How to give up Breastfeeding?

[Corrinne37]

Hi ladies,

I have just posted a thread in the B&T section about my LO who now just wants to suck on my booby all night and cant seem to sleep without it!!

Im thinking my only option is to give up BF - so that option is not there!

Prob is she wont take a bottle! If someone else has her she plays with it for us long as possible until I guess she is really hungry then she will take some. But as soon as I am back she is chomping at the bit for some booby.

I tried (half heartedly ) to give up berfore, by dropping just one feed for a formula feed, but she was just head butting my boob all the time refusing the bottle (as if to say I can smell the milk in there im not having that!!)

So how do I give it up??

Any advice?? xx

 

[cosmicgirl]

Watching with interest!
I'm in the same boat.
Little man refuses expressed milk in a bottle. He's 14 months almost and won't touch cows milk in a bottle. I've never wanted to give formula so we've never tried that but I'm sure he'd refuse that anyway.
We cosleep (against my will!) he nibbles on me all night. I get barely any sleep ever!
He cries and pulls at my clothes constantly. It's awful. He pinches my skin and pulls my hair.
I'm really not enjoying this now but I haven't the heart to just cut him off at source. I'm hoping he self weans very very soon but he loves it!

 

[Corrinne37]

Watching with interest!
I'm in the same boat.
Little man refuses expressed milk in a bottle. He's 14 months almost and won't touch cows milk in a bottle. I've never wanted to give formula so we've never tried that but I'm sure he'd refuse that anyway.
We cosleep (against my will!) he nibbles on me all night. I get barely any sleep ever!
He cries and pulls at my clothes constantly. It's awful. He pinches my skin and pulls my hair.
I'm really not enjoying this now but I haven't the heart to just cut him off at source. I'm hoping he self weans very very soon but he loves it!

Hi Cos,
OMG its so tiring!! I only had these for 3 or 4 wks now as she was very good so i dont know how you have continued for 14 mths!!
Its making me really angry in the night and i hve strted just laying her next to me in bed as i know otherwise I will have a battle to put her down and end up even more frustrated, I had real problems with my son after co sleeping with him I so dont want to go down that road again!!!!!
Wish I could just pay someone to sort this out for me!!!!!

 

[cosmicgirl]

Well if you find someone, please send them to my house - I'll pay them too!!!
I'm just trying to tell myself that this won't last forever, he'll grow up and won't want mummy milk much longer (I hope!). You might just see me in take a break bf'ing my 18 year old son at this rate!!!!!

 

[Nutsyputs]

My lo went through a stage of doing this. He would wake and cry so I would pop on boob as I thought he was hungry and then it turned into a habit. It got to the point that he was waking more during the night for milk at 4 months than he was as a newborn! Formula may not be the answer if she's used to having milk in the night she may still wake. When lo was around 5/6 months I decided enough is enough and stopped feeding him at night. If he woke anytime before 5am I wouldn't feed him and pretty soon he got the picture. My friend had a similar thing and she did what she calls ' the week of hugs' where every time her lo woke she would send in her hubby to cuddle and settle baby and again she got the picture. Maybe you could try something like this.

 

[TORino]

My lo went through a stage of doing this. He would wake and cry so I would pop on boob as I thought he was hungry and then it turned into a habit. It got to the point that he was waking more during the night for milk at 4 months than he was as a newborn! Formula may not be the answer if she's used to having milk in the night she may still wake. When lo was around 5/6 months I decided enough is enough and stopped feeding him at night. If he woke anytime before 5am I wouldn't feed him and pretty soon he got the picture. My friend had a similar thing and she did what she calls ' the week of hugs' where every time her lo woke she would send in her hubby to cuddle and settle baby and again she got the picture. Maybe you could try something like this.

^^this was similar to what I did, though it was a bit earlier. I do think they do it out of habit sometimes and don't genuinely need it for growth etc.

Though I feel for you Hun, it's going to cause some tears. When I tried to introduce a bottle for expressed feeds it nearly broke me, the resistance she put up was something I hadn't ever imagined. It broke my heart but she came round in the end, I had to do it for my own sanity though, I didn't like the feeling of being held 'hostage' by the baby. It made me panicky.

If you really want to quit the bf then I'm sure she will take formula in the end, a baby won't starve himself, though it could take a while for her to cotton on.

I don't think you'd have to quit though really, because she could still wake in the night expecting a bottle of milk if she's used to being fed at that time.

I hope you can sort it x

 

[TORino]

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[madmillie92]

Try to experiment with different dummys- my little man will only take mam ones, at first he spat them out too but I just put the tip to his lips, let him chew it with his gums and then once he started trying to suck it, held it to his mouth. Its a different tecnique for them than nursing so they need to learn it, even now he has trouble remembering that if he stops sucking, the dummy will fall out and it annoys him everytime (he is only 6 weeks though!) But it has been a lifesaver when he is having one of his 'fussy days' and doesn't want to get off the boob!
I too have read up about giving up and it sound painful! Your lo is probably going through a growth spurt and it will get easier I promise!
You will miss this when she's running off to school without a backwards glance xx

 

[Corrinne37]

My lo went through a stage of doing this. He would wake and cry so I would pop on boob as I thought he was hungry and then it turned into a habit. It got to the point that he was waking more during the night for milk at 4 months than he was as a newborn! Formula may not be the answer if she's used to having milk in the night she may still wake. When lo was around 5/6 months I decided enough is enough and stopped feeding him at night. If he woke anytime before 5am I wouldn't feed him and pretty soon he got the picture. My friend had a similar thing and she did what she calls ' the week of hugs' where every time her lo woke she would send in her hubby to cuddle and settle baby and again she got the picture. Maybe you could try something like this.

This is exactly what's happened - she was so good!

I'm going to try sleep training first see if I can get her to self settle and not feed in the night xx

 

[Corrinne37]

My lo went through a stage of doing this. He would wake and cry so I would pop on boob as I thought he was hungry and then it turned into a habit. It got to the point that he was waking more during the night for milk at 4 months than he was as a newborn! Formula may not be the answer if she's used to having milk in the night she may still wake. When lo was around 5/6 months I decided enough is enough and stopped feeding him at night. If he woke anytime before 5am I wouldn't feed him and pretty soon he got the picture. My friend had a similar thing and she did what she calls ' the week of hugs' where every time her lo woke she would send in her hubby to cuddle and settle baby and again she got the picture. Maybe you could try something like this.

^^this was similar to what I did, though it was a bit earlier. I do think they do it out of habit sometimes and don't genuinely need it for growth etc.

Though I feel for you Hun, it's going to cause some tears. When I tried to introduce a bottle for expressed feeds it nearly broke me, the resistance she put up was something I hadn't ever imagined. It broke my heart but she came round in the end, I had to do it for my own sanity though, I didn't like the feeling of being held 'hostage' by the baby. It made me panicky.

If you really want to quit the bf then I'm sure she will take formula in the end, a baby won't starve himself, though it could take a while for her to cotton on.

I don't think you'd have to quit though really, because she could still wake in the night expecting a bottle of milk if she's used to being fed at that time.

I hope you can sort it x

Thanks Hun, I know I'm dreading giving up! Hope sleep training works! Xx