The End of Breastfeeding (how we weaned our 2 year old) 

I feel like content like this is really helpful for someone who doesn't have kids and hasn't fully decided if they want them. It both shows me its possible and is real enough to put across how hard things can be, and not in a catastrophising way.

A small thing I absolutely LOVE about this video: you using “we” instead of “I” when talking about breastfeeding and weaning. It’s so clear you and Dan are a true team when it comes to all things relating to Rowan. The fact that he took a week off, but even more just the simple fact that you talk about this journey as something you tackled together. It’s such a misconception that partners can’t be involved in breastfeeding, and just so awesome that you aren’t shouldering all of this mental load alone. More Hannah and Dan vibes in the world!

Self-soothing and weaning is VERY similar to kids who are upset when you drop them off at school: they're upset while you're THERE, but once you're out of sight they're chillin' and having a grand ol' time. Children often learn to self-soothe at night when no one is around (aka they're in their room alone). I always felt like weaning was so similar in that "if there's no boob, eventually you'll forget about it and be just fine" so I love the idea of cold-turkey. Well done, mom and dad!

Mom of a boob obsessed almost two year old here. I'm beyond excited for this video. Weaning seems so hard and Impossible right now and makes me so sad thinking about, on the other hand I start dreaming about more freedom and sleep and all of this good Things and really feel like I need things to change. Thank you for sharing your journey!!!!❤

I cannot overstate how relatable this is! Also at 2 years, boob obsessed, calls it mimi and is showing noooo signs of self weaning. We don’t have a hard external deadline and it’s tricky to know when to take the plunge so thank you for sharing your experience, it’s really helped me imagine how things could go ❤

Love the honesty of this video, my toddler self-weaned (with a little help) at 16 months - we had been down to just one bed time feed for 4 months and she wasn't interested if I wasn't there, so I went on holiday and came back and it was done. I had really bad baby blues 2.0, my hormonal reaction to weaning was wild, I didn't expect that at all. But the freedom is has brought has been great. And your mention of "mi mi" just reminded me that we called it "malk" (mammy's milk) and it's so funny that we all come up with our own little words for this!!

Way to go! Transitions are so hard, even if they’re needed/wanted. I’m so glad you can have more SLEEP and independence now!

20:36 I've never breastfed, but I stopped wearing underwire bras during the pandemic, and when I put one on recently to go to a fancy event, omg the pain under my boobs was horrendous! They felt bruised for days afterwards. Only bralettes for me from here on out!

I love hearing about other people’s long breastfeeding journeys because my child self-weaned at 11 months and I’m still kind of sad about it. We had been co-sleeping until he was 6 months and started to wake up every time I moved even slightly. Had to move him into his own room, which meant getting out of bed 2-3 times a night to feed him. After two months of this I was so sleep-deprived it dramatically affected my mental health and had no choice but to night wean. I think the switch to daytime feeds only affected my milk supply and eventually contributed to him self-weaning.

I’ve been weaning much more gradually and it has worked great! There are pros and cons to everything, but I found that my son was able to understand me saying no just fine within a couple of days. As soon as it became routine it was totally fine

I'm glad my little boy self weaned when he was 10-11 months old. I never really enjoyed the bf, but I did it for the nutritional benefits, and the advantage of whacking the boob out everywhere. But I absolutely did not want to carry on too long, based on my friends dramatic stories of weaning toddlers.

I love how much this is actually a very helpful way of explaining everything from your own experience rather than naming it this specific tecnique with a specific name of a person behind it, which is a very common approach in parenting content. Like, are you following this or this tecnique? I feel like it's putting more pressure for parents to be on the one camp of thinking or the other, which makes parenting even more unnecessarily stressful. Love your video!

