never refuse" thing that threebob describes, and dd1 weaned herself very easily and painlessly at around 19 months.

I was fully prepared to go on longer, but really pleased that in the end it was her decision not mine.

I worked on the principle that if she wanted it then probably she needed it in one way or another, nutritionally or emotionally, hence didn't want to stop until she chose to stop.

HarpsichordCarrier · 15/08/2006 14:59

"I worked on the principle that if she wanted it then probably she needed it in one way or another, nutritionally or emotionally, hence didn't want to stop until she chose to stop."
Wellie mum that is about the most sensible and humane thing I have ever read about "extended" bf. very well put.

WellieMum · 15/08/2006 20:29

Wow, HC, thank you!

Just common sense however.

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