15 months old and having 4 full breastfeeds each day. How many your child has?

[Mareta]

I have arrived to a point where I do wonder if this is normal. She is 15.5 months old and still having 4 breastfeeds each day. It includes one at night which I can completly understand as I don't go more than 12 hours without eating and she shouldn't go either.

As she gets older she starts asking for feeding and I have been in the situation where we have been in an activity and I have had to breastfeed her, which at the moment I don't really mind. I think she is teething at the moment and I can understand that she may need that extra confort.

I was just wondering how many other mums are in similar situation? I just feel like I am on my own as nobody I know with children the same age are still breastfeeding and sometimes they do ask me if I am still breastfeeding on demand which I think I am.

I just would like to know what other mothers are doing. Thank you

My DS is 22 months old and still has three - four breastfeeds a day. They are still sort of on demand, by which I mean if he demands one in the morning he gets it. If he demands another 20 minutes later he doesn't! I am starting to feel a little self conscious if he wants feeding in public, which irritates me as I wouldn't have felt like this 6 months ago and nobody has made me feel like this so I do still do it if he really wants it!

It is fairly uncommon to be still be feeding so much past the age of 1, but you're by no means alone and it's certainly not abnormal. (The WHO recomends breastfeeding until at least 2) It's very good for your DD and both you and her will be getting plenty of health benefits from it. If it feels right for you then it is and what other mothers are doing is unimportant.

I am still enjoying feeding my DS and as he's going to be my last baby I'm keen to keep going as long as possible, although I do sometimes wish he wouldn't yank down my top in public..... :o

I stopped breastfeeding DS1 around this age. I do think that as you get much beyond a year you are in "extended breastfeeding" territory which is occupied by a very small minority. But I think you're doing wonderful thing and obviously what feels right for your DD. As long as you are happy to do it, why not continue?
If you don't feel comfortable bfing her in public you could always just refuse when out and about, and offer her a drink and a snack instead? She is still benefiting from your breastmilk but likewise is plenty old enough to go without! If you're still happy to do it, bugger what anyone else is doing!!

Can't remember now exactly how many, but dd was having a lot more than 4 bfs a day at that age. Lots of young toddlers breastfeed frequently. It's normal .

DS2 is 21 months and has somewhere between 3000 and 4000 feeds a day.

OK, I exaggerate slightly, but not be very much .

As she gets older frequency of breastfeeding becomes less about nutrition and more about comfort. DS2 is teething and suffering a bit from a virus, hence the frequent feeds. We nightweaned not too long ago, too, so he's trying to get lots in during the day

DS is 2.1.

Every day he feeds at bedtime (7.30) for around 1-2 hours (used to be shorter but taking a while at the moment) and once at around 4am.

The rest of the day really depends what we're doing. One day of the week he's at the childminder all day and so he doesn't feed at all. On another day if we are home a lot he might come up and ask for a feed 5-6 times. Generally when we're out or there are other people around he asks much less. When it's boring or I'm not doing much with him he wants it more.

13.5 month DS has 4 a day. But he has no dairy or soya - I'm his main source of calcium and milk. If he had dairy I'd cut down to 2.

It definitely got more before it got less though, unfortunately!

If you want to encourage her to drop feeds gently at her own pace you could go with "Don't offer, don't refuse" which means you never just open your top at her or say to her "Do you want milk?" but you wait for her to ask for it. Obviously only works if she has a way to ask for it (word/sign).

My dd2 turned two at the weekend.

At the moment she is having a feed to sleep at 7pm, wakes around 10.30pm and feeds again and has a little snack or two most nights too.

I also feed her on waking if she asks.

She asks frequently for 'mee mees' during the day but usually I distract her unless she is very insistent/upset.

I never pictured myself feeding for this long either and dd shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.

When she was around 18 months old I was feeding her day and night and I was really stressed out by it and decided to stop the daytime feeds as I knew she was more dependent on the night feeds.

Since I have accepted that I am going to feed until she self weans I am much more relaxed about it.

my DS is nearly 14 months, and has 3-4 feeds a day. one at bedtime, which is straight after dinner/bath, and can last up to an hour. one in the middle of the night, one at 3 when I finish work, and some days one right after lunch. He has managed on 2 feeds in 24 hours a few times, but would rather not have to.

do you have a la leche league group near you? Ours is great for extended feeding. a few fruitloops VERY dedicated extended feeders, but mainly those of us who have got into it almost by accident - by not weaning the minute our child hit 12 months. It's the only place other than mumsnet where I meet other extended feeders, and now I've learnt to filter out the loons, it's become a nice relaxing place to meet once a month!

