I'm a secret extended breastfeeder...

[bearhug]

about to be 'found out'! Going on a camping holiday with sisters + their children. My DS is going to be heard loud and clear at 6 AM every day: I want Mammy's Milk! (repeat until I get him out of bed). He's nearly 3. He only has the early morning and bed-time feed.

I am going to have to explain. There is no answer other than he still likes it, and I don't mind.

I'm a secret breastfeeder at 15 months. Although now DS is shouting either 'miwlk' or 'boob' at me any time he takes his fancy I'm not sure how much longer it'll be secret.

Oh just read the rest of the thread at 15 months I'm not an extended breastfeeder, just a secret one.

ah you may be surprised at their reaction, at school last week one of the mum's let slip that she was still feeding her 4 year old and instead of a huge gasp loads of the mums said how they were still feeding their 2/3/4 year olds.

We live in the an area where breast feeding rates are well below national average too!

I'm feeding my 13 month old and love the fact that I have no pressure to stop where as I feel i did with my older too...

If they judge fuck em!

I'm bf dd who is 2.6 but I am also 24 weeks pregnant and have a few questions which I wonder if someone who have a go at answering?

I haven't had any milk for around 6 weeks, give or take. Dd doesn't make swallowing noises when she has milk, she says it's all gone now and I can express a drop out.

So, whilst I don't plan to wean and she is happy to dry nurse, are there any benefits to either of us?

And, assuming she carries on after dc2 is born, will the newborn milk be as good for her as the toddler-mummy-mill would have been for a 3 year old?

Lastly, how long do you think she'd continue to dry-nurse if my milk never came back. That last one is subjective I guess but I thought she'd have got bored by now.

www.naturalchild.org/guest/katherine_dettwyler.html
As has been said allready the global avarage of 4.2 years is meaningless as it is meerley an avarage wlith many babies being weaned much later, many much sooner and many having never breast fed at all. it is just a statistic, as we all know statistics can mean nothing when out of context. But it is non the less the global avarage
tropej.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/4/107.extract
regarding increased fat content after the first year.
and from Kellymom
www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html

A really good post on breastfeeding older children
www.naturalchild.org/guest/ruth_kamnitzer.html
another good one
www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:breastfeed-a-toddlerwhy-on-earth&catid=5:information&Itemid=17
There are more links I'd ;like to post but as its gone 9 I'd like to chill out and enjoy a glass of wine with DH.

Awww, MFM from reading all your posts I think I may be falling for you a touch too, :)

Happyhollydays...i was on your labour thread t'other day (in fact i just re posted on it).

You should join us on the bf while pg thread.

You will prob get colostrum very soon. You may notice a change in your dd's poo.

I'm sure dry nursing is at least of emotional benefit to your dd. When your colostrum, and then milk, come in she will continue getting the nutritional and immune bennefits of bm. I have no doubt it is better for her than cows milk or any other substitute, even if it is taylored to a slightly younger infant...at least it's still the same species.

happyholidays, my dd dry nursed through all of my subsequent pregnancy and stopped literally 2 days before her little brother was born.

She asked for milk a few times, suckled and said that it was 'a bit boring'.

She was 2.2.

Hi i am v. jealous as i gave up bf at 6 weeks due to lack of confidence and i think your all amazing :D

persephone

mememummy have you read "the politics of bf" ...it,s basicaly about how formula has taken away women's belief in their ability to bf. It might be of interest you you. I'm sure you will do it next time if you want to.

tralalala I'm really pleased to hear that, I have friends who BF until their children were at least 5 and my own DD2 won't let me tell you how long she choose to feed for.
To the likes of ramade I want to make it clear it was her choice (my choice only not to say no). Believe me she is and was no baby, she simply applied her developing understanding of the world to knowing when to ask for a BF and when not to and how many days she could miss and there would still be milk. She liked breast milk, like she likes ice cream, she's very adept and talking people into parting with that too[hsmile]

its ok to still BF at this age. DD2 is 2.10 and still BFing.
DD1 gave it up at 3y 6mo.
Doesn't need to be a secret, or an advertisement, just a necessity when munch needs it, and that's all there is to it.

