How did you feel when you gave up breastfeeding?

[matana]

DS is almost 19 weeks and i'm beginning to think about weaning. I never imagined i would feel quite so emotional about giving up breastfeeding.

Am i alone and any tips for making myself feel better?

But weaning onto solids doesn't have to mean giving up bf. Food is just for fun when you start - they get all their nutrients from breastmilk. Just carry on until you feel you want to stop.

At 19 weeks you have plenty of time to keep breastfeeding if you want to. Even if you are going back to work you can keep a morning and evening breastfeed (lovely to have those snuggles in bed when you have been apart for the day).

I introduced solids alongside breastfeeding and reduced the number of breast feeds as the dds were ready and taking more food. I stopped bf-ing entirely at around 14 months (by then dd was only on 1 breastfeed/day). many people carry on much much longer. Whatever works for you!

The nice thing about keeping on breastfeeding is that when they are ill or teething you can easily up the breastfeeds which is perfect to help them get better.

And as they take more food and less milk you can leave them for longer and therefore get a bit more freedom and time to do some of your pre-dc things.

So no need to feel sad! My tip to make yourself feel better is, if it's right for you and your ds, to keep going !

Honestly, you can keep bf for as long as you want (I bf until 14 months as well). I'd recommend trying to get him to drink from a bottle or a cup if he doesn't already as that gives you a bit more freedom. I found expressing milk a complete PITA. and from around 5 months DS had those little cartons of formula if I was away from him for a day or an evening. But I would have hated the idea of stopping bf altogether at that age.

I agree - weaning doesn't mean they don' need milk! It's unlikely that your LO will want to give up the breast for months and months yet, possibly not till 18 months old or 2 years! Remember that they still need milk as a drink, and that it can't be cow's milk, till they are 12 months old. After that they can have cow's milk, but many children like to breast feed (especially before bed) for much longer than a year, so there's no need to stop yet unless you want to.

I'm still giving DD a bedtime bf at 14 months and am considering another six weeks of it until completing the weaning process altogether (unless DD beats me to it, she's on for less and less time now).

I agree it's a great tool to keep handy for helping them through illness, teething etc. I'm intending to keep going for the next six weeks so bf will be available for DD to help her through her next lot of jabs and any reactions to them.
After that, my intention is to stop.

So yes, I echo the others - by all means start cutting down on feeds once your DC is taking a decent amount of solid food, but don't feel you have to chuck in the towel completely for a while (unless you really want to, of course).

I stopped bf'ing at 23mo because it was Time. Both of us were coming to the natural end of things - DS was on one feed only at bedtime, and it was getting less comfortable. So one night I said no - he asked twice; next night he asked once - then that was it. Done. I was a little sad but not really - we'd run our course.

Very uncertain - I wasn't sure it was the right thing to do & was very concious that once done there was no going back iyswim. But it was DD2's decision, she was 17 months & really not interested anymore. I did don't offer don't refuse which worked well.

I agree with the others you don't say if there are any other reasons why you feel you should wean now - working extended periods away etc etc. Otherwise I would go with the flow (pun intended ;) )

I'm going back to work full time mid-August, so i always said that i would begin stopping BFing at around 6 months when DS is weaned. I really don't want to be expressing when i go back to work. It's a ballache (especially with the job i do which involves loads of meetings and travelling around etc)and for me, the joy of BFing is that it's about more than providing food and nutrition - it's about comfort and love, the actual physical action and closeness. Clearly i can't do that when i'm back at work so i'll be switching to formula (he'll be 9 months old when i go back) until he's old enough to take cow's milk.

I just feel so emotional about it, it's weird. A lot of it has to do with knowing i won't get the chance to experience it again as we won't be having any more children. At the moment, everything seems to be "the last time" i'll be doing things with DS as he seems to be growing up so quickly.

Even if you drop the feeds when you're at work, your body can adjust to the change and you could just feed once a day or twice a day, etc. and I've heard of people successfully feeding just on the weekends.
Back to work doesn't have to mean the end of nursing and you don't have to pump either at work.

I said I'd stop at 6 months when I started. Here I am at 14 months and still no end in sight.

This is your choice so take your time in deciding. Since it is your last time to bfeed, then why not try out feeding whilst working. You can always stop then if it doesn't suit and be happy in your decision.
At 9 months, your supply will be well established so could keep up feeding once a day with no problems.

