the best way to stop breastfeeding

[lorisparkle]

My lo is 13months and I want to start to stop bf. Although I am sad I know it is the best thing to do for all of my family.

What I need is some advice on how to gradually stop. The problem is that my lo really struggles with the transition from awake to asleep and from asleep to awake. He has also never had a bottle and has only ever drunk breastmilk or water from a doidy cup or tommee tippee cup. I feed him last thing at night and in the morning. He can go to sleep by himself last thing at night (although often falls asleep whilst bf as he is struggling with naps at the moment) but usually wakes at about 4am when I feed him as much as he wants to keep him happy or asleep until about 6.30am.

My DH tried to give him some warm cows milk from his tommee tippee cup tonight and he was not impressed.

Any ideas gratefully received

[mears]

Decide which feed is going to be the easiest to drop. Perhaps the last one before bed as he goes to sleep without a feed anyway?

Personally I would try and stop the 4am feed but that may prove difficult because you will want to get back to sleep ASAP. Don't substitute anything else during the night or he will be waking for that.

What ever way you do it, don't drop all feeds at once.

If you don't mind me asking, why will it be better for your family to stop?

[lorisparkle]

It is quite long and complicated but part of it is that I think he will find dropping the two feeds connected to bed and sleep very very hard and want to try and get through this before he is too much older and remembers more. I also think it will help his (and therefore me and dh) sleep. I am also pg and although i know it is fine to carry on I think it would be better to stop. It is really hard to explain but I just think it will cause less upset to wean now than later.

Anyway I am trying to stop the last one at night and he stands up in his cot pointing at me crying his eyes out.

Any further suggestions gratefully received

[cornflakegirl]

Can you get your DH to go in to him at 4am? When my DS was around 10 months, he went through an extended period of waking in the night after having slept through for several months. I resorted to feeding him to sleep, and like you, when I went in to him he immediately demanded milk. But if DH went in, he was okay with going back to sleep.

[cornflakegirl]

BTW - I only refused to feed DS at night - still feeding him morning and evening (he's 2.1). Don't know if that would be an option for you? I really like the fact that when I feed him I get to cuddle him for more than 5 seconds!