I'm cutting her off. This is hard.

[Shhthebabyisasleep]

This morning after yet another night of being mawled and clawed and wrestled all night I looked at my youngest daughter and said "that's it. This is the very last feed you are ever having."

And we've had a really busy day and it hasn't been an issue. But now it's bed time (we're a few hours ahead of UK) and she's upstairs with my husband, screaming her little head off.

I have not had a nights sleep for years. I am not enjoying it anymore. Some weeks it just hurts to feed her - like newborn madness with sore nips and bleeding.

I rocked her to sleep but she woke up when I tried to put her down. Husband managed to get her back to sleep and we crouched motionless in the dark for 15 minutes. She woke up when we tried to silently leave the room. She is screaming for me and saying her word for milk. She is 2 years and 1 month old.

I'm only writing this for something to do while I sit on the stairs.

at boobies falling out of frock?!? More details required as I have a funny image in my head of you being out in public!

You certainly have racked up (lol) the years! Definitely a holiday to book this week

Why don't you give her proper food & feed her at meal times ?

Don't give her actimel either

My DD had her last bf on her 2nd b'day, she asked for 'milkies' but went downstairs for breakfast with daddy & had milk in a bottle (which she used to have at nursery) for bedtime story. Getting her off her bedtime bottle of milk was another story & she's refused to drink milk ever since !

Nothing too slapstick I'm afraid. Just a slightly too big beach frock in our garden, and me bending to scoop the toys out of the paddling pool.

Is Actimel really bad then? I know it's sugary.

I'm not sure if you meant to sound so accusatory then willow. If it helps set your mind at ease I'm happy to let you know that she does get the occasional nutritious meal thrown her way :)

Why don't you give her proper food & feed her at meal times?

Why do you think the op isn't doing this?

6 1/2 years?! That's amazing, you should be so proud of yourself.

Watching this thread with interest as struggling to wean 18 month old? Glad it's going well OP? Keep us posted.

No idea what happened with random question marks.

I'm Ron Burgandy?

Last night not quite so brilliant. She woke at midnight and cried for milk for a while. Cuddled her to sleep in my bed (remember those little grippy toys we used to have in the 80s? Koalas mostly? And you squeezed their shoulders to get them to open their hands to clip them onto your curtains or dungarees? Imagine a toddler sized one of those on my head).

Then she cried for milk again at 4 but did go back to sleep after 20 mins. Got up at 6.30.

Has asked for milk a few times today. I think I'm going to plan a beach trip or something this afternoon, to really tire her out.

Boobs are still painful as anything. Worse than ever today. Poss because of night time wrestling. Am walking lightly so the vibrations of my footsteps don't hurt so much. Def no mastitis though. Off for a very hot shower now.

OOh breastfeeding prizes- lovely!! I have breastfed for a total of 8 years, it felt like a part of me after a while. I allowed my kids to self wean.

I haven't weaned yet Shhh (DD is 18 months) but we night weaned a few months back (I wasn't coping at work, and I do night shifts sometimes anyway) and it was very much two steps forward, one step back! Probably a week in total before she really got her head round the idea there was no more milk at night. DP did most of the work…

Since then she's never looked for it at night.

I think they forget pretty quickly at this age so just a few more days and you should be through it I think.

Sorry your boobs are still so sore. I'd take alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen regularly. Cabbage leaves genuinely do help!!

Also we still cuddle to sleep and she sleeps the whole night most of the time. So I think the whole baby-must-settle-themselves-to-sleep thing is not necessarily true, and I have no intention of stopping, I also like to fall asleep with a cuddle...

Wowzers. Well done shhh. I am going to try and night wean 19 month old DD next week AGAIN! Your thread is encouraging me.

drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html

Breaking news: I've just put her in her bed not fully asleep and she was aware and she dozed off!

We did bath, beaker of milk, teeth, stories and then huggie. She's been falling asleep in my arms in the chair in her room but this evening she was a bit wriggly trying to get comfortable so I told her I was putting her into her own bed, and that I would be just nearby. It worked!!

Wonder how well she'll sleep. She didn't eat much again today. What are we - bedtime number 5?

I am glad this thread is proving to be useful or food for thought for those in a similar boat. It's a lifeline for me to be able to tell someone how its going. I can't say it's been easy exactly but it seems to be possible, which I'm not sure i really believed it was.

One unexpected nice thing - I am really enjoying cuddles with her. It is a joy to have her snuggle in for a cuddle and a chat without bee-lining straight for the boob.

I really enjoyed cuddles too

Keep doing what you're doing. I used to "potter" around upstairs when dd went to bed, just so she knew I was genuinely around when she was dropping off.

Yes, I stayed around for quite a while after she was sleeping just in case. Don't want her to feel anxious about dropping off because I'll disappear.

Anyone like to hazard a guess when my boobs are going to calm down? Still rock hard and very sore. Well, lefty has got a bit better, but righty is still determined to feed triplets. Righty was always Superboob.

Try sage tea?

Or a couple of decongestants (like sudafed) they're suppose to surpress supply.

drownedgirl are you on fertilityfriends talk board? Your nick name rings a bell.... might have to PM you!

I am! Feel free

Well it's been 2 weeks and I wanted to write a final update from me on this thread.

Thank you all for the encouragement and sympathy.

Boobs are now completely better ( that took a good week, I was surprised by how long and how painful it was).

Dd is sleeping better than ever. She wakes up once in the night and comes in to snuggle and that's it. She's also sleeping much heavier. We used not to be able to breathe near her for fear of waking her but now we clatter around quite happily and she doesn't move. She has also learned to self settle - wakes up, has a grumble and then flumps down and goes back to sleep. Amazing!

Bedtimes are easy. We have stories in her chair, then I ask if she'd like a cuddle and she spends about 3 minutes trying to get comfy to sleep on my lap, then I ask if she'd like to get into her bed and she wriggles down and climbs into her bed. Pillow, water, monkey, duvet, kiss, night night, and I leave the room with her awake and she goes to sleep. Double amazing!

Her Aunty has put her to bed no trouble.

Daddy is out of favour ('Daddy-No' to give him his full name). Maybe she associates him with those first few screaming nights? She screams when he tries to put her down and gets ino a right state. He is not taking it personally.

The only wobbles we have are when she wakes up and sleepily tries to find milk out of habit and is then confused and heart broken when I tell her no. This has only happened a few times.

All in all I think she is doing so much better without it. I am a million times happier. Everyone is getting more sleep. She is still as cuddly as ever. I have bought myself some new pretty bras and pjs without boob flopping access! It was hard but worth it.

Well done. Glad you all got through it! I'm not in the same boat really as I started to cut down day feeds and night feeds from around 7 months as I was going back to work full time when he turned 9 months. We're still doing morning and just before bed feeds but my plan is to have stopped them when he turns one. Hes finally got a tooth and bf is starting to hurt again (no clue why) so I'm going to see how long I can ignore the discomfort!

I am beyond impressed at how long you managed to carry on!