Breastfeeding - when did you stop and why?

[Merrz]

Hi all, hope I'm posting in the right place. DD is 4 months old, breastfed from newborn, I'm enjoying bf and it came very naturally to both of us. Imagined I would bf until around 6 months then move to bottles, we've been trying a bottle occasionally since about 8 weeks, DD not keen but think she could be persuaded if I persisted. But now I'm begining to wonder if I should just carry on feeding myself and never bother with the bottle? But feel like there's a bit of pressure to be able to leave her, i also worry by 8/9 months I'll be regretting it but will be too late to start a bottle then? How long have other people bf for? If i were to stop bf at 1 year would I need to move to formula at that point or could she just have cows milk? Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

I stopped at 8 months, I just felt that was ‘enough’, but I mix fed (one formula feed most days) so that I could leave my DS without being the only one who could feed him. My DH really appreciated being involved in feeding as well. Might sound morbid but I have always been conscious that if I died I didn’t want to be the only one who could feed him. By the time I gave up DS was happily drinking from sippy cups, so no need for bottles.

Nutty of course you could have stopped, no need to martyr yourself, I was also a SAHM but had no intention of carrying on b/feeding. And children really don’t need as much milk as we think, if your DC didn’t want milk then so long as he is getting calcium in his overall diet that’s fine. Society (& other mothers) are great at making mums feel guilt .

I'd suggest carrying on and see how you feel - you've done the hard part I think!

My DD wouldn't take a bottle so it was easier once she was over 6 months and started having food as o could leave her more.

I'd always planned to stop at 6 months but I carried on as it just felt easier. I then cut it down to morning and night when I went back to work when she was 12 months, she took to having cows milk fine in a straw cup!

Ended up stopping at 16 months as I felt it was affecting her sleep at night, she moaned the first two nights (I used to feed her to sleep) bit then just seemed to forget about it!

Still going at 16 months, but much reduced from pure bfding days, didn’t bother introducing a bottle

Ds1 was 3yo, I was tandem feeding and he bit me a couple if times & I'd just had enough!

Ds2 was 4yo, he fed at to sleep and first thing in the morning and asked for it during the day and again I'd just had enough! So we talked about stopping on his 4th birthday, and did.

I fed both of mine til 1 when they sort of naturally weaned themselves with no drama, and I went back to work.

Personally I had no desire to leave them overnight until 1+ anyway, so it wasn't an issue, and after 6 months they would have a bit of formula in a soft spout cup with meals if I wanted to go out. We never got the hang of bottles which was a blessing in the long term I think.

I found BF a really special experience (after a bloody hard start!) so I'm glad I was able to do the full year.

My ds was able to have expressed milk or formula in a cup with dh at bedtime by 10months. I bf till 13 months. He wouldn’t take a bottle.

I stopped at 18 months with ds. I feel terrible admitting this, but I was so 'done' that I almost felt repulsed by it in the end.

Poor DS would have happily continued with a bedtime feed, but I couldn't mentally do it any longer.

I think it was just nature's way of me weaning him. My period arrived around the same time too (although perhaps that was as a result of stopping)

I have daughters too, a few years older than DS. I didn't bf them for long, if at all, but mainly due to lack of information and formula and bottles being the norm in my family & circle at the time (also pre internet)!

My sister is still regularly feeding her 3 year old, and even I feel for her personal space being invaded, but she obviously doesn't!

One year in day and two years at night. I much prefer bf to bottles do I didn't want to stop. Also who guidelines.

Don't feel terrible Lilac - it has to be a two way thing. Sounds like you had DMER. It's common.

I've just stopped BF DD at 23 months. I've left her plenty of times, including overnight a couple of times. Pre 1-year, it just means expressing ahead of time and then leaving a bottle, sippy cup or open cup of breastmilk for while you're not there.

Post 12m they can have cow's milk (DD has to have a dairy free alternative).

If YOU want to keep feeding, then do it! It's so much less faff than formula for one thing.

It's not all one way or the other. You can continue to BF but still have your freedom. You may find you baby will take a bottle for someone else (if you're not there).

I'm off to google DMER

Bf 4. Stopped all at 6 months because I returned to work and I had no intention of doing it longer than that. I didn’t like the thought of BF an older baby. They went on to formula then in a cup. No need for bottles They occasionally took s bottle before 6 months if I expressed to go out

Lilac - might not have been, might have just been a general aversion, which is a perfectly acceptable reason to stop too!

Neither decision is 'stupid'. Do what is right for you and for your baby.

There is nothing wrong with stopping because you want to do other stuff and there is nothing wrong with sacking off the hen weekend and night out for breastfeeding.

Do what you want to do.

You can't bring up your child to please others.

Dd1 - 5 1/2 months. I went back to work, was clueless and felt pressured into stopping by family/friends. Felt it was too soon.
Ds2 - 2.8 years. I went back to work ft when he was 8 months old. Continued to bf morning/eve and weekends. Totally over it by then, he was a monster if I let him. But it was obviously a comfort so I felt bad. Then my older child was admitted to hospital so he had a few days without and was totally fine so that was that. He did take a bottle though so we really did combi feeding from about 6 months.

My son never really took a bottle. I went back to work when he was about 11m and he just got by with food and distraction until I got back. Altho I was only 2 days per week

Ps I breastfed him at bedtime until he was 4 years old.sounds like a crazy long time. He found it v soothing and I was amazed when I found out how much nutritionally was still in milk age 1-2 years and presumably beyond. Stopped with my first at 11 months as my supply plummeted when I went back to work plus she was really keen on her food and lost interest.

@gotmychocolateimgood just fyi babies loosing weight in the first few days is completely normal. It's supposed to happen in fact. Babies are born with fatty deposits on them specifically for this reason as it days take 4+ days for milk to come in.

I stopped at 7 months and a half.

I enjoyed breasfeeding her, but I knew I didn't want to breastfeed into the toddler stage. She was also getting her teeth at the time and started biting my nipples, it was so painful. Also, once she started eating solids I just wanted to have a bit more of a routine of naps/feeds and breastfeeding doesn't go that well with routine. For me, I really enjoyed the time I breastfed her but I stopped at the right time for me.