Is there an 'extended' breastfeeding support thread?

[Unrulysun]

Or would I be better off on LLL?

Just read the 'school-age children' thread with interest but didn't want to derail :)

dd is 1 today so it's not 'extended' bf by any normal definition but judging by the number of 'Are you going to carry on breastfeeding her?' (yes because otherwise she'll be composed primarily of grapes) conversations I've had inflicted on me in the last week I think I'm going to need all the support I can get

so proud we made it this far - ha ha!

Am reading this thread with interest. My 21 month old is still going strong feeding. Have tried to give her soya milk (cows milk allergy), but she refuses to drink it as she knows we are trying to reduce her milk feeds! She gives me a funny look when I give her soya as if to say "you must be joking Mum, there's no way I'm giving up mama milk!". The last week she has fed loads. My DH is supportive. My family think that she is "too big" for breast milk. Even though she has a cows milk allergy! Anyway it's just nice to have a rant on this thread. I defo want an ergo now!

Aw, your snowy walks sound lovely, TheRealMBJ .

Hello, Psychovillemum, and at your DD being so canny!

Psycho, you'd be welcome to mine if you really want one - PM me if you do. :)

Morning all.

I need to vent. DD1 is saying "I want booby" Every. 20. Seconds. It is driving me utterly bonkers. DD2 is 4 months old and feeds way less than DD1. I just need to moan about it to people who won't automatically say "why don't you just stop then?". Anyone else get days like this?

I feel better now

Morning Eau.

How old is she now? Could it be a developmental thingy, or is she feeling a little under the weather? Or maybe something else has changed at home? Like a new pet?

It is a phase, of course , and it will pass but it might help you to know why.

She's 2.9 now. She is recovering from a cold but she's gone up a gear today! And last night, sheesh. I ended up dumping her on DH at 5am and going back to bed. DD2 only woke up a couple of times. It wouldn't be so bad today if I hadn't already had it all night (and all day yesterday and all the previous night....)

No new pets but we're getting a new car. She might be upset about that, she loves the car so much that she cuddles it Also my GPs have been taken into hospital this week so maybe she's picking up on my stress over that.

Hmmm... It could definitely be that she is picking up on your stress. There's not much you can do about it, but in a way it is kind of sweet that she is so in tune with you

A quick question about solids/nutrition. Does anyone know if a toddler being bf makes a difference to the recommendation to give high-calorie / high-fat food - ie do they get enough fat from bm not to worry too much about the rest?

DS has porridge with semi-skimmed milk in the morning, something like cream cheese sandwiches for lunch and the same dinner we eat - not low fat but not that high fat either. Snacks tend to be fruit or cracker type things. We did BLW and he eats pretty much whatever he wants. He bfs a minimum of 4 times a day, but normally about 7 times or maybe more (I feed more or less on demand). Most are 'proper' feeds - 5-15 minute ones, and if he misses a couple of feeds I can feel the difference in my breasts so I know he takes a fair bit of milk.

I'm not worried about his weight (he's 98th centile weight & height) but I do occasionally worry that I should put more effort into the sort of food I give him.

Don't know Angel but I'm pretty relaxed about this sort of thing. I do use whole milk (sometimes even gold top - as I like it in my coffee ) and whole milk yoghurt but DS does tend to have at least 2 pieces of fruit a day as his snacks and meals are pretty much what we eat.

That said, I don't do ultra low-fat cooking for us either. But don't add cream or anything like that to food.

Hi, AngelDog. I think that what you're doing sounds fine (and your DS is definitely thriving!). I use whole milk in DS's porridge though, maybe you could do that?

It can be quite useful having a backup in the fridge for when the semi-skimmed milk runs out too .

Thank you Achtung and Angel. What you are doing sounds fine Angel. Thank you for your kind offer I will PM you.

bf bingo.

I am going to stop expressing at work now (going on holiday for 2 weeks and when I get back DS will be 11m so he?s just going to have cows milk during the day). HR book me out a meeting room twice a day, so when I went up today I let them know that I won?t need it after this week. Before I start the moan, I have to say they have been great with it, really accommodating, so I can?t fault them really.

HR lady; oh, so have you decided to stop now then

Me: well, expressing yes, he doesn?t really take much in the day any more so I?ll just carry on morning and night.

Her: Are you doing it more for yourself now do you think?

FFS he?s only 10m so no where near ?extended? bf so I shouldn?t really be on this thread and I?ve had 2 comments in 2 weeks!!!