13.5 months has 3/4 a day. thinking about stopping soonish...

didn't really anticipate this. kind of thought it would be 12 months and then stop . really don't mind though - its very sweet .

if i'm not there its 2 a day or if we are out and about and there are babycinos about he'll happily have one of those instead...

Thank you to all of you for replying. It's nice to know that I am not alone on this. I just don't know anyone who has kept breastfeeding after 12 months.

When DD was born never thought I would still be breastfeeding her so long but at the same time I can't think of stopping. I find mummy's milk heals everything, it is like magic and we have a word for it so when she wants some she just asks although she has started to pull my t-shirt up if I am not listening to hear or just trying to ignore her.

Bertiebotts: I have realiced that DD will ask milk if I am not doing things with her or if I am sitting but I don't count these ones as feeds because usually they will be very sort. She my have this type of feeds a few times each day (around 4 times)

ds3 is 17 months and still feeds one average 4 or 5 times a day. more if he is getting particularly tired and we're out or busy or something.

DS2 is 3.5 and still nurses 2-4 times a day. DD is 20 months and nurses ooooh, maybe 6 times so far today and then through the night too.
Is that any help?

I don't count but I would guess that 2.1 yo DD has between 4 and 6 feeds a day (sometimes more), mainly first thing in the morning, just before a nap and at night but also if she's a bit bored or fancies a cuddle I have no intention of stopping, it makes my life so much easier!

I did feel a bit alone for a while but like kveta I started going to LLL meetings and met other mums that were 'still' BF. I don't think any at the meeting I go to are loons but I'm a bit thick unaware of that kind of thing. It's worth giving it a go anyway!

Handsoff a fellow WoT fan??

Mareta, i remember posting something similar about my ds1 when he was around this age.

IIRC he was nursing something like at least a dozen times a day which didn't seem like what he "should" be doing (according to who though? not sure where I got that idea from!!).

I soon learned to forget about what he "should" be doing and went with it. Nursing was like a reset button when he was tired/ill/sore/upset/it was tuesday/whatever and he would be back to his old self after a short feed.

Like your dd, he also asked to nurse if I wasn't paying him what he reckoned to be enough attention.

HTH

DS was feeding about 8 times in a 24hr period at that age. When he was 18m I stopped feeding him during the day, if it had been difficult and he'd kicked up a fuss I would have continued but it was astonishingly easy and I fed him through the night, morning and before bed. Night weaning came much later (and was not very easy!)

He is just 2 now and bf before bed. I bf on demand until he was 18m I guess, then gentle encouragement/distraction for the day feeds, and then night weaning later... I know it's tough when you don't know anyone else doing it but never fear, millions of us on MN

Iglly - I'm WoTmania so you could say that....I started a book 13 spoiler thread over in adult fiction.

sorry iggly

My DS is coming up for 14 months and has 2-3 a day, depending on whether I am working. (had 4 yesterday which was the most for ages, I was on a day off)

He always has morning and bedtime, sometimes one for a nap after lunch and if he wakes up at night and can't settle I always feed him.

Although now that I think of it he has the odd tiny one if he bumps his head or something and is upset, haven't counted those ones as they are usually pretty quick as he heads off to play.

No idea when I am going to stop - he is very undemanding so it is not much effort and lovely to get cuddles before/after work

Today DD had about 1 million feeds and she's just past 12 months.

Usually, if I'm not at work, she'll have between 4 and 6 in a day and at least one at night.

She doesn't seem particularly interested in food apart from smoked salmon, rich tea biscuits and individual peas, so at least I know she's getting some calories in amongst the canapes.

Thanks to all of you [smille], it is nice to I am not the only one here. I guess I will just relax and enjoy it.

As most of you I really enjoy the moment when we are both cuddling. I neer thought I would still be breastfeeding when I started but at the same time I don't think of stopping. I always thought DD would stop whenever she was ready as she has dropped other feeds on her own.

Thank you for all your comments and please keep them coming as it is really reassuring and at least for me it helps me to know I am not the only one

DD is 18 months and feeds about five times a day, taking around 550ml in all - I express at work four days a week so I know how much she drinks. She's night weaned, eats three meals a day and takes about half the volume she did at 6mo, so I'm not worried. I don't think of it as 'extended' breastfeeding - it's what human mammals did until about 60 years ago.

On my days off she naps next to me and sips milk on and off, which is what she's doing now. I think we have a very good physical bond, partly as a result of that.

Don't let anyone tell you it's somehow unnatural! Quite the contrary.