How do you know you are ready to stop?

[keese22]

I'm so confused!
Lo was ebf for the first 6 months until we started weaning and up until about 2 weeks ago he has been a bottle refuser.
We've finally cracked the bottle and he's been taking about 5oz of formula at night.
I think I'm ready to stop. I'm exhausted. He feeds maybe 5 times in 24 hours. I've been trying to making him less dependent on nursing and no longer feeds to sleep (apart from night feeds )

My reasons for wanting to stop. I'm exhausted, I can't keep the weight on and I feel drained. I want my body back now and I feel really selfish or saying that.

The thing that's stopping me..guilt. I feel that by stopping feeding lo I'm depriving him of something. I feel bad for him i don't know what to do. How do you know when you are done?

 

[cat lover]

IMO you are ready to stop when one or both parties wants to x

 

[Bunanie]

I was in the same situation. I started to bottle train lo with formula around 6 months too and she's been taking formula for her bedtime feed since.

There were a few times I was going to stop, but you are soo right! It's the guilt that's stopping me from quitting completely. I had a pretty easy bf journey and every time I read someone is struggling with latching etc, I feel like I'm taking it for granted.

So I decided I will just let my milk to dry up naturally, because she's too distracted to nurse properly anyway. I introduced another bottle of formula during the day around 7 months, another one around 8 months, and just let her nurse whatever she wants. My supply is obviously reducing, right now I'm pumping once before bed and she has 5min feeds when she wakes up from a nap.

Lately she's been refusing the breast and preferring the bottle for the flow, so to answer your question, I know I'm ready to stop when she consistently pushes me away...

 

[Rachel_C]

I have been through phases, some long and some short, of really not liking BF. I sometimes feel like I just want my body back and to be left alone without somebody fiddling with my boobs.

However, for me it felt important to get to the 2 year mark because that's the ideal really. "2 years or beyond" was my aim and we've done that. Shortly after LO's second birthday I night weaned her and that has led to a drop in supply. She still feeds a few times a day but I think we're heading towards her stopping in the next 6 months. If I'd weaned her before 2 years, the guilt would have been too much for me. I suppose you need to weigh it up for yourself - how much you dislike BF compared to how much guilt you'd feel if you stopped! That's only looking at the mum's side of it though... I don't know how you'd go about factoring in the child's needs.