When did you stop breastfeeding?

[Jummynbean]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, got a little one on the way and was curious to find out when you all decided to stop breast feeding and also why? Most places online recommend anywhere between 6 months and upwards of 2 years which is pretty vague. If you can also add some pros, cons and whether you think you should have done it differently, keen to learn from your experiences.

10 weeks the first time - not by choice, I had some health issues that meant it was necessary.

Currently still feeding 14 month old dc2, but probably soon.

3.5 months with first and 8 weeks with second

I truly hated it, but did what I could - had something called DMER which I wasn't even aware of after bf completely finished - the most awful waves of huge emotional blankets literally engulfed me around bf times / let down - it was really awful

Didn't enjoy the first few weeks bf first child as it was painful albeit she latched really well. Second child was much easier from the get go

My youngest decided he'd had enough at 17 months. I was only really feeding at bedtime by then but one night he latched on, came off, shook his head and said 'No! NO!'. And that was that.

Still going at 2.5 years. We can go 2/3 days in between feeds now so I think we’re nearing the time when dd will self-wean. I think she just asks out of habit as she’s only on for a minute or less.

I am looking forward to getting my boobs back, not going to lie!

Mine both weaned themselves --17 months, and 2 1/2 years. My second probably would have lasted longer, but I had something akin to a nervous breakdown, lost a ton of weight and my milk mostly dried up.

15 months with both . I stopped feeding in the day at 9 months ish as they went to childcare .

Personally I had , had enough by that point and as they were eating etc they didn’t need it as much . Plus they both slept better when I stoped .

DS is 2.5, we are tapering to one feed a day at the moment with plan to stop completely before he is 3.

He never had formula but has had bits of cows milk since he was 1.

Wouldn’t change it

I breast fed till 6 months and my boobs are wrecked but hey ho 🤷‍♀️

About to go and spend some money on some decent bras

12 months.
Proud to have done a year but it felt the right time to stop.

4.5 years. He stopped of his own volition when he started primary school. Prior to that was only a quick nurse at bedtime for a good year and a half, for comfort. I had no compelling need or reason to end it before he was ready (in that it was no inconvenience) so let him decide when he no longer needed it.

14mo and 15mo. I'd had enough by then. Wanted to stop at 12mo but they weren't ready. They ate solids better once weaned off breastmilk and also I don't appear to ovulate while bfing so conceiving not didn't happen until after I stopped.
Things to know is feeding a newborn is painful and difficult for the first 2/3 weeks. I found mine both had too small mouths to start off with to get the proper latch shown in all the books. Then it is pretty easy to get a latch but can still be difficult with cluster feeds and tongue tie and allsorts. Once that's all sorted it's super easy.
I recommend introducing a bottle within the first week otherwise it's really hard to get them interested. I also have Ds2 a dummy from day 2 because both mine likes to comfort suck.
No nipple confusion.

15 months and he’s still feeding. I hadn’t expected to be feeding still, but we’ve had a really easy feeding journey. He latched on in recovery from c- section and that was pretty much it. We did have reflux to deal with, but I think the method of feeding him didn’t really make much difference, although the management is different if you breastfeed.

He took a while to get into solid food, and I found that a bit stressful. I wondered if I’d ever stop feeding him. Worth knowing that some babies don’t go for food straight away and food before 1 is just for fun, as they say.

He had no problem taking a bottle (that’s also a thing that can happen) but I found expressing a chore, even with a good pump. Eventually the childminder persuaded me to go with formula once a day at hers (he was 9 months) as she could see I was struggling, and that did make my life easier. Didn’t disrupt our breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding does make you a bit tethered in the early days. It was that I think that I found particularly tough, and getting into the swing of how I did public feeds which came with being confident in positioning etc. I also took the lions share of night feeds, and he’s a frequent waker.

It is magic though especially as they get older. Boob does fix everything. Although, consider what you call it. I always used to ask him if he wanted ‘boob’ without thinking I’d be feeding when he became verbal. Of course now he will paw at my top and say boooo boooo . I just know one day he’s going to point out some other woman’s boo ..

