Breast feeding beyond a year

[cairnterrier]

DS will have reached the milestone of 1yr next week. He's still breastfeeding and so now I'm wondering where we go from here. He's probably down to 2-3 feeds a day and will now settle in the evening without a feed (different matter through the night but we're working on that!). I can't see the point of introducing formula now so will start adding in cow's milk but when and how much? I don't mind continuing to breastfeed but am a bit confused as to how to fit it all in. I'm also not that keen to feed in the evening once his teeth have been brushed.

Any advice?

I still feed my DS at 16 months and plan to keep doing it until he self-weans (although I hope that is between 2 -3 years!

Breastfeeding after brushing teeth shouldn't be a problem as research has shown that breast milk is protective against cavities. Some dentists don't agree, though, and ours suggested wiping his teeth after a feed

When you say you are confused as to how to fit it all in, what do you mean? are there more things in your life now that makes breastfeeding difficult? If you are out and about, perhaps your DS dislike mine - he doesn't tend to ask for milk when we are out of the house.

Another suggestion is the "don't offer don't refuse" approach, which can help cut down on feeds. It is common to continue to feed in the evening and the morning at this age (or more, if you are my son!)

As for cows milk, we were recommended to treat cows milk as if it is a snack and offer it when you might offer a breastfeed during the day (like the middle two feeds in the day) along with a snack. But my little guy hates cows milk, so I have never tried it. He loves breastfeeding, so we will just keep feeding on request for now.

Hope this helps

Happy birthday to your DS

I am BF my 2.2 yo, not sure how many times a day she feeds because I don't really keep count but I would guess 5 or 6 (not including bed time).

If you're happy to carry on BF then you don't really need to do anything different, just keep offering healthy snacks and meals along side breastmilk.

My DD doesn't like cows milk but she does have yoghurt and cheese. She just drinks water when she's thirsty.

And as Pabboo said, there is no reason not to feed after you've brushed your DS's teeth.

Kellymom has some info on feeding toddlers that you might find useful.

Ooh, thanks for the advice. I'm sure that I'd read somewhere that breastmilk is sugary (as is all milk) and hence can still affect tooth enamel once the teeth are through.

Pabboo, the whole evening and morning thing is confusing me. He has a feed about 0530ish and then goes back to sleep and then isn't that fussed about having another feed after that. He still has one at lunchtime (although didn't today) and then may or may not have another feed in the afternoon but then doesn't feed again before bed - I've tried offering but he just messes around so obviously isn't interested and will go to sleep without a feed.

I guess I'll just go with the flow and see what happens. Everything has gone to pot this week as we've both had flu :( Although i'm so pleased that I was still feeding as on a couple of days this was all he'd have

I fed till 20months. At 15 months we went on holiday to Sri Lanka, and I basically just breastfed them as they wouldn't eat a lot! At around 16 months I cut down feeds to morning and night before bed. They started sleeping through around this age too, which was fantastic!

You don't have to give cow's milk if you are continuing to bf 3-4 times a day. You can of course give it if you go out with out DS instead of pumping in advance (great!)

You also don't have to bf on demand or only bf am/pm. Definitely a good idea to go with the flow as you may find your 'indifferent to except in morning/at bedtime bfing' 12m/o may turn into a passionate daytime bfer at 15m/o only to then turn into a 'if you sit I'm bfing' at 17m/o, only to then turn into a 'only if I'm tired/hurt bfer' at 20m/o (or not as the case may be - they like to keep us on our toes).

Well, I know a lot of dentists are very down on feeding any sort of milk after teeth are brushed, but I sort of ignored that. My main priority for doing the bedtime feed (until DS was 1 yr 10 months) was to get him to sleep! No way was I brushing after the feed.

A lot of bf experts say that the way in which milk comes out of the breast is different from the way it comes from a bottle. In breastfeeding, the nipple is way back in the mouth, beyond teeth, and is swallowed quickly. With a bottle, there isn't the need to 'latch on' as with a breast, and the milk may have a tendency to pool round the teeth.

Having said that, DS is now 2.10 and still has a bottle of cow's milk at bedtime (he was breastfed until 2.2) and that's still after brushing. I do keep an eye on his teeth and they're fine.

DD is nearly 2 and still bf quite a lot. It can be up to 5-6 times. She occasionally has a bit of moo-juice in a cup, but it's just another drink really, it's not something I've had a routine for offering.

In my scientific sample of 2 children , both of whom have breastfed before sleep, neither has any problems with their teeth. OK, ds2 is only 9 months and hasn't had teeth that long, but ds1 has been nursing for 5yrs and his teeth are beautiful.

As EauRodolph say, you don't really need to do anything different.

There was a thread recently (haven't got time to find it, sorry) in which a new bit of research was discussed, where teeth were placed in breastmilk, sugary water, or plain water.

The ones in bm did not suffer any more damage than the ones in water unless they were sugary to begin with, in which case breastmilk was worst of all- ie if you start with a chocolate coated mouth and breastfeed, bad news, but if the teeth are clean of sugar then the breastmilk is has the same effect as water.

I will have to seek out this research really once I have access to journals again (new year) as it sounded pretty good. But 'someone said on MN' doesn't hold much water up against a dentist does it!

Why not just see how it goes? I am still feeding DD at 20 months.[very proud mummy] I was getti feeding ng fed up of spending a lot of evening and night feeding her so she is now in her own room (since 18 months).

I too wonder what next? Will I really still be feeding DD at 3 (nothing wrong with that) but I can't imagine her asking "Mummy please can I have boob?2

Doesn't BM bypass the teeth as the baby draws the nipple to the throat?

BTW you are doing a fab job.

Kellymom has info on whether bm causes tooth decay (short answer = no).

Well done, cairnterrier, and happy birthday to your DS. :)

Thanks for all the additional info, looks like DS's teeth are going to be okay then :) Looks like moo juice (new favourite phrase!! thanks RhinestoneCowgirl) is off the drinks menu for the time being as well.