im desperate to stop breastfeeding my 3 year

[irgmama]

my lg has just turned 3 and i cant stand it anymore i have been trying to stop since she was 5 months?i tried getting help from my healthvisitor but she kept telling me how amazing the benefits of breastfeeding are for me and my lg. im at the point now im avoiding cuddling her orsitting next to her as iknow she will start complaining for "boobie" icant stand the feeling of her feeding actually icant stand anything touching mybreasts. without feeding she wont go to sleep and still wakes frequently to feed throughout the night ialways end up giving in cause she just screams to the point ofthrowing up. please can anyone give me any advice

I stopped bf my almost 2 year old DS last night. I didn't bf to sleep, we always feeds to sleep and took couple of hours and some crying but he eventually fell asleep around 11ish. I stayed with him lots of singing and telling stories. He only really cried for last hslf hour. Told him milk is finished he understood but was frustrated as he couldn't get to sleep. He woke at 2am and we had a 40 min tantrum but then he went back to sleep in my arms. He then woke at 6.30 at which point I just got out of bed. I tried using DH during the night but that just made him worse. I'm happy to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought we'd be up all night. If you are firm it csn be done but be prepared for tears snd tantrums. Not looking forward to tonight though.

so last night i stuck some plasters on and surprisingly lg was ok no tantrum not even winging although she didnt actually go to sleep till 5 to 11?now the real challenge was the 2 times she woke and this morning where im sure neighbours must of thought i was hurting her between thescreams sobs and mummy please sad to i gave inthrough the night, but managed to distract her this morning. so its now just going on 7pm pjs and plasters are on and the tantrum has began but iam determined not to give in i just have no idea how to deal with the wake up demands?

ok i take that back in the 5 mins writing my last post she fell asleep !!

My ds bf-ed till 3 and I was also desperate to stop and resenting it massively but also loathe to stop because he would be my last child. A real emotional tug of war.

I cannot remember what made him stop. It might just have petered out in between my refusing and giving in and then refusing again. I think the resentment overtook the sentimental feelings and it somehow stopped.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that ds is now 7 and remembers nothing of the days when he bf-ed. He was over 3 years old and able to ask for bf-ing by his own special word and now, has no recollection of it (and is probably slightly embarrassed to be reminded). So no emotional trauma caused by the weaning.

I really want to stop feeding Ds too. We are sometimes getting several days without a feed but he still asks a lot. He also still tries to grab my nipples. I'm 13 weeks pregnant and every touch is so painful. I want to do stop breastfeeding in a gentle way but it's not working.
Sorry no help just a moan.

You may find he stops by himself in a few weeks - my supply totally tanked in the second trimester and DS1 lost interest in feeding entirely around 17 weeks.

He was down to a couple of feeds a day, but he very definitely had them every day (unless I was away).

Can I also suggest a la leche league meeting for real life support. I went for the opposite reason but there was another lady who was there with a very clingy 2 or 3 year old girl who was struggling and they seemed to be brilliant and very understanding at helping to stop as helping you to start.

How has she been today op?
I hate to say it but would bribery help? Does she have a birthday coming up? Does she have a bike? Something to mark her becoming a 'big girl'?
Good luck. I was the same as you when ds turned 4, I just couldn't bear it any longer. Ds was a milk monster ( tho only morning and night) and we stoppef without too much trauma

hi she has just had a birthday and has a bike already i dont think ineed bribery as she seems to be doing ok iv been putting the plasters on she does keep checking boobie is still poorly including sayingvery loudly in a shop " aww mummy i kissboobie better" que a few funny looks lol she gets a little restless at bedtime but doesnt really argue, the problem im having is her waking at night this is where iv been giving in as she just screams for it i tried to let her cry for a bit last nigjt but she ended up crying so hard she threw up and wet herself :(

Oh no. Poor little thing. Not sure what to suggest sorry.

I would second speaking to La Leche League, many of the trained counsellors have personal experience of breastfeeding toddlers too.

I well remember that "antsy" feeling when my children were approaching the end of breastfeeding. I did end up breastfeeding throughout a second pregnancy and tandem fed for two years beyond that.

LLL will be able to give you lots of practical advice.
Going cold turkey can work but is not for everyone. I know many children would be upset by this.

Winding down gradually worked for us. I would not offer, and time the feeds. Often 10 second suckle would suffice. We had a little rhyme to say and when the rhyme was finished the t shirt would go down.

How you are feeling is natural, breastfeeding is a two way process, and the feelings you have is natures way of strting to put a little gentle presure into the weaning process.

A great book here:

www.amazon.co.uk/How-Weaning-Happens-Diane-Bengson/dp/0912500549

How you are feeling is natural, breastfeeding is a two way process, and the feelings you have is natures way of strting to put a little gentle presure into the weaning process.

Thank you beatingwings. I'm pregnant with number 2 and really not enjoying feeding my 19 month old anymore, in fact it's started to make my skin crawl and I get so irritated with him. I was feeling very guilty and sad, but what you said has really helped. He only has 2 feeds, morning and bedtime, I'm going to start cutting the morning one from tomorrow.

Good luck OP!