Did breastfeeding come to an end naturally for you?

[Lizbiz89]

I've been bfing my 16 month old exclusively since birth. Obviously not exclusively now as he's on solids. I was just wondering for anyone who bf longer than 12 months how their journey came an end. Was it a natural progression or did you have to actively stop? My ds still very much asks for it and wants it. I would love for it to end naturally but I'm not sure if that's possible. Would ideally like to not be bfing past 2.

I breastfed until 16 months but had to actively stop as my DD was showing no signs of stopping and would wake for it every 2 hours overnight, yet when she was with my DH overnight if I was on a night shift she'd wake up once for a bottle and that was it.
My DH got up to her at night for 4 weeks to cut the night feeds which were the most frequent then gradually weaned off the day which wasn't much anyway. She didn't massively resist thankfully.

I stopped when DD was three
it was my decision and did it over night
she was old enough to be distracted etc and it went very smoothly
she wouldn’t have stopped on her own !

With my first I had a very down day where I knew I wanted my body back. I was sitting on the couch one day breast feeding, while my period was flooding out of me, and I thought ‘that’s it, I want my body back’. I felt like a thing, there to feed a child and conceive another, rather than a person. So I added in one more bottle every day until it was all bottles.
With my second, they absolutely refused a teat so I decided to BF until they were one, and by the time I got there they were biting and pulling my nipple with their teeth and laughing, so I was very happy to stop then. I went cold Turkey as they were eating 3 meals a day, so just offered cows milk in a sippy cup.

At 12 months plus I was back at work so generally only feeding twice a day. With both mine, one night they just didn't want to feed and then a few days later they didn't want the morning feed either and that was that. No decision making on my part and no stress, just sadness when I realized that the younger one had had her last feed.

Ended naturally at 13 or 14 months. DD just decided she didn’t want it. She had been feeding twice a day at that point, first thing in the morning and at bedtime.

I stopped breastfeeding DD at 18 months. For quite a while she was only feeding twice (first and last thing) and I thought I'd just carry on until she refused the feeds (as she had done with other feeds that she dropped). However, I got pregnant and was feeling very nauseas, vomiting a lot etc and knew that I didn't want to tandem feed so decided to give up.

One evening I was out for dinner with friends and husband gave DD a bottle of cows milk rather than expressed (she was used to having this as a drink). She took it fine so the next night I took her up a bottle of cows milk. She was fine!

A week or so later I was up before her in the morning so decided to take a bottle of cows milk up and the rest is history. I realised that she didn't actually care where the milk came from she just wanted it.

I'm 29 weeks now and just hoping that she doesn't become re-interested in it once she sees me breastfeeding the newborn!

With DC1 I stopped at 12 months and it was my decision. It was easier than I expected though. With DC2 she weaned herself at 11 months and just stopped asking. So it can happen naturally, but I think it's less common.

Around 18 months for me. I was quite happy to carry on but they lost interest and became very half hearted so it naturally ended.

Stopped when the teeth came😣

With DC1 it stopped naturally at age 2, he just lost interest.
With DC2 my DD was still keen for regular feeds aged 3 but I'd had enough by then! Eventually I told her there wasn't any milk left, she'd drunk it all. She accepted it.

I’m in the same boat at the moment OP. My eldest gave up himself at 13 months. My younger one (18mo) is not likely to do that 🤣

Night weaning needs to come first, if you haven’t already. I’m now at the point of ‘not offering and not refusing’ and will then move on to offering cow/plant milk as a first alternative when he asks for it. That’s the plan anyway…but these younger ones have a will of iron!

Actively stopped age 2- reduced first then stopped. She was a bit miffed. Read some books together about it so she accepted it as part of growing up. There was some helpful info online, might have been La Leche League, I can't remember!

I breastfed dd until 13 months when it naturally came to an end. She'd wanted it less and less for a while so I followed her lead until she stopped asking for it.

