How did you stop breastfeeding?

[user1483387154]

My son is 21 months old. He loves breast feeding and so do I, but I need to increase my anxiety meds and therefore have been advised to stop. I'm very emotional about needing to stop and I worry how he will react.
Currently he has a big feed in the morning then again when I pick him up from KG and again before bed. At the weekends he feeds more often.

What is the best way to do this? And do you have any reassuring words for me?

Thanks

I was just thinking about this!
However, which anti-anxiety are you on? Because I take sertraline at 50 mg and I am sure it is safe, particularly when toddlers dont actually drink as much and I feel it is more for comfort most of the time?
Gosh I am atm so overwhelmed by the constant chasing me for boob.
I have issues with personal space and she is 2...

I'm on venlafaxine and have been putting off increasing my meds since Christmas but my anxiety is getting worse every week.

My son feeds for comfort too but it's hard as I know he will get so upset and being a lone parent means I have no support with the changes.

Oh OP sorry I can't advice on that drug, I have no knowledge.
I understand. I was actually off my meds as we were trying for a second but I guess with winter I reached a low too.
Have you spoken to your doctor about breastfeeding on them?
I was hoping toddler would self wean but... nope.

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-factsheets/

You can contact this pharmacist for accurate information about medication and bf-ing. Often GPs /meds say not too when there is no real evidence. If there isn’t info on the factsheet about the meds you can email and she usually responds quickly.

I would trust a doctor over a pharmacist. If there is the tiniest of risks, is that really worthwhile ignoring for the sake of a few more months of comfort for your son? He'll have to stop breastfeeding one day anyway.

Well I would not trust most doctors in breastfeeding matters anyway if you are bringing this up, my experience has been appalling so there
That website is more informed than 90% of GPs in my surgery, the 10 being two GPs that have babies themselves

At 15 months I stopped feeding my DS. He was having a feed first thing in the morning and one before bed. Stopping coincided with me going away for a night so we went cold turkey and weirdly he never asked for it again. He just seemed to move on. So it may not be as bad as you expect if you do have to stop.

As Crabbitstick advises, contact Dr Wendy Jones, the pharmacist who runs Breastfeeding Network. If you and your child aren't ready to end your feeding relationship, there may well be a way to continue. www.breastfeeding-and-medication.co.uk/about-me

Sorry to hijack but @sleepthiefsmum18 how did going cold turkey affect your breasts? Did they get engorged?

I'm a long way from stopping but I worry about stopping as my breasts are very sensitive to the feeding routine. One missed feed and I get terrible engorgement.

Thank you for your responses. I will have another meeting with my Dr on Monday and will talk to a pharmacist too.

I hope you can carry on until you feel ready to stop.
DS was a bit older (28m) but when I was ready to stop I cut out the morning feed by going straight downstairs when we woke up and offering a cup of milk instead, with cuddles on the sofa and a story. Then when we were down to just a bedtime feed, for about five nights I told him that Mummy milk was running out and would be gone soon. The first night without it he had a cup of cows milk with stories before brushing his teeth, then we turned off the light and I cuddled up with him and put on an audio book he loves, and he fell asleep listening to that. We've done the same routine every night since. He did ask for a breastfeed a few times but I just told him all the milk was gone and he seemed to accept it, and stopped asking within a week.
Hope it goes well for you.