on-demand breast feeding - how do i wean down?

[GemmaPearl97]

16 month old, breastfed on demand since day one, but also did a bottle of formula daily as supply wasn't good.

What has happened in the last 2 months is that daughter is wanting to breastfeed non stop all the time. When she sees me she immediately wants to feed for comfort i think. She is fine when i am not around but its been horrible the last few weeks because she no longer wants to play with, just sees me for food & its making me sad

my question is my baby abnormal for this? is it un unusual behaviour? I want to wean down but not sure how when we dont have a regular feeding schedule. I still want to breastfeed in the morning and before bed (i enjoy it for the most part). is it possible to semi wean in this way?

Definitely possible, I transitioned to just a morning and a night feed around 12 months to prepare for going back to work.

During the day I just offered a cup of cows milk or a snack instead and DD soon got used to it.

Start offering her a snack and a cuddle.

Doesn't sound strange! Has she relatively recently started childcare? I've heard little ones can often feed loads more as a way of connection after being away.

I cut down from bf-ing on demand (no schedule) to one feed a day by 14 months. First step was to formalise feeding times, let her get used to that, and then i cut out one feed every 1-2 weeks. I used distraction and water, and a pre nap/bed routine that reliably involved cuddles.

Totally normal, it's just comfort.

Mine was boob mad, he was still wanting boob 4-5 times a day if we were home. If we were out and he was distracted he could go the whole day so definitely didn't need it

I tried to drop feeds and distract but it would result in hours of screaming which I'd eventually cave into.

At 22 months (when I was pregnant again) I tried puting lemon juice on my breasts and told him they'd gone bad and asked if he wanted a cuddle. He insisted on trying, pulled a face, tried the other one and happily stopped. Had to keep a lemon handy got a few days but there was no tantrums, just looked a bit peeved the first few times

Honestly couldn't believe how easy it.was. boobs did get a bit uncomfortable but no mastitis.

His moods actually got a lot better when he stopped breastfeeding too

I'd definitely try weening first before the cold turkey method