Just finished my DD is 3yrs old I'm about to have our third so the change in milk is probably what weaned her off I'll be trying with this LO also really worth it. Good luck op

I fed my first until he was 25mk this and the second until two and a half. For me, it really helped with difficult sleepers and we all enjoyed it upto this point. We did, however, night-wean both by 18months, as I was really suffering by that stage.

14 months, she gradually cut down when I returned to work and was on just one feed before bed for the final month.

Currently feeding dc2 and we are 7 months in, intending similar duration but taking it as it comes.

@SirVixofVixHall
5 and a half years or months?! Out of sheer curiosity

Years. I fed for eight years solid , one baby then the next, all theough pregnancy, so by then it was easy. She was only having a night time feed then, but really didn’t want to stop ! I got a nasty kidney infection that needed heavy duty antibiotics not safe for her, so stopped then. It seems ages, but as someone said on another thread, your child is only ever one day older. I didn’t set out to feed for so long, but she wanted to keep going and I really didn’t mind either way.

8 weeks for dc 1, utter hell and gave me pnd. Should have stopped sooner. Dc2 was 5 days and things were were wonderful after that. It was the right amount of time for us!

You've just got to do what works for your family, best of luck!

Oh no it makes no difference to your boobs.

12 months with DD, 15 months with DS. Weaning led by them both times.

My boobs are quite big and I don't think they're saggy/saggier than before. Make sure you get a properly fitting nursing bra and you should be fine.

19 months with DC1. Currently pregnant with DC 2 and planning the same - sometime between 18 and 24 months, in all likelihood. I went back to work when DC1 was 9 months old and he had some formula during the day at nursery, but all of his feeds at home (mornings, evenings, overnight and weekends) were BF only.

Like many PP, I found the first few weeks absolutely excruciating - so much pain (let down was accompanied by intense burning in my breasts rather than the "warm glow" I had read about) and exhaustion. But once we found our rhythm I really loved it - so easy to settle a breastfed baby, as their ultimate comfort is always there, and so convenient because you can feed anytime, anywhere. I have always been quite prudish, but I found that after the first few times I was really happy to feed in public (probably helps that my boobs are quite small, so I was never really exposing that much).

It wasn't always smooth sailing - I had mastitis and blocked ducts several times and had dermatitis on my nipples that got so bad that I was referred to the breast cancer clinic because they thought I might have a rare for of breast cancer (I didn't thank goodness). But even with all that, I still feel that it was the right choice for me.

My advice: Assume that it is going to be difficult and painful for the first few weeks - that way, when it is tricky and your nipples are screaming you won't think that you are doing something wrong! The official advice seems to be that if it is hurting, you are doing something wrong, but I don't anyone for whom this was true - everyone seems to have found the first weeks to be really painful.

We are continuing to breastfeed at 2 years and 3 months old...
WHO and NHS advice is to breastfeed until 2 years old and beyond.
Great that you’re doing research already. I’d definitely recommend finding your nearest La Leche League meeting and going along before your baby even arrives as they are always delighted to see pregnant women and will give you loads of useful advice.
All the very best

3.6y here and still going 🙄. I'd have quite happily packed up a year ago, but ds doesn't seem ready yet. Night feeds stopped about 2 years ago, but he is still a shit sleeper.

There are loads of things I didn’t understand about breastfeeding before I did it.

Birth-six months, you’ll be breastfeeding about 8-12 times per 24hrs

6 months-1 year, as food is introduced, this can go down to about four feeds in 24hrs, which is a HUGE difference. You’ll also introduce the odd cup of water or cows milk with meals.

1 year+, your baby may only be breastfeeding once in the morning and once a night, or even just once at night.

So when people say they’re still breastfeeding at 18 months, it may only be once or twice a day, and for comfort. Babies can have whole milk or water as their main drink from 1 year old.

I always said I’d stop breastfeeding at 6 months, but I kept going because it got so much dramatically easier then. I got so much of my time back, and it became more of a suppliment rather than the baby’s whole sustainance. I don’t really see a reason to stop now, until baby decides to stop themselves, as only feeding a couple of times a day is no hassle at all.

I hope that helps!