i have to stop breastfeeding my 2 & half yr old. im trying cold turkey but i am worried about pain & mastitis?

After that amount of time it shouldn't hurt when you stop breastfeeding. That's only for people who breastfed for a short amount of time. So if you're in pain that's not the reason. So go see a doctor.

If you have mastitis, you should probably talk to a doctor. If not, I've read many times that weaning is a better way to stop. What is a long overdue problem? Needs more info on the whole.

I just recently stopped breastfeeding my daughter. We did it for a little over 2 years. She slept over at someone's house, and when she came back, she never asked to nurse again. It hurt a bit, but just take a hot shower. It seems my Fs have gotten bigger since we quit. Kill me.

"this is hard for both us"

No kidding...

"any suggestions???"

Sure, don't do this? Abrupt weaning at that age is pretty cruel, really not the sort of deal you were making when you chose to nurse to that age.

This isn't 'a problem that is long overdue' -- if you were just nursing to shut the kid up or something... I mean, I don't get how somebody could have a nursing relationship with their toddler and be in this sort of eff-you-kid state; don't you care about your kid's feelings on this? Why on earth wouldn't you wean gradually? Laziness? Seems so odd.

I was nursing my 2.5 year old very infrequently at that point so mastitis was never a concern. How often do you nurse?

How much can you be nursing a 2and a half year old, really? I doubt you will even get engorgement.. You are way past that.. I stopped nursing my son when he was 20mo and I never even as much as felt my breasts ''full'' and I did it cold turkey too since I left the country...