Help me; at 8 months I am getting sick of breastfeeding?

I don't want to stop. I want to keep going as long as my son does; but lately I am just so tired of it because my boobs , for the past month or so end up hanging out at ALL hours of the day because all he wants to do is snack and play, snack and play. Every 5 minutes and I am even too tired to put my boobs away lol how sad is that.

I don't really know what I'm asking for here; I've kind of had the idea in my head for a couple days of getting him on a feeding schedule but I wonder if 8 months is too soon for that...or if anyone has been through this... I guess I am looking for ideas and encouragement...help me please.

And please I want solutions, NOT the easy way out--because there's no way in hell I'm going to quit now so please do not comment that I need to stop already.

Yeah, I have been giving him solids usually once or twice a day for a couple months.

I always fed when hungry but I didn't go for the snacking or grazing. By 8 months he should be closer to 4-5 feedings a day - breakfast. lunch, dinner and bed. You can use solids at these or break them up so they are midway between each nursing. He can be on 3 solid meals a day and on finger foods for snacks.

you do not have to stop, but start using formula as a supplement. Breast feed every 4 hours, and if he wants more in between, use a bottle.

Have you introduced solids at this point? If you haven't, introducing them could help cut back on how often he feeds throughout the day.

You need to stick to a feeding schedule or hes going to be constantly on you nursing at will. He should be starting solids now and not strictly breastfed. To keep him on his schedule you can pump and put milk into storage to give him to drink throughout the day, versus nursing on you at will all day. He should be up to every 4 hours at least, but i would keep it at morning, then AM nap, the lunch, then PM nap, then dinner, and then bedtime the rest he is allowed to have a bottle.

You cannot let him control you, you need to get him on a schedule, and hes going to cry when he cannot have his way, but guess what you need a life too, its easier to break bad habbits at this age than, when he is 2 and still wants to nurse on you constantly. As well as when you have more responsibilites as a parent and have to enforce more rules and standards.

Congrats for nursing this long, but you need to get that boy on a schedule. eventually ween him off the Lunch breastfeeding, and make him bottle feed then ween him off the dinner, then the am nap, then the Pm nap, then breakfast and bed, then just for bed, and then he should be on regular milk and you will be free of the baby boob attachement.

You should be feeding him probably 3 times a day with his food demands. You could probably even work in snacks at his age of cherios etc, if hes seeming to take the veggie puffs by gerber ok, and the regular baby food.

Scheduling feedings can reduce your supply.

He's wanting to nurse all the time probably for a few reasons: one is he's becoming more active and needs more calories and fluids. Another is he may be going through a growth spurt and is trying to increase your supply. Lastly, eight months is prime time for stranger and separation anxiety, he's trying new things, and to him your breasts are his source of comfort and he's coming to you for reassurance and to satisfy that need.

Good for you for wanting to keep it up as long as your son desires. Just hang in there and possbily you'll get over the slump you're in. You really don't want to schedule but maintain on demand. Breastmilk still should be his sole source of nutrition with solids only as practice.

Eh, consider the !Kung san bushpeople of the Kalahari desert- they nurse their babies average four times an hour, and carry them on their bodies. They don't even bother with bras or clothing of any sort. There's no problem with going topless at home so you can nurse frequently. I carry my 6 month old in a sling much of the time at home so she has easy and frequent access to the breast.

The AAP and WHO recommend complementary solids after 6 months. Complementary solids means solids only in addition to breastmilk, never as a replacement. Nursings should never be replaced with solids until 12 months at least.

Human infants are biologically made to have very frequent feedings. Animals that carry their babies on their bodies, like apes have a low protein content in their milk, thereby necessitating frequent feedings aka 'grazing' that other people talk about. Animals that leave their babies in a nest for much of the day have a high protein and fat content so that the babies get a lot of calories with very few feedings. Humans just aren't made to have scheduled, infrequent feedings. Human infants are made to nurse very often. It's only western culture that expects babies to conform to schedules and be 'convenient.' I'm not saying that you prescribe to this philosophy, but a lot of people do.