Cosmosis - It's really terrible how much us mothers force our unwilling babies to bf from us, isn't it. I expect your DS is already so independent he has got his first job and is saving for a deposit on a nice little flat in the city so he's only bfing to keep you happy until he moves out. I expect he'll pop back on a Sunday for one of your roasts and a quick nurse too @@@

Oh bollocks, he's 10m old not 20 years old, sorry got confused again, all that bfing has addled my brains Why do people think it is all about the mother's wants not the child's needs?

Sorry feeling a bit rargh! today as DD2's eye test is tomorrow and we find out whether she has uveitis or other eye disease

FFS cosmosis what a twonk the woman sounds. Want to type more but dd currently force feeding me jigsaw pieces

Cosmosis, what did you say to her in reply?! DS is a similar age btw, so I shouldn't really be here either! I had my 1st 'Bitty' comment last week , from someone who I thought knew better.

TruthSweet, let us know how your DD2's eye test goes tomorrow.

I was a bit flummoxed really so I don't think my answer was very co-herent, but the gist of it was no

Hope the eyetest is ok truth let us know.

Some comments are really bizarre. I have been told things like 'get really drunk' so you won't have to BF anymore! My HV when my baby was a year told me to give my baby formula so I could go on 'a night out'.Why would I suddenly stop unless I had to for medical reasons. Everything is geared towards BF then when you get too the year mark it suddenly is unimportant! Bizzare.

I find that bitty sketch highly offensive now. It gives idiots ammunition to critisise women in a vulgar way. I hope you said something like-'well just because my DD is 10 months old I will give her milk from another species just so as not to offend you!'. Or 'is a 10 month old baby the same to you as a grown man. You must be sick!'.

Psychovillemum, I gave my (lovely) friend the benefit of the doubt and let it go at the time. I'll pull him up on it if he says anything like that again though!

The same friend visisted when DS was very little, and spoke to him and touched his face while he was BFing, and thus probably got quite a good view of my boob. I was (I know I shouldn't be like that, but I am), but he was just really relaxed, and said how lovely BFing is. It was probably one of my favourite BFing moments .

Thanks for the replies about food.

Following a comment on another thread, I thought to have a look atKellymom which says that if the LO is feeding at least 3 or 4 times a day you don't need to add cow's milk (or the equivalent nutrients) to their diet. And the more they bf, the less you need to worry about food.

Yes, do let us know tomorrow, Truth.

DH has made up for her comments by making me chuckle though. We are off to switzerland on holiday soon and he asked me if I would be allowed in, what with me being a bfing Nazi and all

I'll join, another one who thought i'll give it a bash for six months , still going at 3.8mths, just down to occasional morning in bed feed, and evening.

Have been very lucky no problems, but i will be glad when she wants to stop herself, she hasn,t asked the last two nights, so who knows.

Will do.

I am absolutely terrified though - if it is uveitis 3 in 25 children still go blind even with full treatment (steroid injections in eye & a form of chemotherapy amongst other stuff. I so hope it's not but she is the stereotypical uveitis patient (aged 2-4 years, female and have arthritis - she's 3.8y and has JIA) and if it's not that then it's something else as her body is apparently making anti-bodies that attack her eyes (very helpfully the specialist paed. didn't tell us which disease she had and it's not in the paperwork apparently).

Sorry for ranting but very scared tonight.

Oh truth. I'll be thinking of you.

I'm on my phone (in bed) Angel so won't be looking at the link but does it say anything about colostrum? DS is still feeding 4+ times per day if I'm honest, but he can't be getting much and I'm pretty sure it is colostrum now (can't express nowt)

His appetite is quite variable too and I do my vest not to worry (previous post seems overly confident now) but on days like today, I am concerned that he isn't eating enough/having enough variety.

Hello, can I join? I am now officially an extended breastfeeder, my first breastfeed was one year and three hours ago!

DS starts at nursery tomorrow (settling in, so I am staying with him for the whole time tomorrow; I was supposed to take him today but we were ill with D and V over the weekend so had to leave it 48 hours). He will only be there for two (long) mornings and one full day per week, but I am a bit worried about how they will manage on the full day. At the moment he is just transitioning from two naps to one nap so he is very tired by nap time and falls asleep while feeding - I can't imagine how they will get him to sleep in a noisy room with no BFing. He generally only feeds first thing, last thing and at lunchtime, though while he's been ill he's obviously been feeding a lot more (and I have been soo glad I am still BFing as it's something I could do to comfort him when he was so upset at vomiting all the time). I left him with DH for a full day the other week and he was fine without a lunchtime BF. Oh I don't know. I certainly won't bother expressing; I will probably suggest they give him some cow's milk, but he won't really need milk during the day.

Sorry, this has turned into a bit of a ramble!

TruthSweet, hope all goes well at the test tomorrow.