When did you stop breastfeeding?

[Hope54321]

Hey guys, I’m interested to know:

When did you stop breastfeeding?

Why?

And did you need to offer an alternative such as formula or cow’s milk?

29 months and counting (technically been dry nursing for a bit but I thing milk is coming back)

Because WHO recommends at least 2 years, it's handy and she gets a lot of comfort from it and it knocks her out at night

If you give her a glass of milk she'll probably give it back or play with it, by some miracle she drank some at nursery months ago when she wasn't eating well but that's it.

2.5 years with DD1 and 2 years with DD2. How are you getting on OP? Is there something specific you need help with?

I struggled from the off, it was always a mix of BF, expressing and formula, and then I let it go at 6 months. No regrets, I did my best, and he’s thriving now. My DP had some really lovely bonding helping with the feeds.

@whattocallhim

Hello. I'll start. At 2 years as per the WHO guidelines, but I know not everyone can get that far and understand that. We had an unbelievably rough start which made me all the more determined to carry on. Went straight into cows milk. Why do you ask OP?

I ask because my baby is now 3.5 months old and still has a not so great latch despite having his tongue tie cut. We also have issues with baby not being able to deal with the flow, I thought this issue would have been resolved by now, but it hasn’t. I really do not want to stop breastfeeding and wondering if baby will get better at dealing with the flow as he grows.

@Hope54321 yes he will get better with flows. I don't know if you have the same but I had one side way faster than the other so if I was feeling particularly heavy I knew my son wouldn't cope.
So I would put him on the slower side and release the jets on the other side. Some women use a muslin I used a hakaa to collect the milk and then would pop in the freezer to create a store which was really handy.
It took my son til about 4 months to settle out he would pop off at this point if it was too fast for him.

2yr6m. Although for the last few months only fed at bedtime when I was there so 4 nights a week. I was very ready to stop and then I ended up in hospital and had surgery so couldn’t lie in bed with him

First at 2 years 3 months due to dairy and egg allergies. He eats some dairy now and we're on the egg ladder.
Why did we stop? I was 7 months pregnant one and one morning while trying to feed he came off and said the milk was finished so we went from there. Also
I stopped eating dairy and eggs for over 2 years and I wanted to start again before baby was born.

Second child 2 years and 4 months no allergies not sure when he had cow's milk as due to our history dietician suggested no dairy until about 2 yrs.
Why did we stop? Down to breastfeeding twice sometimes once a day as I was working long shift and overnight 2 nights a week. So when Santa brought Henry hoover on Christmas Day he didn't ask to be fed. Next day I told him Santa took the milk away when he brought Henry.

@Hope54321 you can stop whenever you feel like. Regardless I still felt a bit down afterwards even though I was looking forward to stopping.

3 months but DT's were mixed fed and I pumped from the start.
I honestly wish I had stopped much sooner looking back it was a total harassment that I felt compelled to do by what DH called the "breast milk nazis" at the hospital.
It seems so critical at the time but 13 years later no one cares in the slightest and it makes no difference.

@Hope54321 I had problems with over supply and a very fast let down with my second baby. It's something that, in my opinion, isn't talked about enough. When I asked for help nobody seemed to know much about it and in fact I was even made to feel guilty about asking in a bf support group with loads of other mums saying stuff like "oh I wish I had that problem" and "you should be grateful you've got loads of milk".
Whereas actually it can make things really difficult. I did find it improved with time, both because my supply regulated and my baby got bigger.
The best help I got was from some articles on the kellymom website. I don't have the links to hand sorry, but I'm sure if you go to that site and search for oversupply or fast letdown they'll still be there.
I hope thinks improve for you soon.

@Hope54321 I had issues with over supply- it's so stressful, and makes feeding so difficult and awkward doesn't it? And baby coughing and spluttering- i really sympathise with you!

HV kept telling me my milk would settle and baby would get used to it, but it took 6 months for that to happen to me. I'm really glad I did stick it out as managed to go on to feed for 2 years.

@MrsAvocet definitely agree I ended up becoming a milk donor to the NHS bank due to oversupply. Mine only settled when I got a stomach bug when my DS was 10 months.

I still remember some ladies telling me they could never donate milk as I was taking it away from my son..... 🙄 Ummm no it was an oversupply he was slim due to constantly being on the move from 5 months!

DC1: 18 months
DC2: 2 years.
DC3: 2 years.... All stopped when milk supply decreased whilst pregnant with the next.
DC4... Still feeding at 4 months.

OP. As your baby grows and the flexibility of his tongue etc improves, so will his latch hopefully. When was the TT divided?

Hand expressing before you feed, to get the first letdown out the way before your baby latches on should definitely help!

Would it be more helpful to start a thread asking for support on the issues you’re facing?

We can all tell you how long we fed for but your baby is very young and it’s not really relevant.

You can stop at any time you like but if you’re keen to continue then get all the help you can.

@AnneLovesGilbert

Would it be more helpful to start a thread asking for support on the issues you’re facing?

We can all tell you how long we fed for but your baby is very young and it’s not really relevant.

You can stop at any time you like but if you’re keen to continue then get all the help you can.

I’ve had one to one support from a lactation consultant, but I still don’t find the tips useful in my baby’s case. I’ve been told it gets better around 4 months. Reading this thread gives me hope.

Ah yes Tongue ties are a bitch. It takes a month for a tongue tie cut to result in improved feeding. And then all of a sudden blessed relief lol. Just keep wiggling your tongue at him and make him copy. You can also get a clean finger and help him exercise his tongue side to side and up and down. See a lactation consultant for more exercises or if you’re worried.

I know one who is an expert in tongue ties. I can DM you the details if you like? Proper registered lactation consultant and midwife

I stopped at one year - DD self weaned. We were both happy with it. She has a bottle of cows milk before bed.

I had the same issues, TT and over supply. I found nipple shields a lifesaver. I wouldn’t have been able to carry on bf without them. They seem to slow the flow (which can make shields longer) and help baby latch, and stop it from hurting too much. I used them from the early weeks to maybe 3/4 months, when she was big enough to get a big mouthful of boob, latch properly, and handle fast let downs. I used the medela ones, recommended to me by a lactation consultant/private midwife.

When I left the hospital I was exclusively bottle feeding EBM and the midwives encouraged me to pump loads which I think must have added to the oversupply as I was pumping double the milk she needed(!). So when I understood this I completely stopped pumping unless I needed to from discomfort to stop indicating to my body to increase supply. If DD had a bottle it was formula as I wanted her to be able to take a bottle and I didn’t want to have oversupply issues again.

Good luck, it can be so hard at the start.

Which can make feeds take longer 🙄