Congratulations!!!! It's a big milestone! After I weaned my son at 19 months old, the most difficult parenting-emotional moment was the first time he got sick. I didn't know what to do! Lol. How do I take his temperature without a boob? How to comfort my sick baby (toddler) without my milk? It wasn't hard after all, just cuddles and songs needed.

can't wait for Taylor to add Weaning to the Eras Tour

Books at bedtime is lovely. We're loving our nursing-free bedtime routine as well (22 mo)

So glad that this has had such a positive outcome for you, sounds like it was really worth it ❤

Just here to say NO MORE MIMI has been living in my head rent-free for the last month 😂🤦‍♀️

Also I have to say i love how you end videos, so natural and quick

I’m currently breastfeeding my 5 week old baby and boy, did I cry Hannah did. 😭 Right now I can’t imagine not breastfeeding, but it was still very nice to hear your experience ❤

Been looking forward to this video as a first-time mom wanting to wean my boob-obsessed almost 2 year old. You have been such a grounding, reassuring presence throughout my pregnancy and new-parenthood, since we’re a few months behind you and Rowan. This content has been a lifesaver, in every stage. Thank you!!!!

I have been waiting for this! Thank you!

Currently on a breastfeeding journey and I'm so anxious about the weaning and eventually stopping. Thankyou for sharing your journey.

Thank you SO much for this video. My daughter turns 2 in August and after all the travel we have planned over the summer (where we want the secret weapon of boob to help her sleep in new places or keep her quiet when she’s whining out and about) we’re planning to wean in the fall. Feels intimidating! She has been largely night weaned (we spent a week lying on the floor singing next to her crib while she cried herself to sleep last month) If she wakes up from 5 onward we do still bring her into bed and nurse her to sleep to get an extra little bit.

Interesting to see so many similarities between our weaning journeys! I weaned my 20 months old at the time cold turkey and it went so well! I also cried about it but I was so ready (he was not lol). I also get better sleep than I have since birth and man does it feel good haha! My toddler was also not really into books before bed and now is obsessed too!

So excited to watch the video...mum of an almost 3yo, pregnant with our second. We've never officially weaned, but my milk dried out a couple of month back. He's still been dry nursing and I'm really nervous about him never wanting to wean until baby brother comes...

Yes to the weaning uniform! I relate so hard to dressing for the occasion, with minimal boob access in mind. XD

I’m so excited to see you doing well ❤

So interesting how parents come to different approaches! For us weaning cold turkey seemed too hard for our sleep. So we first weaned during the night by doing no feeds earlier that 11pm, then no feeds earlier than 12am etc. our kid got used to each move in a few days, and will settle with cuddles/water. And after it we separately handled morning and evening feeds - at least these two do not require being awake at night!

Honestly amazing video. I so needed to watch this today. I am currently gearing up to wean my just turned two year old but am going to have to do it completely differently to how I weaned my eldest (who was 22m at the time but a TOTALLY different temperament of child) so it was awesome to hear how someone else did it. I've been breastfeeding and/or pregnant for the last FIVE YEARS straight and feel so emotional about being done.

I'm 3 months into my breastfeeding journey with my little girl and it only occurred to me today that we will have a last feed and I'll most likely know when it happens that it's the last time😢 thanks for being so honest about these complicated feelings and congrats on successful weaning 🎉

Your son sounds so similar to my daughter. She is 21months and definitely boob-obsessed! We've recently weaned from day feeds (apart from naps) as she was asking for 'milky' every 1-2 hours when I was with her. Still feeding to sleep and overnight. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, it's given me some hope that it is possible to wean!

Thanks for sharing! So interesting to hear about, and glad it went so well!!

I can't believe he doesn't often nap! I only just now got my (almost) 2 year olds down to one nap lol it is so wild how different each child is and how what they need varies so drastically

I did the gradual weaning so that my body got the message that there’s less and less need for milk! I was so worried about getting mastitis from blockage because it had happened early on into breastfeeding

Before you buy new bras you could try an expander clip for the back if it’s just the chest size that’s different 😊

It’s great that he loves books so much now! My mom largely credits reading to me and my sibling every night to us learning to read very easily

I am happy that you are doing well as a family, sending the best thoughts to you all xx

Thank you for sharing your experience Hannah! My littlest dude is only 8 months and still a way off weaning (I hope - his brothers weaned at 19 months and 26 months I think) but this is a useful insight into how it can go. The other two times I weaned I was pregnant and my milk supply had tanked anyway, intending for #3 to be our last baby so weaning is likely to be different next time around!

