18 mo DD is feeding like a newborn

[DitaVonCheese]

Could do with some help/advice/sympathy. DD is just over 18 months. About a month ago we'd more or less dropped all feeds outside of bed except one to get her to nap at lunchtime (and she then fed on and off all night but we co-sleep and that's manageable). Then we went away for a week and she got a stomach bug, spent 24 hours puking every few hours and ended up just having breastmilk for a couple of days.

Since then (and actually possibly before - I remember her wanting boob a lot on holiday anyway even before she was ill) she's wanted to nurse almost constantly - probably every 20 minutes during the day and constantly switching sides during the night. Quite often in the morning she will just switch sides every five minutes for what feels like an hour before we get up.

I assumed it was a phase but it's been weeks now and is starting to get me down. I'm getting comments from my family, I feel nervous about feeding in public but have no choice unless I just stay in and I just want to be left alone!

Any suggestions? Is there an 18 month growth spurt no one's told me about? She is picking up a lot of words at the moment so is it related to that?

Thanks for reading.

Hi Dita,
I don't know what the answer is but your story is very familiar to me as it's exactly what happened with my DD.

I did talk to a fantastic NCT breast feeding counsellor (who knew about breast feeding for longer than 6months) and found her support and advice very useful.

I eventually took the view that DD was feeding more for comfort or that my milk wasn't enough for her (despite weaning using the baby lead method).

Eventually I was so tired and sleep deprived (and my breasts got even larger no doubt trying to cope with increased demand for milk) that I had to stop breast feeding for my own sanity.

The only way I could do this was by sleeping in the spare room for two weeks. That way, DD had her father and the familiarity of the room she's slept in all her life and I caught up on sleep.

I have found everything to do with breast feeding very emotional. I certainly don't have all the answers and I know that this isn't the only way to go however, in making your decision consider everyone in the family, not forgetting yourself and also try to find a positive support (especially if you plan to give up). That way at least you'll be making a decision based on the TRUE facts (a lot of people have negative opinions towards breast feeding children for longer) and you'll have some support whatever you decide.

Good luck

Hi and thanks for taking the time to respond - I really appreciate it

Do you know it hadn't occurred to me to contact the NCT (despite the fact I've just applied to become a BFC myself!)? I kind of think I should have all the answers by this stage!

I find that my two nurslings (13months and 2 and a half years) go through these phases - it's usualy teeth/illness/they just need me more at the time.
This probably won't help but you aren't the only one.

Dita My dd2 is like this these days too. She had self weaned in the day at around 10 months and was only feeding once or twice at night.

Then around the time she started walking at 12 months she suddenly increased the night-feeds. Before I know it she started looking to feed in the daytime too.

I just went along with her and now at 17 months she is feeding a lot.

She actually looks for more feeds than I can cope with to be honest and during the day I try to distract her sometimes which does work

The nights are hard though. She feeds to sleep, wakes after 3 hours to feed again and then wakes me repeatedly in the night (co-sleeping)

I went through a really bad time a few weeks ago where I felt run down and exhausted.

I just don't know how to deal with this. I have no friends with experience of feeding an older baby or toddler. I think it is easy to find help on keeping going with breastfeeding but not much on how to stop.

I still love feeding her but wish I felt more in control. At night if I refuse she screams and pulls at my clothes. Recently she started pinching me during feeds and I ended up with huge bruises.

Sorry for the essay. I have no advice but just want to say you are not alone.

Thanks for the replies and sorry for my delay in replying (just got back from a long weekend away). It really helps to know I'm not the only one, though wish I had some answers for you suiledonne. DD also screams and fights in the night if I refuse to feed her - her nails need cutting (again!) at the moment, so I've had some nasty scratches in the last couple of days. At the moment we are in a terrace so I generally give in and feed her, but we are hopefully moving to a semi in the next couple of months, so might re-attempt nightweaning then. I generally find it's easier to distract her in the afternoon - in the morning she's just a toddler possessed.