15 month old suddenly stopped breast feeding should we give him something else ?

[lozrobin]

Hello,

After a bit of advice as our little boy suddenly stopped breast feeding. He is 15 months old and was in a good routine of having a feed just before bedtime and one first thing in the morning.

Last week he was having a torrid time with teething (couple of the bigger teeth coming through) but seemed ot be recovering and then all of a sudden friday at bedtime refused my partners attempt to breast feed.

Since then not been interested (turns head away or bites) and now stopped offering altogether and he seems perfectly happy, in fact sleeping better than he normally does.

Our question is should we be substituting the breast milk with anything, he is a good eater, for example this morning he ate a whole apple, whole pear and some porridge. We have been caught on the hop a bit as weren't expecting to wean so suddenly so haven't done much reading but have found some conflicting info.

One site says at 16 months only needs cows milk (currently 15 months), other places suggest he should be getting some sort of formula milk - he has never had any before.

Any advice greatly appreciated,

Many thanks,

Lawrence

I would just offer cows milk and water, I'm sure he'll be fine. No toddler needs formula milk as long as they have a varied diet to get all the vitamins etc

He definitely doesn't need formula milk, you can offer cow's milk if you want, but he probably doesn't really need that either, it doesn't have much in it which is important for them.

It sounds like a nursing strike rather than weaning, BTW, although of course it might be an easy way out if your partner wants to stop anyway. But if she wanted to carry on breastfeeding it's likely to still be possible.

Yes of course he needs that waste of money toddler milk or he will die of malnutrition

Actually, ignore that sentence! At 15 months, he can get all his dietary requirements from a well-balanced diet. When you are thinking of 'balanced diets' don't just think in terms of meals, think of a balanced diet as being over a week or two, so if he only eats pizza at one meal, or turns his nose up at apple and munches cheese, or has a day eating only fruit don't worry about it. Remember that up until around the age of 5, children need a much higher fat diet than adults as it's important for brain development.

Bertiebotts may be right about it being a nursing strike rather than weaning, but you will have to play that one by ear. When I stopped bfing at the same age, my milk mostly went, though I could still get a dribble for a month or two after it I tried hand expressing, so if your partner wants to keep bfing it may be possible to keep going.

Many thanks for all the prompt replies, have made us feel a bit more rest assured that we don't need to rush out and buy some formula.

Had read that it could be a stirke due to teething but we were toying with starting to wean very soon so if he gets through next few days and doesn't seem distressed think going to just leave it at that.

Many thanks again,

Lawrence