Has anyone suddenly stopped breastfeeding? If so how?

[rosyrabbit]

DD is 10months and bf every hour, I feel it is time to stop as I am exhausted by it. If she only had 3 feeds a day I would be more than happy to continue.

I have spoke to HV who advised dropping 1 feed per day, but I just feel that would never work and that I should go cold turkey.

Anyone got any ideas how to do this without upsetting dd and me?

I read somewhere once that you can soak garlic in olive oil then rub the oil on the nipples so baby will not like the taste and after a few days stop feeding...

I know it sounds mean but I am thinking of doing this!!

Any better ideas??

The point of dropping a feed at a time is as much to help your breasts adjust as your DD. If you do stop cold turkey you will have very swollen breasts that are still producing a full day's milk.

TBH if you are feeding that frequently I think your HV advice is absolutely spot on. By dropping feeds gradually you are less likely to have engorgement and possible complication like mastitis.

If you are dropping feeds gradually then you might be able to reach a stage where you are only feeding maybe 2 or 3 times a day.

I think the garlic idea is rather mean. Basically you would be getting your baby all ready for a feed, getting your breast out, her latching on, in the knowledge that she will have a big shock with the taste. Seems rather cruel to me. If you don't want her to feed any more then would be kinder to not offer the breast in the first place IYSWIM.

I went cold turkey with dd2, aged 19 months. I just found it impossible to cut down gradually. I gave her to dh for a couple of nights, and if she really cried, I gave her a bit of milk, but mostly dh and I tried to comfort her in other ways. She was fine, after 2-3 days she wasn't bothered in the slightest.

I found it awful though! I had to express milk to make sure I didn't develop blocked ducts or mastitis, and my hormones just seemed to crash, leaving me very emotional, for about two weeks.

I wouldn't bother with the garlic thing, that sounds odd.

ANyway, going cold turkey worked for us,but it is better to cut down gradually.

I would prefer to drop a feed at a time but I think it would be impossible as dd wants to be bf all the time. She pulls at my top, screams and cries if I do not bf when she wants it.

Also I know it is mostly a comfort thing as when she is with dp alone for about 6 hours she goes without milk and is fine. She drinks juice etc from a cup.

When she is with me will hardly ever drink from a cup.

I know the garlic thing is very mean, I just thought atleast she will be the one to choose not to feed any longer instead of me forcing her to go without it...

Belgo - how many feeds per day was dd on at that stage?

Also was she eating well, and drinking alot from a cup?

She was on a lot of very small feeds, and I just found it impossible to cut down on any of them.

that is exactly how dd is, she does not eat much as fills up on milk..

so was she very upset during the day??

I think I managed to distract her during the day. And at night time dh was with her. She adjusted very well - the thought of stopping bfing was far worse then the actual stopping!

As I said, it was me who suffered the most - and that's why I wouldn't really recommend you do it that way.

Looking back I can't understand why I couldn't cut down gradually - but at the time I just couldn't.

Could you try distraction or offering water to try and lengthen time between feeds ?

Its not very easy to distract her as she is very clingly and upset at the moment anyway. I do offer her water alot but she only drinks alittle.

She drinks more from dp.

i completely know what its like rosy.. my DS is a frequent feeder and his favorite place in the world is on my boob and failing that on my hip
Over the past week we have tried to increase the time between feeds so that he has to wait at least 3 hours.. but offer plenty of water in a beaker.. its hard because he just whines and grabs at my top but we have been trying to distract him and at the moment with the lovely weather we have been going to the park or swimming which keeps him occupied.

i must admit though I do cave in a bit late afternoon/evening as he is always extra hard work and needs the comfort.. perhaps try to space them out for a few days and then you can start to drop one. Its tough.

thanks mmelody, it really helps to know other people have the same problem.

how old is your ds?

i will try to space them out...