How to stop breastfeeding 20mo DS

[MrsBudd]

Has anyone had success with going cold turkey maybe by going away for the weekend and leaving baby's daddy to look after them? Sometimes he just screams at me constantly until I bf him. I'm starting to really lose my patience with it :(

[moimichme]

I sympathise - it's a tempting idea sometimes, isn't it? I'm still breastfeeding my 27 month old, but we have reduced feeds recently (partly because he has for some reason got lazy and is staying attached using his teeth sometimes - something he never did when he was younger! ).

Could it be that he's just thirsty? My ds is able to be reasoned with sometimes now and told to wait until we get home, or will accept water or juice in a cup instead (not if he's very tired though). We're now at 2-3 times per day (mostly in the evening or overnight), but when going down from 4-5 times per day I had a few days of soreness with having too much milk 'stuck' inside for a while. If you're feeding him quite often at the moment, then I believe it could cause mastitis if you stopped cold turkey (although I'm not a hcp)?

This link might be helpful, despite suggesting a gentler approach than CD turkey:

www.ahaparenting.com/Ages-stages/toddlers/12-tips-for-gentle-weaning

I've found the Kellymom website very helpful too, over the past few years. Might be worth looking at?

Good luck and I hope others with more experience of actually stopping might be able to add some suggestions, too.

[MrsBudd]

Thanks moimichme. On a good day its just morning, nap, bedtime and once in the night, all of which I am happy with if I'm honest. When he's not well it's more (constant!) and again I don't mind. So maybe I am not ready to give up haha! He will take water and milk in a cup usually. But there's some days where he will just scream at me until I feed him and its for no particular reason as far as I can tell... Not tired, offered a drink in a cup and refuses, offered food and refuses, offered cuddle or comfort item and he pushes it away, doesnt want to go outside, doesn't want to play with anything... 😕 Think I'm just going to have to ride it out haha! Thank you for replying, it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one ☺

[moimichme]

Yeah it's maybe just one of those things, a growth spurt, who knows? It is frustrating though. My ds has had a bad pattern of ramping up the breastfeeding when he is teething or ill, too. I agree it's nice to know there are others going through rather extended breastfeeding - sometimes I feel like an oddball!