[stuck77]

I am a proud mother of two, I have a 4 year old daughter and a 7 month old son. My daughter never latched on to nurse her, but she did still get breast milk for two weeks. I just stayed up all night pumping and putting it in a bottle for her, I had nurses in and out of my house trying to help, but I just decided to give up.
My son on the other hand came out and seemed to know exactly what to do. It was really painful for the first month, I had a nurse come out to see if I was doing it wrong and she said I was doing it right. As soon as I wanted to give up, it seemed to get better. I feel now like I'm taking on the job as " the human nuk". He wakes up all night, as soon as I put my nipple in his mouth, he falls asleep,(which means he sleeps with me most of the night) and all day I feel like I'm on the couch with him latched on to me, and I can't get anything done. I've became his only comfort. We try to bring him to my moms for a couple hours, he will cry unless he is held at all times. My family says he is spoiled.
My boyfriend thinks I should nurse him until he is one year old, he says that any doctor will suggest me to nurse him for that long, yet I rarely hear of any other mom going for that long. He is now almost 7 months old and he won't eat cereal or baby food. So I have been giving him some formula to give me a break, I have been giving him formula for just over a month now and he is doing good with that. Now it seems like no matter how short his nails are, he needs me like a kittten until it hurts. If you can't tell, I personally don't like nursing and its causing a lot of arguments lately. Im afraid that if I quit now, my boyfriend will blame any cold or any broken bone on me forever.:confused:

[artlady]

You have to do what is best for you.A reluctant nursing Mom is not a happy camper.

I breastfed my eldest until he was almost 3.He was talking and his favorite thing was* I hit my head mommy(or any imagined boo boo) I need ninny*.

I think that you have given him a wonderful start and six months is great,he has reaped the antibodies reward by now.

You BF has to understand that you have become a human pacifier.I know the feeling.

Be sure to wean slowly as you don't want to have an oversupply of milk and end up with mastitis.

Suggested time for weaning to bottle is a period of weeks,even up to a month.Dropping one feeding at a time.

Give him a blanket to hold on to so as to spare yourself the sharp little nail scratches.

[DoulaLC]

If the desire to end the breastfeeding is more because of comfort and the frequent waking at night, and you think you would like to continue if things were going differently, there are a few things you can try first:

Since his waking at night seems more for comfort than anything else, have you tried him with a pacifier? Many babies find the additional suckling comforting and soothing, hence why he falls back asleep so easily. It can take a little while for them to get used to using one so you sometimes have to be persistent. Or perhaps your boyfriend can get up once in awhile and offer a bottle of either expressed breastmilk or formula. You could also just offer your finger for him to suck on (padded side towards roof of his mouth), or just go in and pat him without picking him up each time. Wait until he is fully awake before you go in, he may fuss a bit, but he may settle back down if you wait just a bit. How often is he having feedings at the breast during the day? When you offer solids, have him breastfeed first then offer a few small baby spoonfuls of mashed banana or something similar. If you mix the cereal with some breastmilk, or a little puréed fruit, it may be more to his liking as breastmilk is pretty sweet. Right now it is just an introduction to solids, breastmilk or formula will be his main source of nutrition for awhile longer still so try not to worry if he doesn't take much.

While he nurses during the day, you can try to get some sort of schedule going... distracting him during other times so at least some of the feeds can be put off slightly longer. Stay consistent with it. Dance around with him, play with him on the floor, give him some tummy time, take him outside to look around, etc.. If the frequent feeding is more recent, it may be a growth spurt and/or sometimes waking more at night will occur when he is learning a new skill.

You can also try using a nursing necklace during the day to keep his hands busy. Any brightly colored, chunky necklace that he can fiddle with while he is at the breast may work. Or perhaps a small, cuddly toy or blanket to hold onto while nursing.

If you definitely do want to wean, do so gradually as artlady suggested. It may be just a couple of formula feeds a day on a regular basis will be enough to make a difference. For complete weaning... cut out one feed at a time for several days and work your way down... your body will adjust easily if you go slowly.

Plenty of women do some of both types of feeding... it doesn't have to be an all or nothing situation... that may be a compromise you and your boyfriend can agree on. Baby and you still get the continued health benefits from some breastfeeding, and you get a bit of a break with the formula feedings. You could always try pumping and storing some breastmilk so that you can use that in some bottles on a regular basis instead as well if you preferred baby had just the breastmilk.