And btw, well done

Another secret breastfeeder here, my dd is 4 and off to school in September.

happyholidays - My milk dries up at week 14 and comes back at week 24 or week 26 (24 for pg no2 & 26 for pg no3).

DD1 nursed the whole way through my 2nd pg and then nursed through to month 8 of my 3rd pg when she self weaned (unrelated to pg) and DD2 nursed through the whole of my 3rd pg as is nursing now at 3.8y (DD3 is 20m and is also nursing).

In the interests of full disclosure DD1 & DD2 both went on a nursing strike at week 24 for 2 weeks and broke it at the same time my milk came back in (I don't know whether the milk got them back or them nursing again brought my milk in).

My own personal pet theory (as yet unsubstantiated!) is that a toddler getting a boost of antibodies from colostrum just when a vulnerable newborn is coming is a good thing. Colostrum nappies in a toddler are 'special' and not to be confused with diarrhea (like I did twice)

Newborn human milk is still closer to toddler human milk than formula or cow's milk though it will be lower in fat than your toddler is used to (bmilk in the first year is approx 4% (though in this study they found levels at ~7% for 2-6m) but toddler milk (12-39m in the study) is approx 11% fat see here).

HTH

Just don't say anything, they might not notice. You could teach him to call it something else I suppose.

And I think your explanation is fine. And if they challenge you further, just don't get into it. Nod and move on. This is a useful technique in many circumstances - like MIL advice on potty training and the like [hwink]

Candice beware DD2 said she was going to give up when she started school. She then decided weekends and holidays didn't count. (Neither of course does when you are ill or any evening when you need a cuddle)

I'm same as you op - just over 3yo dd, morning feed.

My problem/dillemma at the moment is they sent me an appointment for a mammogram (have family history of breast cancer) but it says you can't have it if you are bf.

I maybe need to find out more about it but I suspect they will say no bf at all as they tend to err on the side of caution with these things.

Startail - yes, I got dd to agree to stop when she was 3. So she duly got up on her birthday and didn't have any milk from me. Great, I thought. But the next day she wanted it again and when questioned said "but I'm not 3 today!"

Besom - This might help re. bfing & mammograms. It appears it's not dangerous for the baby but rather more difficult for the radiographer to do the mammogram on a lactating breast .

HTH.

I love threads like this :)
Another one here but I weaned DS at 3.1. I still get a bit :( about it sometimes, but I get such dreadful nipple tenderness at mid-cycle that feeding him became torture. AND he was an other-nipple-twiddler. Gnnnnaaaaaarrrrrrrrggghhhhhhh!!!! Wehad wrestling matches over what his free hand was doing. And DH disapproved :(
So I stopped. But I loved nursing my toddler. He'd finish and wrap his arms around me and say "Mummy I love you" at tge end of every feed. Once a month or two after I weaned him he snuggled up to me and said, "Mummy, when I was a tiny little baby I had milk from your baba?" I said yes. He paused, and said, "Mummy, can I be a tiny baby again for just a little minute?". Who could resist!! The funny thing was it was like he'd already forgotten how to latch on properly.

Poor DS mspotatochip and poor you would have been under 2 in May too, so well within the 'recommended' age for bf.

I pre-emptedb this by telling all and sundry that I plan to bf for 2 years (as that's what's recommended) however, it is starting to come back to bite me in the arse (DS 18 months) partly because I'm pregnant and I'm starting to hear doubts from others (including DH ) about tandemming and because of the 2year 'limit' I set out initially.

I wish I hadn't worried so much about what other people said and just gone with my own instincts. I look back on the three and half years I breastfed DS as the best thing I have ever done for him.