When did you stop breastfeeding, and how?

[MintGreenLife]

DS is coming up to 10 months old, and I’m starting to think about how much longer I will breastfeed for. I’m thinking I’ll continue to around 12-14 months, but I don’t really understand how you even stop? I know from 12 months he can have cows milk, but as he doesn’t take a bottle (tried, flat out refused) what do you do about any night feeds? He’s settled into a one wakeup a night pattern now, and can be rocked to sleep, but I always choose to feed to sleep, apart from on nights with multiple wakeups, then maybe I’ll rock him to sleep once or twice, but surely I can’t rock a 14+ month old to sleep, and if I gave him milk in a cup in the night, surely that’s likely to end up with milk all over him. I’m probably being silly, but would love to hear what others have done! X

Mine was a little older so maybe had a bit more understanding. But I would just say you can have it in the morning/after your nap/at bedtime if she asked between those times. Then said do you want a snack and she would usually gladly accept!

Mine didn't self wean, but coming up to 4 years I made sure I didn't sit down for long enough, distracted/offered a snack/ distracted/said no or later and it tapered out.
Taper the feds down, don't stop dead so that you baby can adjust and you won't get such a hormonal dump and risk blocked ducts etc.

Once they are over one I always offered a snack first. I also never fed outside the house as I was done planning my clothes around it.
Around one they get more interested in snacks during the day so were happy except when ill. Once they are walking they are also less interested in stopping playing.
You can also spend some time away from the baby and they will just shift their feeds.
You don’t have to decide in advance when to wean, just see how it goes. You just have to only reduce one feed at a time to avoid the risk of mastitis.
I weaned mine quite impulsively after a few months of don’t offer, don’t refuse as I had the feeling he would never be ready for potty training without it. I explained to him, he understood and was showing readiness within the week.

Sounds exactly like my boy was. Wouldn't take a bottle.
We stopped at about 13mo but the volume of milk he was taking from me had been going down. I think in the end only one boob was producing.

I started him on normal milk in a tommie tippiee sippy cup at around 10 or 11 months as he was to start nursery at 11.5mo and would need to take all his drinks from that kind of cup.

To wean off the boob I'd offer the milk from the tommie tippiee first then offer boob. I did this gradually with each feed. I still fed him in the night which he would usually do once at around 10-12mo.

Once he had been at nursery a few weeks he started sleeping through the night so I never had to refuse. He settles to sleep on his own so I cant help with the rocking! That would break my back though!! Can you try giving him a comforter?

Easiest one to crack for us was the morning feed, he guzzled the milk in the sippy cup so wasn't interested in boob.

Good luck xx

I am still feeding my 2.5 year old. I was really lucky as he just gave up the night feeds on his own at around 16 months. He now just feeds first thing, before bed and before his nap. I love being able to still feed him to sleep as we have no fighting for naps and he just goes straight to sleep with no fuss and doesn't get overtired.

He doesn't get upset about no breastmilk at other times, just accepts it isn't part of his routine.

Just stopped at 13 months. Went cold turkey. By that time it was just morning and bedtime feeds. It was fine.

DS is 16 months. He’s been nightweaned since 12 months, I just couldn’t cope with being back at work and feeding multiple times a night.

He has 1-2 feeds a day, although he’s teething really badly and has a cold at the moment so every feed ends in me being bitten. Each time, that brings me closer to giving it up!

12 weeks with my first. I then hired a nanny and went back to work. The other two were formula fed from the outset. That way it wasn't just me who got up at stupid o'clcock to feed junior plus I didn't have to indulge in exhibition breastfeeding when were out and about as somebody else could feed the baby while I drank my coffee. Result.

My 2 would not give it up!! I made the mistake of feeding to sleep long after they should have stopped. I think I was more of a comforter than anything. They were around 3 years old and it was so hard gif them to stop by then

I stopped at 12 months, and the one who refused a teat went straight onto a sippy cup.

I had enough of BF when they were walking, eating food, and would bite with their teeth.

Not wanting to carry on BF with biting is completely under😖😅 that does not sound like fun!

After reading what lots of you have done, and what feeding beyond 1yr looks like, I think I will just go with the flow.

@WalkingOnSonshine do you mind if I ask how you night weaned? I’m not too concerned about this at the mo as DS generally wakes 1-2 times in the night and I feed him back to sleep, so not too bad, but would be good to know what you did.

I think in a way I’m not really doing myself any favours with BF in terms of me having a little bit more freedom, as I still tend to feed him every 2-3hrs despite him not often showing signs that he wants to feed. Think he would forget entirely if I left it up to him! X

I stopped at 3.5 years with my first. At 12 months I only fed twice a day morning and bedtime. I worked in the day so that made it easy to enforce. She's never liked other milk as a drink so just had water in the day. At 2 years I stopped the morning feed, I explained milk was for bedtime only now she was older and she was fine about it. At 3.5 she just stopped asking for milk every night and that was it.

I'm feeding my second now at 12 months old hoping to get to at least 2.5 years. I haven't gone back to work a quickly this time so she's still feeding quite a lot. I am trying to reduce it down to twice a day though.

Following...

I'm still bf at 21m and I don't want to stop completely yet, but my dd just feeds all the time when I'm around and I'd really like to cut down a bit!

Today when I picked her up from nursery after work she kept saying feed, feed... I said OK when we get home... "no feed now!" I said look I would need to sit down, there's no park bench or anything... she said "floor?" Omg she is an addict! (I didn't sit and feed her on the pavement obvs! But I remember having to feed on a curb once when she was a baby!)

I stopped at 2 years, we were down to just a bedtime feed by then (I think, maybe one in the morning as well). Started getting DH to do bedtimes after the feed to break the link between feeds and sleep. Moved to every second night for a feed and then every third etc until we stopped. It was very gentle and there were no tears.

DH basically took over & did any settling. If he wasn’t settling after 15 mins, I went in to try and settle, would offer water etc but would give a feed if still upset.

We also stretched out the length of time between feeds, so if he’d fed at 1am, I def wasn’t going to feed him at 2.30 again!

For us, it was quite quick and easy. I sent in extra expressed milk for a few weeks at nursery and gave longer feeds when I was with him in the day.

He’s also really close to his Dad, and I think it comes from having that time when he’d end up sleeping in bed with him!

I stopped a couple of days before ds turned one after he bit me a couple of times really hard. At that point I was already back at work and he only fed in the morning, evenings and night. I just stopped one day and he was fine taking warm milk from a sippy cup at bedtime instead, which was partially a relief and partly quite disappointing at the same time!

Felt slightly engorged for a couple of days but not much, probably because he was only feeding morning, evenings and night

@Pyewhacket pray tell what is "exhibition breastfeeding"?