Mums who breastfed for 12-24 months?

[brookshelley]

Two DCs, both breasted for 15-16 months. I was sick of it by the end and encouraged weaning by not offering and giving cow's milk and more food.

I feel like the majority of mums I know either

• mostly/exclusively formula fed and think BF was a huge hassle
• extended BF until 2-3-4 years old

Are there mums who are in the middle? BF for longer than average but were ready to give up in baby's second year? I don't really have anyone in real life I can relate to.

[Disfordarkchocolate]

I did 1 year with 3 and 2 years with 1. The 1 was lactose intolerant so we count introduce cows milk at 1. By 2 he naturally stopped.

[RubertRoo]

I gave up around 14 months. DD was just becoming fussy - using me as a dummy in the night (She never had a dummy) and was getting me up 7-8 times a night and I just couldn't do it anymore. So the next night gave her a cup of cows milk and she started sleeping much better! Think it was just the comfort she wanted rather than milk at the end

[VelvetPineapple]

I’m at 13 months now and sick of it. I’m continuing because my child still wants it and it’s good for boosting his immune system and his nutrition because he isn’t a good eater. I want to stop but I feel selfish.

[MarshaBradyo]

Yep with y third now, she’s 14 months batik bfding

Not sure how long I’ll go on for but I’d definitely like to reduce

[MarshaBradyo]

Typing still bfding

[TeddyIsaHe]

I’m still going (dd is 2.3) and I am SO SO SO ready to give up. I’ve got it down to one bf every couple of days. Just need to quit completely! My breasts don’t fill up hugely anymore so I know it’s not going to be a struggle with mastitis etc. I recently went to Cornwall without dd for 4 days and no discomfort at all. I’m totally ready to have my boobs back now!

[donkey86]

DD is 17m today and I stopped breastfeeding her a week ago. Stopping has been easier than I thought it would be.

I know what you mean about feeling oddly in the middle- the majority of mums I know either stopped in the first couple of weeks/months or are planning on continuing until 2y or beyond.

[brookshelley]

Yeah I just felt touched out. I've been pregnant or breastfeeding for 4 years straight - with a one month break between weaning DD1 and getting pregnant with DD2.

I feel selfish for stopping (which I've just done in the past few days) but objectively I know that I BF my babies for longer than most women in developed countries do and past the 12m recommended minimum so why am I beating myself up?

[CoraCoo]

I did 14 months then 20 months. My first was ready to stop at 14 months and he moved onto cows milk from a cup at bedtime instead of his nightly bf.

My second was 20 months because he has a dairy allergy and wouldn't drink any of the alternative 'milks' so I kept going for a bit longer. And also because he wasn't a great sleeper sleepwear it was the quickest way to calm him and get everyone back to sleep.

[brookshelley]

DD is 17m today and I stopped breastfeeding her a week ago. Stopping has been easier than I thought it would be.

It's been 4 days and she hasn't seemed to really notice. I had to work late on Monday so I missed bedtime, she slept through and the next morning she just wanted food. Kept going and now it's Friday so I think she might be done.

[Littlebelina]

11 months with DS (so not quite as extended as you asked for but longer than average). He was down to 2 milk feeds a day at that point ( morning and evening). We had started to give a bottle in the evening sometimes which worked well for a couple of months but then he started to bite my nipple and lost interest in the morning feed so it seemed like a good place to stop! We did use formula not cow's milk for the evening feed until he was 15 months as he had had a temporary reaction to dairy after a stomach bug but after that swapped to cow's milk.

Dd is 4months and exclusively bf. She is not very receptive to a bottle at the moment so suspect she might go longer but I don't have much personal desire to go much beyond a year

[MarshaBradyo]

I feel the same ready to cut right back but also know how good it has been ar various points (flights and procedures) plus good for her

I have two older dc but I just can’t remember how it was that I stopped

[LauraPalmersBodybag]

Oh my god, feel no guilt! You’ve done an amazing job but now you need your body back, that’s so reasonable.

I bf for about 18months and was so sick of it by the end that I took an unplanned solo holiday just to put things to a stop. My dd was absolutely fine, she did ask when I came home but I said no and that and was that.

I think you need to congratulate yourself at having gone so far, most people don’t past a few weeks, let alone 12 months +

It’s totaly fine for you to need a break now. Well done! xx

[JassyRadlett]

I stopped at 17 months with DS1, and 21 months with DS2.

With DS1, I was only feeding morning and night and wasn’t quite ready to stop but had a work trip for a few days which was a good opportunity.

DS2 had an operation when he was 20 months so I intentionally kept going until then to be able to comfort him. I was so over it by the time the op came around. It was a real relief to taper off a few weeks later, even though he was a bit narky about it.

[knitandpearl]

I've got a 13 month old and he's increasingly wanting feeds at night for comfort.I'm happy to continue morning/evening feeds but would like to drop the afternoon and night ones so hoping to tackle that soon

[Tinyteatime]

I b/f until 15 months. My baby self weaned. It was quite unexpected and a bit premature for my liking but I’m glad she decided to stop rather than me having to make her, I think I had a lukcy escape.

[JITSOG]

Stopped at 2.11. I stopped mainly because my DS was nearly 3 and also because his interest was waning.

I breastfedthrough many obstacles including my admission to hospital for a week when DS was 18 months. I look back on it fondly and also with a sense of achievement.

[LittleCandle]

I did 14 months with DD1, purely because we discovered she had huge numbers of allergies and wasn't eating solids much at all. But at 14 months, I had had enough (and I enjoyed BF) and just went cold turkey.

With DD2, I did about 10 months. She ate well, so stopping was not a problem. I also had to stop because I had to have an operation. She caught measles (thankfully very mild) the weekend I first planned to quit, so got another couple of weeks before I actually stopped. I didn't give a flying fuck what other people thought of me feeding. What business is it of theirs?

[FurryGiraffe]

DS1 I BF for 18 months until he self-weaned, but the last six months was only one feed a day and he was happy to skip a day if I was away. DS2 I BF until 2 when I stopped offering. I kept going longer than I really wanted to with him because he was unwell for ages so I didn't to upset things further by weaning, but I was very ready to give up by the end.

[museumum]

I stopped in the 13th month. Or ds did. I guess extended breast feeders would say it was a “nursing strike” and that kids that age can’t self wean but he really wasn’t interested and if you google nursing strike the effort required to overcome it just doesn’t seem compatible with working or with sleeping so I just left it as his choice. He was drinking cups of water and cow milk and eating well. He had always refused bottles.

[Wigeon]

I stopped at 14 months with DC1 and I think 13 months with DC2. I figured they could have cow’s milk by 12 months, so I never needed to go onto formula.

[Narya]

I'm combi feeding a 13 mo - I'm starting to feel ready to stop so I don't think we'll go more than a month or two more. DC hates the taste of cows milk though which is making it harder as was hoping to stop the formula as well as the bf and go to cups of cows milk.

[Seeline]

Due to a difficult start with DC1 I managed 6months of mixed feeding. With DC2 I ended up doing 15 months ebf. Not intentional but with a bottle refuser, formula refuser and a very reluctant taker of solids, I had little choice! By 15 months I was only doing hte bedtime feed, so it was easy to stop. I had had enough by then - the total reliance on me was exhausting. If I hadn't been a SAHM, I would probably have forced the issue much earlier, but felt I didn't really have an excuse in my situation. DC2 has never drunk cows milk, doesn't like cheese, so ended up eating a lot of yogurt

[MarshaBradyo]

Dd isn’t interested in cow’s milk either
She has it in porridge and that’s it

[WinterHeatWave]

Stopped twice at 11.5 months, when I went back to work.