Any way I can go cold turkey breastfeeding my nearly one year old?

[Ineedtonamechangenow]

Oh my goodness, the pain. He's taken to latching by pressing my nipple against his two shiny new top teeth with his tongue. I'm bruised and sore.

He doesn't take a bottle but is slowly getting better at a cup.

Cold turkey will be traumatic, right? I'm at my wit's end and in so so much pain.

He's not biting me but his latch has gone really wrong lately

Absolutely. No it will not be traumatising as baby only needs the nutrients from breast milk until one. It is actually recommended you stop breastfeeding or if baby has bottle completely cut bottle off by one as it begins to effect their mouth dev of you continue to give them bottle or breast. Also you should be so proud of yourself that you breastfed you beautiful baby for so long! I really look up to moms who breastfeed their babies as I didn't myself due to birth complications.

How many feeds are you doing at the moment? By one I was just feeding last thing at night so easy to cut out. If you're feeding several times a day you may want to drop one or two feeds for a few days then the rest so your boobs don't overfill ( but you can drop feeds slowly by expressing if the latch is painful. Your DS will be fine.

No it isn't recommended to cut them off, WHO recommends to feed until at least 2.

You can do it, but you might need to have someone else settle him for naps as he will want milk if it's you. Expressing might be needed as stopping cold turkey can contribute to mastitis. Perhaps start trying to dry up your supply too, e.g. cabbage leaves, peppermint, etc to make it easier on yourself.

Are there specific feeding times where someone else could step in for you?

I slowly reduced feeds over a few weeks but I think you could do it sooner if both you and baby are ready. You may find you're quite sore if you stop suddenly though. I was a little shocked to read the recommendation above that breastfeeding should not be continued past one. I had always understood the WHO recommendation was two?!

I had to with DD as she absolutely would not take me weaning her off slowly with a cup or bottle during the day.

Just a thought would nipple shields help? I used them in the early days to give me a break if I was sore and bleeding. Not sure if a one year old would latch but it may offer you some relief and give you chance to heal. Good luck!

It is 2+, not just for nutrition. It also helps develop the eustachian tubes which prevents ear infections for example.

Op I found this which is a list of foods to avoid while feeding as they reduce supply. Perhaps you could eat these to reduce the risk of mastitis and to dissuade baby if you decide to reduce rather than cold turkey?

Thanks all for the advice. I'm going to start by dropping the lunch time before nap feed and see how we go