Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

If you successfully BF, how long did you do it for, and why did you stop?

80 replies

Icoulddoitbetter · 03/10/2010 12:36

Afternoon everyone,

My DS is about to turn 1 and I'm still BF with no intention of stopping soon. Most mums I know have either stopped already or are in the process of doing so. There has also been an increase recently in people saying to me "so exactly how much longer do you intend to BF?" !!!

I know MN has a lot more extended BF'ers than I'll meet in RL, but I'm just curious as to why people do it for as long (or as short) a time as they do. Amongst my friends it just seems that people feel 6-9 months is enough. I can see why, and completely respect their decision. In fact I'm still shocked that I find myself here happy to carry on BF until, who knows? I'm also no earth mother, my DS has a bottle at bedtime given by his dad, and bottles if we go out and he's babysat.

So, if BF worked out for you, at what point did you think "right that's enough now" and end it? And what was the reason?

OP posts:

mistressploppy · 03/10/2010 14:46

DS is 11.5mo and I'm planning to stop at a year - so we're winding it up gently now.

The main reason is that he's never been particularly interested and is now even less bothered! We are on 2 feeds a day without actively 'trying' to wean. So it just feels natural to call it a day.

A bit like MotherMountainGoat says, really.

Bella32 · 03/10/2010 14:48

ds until he was 2 - decided to wean him as dd was due and I wasn't prepared to do tandem.

dd until 18 months, when she self-weaned.

Keep going as long as you are both happy to do so. I vividly remember another mother's abject horror when she asked me (ds was about 1 at the time) how long I intended to keep on bf, and I replied 'as long as he wants to'.

And no, I'm no earth mother either

mousymouse · 03/10/2010 14:54

ds until he was 7.5 months, had my first period then and he did not want boob anymore, really tried for about a week but no.
dd is nearly 10 months now and we are still feeding on demand.

franke · 03/10/2010 14:55

Fed dd and ds1 until around 7 months because I was ignorant. I didn't understand enough about bf and how it could carry on alongside weaning. Fed ds2 for 17 mo at which point he lost interest. Feel bad about the first two now but there you go.

stropicana · 03/10/2010 15:00

DD1 - bottle fed
DD2 - BF for a couple of months
DD3 - 18 months and a boob monster. I stopped feeding her in day at 15 months then realised it is an excellent tool to get her to nap in the day! I admit to letting her feed if she is ill or if I am .

DD3 still bf in night and morning/evening. I do feel that I am gradually trying to cut down but who knows when it will stop?

ThatDamnDog · 03/10/2010 15:01

Fed DS until he self-weaned at around 2.3. Not sure when exactly because he only fed in the night by then and I didn't notice that he'd stopped. It's only now, looking back, that I think the hormones maybe explained a huge meltdown I had at work around the same time . I never really had a "that's enough" moment, although I did get fed up with the night feeds and started wearing a top to bed which meant he had to really want a feed before he bothered.

DD is 2 weeks old and all being well she'll self-wean too.

stropicana · 03/10/2010 15:01

Oh yes periods. I just had my first one in 18 months!

JustKeepSwimming · 03/10/2010 15:03

I fed DS1 to 13months, started weaning him at 12 months mostly as i felt that was 'normal' (our bf group used to kick you out when your DC turned 1!), and anyway i was pg with DS2 and it was sore so i was pleased to be weaning.

DS2 i fed until 12 months, again had that timing in my head from before, and after being pg/bf for so long i wanted my body back.

Pg with DC3 now, plan to just keep going this time :)

duchesse · 03/10/2010 15:08

-14 months (stopped because was pregnant and sore)
-18 months (had had enough of being pregnant and bfeeding for over 3 years without a break)
-24 months (again, wanted my body back to myself)
-13 months and counting, and so far she's showing no signs of winding down- still having about 6 feeds a day. I just had my first period since getting pregnant with her in November 2008, which is fab afaic.

mamatomany · 03/10/2010 15:13

I plan to stop at 6 months with DS purely because I am so knackered.
I feel as he's number 4 he's done well to get this far I was in pain and so tired from day one so really I've not enjoyed this experience despite feeding DD3 until nearly three years old.

nameymcnamechange · 03/10/2010 15:19

DD refused breastmilk at exactly one year old. She had been mixed feeding from 9 months onwards and gradually became more and more enthusiastic about her bottles. It was great timing on her part because I was happy to give up then.

