weaning my 16mth old baby girl , painful

hi everyone im currently in the process of weaning i feel terrible butat the same time im done she would wke up 3 to 4 times at night wanting a bf ,, constantly through the day want to attack my boobs , and just snack basically when on there ...

my af is all over the place coming at times. 2 weeks apart, my hair is breaking and falling out . i think its taking its toll on my body as ive got 4other kids, this is the first time ive had to wean and shes the longest ive bf for they all self weaned and i never got that engorgement with it ,,as it was a slower process , but im in pain just needed some support ...

dp says im doing he right thing that shes getting to big to be bf all the time,,

shes suprisingly going ok .... i just offer her the bottle or food when she starts doing the atacking thing to me,,,

sad but im sure im doing the right thing for myself

ahhhhhh my b00b is killing me its full and sore

you may want to express a bit off the boob that's sore so you don't end up with mastitis - don't have to express much off - just enough for comfort. I've heard mastitis is not fun. Managed to avoid it so far and hope to totally. But I hear you on the constant o'night feeding.

Hopefully someone else will pop in with some more suggestions or advice. (We're still going strong here on the BF - DS not likely to give up his feed to sleep at night - won't have a bar of DH settling him o'night either)

Hi, there,

Hun, you can't just wean "cold turkey" - you are putting yourself at risk of mastitis. You need to move some of that milk. The easiest way to do that is to put her back on the breast for a feed. Otherwise you will have to express. If you can't move the milk by expressing, then go back to plan a - let her have another feed. While you are weaning you need to remember that if your breasts become uncomfortably full then you need to feed or express until they are comfortable.
You may want to make an appointment for yourself at the doctor ASAP. Breastfeeding does not cause the symptoms you are describing, so you need to get the doctor to check out what is really going on with you. In fact breastfeeding is remarkably easy on the body - we take up more nutrients from the food we eat while we are breastfeeding. Your little one is really in the normal range - babies are designed to breastfeed for 2 years and beyond. At this age she really doesn't need a bottle though. And bottles are not recommended after 12 mnths of age - and in practical terms you will just have to wean her from the bottle at some point. And keep in mind that they all wean from the breast eventually - whether you give them a nudge or not.

With five kids I'm not surprised your hair is falling out!! But all jokes aside, Barb is right that it would be a good idea to get checked out by your GP. I've been going through a similar process with my 13 month old over the past couple of months. I was also getting up 2-3 times a night with her and I just couldn't do it anymore. Especially since I'd just got pregnant with my second. The night weaning was the hardest I think and it involved a bit of crying for a few nights. But as my DH always says, we afford them the indulgences we can until we can't afford them anymore. And then she went through an awful week where she got three viruses back to back and we went from three feeds a day to being on and off all day. So I recently tackled that and was amazed at how well she took it. She'd tap me on the chest during the day and shake her head because she knew it was out of bounds. It broke my heart but we'd have a cuddle and read a story on the couch instead and that seemed to give her the comfort she was looking for. We're now down to an early morning feed and an evening feed. She's doing better than ever at the moment. She's happy, confident and healthy. Anyway I thought I'd just share my recent experiences. You've given your DD a good innings on the boob and if you feel like the time is right, then it's right. And it sounds like she's coping really well. Good luck!