I went back to work at 6 months and continued bf dd morning and evening. To be fair, she actually loved bottles and wasn't all that fussed, but I enjoyed it! It only lasted 6 weeks after I'd gone back, but I know people who have been much more successul with it. I do think it helped the transition, though, probably for both of us, but possibly more for me .

I was in a similar position to you, i went back to work when my DS was 7 months old. I had intended to continue to BF morning, evening and night feeds to maintain a bond but at 6 months my DS weaned himself off the breast and started sleeping through the night without night feeds. We had been introducing bottle feeds in the day over the past month (as well as solids) so it didn't come as a shock when i went back to work, but i was amazed that he seemed to happily switch over and never look back.
I thought I'd miss it but you can actually get just as close and nurturing with a bottle feed - especially if you do it in bed with skin on skin contact. And the nice thing once you have stopped breast feeding is that you know cuddles aren't just about feeding, they are about being close.
If you don't feel ready to stop then don't - no point traumatising yourself. But be reassured that you won't lose a close bond with your baby when you do stop. The fact that your baby still needs you even when you aren't the milk factory can be a really great feeling.

Nicely put, monkoray. My dd is two (today, in fact), and still loves her bottle first and last thing. We cuddle in bed with stories, and it's a highlight of the day. (I know, I know, she shouldn't be having a bottle anymore - but she does drink out of a cup the rest of the time ). So you can still have your cuddly baby without bf'ing.

I stopped when dd was one (on her birthday in fact, though I didn't plan it specifically that way!). She went down to two feeds a day a couple of months before that.

I too was anxious about work- I don't work predictable hours, so couldn't guarantee being there for the morning and evening feeds. For me this anxiety outweighed any continued benefits we may have got from carrying on.

It felt... absolutely fine. And dd didn't bat an eyelid (and now drinks no milk at all, as she doesn't like cow's milk, but seems to be ok on it!). But neither of us were that attached to breastfeeding. It suited us well for the time we did it, but there was very little emotional element to it for me, and she was never a 'booby' baby. By the end she was just nibbling for a minute or so at each feed.

So, fortunately for us, it was a very easy transition. A non-event really. And we're just as close as we ever were.

Sorry just realised my post may have sounded a bit dismissive in light of the fact that you're feeling emotional about it, OP. Didn't mean it to- just wanted to reassure you that it doesn't have to be a huge wrench.

If you want to you could just breastfeed morning and evening at 9 months.

I had a bit of a wobble about giving up or cutting down around 6 months when ds was on solids and seemed to be dropping feeds himself, but actually we still both really enjoy it. It's much less intensive now too (at 8 months) - I can go out and miss bedtime, or be away from him for a day and it's no problem.

At 18 months I noticed one day that my daughter hasn't been on the boob for a few days. Felt quite relieved, we were both ready to stop. I probably was ready earlier than her.

If you carry on BFing morning and evening it might help your transition to work, and it won't feel like the end of something. I did this when I returned to work at 12 months and it was lovely to come home in the evening and have a snuggle with DS while he fed.

DS stopped of his own accord three months later and it was fine.

I bf till 14 months too - never gave formula, just bf alongside weaning.

Tbh, I was relieved when we stopped - partly cos it was DD's choice, partly because it had been a long time and partly because I didn't even feel a tingle!

Relief. But DD was nearly five quite old

Like others I breastfed DS morning and evening after I went back to work when he was one. Gave up at 15 months - his choice more than mine at that point. I felt a bit sad but also knew we were both ready.

I let dc 6 carry on until he decided to stop, which turned out to be when he was 3 years and 9 months. I remember his last feed because it was next big sister's 5th birthday.
I feel sad because I think that is the last time I will ever feed a baby/child. But relieved in a way because up to that point I had been feeding for 12 years with only short gaps for the next pregnancy.
The other babies carried feeding until the next sib was conceived.
Even though he doesn't feed anymore he is extremely tactile with me ; caressing and kissing my stomach all the time.
I have no boobs left at all and what remains is a good 2 inches lower than pre babies, ho hum.

My DD stopped around 6 months and moved onto formula beacuse i was working full time. I tried to keep the evening and early morning feeds going but she refused. I was so upset - i remember trying to get her to latch on in tears, but i guess having bottles all day meant she didn't want the breast any more. I really really missed it - it was like a physical ache. But - thats probably because she was so little and i knew she was my last. On the plus side she is still cuddly and close now.