extended breastfeeding questions

[bitzermaloney]

Am bfing ds who is nearly 9 months old, and can't quite decide what to do once he gets to a year. A big part of me would like to give up bfing once he can have cow's milk - I must admit I don't really love bfing as some women seem to, though I don't really dislike it either iyswim. On the other hand I know there are still some benefits for him so I am sort of planning to let him decide.

But DS has been fairly 'not bovvered' about bfing for about 3 months (since starting food at 6 months) and it is increasingly difficult to get him to take a proper feed except first thing in the morning. At the moment I am continuing to try to persuade him as I know he still needs lots of milk at this age. I am wondering what people's experiences have been of bfing past a year - were your los always dead keen and demanded feeds? Is my ds likely to get more interested as he gets older or does it sound like he will self-wean early? And how will I know if he is self-weaning or just going through a not-interested phase? (Seems like a long phase!)
Would be grateful for any experiences/advice... TIA

[goingfor3]

DD2 was bf until 2 1/2 she wouldn't have given up if I hadn't decided I'd had enough. I would go with the flow and allow him to self wean when he's ready.

[crace]

I would see how things pan out, maybe once he turns one year you can use the "don't offer, don't refuse" method until he self weans.

At 9 months, and still now at 16 months my daughter is/was an addict so I had no doubt we were going to continue.

I do know what you mean about not liking/not disliking feeding - I don't do it for me, but I enjoying knowing that my daughter has had an amazing start and is doing so amazingly well and it's down to me (not good on food).

It will work out I am sure.

[Adorabelle]

After an awful start to b.feeding my dd & I
are still going, she'll be 3 in June.

After the initial problems I have always found feeding her a pleasure, but I know many friends who couldn't wait to get to 1 so they could stop.

It's such a personal choice when to stop feeding your LO, i've always been of the mind that before a year offer at meal times & let them decide how much or how little to take. After a year let your LO choose. My dd fed Constantly from 16-19 months, I felt like she was sucking me dry!

Now at nearly 3 she has a full feed in the morning & maybe 1 during the day (which can be as short as 30 seconds or as long as 10 minutes).

[bitzermaloney]

Thanks for the replies. If I do the 'don't offer, don't refuse' at 12 months, and he doesn't ask for bf, do I just offer full fat cow's milk straight away? How often? I can't seem to find how much milk they're supposed to drink after a year.