So So keen for this video! 22 month old boobie barnacle here, very much Ready to wean her for her 2nd birthday 🙏🏻

Saving this video for when it’s time to wean my son!lol he’s currently 7mo and my breastfeeding journey is very similar to yours. I’m currently still getting 2-3hr sleep stretches and I cannot wait for 5-7hrs!!

My 12 week old is currently having a nursing aversion and it's been so incredibly emotional for me. I'm doing everything I can to help him learn that feeding can be enjoyable again. I really hope we can get over this bump in our journey and get to keep going for a long while! Breastfeeding is such an emotional thing

Oh Hannah, this video got me right in the feels 😭 weaning is imminent for us, I'm very very done with it yet still so emotional that it's going to be the end. I've made a deadline for her 2.5 birthday 😂 I'm exhausted, and done and I'm also sad but excited too 🙃

Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us ❤

Thanks for your story!

Bra recommendations from me who has sworn off wires forever (I'm size 30H so these are good for bigger chests): - Wilde Mode bras: amazing, fun patterns and somehow supportive while also being really soft - Hot Milk wireless bras: got one from Bravissimo when I was pregnant and have been wearing them ever since even though my kid is 5 lol. These are more like normal bras - M&S DD+ bralettes - they make some super pretty lacy ones and they're really comfy. - Bravissimo also has a wireless plunge bra which is pretty epic Side note, I kinda wish I felt sad when I weaned my kid. I had such a bad time with it that I was just really relieved by the end!

I’m so excited for this video. Thinking about weaning my babe and it seems overwhelming/also kinda sad but I also feel ready to be done 😭

I’m amazed at how long you breastfed! I quit breastfeeding around 2 months, and my son is now almost 4 months old. I’m still pumping 4 times a day (a reduction from 6), but I want to stop in the next two months. I’m so tired of worrying about clogs and the overnight pumping session as my son’s sleep changes. Breastfeeding was always stressful for us and did not feel like the magical bonding time I hear people talk about.

Hats off to you & your husband for your hard work. Thank you for sharing your story. You must have enjoyed it enough to endure 3-5 wakeups every night for years. I myself did not. I weaned mine at 6 months for physical reasons and experienced three major benefits: regained body autonomy, my baby learned to sleep independently, and I got better sleep. It might be easier to wean an infant because they haven't yet learned to say words like 'Mummy'. Wishing you the best on any future similar journey, including what is best for your well-being 🤍

Thanks for sharing this ♥️ I stopped breastfeeding in September and hearing your story still makes me sad about it. It’s all good and still makes me emotional at the same time, guess that’s just mom brain 😅 Congrats on taking this journey and nailing it! ❤

I have my fully boob obsessed 20 month old nursing on me while I watch and gosh it’s an emotional watch… but also so helpful for the future of weaning him in a few months 💖

Loved this video. I'm still BF our nearly 2 year old, but it's only once a night when she wakes and she doesn't BF to sleep and either of us can put her to sleep. So definitely sustainable for us for now. She also doesn't nap during the day anymore. Glad to hear she's not the only one as everyone I tell is like 'oh, that's too early to stop napping'. Yeah, you tell her that!

Wooow, what a roller coaster! I would have not expect it to be this hard (but alas I do not have a kid, so...). But good job for the work! And the organization of both of you.

