12mo suddenly stopped breastfeeding

[oddsocks85]

I’m looking for some advice. My DS recently turned one and about 10 days ago started refusing the breast literally overnight. He was exclusively breastfed and then weaned onto solids at the appropriate age, but still breastfed regularly. I went back to work about 6 weeks ago but he was still feeding overnight and was desperate for a feed as soon as I got in from work, as well as during my days off. I’m absolutely gutted that he’s now refusing it as it seems so sudden and I’d hoped to feed him for longer. If I offer he cries and pushes me away, although sometimes he still pulls at my top so it almost feels like he’s confused. He always fed to sleep and now goes down with shhing and patting. It all feels so different. I guess my question is, is he likely to go back on after 10 days or is this the end? Online it says children rarely self wean before the age of 2 so I’m clinging onto that but he really doesn’t seem to want it now.

My DD self weaned at around the same age. I did find it a bit emotional, but at the same time it was lovely that she made the decision herself.

My Ds stopped asking at 13.5mo and I wasn’t up for cajoling him to feed. The internet “natural term bf” community do say at that age this is just a nursing strike and can be overcome but I felt weird like I was trying to force it on him so I just let Ds stop and chose to be happy it was his decision.

Mine just crawled away mid-feed one day and that was it (11 months I think)...wasn't sad.

Mine self weaned around 13 months, also I think she had developed a preference for cows milk over mine.

Have your periods just started again BTW? My DD went through an extremely fussy phase around 4.5 months bobbing on and off my boob and it coincided with my period coming back, apparently it can change the taste of your milk?

after working hard to establish bf (had a tt cut) then trying to get him to take a bottle (failed). Working hard to get him to use a cup, introducing food… by 13mo when ds didn’t want to bf I was ready to just go for the easy option and accept it. It felt good to be able to just chill and go with the flow rather than fighting it.

My son did the exact same, although it did coincide with his 1 year jabs. He was a bit under the weather after having them and refused the boob, but never resumed. I was heartbroken at the time.

One thing, just to warn you, because he stopped so suddenly I did have a huge hormone dip that really impacted my mood. Usually self-weaning is done much slower and your body adjusts gradually over time as you decrease the frequency of feeds and the amount of milk you produce, with sudden weaning though that doesn't happen and so you may feel the effects of it more. Just something to watch out for.