When and why did you decide to stop nursing?

Question

My daughter is 7 months old and has started biting me when nursing. We have not had an easy nursing experience, and she is very picky about whee she will nurse. I have been thinking bout stopping but then I feel sad about that. How did you decide to stop nursing and how did it go?

Answer 1

I stopped at 7 months because he was biting hard and not getting enough milk anyway. He would suck down an 8 oz bottle in about 10 minutes and I wasn't gushing out that fast so he would get frustrated. My plan was to pump to make myself feel better about stopping but I had always struggled with my production and had been taking prescription pills and herbal supplements to keep lactating. So I decided no more pills, what happens happens and in a week my milk was dried up. I still miss it sometimes and feel a little guilty. I tell myself, its summer, he won't get sick and he is doing great with the bottle and baby food. I just miss it sometimes but I think what I miss is when he was a little baby and he really needed me to do it. He actually doesn't anymore. I just feel bad because it was my plan to nurse a year and I didn't get to.

Answer 2

I will let Sophie stop when she's ready.  She's currently 21 months. :)

When she was first teething, we had some rough patches, but I would firmly tell her not to bite and take the breast away.  She now has 16 very sharp teeth and hasn't bitten me in ages!

When you think of it, a year or even two is NOTHING compared to her whole life.  Keep it up mama!!  

Ultimately it's your choice, but consider how far you've come.  One year of nursing is the minimum recommendation; I think you'll be able to do that at least!  :)  She also can eat more solids as time passes, which makes nursing even easier.

Answer 3

I stopped  nursing my son when he was a year old.  I stopped due to lack of my body producing enough milk.  It was not that hard of a process, due to the fact that he was able to use sippy cups.  I would allow him to nurse in the morning when we woke up, and then in the evening an half an hour before bed time.  then I took out the night time feedings and a week or so later I stopped nursing completely.  It might be eaiser if you gradually stop instead of cold turkey! I was also sad to stop, it was a special type of bond that occurs during those precious moments, however as a mother you know when your time is up!  Good Luck!

Crissy

Answer 4

I nursed my first til she was 22 mos and my 2nd til she was 26 mos.  I had a difficult time nursing my oldest daughter.  The first six months were hard, but once we got past that point it was much easier.  I did almost stop with my first around 10 mos but didn't want to have to buy formula for that last two months, I decided to stick with it and didn't stop til she was almost two yrs.  As for the biting, when she bites remove her from the breast and say in a stern voice "No bite".  She will be upset that you have interrupted her feeding and will quickly figure out not to bite.  With both my girls I stopped nursing when I thought they were ready.  Because I waited until they were ready I did not have any problems weaning either of them.  Only you can decide when to stop, but I would encourage you to continue.  There are so many benefits to nursing for the first year.  Keep in mind that you will need to buy formula til she is 1 yr old if you do stop nursing and that can be expensive.  Good luck.  

Answer 5

I pumped for 6 months. I had to stop because I got 4 staph infections and mastitis twice in that 6 months. My doctor said my last staph infection was the worst case he had ever seen and pretty much made me quiet. I pumped every 3 hours and had a wonderful supply. We mixed half boob milk and half formula for a little bit and when I started gettin low we started puttin less boob milk and more formula. Minus the infections the whole transaction went smoothly. Good luck!

Answer 6

Hi,

First off I'm a man, so I've never nursed a child and I think bearing and nurturing is an envy most men will never admit to.  I do.

And I think your question addresses the issues of your feelings.  When one is faced with a this/that scenario and he/she looks at the one hand and then the other, each has it's pros and cons and somehow the answer is to be there.  But it's not.  

Go within knowing with harmless intention and ask, "What do I want?!"  If you know, then the difficulty is taking the action.  If you continue feeding with resentments/fears, will it nurture your child as much?

Answer 7

With my first son I tried to nurse and couldn't, he had a weak suck so I pumped and I had to stop that when he was 3 months because I had to start working and my milk supply went way down.  With my second son I nursed and pumped for 3 months then I had to go for gallbladder surgery and just couldn't pump or nurse for a week because of the pain and strong pain meds so I decided it would be best to just go ahead and use the formula since my milk was drying up so fast during that week.  This time around I am hoping to last longer.  

Answer 8

I still nurse through the day and am unsure when i'll give that up. but we bottle feed at night. when jacob hit 14 weeks he went from sleeping almost though to waking up 4 hourly, then 3 then 2 and decreasing. he was also feeding two hourly though the day too. we waited 4-5 weeks to be sure it wasn't growth spurt, hot weather or teeth. then under health visitors advice we put him on solids. I waited until he was on 3 meals a day but it became apparent that he was now in habit of crying for breast every time he even vaguely surfaced from sleep at night. I wasn't prepared to refuse to offer food incase he really was hungry just too sleepy to feed well. With daycare looming we decided this would be the opportunity to kill several birds with one stone and started offering bottles at night. within 2 weeks he was taking a bottle, sleeping through till 6 am, and I could function through the day again! But oh my god did i cry when i decided to do it.

the funny thing is he is now at daycare but refuses the bottle from anyone other than me or my hubby, so that didn't quite work out as planned! but hubby is so happy to finally be able to help at night, that I have decided it was worth it.

Answer 9

I let my children stop when they were ready... it was much easier on me to have them do it as long as comfortable for them than to go through a lengthy process or stopping before they were ready. Looking back it made everything much simpler. When she bites you just use your pinky to loosen her mouth off of your breast right away and then let her attach. She will learn that she cannot bite down otherwise it will interrupt feedings.  

Answer 10

Ouch, sorry.  I stopped nursing at 3 months, just a few weeks ago actually.  My daughter never latched, so I pumped exclusivley for her.  I was producing so much milk, I had to make a trip to the ER because low magnessium, calcium and phosphate levels from producing so much.  That along with already having mastitis twice was the last straw, so I just stopped.  I wish I could have done it longer, but I have got to take care of my self too.  Good Luck

Answer 11

im not actually a mother but today i was watching brining home baby and the mother wanted to breast feed but the baby was biting her n*****

the tongue actually has to be in a certain place. hope it works

enter if not take a breast feeding class.