CONGRATULATIONS!! Big milestone!! 🌹🌹🌈🌈🌈🌹🩵🩵🩵🌹💚💚🫶🏻🧡🌸🌸🪻🪻💛🩷🩷🌷💞💞🌼❤️🌺🤎🌞🌞💙💘🤎🌷🩷🌸🧡🪻🪻🌹💚🌈🌈🌈🌈🌹🫶🏻🩵🪻🧡🌸🩷🩷💞💞🌼🌼❤️🌷💜🌺🪻💚🫶🏻🫶🏻🩵🪻🧡🌸🩷💞💞🌼❤️🩵🩵🩵💚💚🩵🩵💙💘🌞🌞🤎

Glad you reclaimed your body, you sound really happy and relieved x ❤ Just for anyone who's still nursin and dosen't want to stop, that's also cool.x, I'm tandem nursing a 3.5 year old and 11 month old. It's okay also to keep nursing if you're okay with it, and putting in boundaries even for a boobie monster can work if you're up for a middle ground also ❤❤ I think the older the kids gets the more "consent" becomes important to consider, shouldn't have to nurse forever if you don't want to, but shouldn't stop if you're all not ready x

oh my god, i'm still breastfeeding my 19 month old with no plans to stop any time soon and watching you get emotional has me in tears! so glad it all went so well for you all, but this has confirmed that i'm sooo not ready to stop😅

OMG the books at bedtime situation is so relatable. My baby is almost a year old and sometimes we call her the anti literacy baby because she just isn't interested. Boobs are so much cooler 😂

I very much identified with the feeling of being trapped. My daughter was 18 months when we weaned and she was very much not ready. The catalyst was a combination of me dreading our feeds, and a trip I had to take solo to care for an ill family member. We did it cold turkey (I guess not- we had night weaned cold turkey a little previously). I always offered cuddles but no more milk (also always called it milk, never boobies) so that she was still comforted. We talked it up before and that helped the transition I think, so we’re doing the same to prep for toilet training. The next big scary thing 🫣 My daughter transitioned shockingly well, and it reminded us that she’s such an impressive human and understands more than we realize.

This is exactly what I needed. I’m starting to wean my 17 month old on Friday. There will be good things on the other side. I can do it 🥲🤣🤣

Thank you for this video. Breast feeding is such a unique experience I think. I've had bad times (the first 10 quite were brutal) but also some amazing times. I have to admit I do particularly love the ability to whip a boob out to feed my baby quickly when they are fussy. I'm not ready to wean yet, the thought of it makes me sad, and we both aren't ready, but I know I'll be able to come back to this video when we are, and know that it will be okay.

Watching this while nursing my 6 month old to sleep 🥺 why am i getting emotional even at the thought?! 😭

Just thank you so much!

Would you do anything different for child #2 or keep the whole process the same?

Can i ask where that bralette is from? i am obsessed with it

He will get there with the night waking. Sometimes there's a sleep association thing going on, but waking in the night is developmental too and they'll need comforting somehow. It's great you can share it with your partner now. You're doing great 💪💪

Thank you for sharing!! I've been wondering how on earth I'll ween my boob obsessed son (currently 18 months) .. I'm a solo parent, any top tips for how to do weaning week (and afterwards)?? Should I bring ppl in? Or keep it more like day to day with just me at night? (I've also got a wedding weekend away as a deadline!) Thanks!!

Weaning felt soooo freeing for me as well! (Even though I did love nursing my child)

Congratulations! Feels weird watching this one week postpartum and very far away from weaning but you can never know too much I suppose. 😂

The way I weaned my daughter was very similar to this! She was 2 and a half and i was definitely getting towards being done with breastfeeding anyway, but a big factor in stopping was that i got pregnant with our second child...for me, breastfeeding while also pregnant was just so tiring! I'm now back to breastfeeding my son however 😂 but it has felt much easier the second time around!

I've never related to someone more! THANK YOU! From an exhausted mom of boob obsessed 18 months old...

