Stopped breastfeeding but feel awful

[fluffymummykins]

My 12 month old suddenly stopped breastfeeding last week. She screams and arches her back away from me and just isn't interested. She wolfs my milk down from a bottle. So anyway, I am devastated. I genuinely feel like I am grieving and have been rejected. I am blaming myself, and I am just really struggling to cope. I had hoped it would just be a strike and she would go back to it, but she doesn't and hasn't. I just don't know what else to do.

for you feeling this way. I'm sure you know this but you've done brilliantly to make it to a year. But it sounds like DD is telling you she's ready to stop. It's her decision as well as yours!

It's really unusual for a baby to self wean before they are two ish or older, it's much more likely to be a nursing strike or pain eg ear infection or something. Have a look kellymom.com/ages/newborn/nb-challenges/back-to-breast/ for some info that might be helpful

We went through the same at the same age and I also felt exactly as you did. It was awful. He would chomp down on my boob or reject it all together for a few weeks. My DS is now 17 months and is feeding like a newborn, only now he can scream 'milky' across the dining table in front of the in laws AFTER lunch! Don't assume your time BF is over just yet.

My ds did that at 8 months. Well done for expressing anyway so she's still getting your milk !

My DS went through a phase of refusing the breast, he would push away from me, make irritable noises and then just fight against it. I think he was about 11 months and I remember being really upset and feeling rejected.

It lasted about two weeks and then he went straight back to breast feeding as normal.

Don't write it off just yet

My 4 month old has been behaving in exactly the same way! I've just about managed to win him back with lots of skin to skin and taking baths together. Keep offering in different positions, if you aren't ready to stop you should be able to tempt baby back. Good luck.

Mine did this at 10 months because he preferred it from a bottle. The milk flows faster out of a bottle.

As uou are in early days it probably is worth trying to get it going again if you want to?

I've tried skin to skin, but I feel slightly uncomfortable walking around with hardly any clothes on lol
We had progress tonight in that she bit me, but that's better than screaming.
I'm wondering if she had milk from a sippy cup rather than a bottle that might help as that's more like a drink than boob??

Oh and thank you all so much, I admit I was expecting people to say I was being silly and irrational but its comforting knowing its normal xx