To give up bf or not...?

[mountainmonkey]

DS is 10 months old. He was exclusively BF for first 6 months then, at around 8 months, we started very gradually introducing bottles of formula (am due to go back to work pt in September and wanted to allow ample time for him to get used to taking a bottle)- he's now down to one bedtime BF.

The problem is now he's got most of his front teeth its starting to get really uncomfortable. He rarely bites me intentionally but I can feel his teeth scraping and it gets quite sore.

Abandoning the BF wouldn't be a problem from DSs perspective- he doesn't seem to have any particular emotional attachment to the boob- as long as he gets his milk he doesn't care where it comes from. He took to bottles very easily.

Have been trying to research the specific health benefits of BFing an older baby/toddler but can't seem to find much information. At the moment it seems like if I give up It'll be for my own selfish reasons but if I continue it'll be more for my own emotional benefit. Like a lot of mums I feel rather at the thought of not nursing my baby.

You do whatever feels right for YOU, but know this: you are NOT being selfish by moving onto the bottle / solids! He's going to stop b/feeding eventually, and it's not a moral decision so give yourself some slack there mama

The most intense nutritional value from breast milk literally comes in the first couple of weeks, inc. all your antibodies etc. It's fantastic you've given 10months and you can be completely confident your little boy has got every good thing he could possibly get, so if you move on now know that you've done brilliantly.

You obviously dearly love your little boy, so look forward to finding new ways of expressing that - plus he's getting older so will also be progressing in communicating it back to you too etc.

Hope you really enjoy what's left of the mat. leave!

Are you pregnant? That can cause uncomfortable feeds.

I don't think you needed to introduce formula btw - there are mums on here with babies younger than yours who go all day without boob and then make up for it in the evenings & at weekends. (Just mentioning in case you wanted to save yourself the cost of formula )

Here's some good info on nursing past a year: www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/index.html

Hope that helps

Nope, am not pg, though we were thinking of ttc dc2...DS just has really sharp teeth and I don't think that's gonna change!

Thanks for the link Jemjabella-its clear from reading some of the articles that there are still health benefits.

Think I will persevere for now and take it one day at a time. If I do decide to give up at least I'll be able to say I've done my best.

You've not just done your best - you've done fabulously! You're in a very small minority of mothers