Happy this had a positive outcome for you sounds like it was really worth it 🌸🤎🌹💜🩵🤎🌷🌷🌺🌺🧡🩷💞💞🧡🧡❤️🌼🪻💛🩷🌺💖💖💚💚🌸🩵🌹🌷🌷🌺🌺🧡🧡💖💖🧡🩷💛🪻🌸🩵🌹🌹🫶🏻🌈💚💚🌈

Our daughter is 20 months, and I’m hoping she will be ready to weaning in the next few months.

thanks for sharing your experience! do you think your experience with rowan’s reliance on the boob will shape how you approach it if you have another child? it sounds like his reliance on the boob for sleep was really hard work for you and dan, so would you look to establish different sleep strategies earlier on if you have another child?

I really wish there was more information about weaning, the course the NHS does for starting solids because I feel like I need help with this and don't know where to start. My 2 yo is still breastfeeding and I don't know what to do to or where to start.

Well done Hannah!! We night weaned at about 18mo, but only just dropped the final morning feed last week at 2 years, if it makes you feel better, he started sleeping through about 2 months after the night weaning so fingers crossed!! On a personal note, how are you coping with the ide of having a second having had a 'bad sleeper' for 2 years? I genuinely don't know if I can face another 2 years of constant waking and its got us in decision paralysis!

As someone who hasn't had kids yet, thanks for this video. I have always wanted to long term breastfeed if I get the chance and have the ability, but when they can say "mummy, I'm hungry" and have grown all their teeth, then yeah, a solid diet is to be expected. Good to see this journey. Edit: Interesting he calls it Mimi. in Japanese, before the popularity of English "mama-san", the initial "ma-ma" of a baby was taken to mean "milk" or "breast".

Loved this video! My daughter is 18mo and she's fed to sleep and im so nervous to try and wean her, especially for the night wakes when boob is just the quickest way to get her back to sleep. This has inspired me to try it!

im only 4 minutes in and this makes me feel so much better that i nurse my 11 month old to sleep. ped. wanted us to stop that so its not harder on us later but its honestly what works for us and i also probably nurse her more often during the day then most ppl do at this age.

so so interesting, because with our second, we seem to have the same issue...

Mimi is the cutest name to call breastfeeding ever 😭 go rowan

I also felt so done with breastfeeding. I needed more sleep. I weaned at 21 months and sleep was the reason as well. I tried to slowly wean her off but then she would teeth or get sick and it kept getting dragged out. I felt like it was stressing her out more than going cold turkey. One day I woke up and decided we were cold turkey done. It took about two days and then she accepted it. She still grabs my boobs when she sleeps lol but she doesn’t try to nurse. She’s almost 25 months old.

How has it affected your relationship not sleeping next to Dan as often??

Congratulations on what your family has accomplished! I thought it was very interesting.

so glad it seems like you sort of have your life back! how does that work with trying to get pregnant with number 2? i imagine it'll be hard to have to give it all up again!

Love this for you, love the video thanks

I love your bra! Where is it from? Thanks for the video, helpful for the future!

We’re doing the counting thing too! 😅 Not weaned yet, but also not falling asleep *on* the boob, just in the bed after. We noticed that anything we say slowly and monotonously works, so we started counting sheep 😂 and it works!

My 15 month old also calls it mi-mi. I call it "milky". She's not super obsessed though. She went down to 3-4 feeds on her own in the last couple of months. She does still want to nurse at like 3 or 4am but we are down to one wake-up at night.

Highly recommend Makes Milk podcast for weaning advice also ❤

Ooo I am intrigued about the cute bralette company that Instagram has advertised to you as someone who also only wears bralettes

the old bras migth be able to be refitted if the fit is not to off and what that would cost compared to new bras. also with bigger bras brand are allways so expensiv it migth be something to look at if that is a possiblity. know some bra stores can do fits on bras you by from them when need really special sizes so they maybe can put in contact for old ones get fixed by same person if it´s from the store whre you baugth it to start with

My son still nursed every 1-2 hours throughout the night until I weaned him at 2.5 years. I went just over 30 months. We also cosleep to this day (he’s about to turn 6) and he didn’t sleep through the night until he was 4 years old. Yeah, it was rough 😅

I have a couple of questions. Has Rowan got the majority/some of his baby teeth? As I assume teeth and breast feeding isn't overly fun. Is Rowan on mainly toddler friendly solids (plus the odd bottle of breast/formula/'normal' milk) during the day so breastfeeding at 2 is more of a comfort thing rather than a nutritional thing? I can imagine that's something to consider when weaning

You know, in Turkish, breasts are called meme. I was surprised to hear baby rowan say meme.

