When will you stop bf? What makes your decision?

[T-Bex]

We'll stop when we're ready.

OH is 100% on board, as he knows it's normal; that's just how a baby/toddler/child has the milk naturally designed for them to develop. It doesn't stop being good for them just because they hit *insert age here*, so I don't see the point in stopping her. But each to their own; different strokes for different folks. It works really well for my family, so we're happy with it.

But maybe I'm a crazy hippy afterall, eh?! |If anyone wants me, I'll be hugging a tree...

 

[special_kala]

For those who plan to stop at 6 months or a year how do you do it? I mean Willow only this week started accepting cows milk as a drink (though ive not really tried previously), i just cant see how just stopping would work. Willow would not be impressed!

Genuine question, getting to 6 months is great in itself i just dont understand the practicalities of stopping before the baby chooses too.

 

[Bevziibubble]

My baby will be six months on Sunday, so I've nearly hit my first goal
My next goal is a year, and after that I'm just going to leave it to my LO to self wean when she likes

 

[kerrie24]

I plan to allow Owen to stop when he is ready,he is 2 yrs,3.5 months now and last night was the first time hes ever gone to sleep without breastfeeding (except a couple of times when Ive been out and he had ebm) and about the 3rd time hes slept through the night too!It doesnt bother him as much now so I think he is possibly on the road to self weaning,but we will see.

The reason is because I bf my daughter for 23 months then stopped as I was sick of trying to defend my choice to others(family etc).It was the most traumatic thing for us both and I always felt guilty about forcing her to go without something she wanted for my own selfish reasons.
When I had Owen I had a changed perspective on bf,became a peer supporter and had a lot more confidence in defending myself if needed.My family stopped askig a while ago when I plan on stopping,and most people presume I no longer bf.

 

[lilyanne]

I stopped Bfing Phoebe last week. I was planning on continuing until she self-weaned and was going to tandem nurse. With the pregnancy my milk supply disappeared and she was dry nursing. Instead of being discouraged and reducing feeds she instead wanted to nurse all day long like an infant. She would say "bubbies?" and have her hand down my shirt. When I said not now she would have a tantrum on the floor and start biting me. She was frustrated and I was frustrated and exhausted. In the end I decided I needed a 6 month break until until I started the process again. It was surprisingly easy to get her to stop which made me a little sad though.

 

[RoseKitten]

Until they are old enough to ask for it directly. <_< I have no problem pumping my breast milk until 2 years of age (or more, depending).

 

[mememoo]

We are 10 months in and down to two feeds a day. I could stop now if I wanted to as she'll happily drink from a bottle and isn't boobie obsessed but I don't want too. The morning and evening feed are for 10 mins max, it seems pointless to offer bottles just to be able to say she's no longer breastfeed.(I've had a fair few comment about me " still breastfeeding!") I guess I'll wait until she self weans I am cherishing every feed thinking it could possible be the last.

 

[littlemamana]

I plan to bf for a year... maybe a few months after that but I won't be going into the toddler years. Bravo to those brave mamas who do though!

 

[albs]

For those who plan to stop at 6 months or a year how do you do it? I mean Willow only this week started accepting cows milk as a drink (though ive not really tried previously), i just cant see how just stopping would work. Willow would not be impressed!

Genuine question, getting to 6 months is great in itself i just dont understand the practicalities of stopping before the baby chooses too.

not having done it before i don't really know, but we won't really have a choice so it's a case of it will have to work. i will have to go back to work at 11 months and expressing isn't an option during work hours. still 9 1/2 months before we have to worry about it. at the mo we're having a real struggle to get LO to take a bottle of EBM.

 

[KerryGold]

Do you not have expressing rights in Australia?

My LO was just about down to morning and night by 11 months. I'm sure I could have successfully pushed it if needed.

My LO hadn't fed for almost 48 hours last night as I'd been away overnight for work and we are working on dropping the morning feed at the moment. As soon as she saw me she wanted to feed and did do for the longest time...

xXx

 

[vintagecat]

I'm taking it a day at a time. No need to stress over a certain time in my opinion. As long as we're both happy and healthy, that's all that matters to me.

 

[albs]

Do you not have expressing rights in Australia?

i'm pretty sure that employers do have to provide time and a place to express (i'll double check this at my next australian breasfeeding assoc. meeting...) but i watched a friend at work try and do it last year and it nearly drove her insane. i'm a teacher and our timetable is really weird. we only get 20 minutes for lunch so she wasn't finding time to eat. also that's not really enought time to express, pack everything away and get to class. she was trying to express in her planning time, which meant she was having to take heaps of work home and still getting uber stressed out. it's entirely possible that if i fought the case then legally i might be entitled to more time, but teaching positions in my town are super rare and i guess i don't want to 'rock the boat'.
i'm sure this will anger some people who think i should fight, and if i had to go back to work before 6 months then i would, but i feel happy with the decision to stop at least day feeds by 11 months when he goes into daycare.

 

[Lauki]

You might still be able to continue! By that time my LO was mostly on a morning feed when we woke up and a feed before bedtime.

She sometimes feeds before her naps. But that's only to calm her down, because it's the easiest way. She'll go down with cuddles/dummy too. So that feed is not essential.

Not saying you have to continue obviously, but there's no real need to stop either. At that age your body will adjust easily to demand and will produce the right amount of milk for just 1 or 2 feeds!