Health professionals assuming bfing will stop at 1 year?

[reastie]

Had a mw visit today, dd is 9mo. I was asking her advice re: feeding and going back to work with logistics and how dd will adapt. It seemed like she had an assumption that I would give up bfing at a year and give dd cows milk. She said as long as DD has the equivalent of a pint of milk (which can also include dairy products eaten) a day she would be fine. I was under the impression that the longer you are able to bf the better the benefits for DD.

Is it unusual to feed beyond 1 year? I wondered if it's common for health professionals to assume you don't bf past a year. I felt a bit as I'm sure I read the WHO recommend it to 2 years, and I had hoped to do one or two feeds a day in morning/evening until DD didn't want it any longer, or until she reaches 2, whichever comes first.

dust - LLL meetings often have a wealth of ideas for dealing with family/friends who are less than supportive.
The joy ( I have found) of the System or Chaos and BF on demand is that I can go anywhere, do anything without worrying that I'll knock the routine, If they are tired I nurse(d) them to sleep or popped them in the sling and they slept. If they were hungry they nursed, if they were hurt they nursed etc....

I am 'still' breastfeeding my 35mo DS and he has never had formula because he would never accept it. I went back to work full time when he was 9mo. I have never been asked by a health professional what milk he is having since he was 2wo. I think they just assume most babies 'move on' to formula by the time mum goes back to work. That's what I used to believe too!

DD2 is 3.3 and dd3 is 2.3 and they are still breastfed. DD2 as a bedtime snack and dd3 almost all day. I will probably stop when dd3 turns 2ish but I love doing it and I am conscious that once I stop I will never have the chance to do ity again and that makes me sad.

Our area has really low breastfeeding rates, one of the lowest in the country