I started mixed feeding with DS at 6 months and by 8 or 9 months he was completely done with breastfeeding (I always feel a tiny bit guilty that he got less breastmilk than dd ).

I was thrilled to be able to breastfeed, just so very relieved that it was something I was able to do, but I can't say I loved it. There were some gorgeous cuddly moments looking down at the dc little faces, but I am sure ff mums get just the same feelings when feeding their babies.

LeninGrad · 03/10/2010 15:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bumbleconfusus · 03/10/2010 15:30

I managed to ebf until DD was 5 months, even though I went back to work when she was 4 months, and have mixed fed since, but unfortunately at 8 months my milk is getting less and less, and the only time I can now really feed her is the middle of the night :(

tegan · 03/10/2010 15:35

I bf ds until the day he was 4 months old and he refused from the second he woke up to even let me pick him up let alone feed him otherwise i think i would still be bfig now at 22 months and even at the school gate, i loved it.

Riponite · 03/10/2010 15:35

I wound DD1 down and weaned her at 19 months simply because she took 3/4 of an hour or more over a feed and I had selfishly lost patience! Luckily DD2 fed like air-to-air refuelling in about 10 mind flat and she kept it up till a bit over 2 1/2 when she got confused coming back from holiday and forgot to ask!

NothingButTheTeuch · 03/10/2010 15:38

9mths. DS1 started to bite when he was teething and bit so hard that I could only feed from one side. Bit the other side just as hard and it was game over.

DS2 was 10mths, but I can't remember why we stopped

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 03/10/2010 15:39

I fed DS until he was 2, we stopped sometime in the 2/3 weeks after his birthday. Not because of any deadline I had set myself, but because I was pregnant and it was soooo sore!

With this baby I will just keep going until they are ready to stop.

DS still asks very occasionally when he is really tired, but I've got no milk now anyway because of the pregnancy. I will be interested to see whether he wants to latch on and have a go when the new baby arrives :)

cory · 03/10/2010 15:39

With dd I stopped at 11 months because she wasn't showing much interest. Not a big decision, it just fizzled out. She didn't ask, I didn't bother to remind her. She was eating big meals at that age and drinking happily out of a beaker.

With ds, I had to move onto formula (sometime between 4 months and 6 months, can't remember exactly) because I needed to move onto medication that was not known to be bf safe at the time. I was a bit more resistent to this, but GP pointed out that taking risks with my health was not exactly in ds's best interests. Don't remember it as a major problem, he took to bottles and beakers quite happily. In those days, solids started at 4 months, so already a lot going on there.

Iggi999 · 03/10/2010 15:42

DS stopped himself at 2. Just stopped trying to feed.
Mind you he was only on a bedtime feed by then.

reallytired · 03/10/2010 15:42

Fed ds until 2 and half years old. I cut feeds down gradually and it felt the right time to stop. Other ways of interacting with and and giving attention took over. We swapped nursing for bed time stories.

DD is still feeding at 17 months.

lunafire · 03/10/2010 15:47

DS self weaned at 4 years without any action on my part. I was actually quite sad it had come to an end LOL

tiokiko · 03/10/2010 21:49

DD self-weaned at 15m. She was down to one BF a day by that point, first thing in the morning, with a doidy cup of milk before bed.

I'd originally planned to BF to 6m only then just kept it going as it was easy and established by then.

Had been planning to try weaning around 17m as it would be after one trip abroad and before another so time to get her used to it before flying again. However she came into our bed one morning and just asked for a story, no BF required! That was it. No sense that she has any memory of it at all - weird in a way but it was actually really easy for me as no angst about when to stop.

bumpsnowjustplump · 03/10/2010 22:21

I BF until ds was 14 months old but stopped as he was still feeding every two hours at night and I was soooooooooooo tired... He has not had any milk since as he refuses to take a bottle or beaker with milk in it...

Morloth · 04/10/2010 13:49

Around 18mths, no real decision to stop, DS1 just stopped asking as oftten and then stopped altogether.

No time planned with DS2 he is 6 months now, will just leave him to it after a year (i.e. I will insist until he is 1 but after that it doesn't bother me either way).

Schulte · 04/10/2010 14:02

DD1: 10 months and then the GP told me to stop because I was so worn out.

DD2: 10 months and then I started worrying about still not having had my period.

I just found it drained me a lot after a while.

Also I liked being able to drink again!

Flip

1 2 3 4