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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Is this the end of BF 2yr old? I'm sad.

25 replies

Billycat · 01/04/2015 20:09

Tonight was the first ever time in 2 yrs and 1 mnth that DS did not want a BF before bed. I feel ridiculously emotional about it!

When I came downstairs and announced this to DH he didn't really get the significance.

I asked DS 3 times if he wanted milk but he just wanted 'more book'! He is a bit under the weather and has been looked after by DH today while I was at work (term time only at nursery), so maybe one of those things is why tonight is the night.

Do you think that is it now? Do I continue to offer? We normally do morning and bedtime BF but lately he has been only having quick feeds and acting as if he found it all faintly ridiculous! I had no particular timeframe in mind for continuing BF, but its been such a big part of our life for so long that I can't believe it could be coming to a natural end!

I don't know anyone else who has BF this long, so no one who would understand.

OP posts:
FoodieMum3 · 05/04/2015 17:05

Hi Billycat,

Did he feed since you've written this post? Flowers

Original poster
Billycat · 13/04/2015 22:35

Hi FoodieMum thanks for reply. No he hasn't had a bedtime feed since then but has had his normal morning feeds. At bedtime I am not offering it but he doesn't seem bothered. Even in the morning it is 50/50 whether he requests a feed. In the morning I am still offering if he doesn't request and he still seems to enjoy the feeds. Do you have experience of this kind of thing?

OP posts:
Hexbramble · 13/04/2015 22:38

Is he congested? If he has a stuffy nose then that could explain it?

fustybritches · 13/04/2015 22:41

Sounds like he's just tailing off. You might not know the last one is the last, iyswim.

My 2yo recently stopped breastfeeding, it is very bittersweet and emotional. He's still very cuddly though. I was tearful a week or two after, hormones changing I think.

ThisFenceIsComfy · 13/04/2015 22:44

Ah it's sad yet liberating and a whole new great stage. I BF DS until 2.5 and the end was bittersweet.

Original poster
Billycat · 14/04/2015 21:26

Thanks all. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with mixed feelings about ending BF. I think he is just growing up. He still loves the cuddles but is becoming more independent with a take it or leave it approach to BF at bedtime. I think I will continue offering in the morning as I don't think I'm ready to go completely cold turkey yet!

Looking on the bright side, ending the bedtime feed could open up new evening opportunities for me and give DH a chance to put DS to bed.

OP posts:
LePetitPont · 14/04/2015 21:30

Definitely not alone

My LO is only just gone 6 months and I am already sad about not bf at some point in the future. It's such a lovely bond; not needing me for the one thing only I can provide will be gutting.

Flowers and - on the bright side - plenty of Wine

fustybritches · 14/04/2015 21:31

The best part is being able to have lemsip now I have a cold!

YokoUhOh · 14/04/2015 21:37

I'm finding that boob-obsessed DS (2.5) is getting a bit ambivalent. On the one hand he says things like, 'babies drink boobies, not big boys' and, 'I want to go to bed without a boobie' but on the other hand he just had a moan when I put him down without bf Hmm

So, watching with interest!

Btw fusty I've been having the odd lemsip and breastfeeding, it's been absolutely fine.

LePetitPont · 14/04/2015 21:37

Erm, you can't have lemsip? Oops!

Starlightbright1 · 14/04/2015 21:46

My DS stopped at 2. I was so tired and he didn't sleep through the night. It moved on very quickly. We are very close still that doesn't change because you stop b feeding

ThisFenceIsComfy · 14/04/2015 22:07

I think lemsip can potentially reduce your supply but it isnt harmful. A slightly reduced supply isnt going to matter much at this extended BF stage.

Arseface · 14/04/2015 22:19

Today is the first day since the twins (2.2) were born that I've not fed them. Last babies so, if this is it, I'll never bf again!

Am ok about it though. They've only been having one feed each in the morning for months now. Feels like a natural ending.

Original poster
Billycat · 15/04/2015 22:18

I think you hit the nail on the head there Arseface, this is my last child so for me there is certainly an element of wanting to cling on to the last vestiges of babyhood for as long as possible. But I know I mustn't hold him back. I 'only' BF my first DS for 4 months and had a terrible time with postnatal depression, BF and bonding generally. No problems with any of those things with youngest DS so also feel slightly that I need to make up for first time round in a weird way.

OP posts:
Original poster
Billycat · 15/04/2015 22:19

Didn't know about the Lemsip thing! But never actually had it anyway. I might just go binge on it now just because I can!

OP posts:
Harverina · 15/04/2015 23:29

Agree he is tailing off but it won't necessarily be the end. Dd1 did similar for quite a few months before she stopped.

I didn't even know our last feed was the last one Hmm because we sometimes went 2 weeks in between feeds at times! Other times she wanted fed 2-3 times a day.

fustybritches · 15/04/2015 23:32

Oh bum. I was under the impression that the decongestant dried up all your bodily fluids .... Now I've written it down I realise how silly it sounds!

MarniRose · 15/04/2015 23:38

I wouldn't continue offering in the morning when he seems to be making it clear that he isn't interested - and doing it purely because you say that YOU are not ready to go cold turkey yet. He obviously is - or very much getting there - and I think that should be respected

Original poster
Billycat · 16/04/2015 06:55

It's good to hear what others have or would do. Like I said, it's 50/50, maybe a bit more, that he requests it in the morning. Whereas at night he isn't mentioning it. Early days so may all switch again.

I will continue to offer in AM for the time being thanks, on the occasions that he doesn't immediately request it, as seems like the right thing to do for us both at the mo. Tried not offering and ended up with a demand as going out the door. It's always such a rush getting self and both DSs out the door for work/school/nursery in the morning so it would actually be more convenient if it had been the AM feed he was showing less interest in!

OP posts:
Original poster
Billycat · 16/04/2015 06:57

Harverina, that's interesting. I would have thought my milk would disappear if there was no BF for 2 wks, so that if he then changed his mind he would be out of luck. Maybe not then.

OP posts:
ThisFenceIsComfy · 16/04/2015 17:54

I still had bm six months the after stopping BF. I think after such a long time bfing it takes a while to dry up, so to speak

Original poster
Billycat · 16/04/2015 19:46

I had no idea ThisFence. I was under the impression it would just disappear. That's good to know as it takes a bit of pressure off from the 'no going back' idea I had of how it works. I guess there's not so much info widely known, in this culture anyway, about BF and stopping BF relatively later on.

OP posts:
ThisFenceIsComfy · 16/04/2015 20:08

Kellymom website has loads about toddler and extended breastfeeding. That site got me through many a stage.

Original poster
Billycat · 16/04/2015 20:18

Ah yes forgot about Kellymom, thank you will have a look. Many a night feed in the early days spent reading Kellymom!x

OP posts:
Harverina · 16/04/2015 21:21

No I still had milk, it would have been very slow I imagine but she still fed and seemed to enjoy it

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