Breastfeeding support

[emlemon]

Hello everyone,

*I really want to start a breastfeeding thread on here, a space to share experiences, provide positive help and advice to one another and share resources.

Breastfeeding is an amazing journey but can be difficult and tiring. Support is known to help people to maintain a breastfeeding relationship. It's not always possible for people to get to local breast feeding support groups, so this may be helpful to some of us.*

Love and peace to all 😊

I was coming on here to start a separate post but I think I might post it here instead- please tell me though if you think this is not the right place to post it though!

My son will be coming up to 2 in November and I'd quite like to stop nursing by the time he reaches his birthday. He sometimes likes to nurse in front of the tv whilst we're having a cuddle, and always to sleep on an evening and if he wakes in the night he nurses to go back to sleep.

He never asks for milk when we're out or in place of food etc, it's more of a comfort thing now. The only reason I want to stop is that I simply feel like I've given as much time as I can to it now.

My question is how do I stop without it being a massive battle. With dummies and bottles etc you can take them out of sight (out of mind), but obviously my breasts are going nowhere. My parents in law have had him over night in the past and he's gone off to sleep fine etc, but when he's with me going to bed on an evening he expects nursing as part of his routine so I'm not sure how to approach it with out bags of tears.

My health visitor advised getting rid of the nursing when he wakes in the middle of the night, though again this is something he expects and don't want him getting distraught in the night.

I'm just wondering if anyone out there has experience of weening a toddler off a well established nursing routine? How did they tackle it? I understand it's not all likely to be plain sailing, but would appreciate it if anyone has any good advice!

Thanks for your help and support

Oh I like the idea of a breastfeeding thread, there's absolutely no local support where I am so I'm pretty lucky ds is a natural and seems to know what he's doing.

Hi firsttime I've not reached the toddler stage yet so I've no experience but would a cup of warm milk and a cuddle work? So there's still a sense of comfort. Hope you figure it out soon.

I stopped breastfeeding my daughter when she had just turned 2. I had been started on meds so had to go cold turkey with no warning. We just went with it being 'all gone'. She had a huge cry the first time after nursery, then a bit of a whimper at bedtime and the next day she was ok with it. We didn't try any other way to wean but this way worked for us.

Mine was a bit older at 2yr10m but I just said that it was too sore (true) and they were all done. I offered hot chocolate instead. The first night he asked repeatedly but wasn't upset. Night wakenings were harder as I just wanted to get back to bed, but luckily he didn't wake much once he cut the evening one wish I'd known that 18m before. I was amazed how well he took it though, and i was getting bad aversion and feeling quite angry so it's helped our relationship to stop. We also did it about the same time as moving from a double bed for cosleeping to a single bed that was just his.

I cut out night feeds first and kept day feeds going to make it an easier transition. DH went in if he woke in the night, giving him cuddles and offering a cup of water if he was thirsty. There was a bit of crying, but it wasn't bad and they were in their own routine after a couple of nights.

He stopped waking nearly as frequently once we cut night feeds, everyone slept a lot better. He sleeps with a sippy cup of water by his pillow, so he can help himself in the night if he needs a drink.

Day feeds I took the approach of just not offering. Sometimes he'd forget, sometimes he'd ask and I'd be fine and let him nurse, others I'd just say sorry you can't nurse just now. It's so sporadic now, I'm feeding a baby and he only really nurses very very occasionally if he needs calming from a tantrum or he's really hurt himself.

Hey firstimemum86, this is definitely the right place 😊*. 2 years nursing is fantastic. I'm a first time Mam, my baby is 3 months so I'm not sure I can offer any advice but hopefully you've benefitted from some of the other comments. It would be lovely if you could share your experiences with how your getting on.

I'm wondering if any of you can help me with something. As I say my baby is 3 months old, she sends me all the signals for wanting to feed but when I try to feed her she cries - only during the day, night feeds are without any problems and she goes straight back to sleep after feeding. Its not a new behaviour this is something shes done since she started to become more alert, but it has become more intense over the last couple of days. She really dislikes being in the cradle position and all other positions for that matter. I put her over my shoulder and this never fails to settle her, but she sucks away on my shoulder and soon becomes frustrated. Is the solution a boob on my shoulder 😂?! I've tired bottle of expressed milk a few times which she has refused. It's been a little while since I last tried so I'm probably going to try her again. Does anybody have any similar experiences/any advice?

Thanks 🙏*

Hi guys,

I’m sorry I posted and didn’t respond earlier on- life got a bit full on and I forgot that I posted tbh! It only occurred to me that I had posted once I got at my wits end with breastfeeding the other day and thought I need help.

I really don’t have the energy to go on with it but at the same time I feel like I don’t have the energy to do battle with my son who loves it. It’s always easier to nurse because I just want him to go to sleep and I can’t stand the noise of him whinging so I do it for the silence.

However this is obviously how I’ve ended up still nursing him at 2, by always doing what was easiest at the time. I know if I want something to change then I have to make a change but every time it comes down to it I just do what we’re used to for an easier life in the short term. So weak willed.

I genuinely think it’s making me depressed. What do I do?

Emlemon - i also have a 3month old and he is my first. I may be completely wrong but when my little man hates the cradle position and all others apart from over the shoulder it was wind, he would cry in an other position he is 16wks today and it is easing off a lot. As I say, I may be wrong but just thought i would suggest it from my experience.

Does anyone have any suggestion on increasing my milk supply it has been fine up until the last 2weeks. I have lots of fluid and eat 3 healthy meals a day. I express and breastfeed but he is not satisfied off me and I'm not expressing the same quantities.

Any suggestions would be helpful as I am getting anxious he may need formula if I can't satisfy him.

Hi everyone - I currently ebf my 5 month old. Would be great to be part of a support group.

Tigger - what is nappy output like? If you are having lots of wet nappies and baby is gaining weight, you're unlikely to have a supply issue. If you're worried, eating oats is a natural way to boost supply. Also swapping sides a few times during feeding can help along with breast compressions to make sure both boobs are being emptied. If your baby isn't gaining or nappies are a concern then speak to your gp asap.

It could be that at 3 months your supply has settled, meaning your body makes just enough for baby (and expressing therefore becomes trickier!). Baby fussing could be a growth spurt, developmental leap or something like wind / getting distracted etc. My little guy has always been a fussy eater - we go through phases of him being calmer but at heart he is a fusspot! I find changing positions during a feed and having white noise on helps to settle him.

Hope that's of some help!

Sorry about lack of paragraphs - I do put them in but they never show up when I use the app!

Thanks katnissk, I will try the oats and see if this helps.

His nappies are fine getting 5+ wet nappies a day and about 2 or 3 dirty ones (on a busy day lol).

I will try swapping breast also and see if that helps.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated hopefully this will help reduce my anxiety over it x