When You Stop Breast Feeding

An 8 month old doesn't wean himself, if he stopped nursing, its a nursing strike. I would pump your breasts, do NOT give a bottle, and keep offering the breast. H ewill come back. At 8 months old, its prime age for a nursing strike. HE's more interested in the world around him, and wants to be up doing stuff. If you give him a bottle, it will only exacerbate the problem, because he can roll around, look around, etc with a bottle in his mouth.

Again, 8 month olds don't wean themselves, its a nursing strike. Take him into a quiet darkened room to nurse. Nurse him when he is tired, when he is just waking up, etc. He will come back.

Stopping abruptly is not good for your body. You are susceptable to clogged ducts, mastitis, and infection because your body is suddenly stuck with all this milk that it was once using. Stopping suddenly is the worst thing you can do.

Here is some info on nursing strikes. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/babyselfwean.html

I would encourage you to keep offering. Nursing strikes can last anywhre from a few hours to a week or two... but he WILL come back, just keep offering, don't give bottles, and make sure that where you nurse is quiet, darkened, and nothing is distracting him. Waiting until he is s leepy, or just woke up, or crying/hurt, etc will help. I hope you read the links above, it will explain a little more, and also help explain that 8 month olds don't wean themselves. Good luck!

If you wean slowly it won't hurt so bad. I weaned my son slowly after he was a year old and there was not much engorment. Just take it slow and the pain/engorgement will only last a couple of days. Oh and yes you have milk years after you stop. My son was 2 when I got pregnant with my daughter and I hadn't breastfed for a year and I could still get a little milk out.

I hate nursing (it's excruciating for me) and chose to pump exclusively and then bottle-feed the breast milk to my baby. It's a good option if you still want to use your breast milk and not as time consuming as you might think.
After pumping for 11 months, I quit 2 weeks ago and know exactly how you feel! My breasts are still very sensitive to the touch and have the lumps you describe. I think it probably takes longer to dry up if you've been producing milk for a longer amount of time.
Ice packs are recommended for engorgement but I can't bring myself to put something cold there! Hot showers feel good and ibuprofen helps for the pain. Other than that, unless you run into serious problems (like an infection) you may just have to wear a supportive bra wait it out. That's what I'm doing.

i agree completely with what becky said. 8 month olds who are *breastfed* do not wean themselves. to what the other mother was saying regarding becky giving misinformation...breastfeeding and being fed from a bottle are two entirely different things.

many things can influence a nursing strike. A. - i would encourage you to keep trying to offer your breast and if you need face to face help i'm sure you can find a LLL meeting in your area. good luck!

My doctor told me that I could drop ONE nursing session every three days with out getting engorged and mastitis (which I had earlier - not fun.) You could pump and freeze in the meantime. it is nice to have milk in the freezer for a few months for whe your little one gets the flu or something and can only have clear fluids, i think breast milk is best for that and I am glad i have a little left over. i am down to nursing nights and early mornings only. good luck! and good job for nursing for 8 months!

If I were you I would stop completely... no pumping, etc. You will feel very engorged and a little painful, but it will only last a few days and you will be pretty much done in about a week or so. The woman who said that "8 month olds don't wean themselves," is wrong I believe. My daughter was about 8 months old when she started weaning herself from the bottle... I had to practically force feed her for 3 months before I finally stopped formula and went to a sippy cup. She just did not want a bottle at all! So I think all babies are different and for that woman to say that you are not doing your best or doing it right I completely disagree.

I had to stop breastfeeding when my kids were very young. Several issues both with me and with them....anyway.... We stopped cold turkey. Don't pump, your breasts will think you're still using the milk and produce more. You'll go through lots of breast pads. If you start to hurt and get engorged, just squeeze enough out by hand to relieve the pressure.

I never tried it, but I did hear cabbage leaves do help too...The cold relieves some pain and theres something that helps the milk go away, I guess.

I think it took me a little over a week to two weeks to completely dry up.

If I remember correctly this was 6 years ago. It hurt for like 2 days or so. Got engorged to like the max and took about 2 days for my body to realize I was done. It hurt more like uncomfortable but it was tolerable, Sinus infections hurt worse to me. I could still have milk come out like 4-5 years later. Seriously not alot but like a drip or two. Talked to other's who had the same problem. I only brestfed/pumped til my daughter was 8 weeks old maybe. I didn't breastfeed long. It may be different if you breastfeed longer I dunno. Maybe just plan to stay home for a few days lay low rent some movies.