My daughter has never taken a bottle and is obsessed with nursing. She will be 2 next month. My partner wants me to wean when she hits 2, and I don't want to. I want to naturally wean, or at least I'd happily nurse for another 1-2 years. I'm nervous and sad for her turning 2 and my partner pressuring us to stop, because not only do I not want to but I also know it will devastate her as it's so important to her. While I don't want to wean, she's never fallen asleep not on the breast, and I would like her to be able to fall asleep for someone else so I can have an evening out over the next 6 months, and I would like to be able to go away for a night over the next 12 months which currently doesnt feel possible as she wakes every couple of hours to nurse. Hoping this video gives me some tips to achieve these goals, as hoping by achieving them my partner will be open to continuing breastfeeding. ETA - this video has me sobbing minutes in, I'm definitely nowhere near ready to think about weaning 😅

I think it takes a looooong time for breasts to stop producing milk completely. I weaned 8 months ago and can still get a few drops out. Might go on for years. :P

I get the bra thing. I didn't breastfeed in the end because I struggled too much mentally in the first few weeks but now, 2 years on, and I still can't comfortably wear a normal wired bra, I live in bralets and sports bras.

You’re amazing mom hannah and did a wonderful job and and Dan too so proud of you both 🤎💚🌞🩵🩵🩵🩵🤎🤎💞🤎🌞🩷🩷🪻💘💙💘💜💞🌹🌺💙🌺🌺🫶🏻🌼🌼🌷🌷🌈💖🌈🌹🌹🌺🌼🫶🏻💙🤎💚🌞🌞

I'd be really interested if you'd do things differently for any future child/ren? Would you do it earlier? Nighwean earlier? Do it all the same?

Aw I am watching this as I feed my 9 month to sleep. Felt all the emotion with you 💗 Curious to know, if there is anything you will do differently if you have another with your breastfeeding journey/feeding to sleep etc?

My weaning experience *could not* be more different! We never really managed to fully establish good breast feeding - we combo fed for 4 months, and so our last boobing was 4 months ago now! For the first 12 weeks we always boobed to sleep, but after the first 5 weeks we weren't co sleeping any more - he would fall asleep on the boob and I'd transfer to the crib by the bed, which wasn't always effective, and I frequently fell asleep sitting up boobing in the middle of the night. Co-sleeping long term wasn't the right choice for us, so I really wanted to transition to him falling asleep in his crib instead of on the boob. We worked on that for a few weeks, maybe 3? We moved his last bottle feed to be at bed time, and then I stopped offering the boob after, I'd put him straight into bed. He would fuss about it initially, so there was lots of re-settling him and to start with I would boob him to sleep in the end after about half an hour of 'practicing' - and then he began to fuss less when I put him down, and eventually he'd manage to chill long enough to drop off on his own. So then I was only boobing in the mornings and a couple of times in the day - I went back to work not long after that, so there was less day boobing. He really preferred bottles to boobs anyway as he got more food more easily! So eventually I was only boobing him every other morning, just to keep it as an option, and eventually I just stopped. I knew if I decided 'ok this is my last feed' in the moment it would be too sad, so I just waited until I'd gone 3 days without especially wanting to boob, and decided at that point - ok we're done now. I'm grateful that overall it was a very calm experience, and because it was such a slow tapering off (and because we weren't that good at it anyway) I didn't get any wild mood swings or sore boob issues when we were done. I loved hearing about your experience - it's so interesting to know what it's like for other people and maybe with another kid this will be more like what happens for us - it's always good to be prepared!