Ds 14 months and pretty much weaned off bf- is it poss to restart properly?

[Haylstones]

Over the last few weeks I've been working loads and ds has been doing lots with dh so we gradually -unintentionally- cut down on bfing. We got down to 3-4 times a week then went 5 days without me feeding him. Last night he was struggling with teething pain (screaming for hours ) but couldn't/ wouldn't latch on. I'm sure it would have brought him some comfort and don't want to stop so tried again today- he tried to latch on but couldn't work it out and ended up just biting me. I l ast fed him last Wednesday.

Is it best that I just accept that he is ready to stop now and leave it there? He drinks really well out of a cup (never needed bottles) so it isn't an issue in that respect.

I think I feel guilty because dd was bf until 18 months when I felt it was time to stop and encouraged her to do so but I guess 4 months wouldn't make a huge difference...

Any words of wisdom wouldbe much appreciated if anyone can make sense of my rambling

Is he not latching on because he isn't interested or not latching on because he's finding it difficult?

I can't offer any advice on how to get it started again, but if he doesn't, you should be proud that he has done 14 mths anyway. IMO that's pretty darn good.

He's never been that fussed on bfing tbh- never did much comfort sucking and would always wait until I offered him some. He has tried twice to latch on but not been able to for some reason- he is a bit snuffly so I wonder if that's why... he seems to have lost the technique

Anyone else around? Again he hasn't shown any interest today-think I have to admit defeat and accept he's finished with the bfing

It sounds hard to be unable to comfort your DS by your usual method of nursing

Do you think it could be a nursing strike because of the teething ? I see my own children have struggled with latching when ill with colds and snuffy noses.

Have a read of this and see if it helps click here

HTH

Thanks BE, that's a really useful link.
I don't really know what route to take- part of me thinks he is ready to stop and to accept it but the other part could do with it as a comfort tool! I discovered a giant molar yesterday so dosed him with calpol and teething gel and he slept from 7-7.30 (what he usually does bar night before!) last night so hopefully the teething pain is easing

He does seem young to self wean, but as I am nursing an 2.9 year old (and an 9 month old) I would think that

I would try to avoid making any decisions on this until he is well again. What about regularly offering to nurse in a gentle manner with loads of cuddles and see what happens over the next few days.

If you feel uncomfortable you could express off your milk and offer him your milk in a cup.