If you wanted to stop BF, and did so cos you thought you were ready did you then REALLY miss it? I can't decide!!!

[Whitty]

Ok, my DS2 is 13 months, and I have successfully managed to wean him off day feeds. We are still in the first week, but everytime he signs for milk he has had a bottle and it has gone really well.

Now I feed him morning and night, and still through the night

I think I am ready to stop feeding him completely but I'm not sure. My first baby never really seemed to enjoy BF and he weaned at 8 mths, just made the decision one night and that was his last!

I wanted to wean DS2 off the breast slowly, as I think I am ready to stop, but I think part of this is because of the nights still, which makes me a little sort of resentful almost as he is not the best sleeper, so I actually think his nights are not going to get anything remotely like pleasant until I stop the BF but I can't help but think that once he stops (or I stop him) I will really really miss it, I don't know what to do!

I've told a few people that I have had enough now, and want to wean him off slowly but the more I think about it, I doubt it!

If you thought you were ready to stop BF and did, did you miss it more or less than you thought you would?

God I've rambled sorry.....

I also weaned dd2 slowly at this age, she came off day feeds very easily and I was reaaaalllly worried about nights as she was sleeping with me latching on and off all night. I also had trouble feeding dd1 so was worried I would miss it as has been very positive experience with dd2. We started with dh giving her a bottle to put her to sleep and I carried on feeding her after midnight, then I started offering her a bottle, then water, then nothing. Her sleep is still not brilliant but my god is it better than it was. I felt very wobbly for about 10 days, over emotional and generally odd which I presume was hormones, but I am really glad to have done it now. I am getting much more sleep, I feel more myself again, have more time for dh, I can seem glimpses of normal life returning! I would take it slowly and see how you go, dont put any pressure on yourself. Hope it goes well.

i stopped feeding dd at 19 months and i miss it dreadfully.
i was ready at the time as i wanted to get pregnant again and i was finding it a bit draining, so it was the right time to stop but i really do miss it still.

FWIW, i remember feeling that i could not carry on feeding through the night and so stopped those feeds way before stopping altogether. losing the night feeds made me much less exhausted and happier about bf in general.
can you cut out the night feeds only to start with if you are unsure whether you want to stop altogether?

wtss..
I'm not sure how to stop through the night tho...

I was hoping that weaning him off in day would then help him to not have so much at night. Seems its having the opposite effect!

Whitty my ds2 is at same stage. But I'm going to keep on doing it as long as poss he is my 3rd and final child and it is one of the things i miss most afterwards. Really miss to the point when I see mums feeding I get teary eyed.

i just bit the bullet on night feeds. resigned myself to sitting up with her till she got used to the idea; offered her water, sat with her and explained that we weren't going to have boob milk at night any more, cuddled her, sang to her and she did accept it eventually.
i remember telling her that i knew i was hard and that i'd sit with her till she felt better. but i was still feeding in the day so don't know if that made a difference - that she knew it was still available first thing in the morning and during the day.

HTH.
good luck with whatever decision you make.