Weaning off of BF

[Coffeencrochet]

DD is 2 years 2 months and I want to have her completely off of BF by 2.5 years - I'm just completely worn out by the constant feeds and her clinging to me. Yes it is sweet and I love the cuddles but I also miss being able to sit down without her asking for milk or being able to wear clothes that doesn't have to cater to feeding. She's never taken to drinking milk from a bottle and she refuses cows milk. Anyone have any advice to get through this? DS was great at stopping at 2 years and it only took 3 days, I stayed away from him for one day and he was pretty much over it by then!

Cow's milk not necessary, bottle definitely not needed.

Introduce boundaries- e.g. only one chair, or a particular time. Wear clothes that you can't at other times. Love bomb- so, let's have a lovely cuddle instead etc. By this age, it is totally ok to not feed at every moment it could be demanded, but need to be honest and clear- e.g. mummy is very tired, milkies (or whatever they're called) are tired, can we have a cuddle or sing together for example

@Harrysmummy246 I just worry about her dairy intake once the breastmilk is gone. She's happy drinking anything else, just not milk!
I've been doing some of those without realising I think - distractions work for a bit but she remembers again very quickly. I don't think I helped the situation by being so 'accessible' through lockdown etc.

Does she have milk on her breakfast? Or yoghurts and cheese too? She might be getting enough dairy in her diet without milk already. My 7 year old niece was dairy free that age and she was fine. I guess I'm saying here don't worry too much about her not drinking milk :-)

Saying that, my son was the same, wouldn't drink milk at all... until a few days after I'd stopped breastfeeding, then he decided it was OK after all!

@Wokenupeverynight she doesn't eat cereal unless it's dry because she hates milk that much 😂 she does like yogurt and cheese, I guess it's easy enough to make sure she's getting calcium in through other ways. I'm hoping mine is the same as yours though and suddenly likes it afterwards because it would help to open up her diet a bit more! She eats well enough but if she can see there's milk then it's a complete no.

If you want to stop completely then tell her the milk is ´all gone’ and wear tops she can’t get into for a while. If you want to cut back then stop in a few weeks/months then maybe wear clothes she can’t get into during the day and tell her ´it’s not time for milk, it’s time for snack/water/park/shower/playing/cbeebies.’ Then wear a dressing gown ah’t bedtime and first thing in the morning (or whatever pattern suits you) and make that bf time. She’ll probably get the hang of it quite quickly.

I love wearing high neck tops so will happily dig out my turtle necks no matter the weather she had tears down her face just now for milk despite drinking only half an hour ago, so I've distracted her with colouring in front of the kitchen so she can watch me while I cook. To be honest I think it's the comfort factor for her more than the milk itself - she's extremely attached to me and will only attach herself in a similar way with DH when I'm not in the house at all.

My DD loved breastfeeding. We've only just completely stopped 2 days ago and she's 2 years 5 months.
I don't know if you are still feeding at night but we stopped that first when she was about 20 months. DH did all the night wakings and bedtime as she used to feed to sleep. She'd have a feed before she went upstairs though.
Then I cut down to only feeding her first thing in the morning (to try and get a snooze in bed) and only in my bed.
2 days ago we stopped completely. It's been easier than I thought. She was a little obsessed with breastfeeding so I thought it would be tougher.

Yes @Christmas21 still doing the night feeds, these are the ones I think will be hardest because she will only settle to sleep without a feed with DH, but he works nights, he is working hybrid atm but can't really get him to settle her during his working hours! She'll sleep if I walk with her but will wake up as soon as she's back down again :(

Neither of my kids ever drank milk after weaning, they seem fine. They eat a lot of yoghurt instead.