Hello Mama Berries!
My son is 13 months and has been wanting to breastfed a lot more lately. We were down to 2-3 times a day but now he wants to breastfed every other hour. Has anyone else experienced this? [name_m]How[/name_m] long did it last? I try to give him other foods which he’ll eat but then only want to breastfed. I wouldn’t mind so much but I feel like my supply has really decreased. I also wonder if he’s doing it more for comfort? I recently started working again and we have also decreased night feedings. He co-sleeps with us and would nurse throughout the night but have now decreased it to only once or twice throughout the night.
Also curious when and how you stopped breastfeeding? I’m almost ready but I know Allister definitely isn’t. I was thinking I’ll let him decide when he’s done.
[name_m]Hi[/name_m], you’ve done an amazing job BF this long! Go you!
I’m training to be a BF Peer Supporter at the moment and it really is fascinating how intuitive the whole process is, especially when you’ve been doing it for as long as you two have. What Allister is doing sounds totally normal to me — they go through so many developmental “leaps”, and not all of them are visible in the same way that teeth or a growth spurt or learning to walk or talk are. [name_m]Plenty[/name_m] of the huge changes they go through are psychological, emotional or social. It’s normal for them to want the comfort of nursing at those times, as well as the extra nutrition because this all takes a huge amount of energy!
If you’ve recently reduced night feeds, that could also be a factor as he wants to make up the “shortfall”. Also, it being winter, it could also be that Allister is a) enjoying the warmth and cosiness of nursing and b) getting lots of powerful antibodies against all the colds and bugs that are inevitably circulating at this time of year.
Whatever the reason is, he knows what he needs and it sounds like you’re doing a great job being relaxed and open to it all. It won’t last forever! Good luck
I’m still breastfeeding my 14 month old. I’ve noticed that some weeks/days she wants it way more than others. No advice on how to stop, I have NO idea how/when we’re going to do that. She is a monster if I don’t let her nurse when she wants to haha.
At 13 months my kids still lived on my boobs, so props to you for getting down to 2-3 times a day. When my kids were older they did this when they were going through growth spurts and/or were developing a virus. It could also very well be a comfort thing, which if you feel comfortable nursing on demand then that’s a fantastic way to comfort him! If you don’t think it’s hunger/sickness related and you’re tired/don’t feel like nursing then you can absolutely find another way to soothe him.
I stopped breastfeeding my oldest just shy of his third birthday, and my youngest just after his third birthday. I just followed their lead and for the last 18 months it was pretty much just nursing in the morning and at night, and then the last 6 months or so it was only night nursing until basically they just never asked for it again.
If you let him decide, he’ll probably be 3 or 4 by the time he’s done. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be up for that. It seems definitely like a comfort thing at this point, which is fine and normal, but you should decide when to wean.
I planned on nursing my first for a year, but had to stop at 7 months because I was pregnant. I planned a year also with my second, but stopped at 5 months, cause she was allergic and vomited constantly. It took about a month of trying different formulas to finally stop the throwing up.
I am still breastfeeding my 22-month-old. She goes through phases - sometimes she doesn’t feed at all throughout the day, just once before bed. Then she’ll go through weeks where she is attached to me every time I dare to sit down. What he’s doing sounds normal. Does he have his molars yet? [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] nursed constantly when she was getting teeth.
As for weaning, I have no idea. I tried night weaning cold turkey in [name_u]July[/name_u] to try to get the kid to sleep better and gave up after a week. She is too attached, it’s the only comfort she will accept. So I am going to take her lead and let her decide when she’s finished.
My son was born at 33 weeks so he was in the NICU for almost a month and had a feeding tube for the first half of that time. I had to use a pump, but he always had breast milk, never was on formula. When they took the feeding tube out, then it was predominantly breast milk in a bottle because there had to be others feeding him. Thus, him and I struggled with actual breastfeeding, though I did try when I could. I was working overnights and then was with him all during the day after he came home. I was pumping all the time and I hated it, but it was important to me to keep him on breast milk and unfortunately he had already gotten too used to the bottle and didn’t like switching back and forth. I pumped till he was 18 months old and then had enough milk saved up to get him to 22 months.
I would let your child keep doing it, even if it is just for comfort. Maybe try having extra time just holding/snuggling without feeding so that can start being the comfort association. But I wouldn’t force a stop to it, unless for some reason you absolutely must.
I stopped breastfeeding my son when he was a year old (I think he was about 14 months) I didn’t want to go any further as he was eating solid foods and he was only having a feed at his nap times and bed times by 7 months. He sometimes didn’t even need a feed once he got to 10 months, he was a big eater of solid food and often times didn’t want breast milk.
I think every woman and baby is different and have their own ways of weaning. I started skipping some feeds and sometimes he wouldn’t mind or notice but then other times he really wanted to feed. He was in his own room by the time I started weaning him so it was a lot easier to just put him down for his nap or bedtime and not breastfeed. I stopped pumping milk for when I was at work and he soon stopped wanting it if I wasn’t present and he would only want milk if I was there. I started putting him down without milk and would walk away (harder than it seems) and he would settle down without it after a little while of crying and sobbing. I started giving him warm cow milk before his bedtime which definitely helped him and me.
By the time he was eating solids it was definitely a comfort and bonding thing. I knew I wanted to stop breastfeeding before 18 months but I could tell that it was time to start weaning, it just felt like the right time to stop and I think it’s different for everybody. You do what is best for you!