My ds on the other hand...I had to cut him off at 2 years old. He wanted it for comfort and was still demanding it day and night. So leading up to 2 I started cutting it down and stretching out the time between him asking, so that by the time he turned 2 I could end it.

I actively stopped when my baby was 17 months old (had night weaned at 13 months). I cut one daytime feed at a time over a few months.

One they are 12 months you can put more boundaries in place rather than feeding on demand if you want to e.g. say no to some feeds or to feeds out of the house, only do feeds at certain times etc. This might make it more manageable for you rather than weaning entirely.

Natural term feeding (allowing the child to wean when they want to) will usually lead to breastfeeding up to 3-5 years old, sometimes older as children are very unlikely to self-wean at 1-2 years old, unless circumstances change breastfeeding e.g. supply drying up due to pregnancy.

Actively stopped at 18 months. I was pregnant again and toddler had taken to doing acrobatics whilst feeding which I couldn’t deal with any more. Also getting up pre 5am often to feed. We were only breastfeeding in the morning at that point, having gradually weaned down with me going back to work at 12 months and DH doing many more bedtimes. Required a few early mornings of distraction (straight downstairs for cows milk, fruit and TV), then 5am starts turned into 6:30 starts and no demands for milk!

My daughter stopped when I was pregnant with my son, she was just turned 3. My son was a more active stop, I decided to do it around Easter time and told him that when he’s had eggs off the Easter bunny he will be a big enough boy to not need milk anymore and it will all be gone.

He then told my in laws that the Easter bunny used mummys milk to make all the eggs. 😂

My first child stopped at 9/10 months and my second at 12 months. Both were just loosing interest so no point continuing. Was always intrigued how others breastfed for longer than that.
Had friends who did breastfeed for longer and had real battles to stop........

DC1 weaned natually. At around 18 months we were down to one feed a day, at bedtime. I changed our bedtime routine so that we would brush teeth after the feed, then story and bed (was previously teeth, story, feed). Did that for a month or so. At that point I had been happy to continue feeding if he still actively wanted it, but phased out offering it to him. He wasn't upset at all and wasn't demanding milk, so we stopped. I never had any issues with my boobs etc after stopping, probably because wexhad phased down so gradually and i was producing so little by the end, although my supply never 100% dried up (now feeding DC2 so will see whst happens after i stop!)

I had psyched myself up for dropping at two years thought it was going to be really hard for us both even though we were just down to two feeds at that point.

A month before his 2nd birthday he didn't seem interested in his bedtime feed one day so I didn't give it. He didn't seem bothered by the morning one the following day so didn't give that and that was it.

Same! Once LO had two teeth, NOTHING works stop the biting, and then I couldn't relax enough to get a let down...

First time yes but at 3.5 years! Second time I stopped it at 2.5 years.

My first did at almost 2 but this one 🙄 I don't see it happening and he was 2 on October past!

It needs to happen though. I've not night weaned and they're the only feeds plus bedtime left.

No with my first I wanted to breast feed for six months but when it came to stopping it wasn't physically easy so it took seven months exactly and then I chose to stop.

Second child I couldn't cope with demands of long feeds with a two year old in tow and stopped at six weeks, which I really regret and wish I'd had some more help.

Dd still going aged 2. Reduced to naps and night feeds. No idea when she will stop.

My first I fed until 16 months. I was down to just a bedtime feed and he was becoming so distractible and less interested so one day I just didn't offer, he wasn't fussed, and that was us done. I was about 5 months pregnant so I wonder if my supply had dried up or the taste had changed maybe.

My second I fed until 18 months - I stopped for him as he was getting bitey so again I just stopped offering and he wasn't fussed (again, we'd been down to just one feed a day, and again, I was about 5 months pregnant).

Number 3 is due imminently - I'm hoping for a similar pattern to be honest! But not planning any more kids after this so no idea how weaning without pregnancy to reduce my supply will go...