Educating myself about bf beyond 6 months

[ITryToBeZenBut]

Hello.

DS is 3 and a half months now. Ebf (won't take a bottle but that's another story) and we've been lucky enough to have had a smooth ride to this point.

I'm starting to see the 6 month marker on the horizon, the point where I was hoping to get to with bfeeding as I have asthma, eczema and allergies myself and was hoping to be able to offer him some protection through my milk. As we get there, I'm now thinking that I'd like to try and feed him beyond 6 months. Partly because I've been inspired by some of the posts and stories I've read on this forum. Tbh, I hadn't given 6 months plus a thought until recently. I thought I wouldn't be able to bfeed, I thought I'd hate it and find it a struggle but it's been the most amazing experience and I love how he is thriving, how it nurtures us both and I', very appreciative of how fortunate I am to be in this position when I know others are not so lucky.

I was hoping to be pointed in the right direction to some good materials/books about how to do it/what to think about and benefits etc. I'll be going back to work at 6 months so do I need to start pumping and storing milk now or do I just do some feeds alongside weaning? How do I stop my milk drying up etc? I don't expect people here to educate me on all the basics but I do need to start reading as I'm a bit clueless so any pointers would be gratefully received. I could try LLL but I'm not really sure where to start. I almost need an ABC guide. Admittedly I haven't called LLL but I thought they'd be dealing with people who have problems and need the support more than I do so wasn't sure if it would be appropriate to call just for advice? I'm also keen to understand about the benefits as I know I'm going to have to justify my choices to certain extended family members. I'm happy and confident the choices are mine and I'll do what I feel is best but it would be nice to be able to explain why I'm bfeeding beyond 6 months. Even now, I have to keep explaining why I'm not adding a formula bottle in to his feeds as he's a big boy and the family seem to think I'm 'drained' from it all even though I feel well and we're enjoying our feeding experience quite happily (mut teach self not to yamn in their presence).

Thanks for reading.

Basically I just kept on going. I was back after 4 months, had a good double pump (Ameda Lactaline, closed system, would recommend), pumped a bit extra for a couple of weeks beforehand and froze it as back up, pumped 3 hourly at work and that plus a 10pm pump was enough for the next day.

If he won't take a bottle try a cup but by then he will be on solids and water so if he completely refuses then he won't starve but may reverse cycle and feed through the night. We cosleep so that was never an issue for us but other people have said there's a point where they felt they had to choose between BFing and sleep which is fair enough, and may not happen to you anyway.

When you hit 6 months it just seems do much easier. Honestly.

Call LLL, they will be more than happy to help :) Going back to work is a very common thing to chat about at meetings etc. There are a couple of books that are about working and breastfeeding and your local group is bound to have a copy. There are also a couple of info sheets that deal with working and BF.

Kellymom has some good info too although the legal stuff is about the US.

This and this show the benefits of BF past 6 months.

Thank you both :-)

Really interesting to read about the benefits associated - such a motivation. I'll def speak to LLL eaurouge. I haven't been to a meeting yet but my local nhs group seems very focused on getting to 6 months and les so on beyond (fair enough - resources are stretched and half to be prioritised) so good to know LLL is another option.

Frakiosaurus appreciate the words about it getting easier. I don't co-sleep but no longer 'get up' in the night to feed. I just lift him into bed with me from his cot, he feeds and goes back to sleep. I have fallen asleep with him, safely, in the bed usually after his 5am ish feed and feel much more confident about this now. I guess if he reverse cycles then I'll just need to think about what to do but as you say might not happen. I'm glad you mentioned that as it's always hardest to deal with something if it's unexpected and just knowing it might happen helps. Forewarned is forearmed. I have a good pump which works well on me so will start freezing. You mentioned the cup, can I ask if it's ok to start trying him with a cup now or do I have to wait a bit longer? Work have asked me to come back earlier than 6 months, maybe 4.5 or 5 but I can't consider until I have him feeding expressed milk somehow (plus my hair looks dreadful as haven't been able to be away from him for long enough yet to get it sorted out and cant go back til I can get it tidied up )

You don't need to do anything, just carry on what you are doing and let mother nature do the rest.
My ds is now 11 months and I am still feeding. He's a great eater and is on 3 meals and snacks but I still feed him on demand. He just does his own thing and has fallen into his own routine.
Basically, keep up the good work!

This isn't very factual, but one nice thing about continuing beyond six months is that it all gets less intense. Once they get into solids, they'll probably feed less frequently, and if you aren't about for a particular feed it's easy enough for whoever's looking after them to give a snack instead.

With regards to cups, you could probably try a Doidy cup or similar if you wanted to. Your DS would certainly need help with it, and it might be somewhat messy, but you could give it a try. I think my DH gave my DS some milk from a Doidy cup at four or so months just to see what happened and a reasonable proportion seemed to go in.

As jakey says you don't have to do anything your DC will know exactly what to do.

If you are returning to work you might need advice on expressing, but by about one plenty of people feed morning, evening for years without bothering.

DD happily drank squash or fruit juice when I wasn't about and ate tons of yoghurt. She never learnt to drink from a bottle or to like formulae or cows milk.
(DH won't drink milk either).

What are your childcare arrangements like? The best advice I was ever given was to chose something near work if possible, so you could have the commute home together. As a nursing mother, you would also be able to do breastfeeding breaks instead of pumping breaks (either of which are protected in UK law, but I don't think they have to be paid)

hi, i went back when my DS1 was 6 months, it was harder work at first but really worth it to keep going. i did full time shift work, so it was a bit more complicated with early mornings and late finishes!

i expressed twice a day at first (8 hour shift, less than 1 hour travel) then was able to go to once a shift. i then only expressed the bedtime feed during evening shifts. i had about 8 feeds worth in the freezer, i figured that would cover a few emergency extra feeds.

i expressed both sides each break and tried to get 4-5 oz to make a feed.

i used to express at the weekend if necessary for Monday's feeds, then for the the rest of the week used the day before's milk. i put Friday's milk in the freezer once i got going, then used defrosted milk for monday to keep the freezer stock rotated.

hope that made sense!

i was able to stop for daytime by about 10 months and altogether by about 11.5 months, as DH gave him a wee cup of cow's milk if i was out in the evening and i bf all the rest of the time.

I went back to work after 12 months so I have mo practical advice about expressing etc as we just fell into a back home /first thing / last thing feeding pattern naturally ( from all bloody day every day!! I think he'd never fallen asleep without being fed until he went to nrsery full time but he took it completly in hs stride!)

I fed until just after his 2 nd birthday (tili was 20 weeks pregnant - he sort of self weaned and I just let it happen) and the best thing for me was that hewas rarely unwell. Any colds snffles or bugs were shortlived. Breastfeeding is so much more than food. It's comfort, medicine,ntibodies and so snuggly. Good luck. And well done for gettng this far already.

sorry, posting on phone and ran out of room with my mega post.

we did use bottles, as he wasn't too good with a cup at 6 months. i got DH to phase it out and do milk in a cup at 11 months.

good luck.

my DS2 was born last month so I'll be doing it all again later this year...

i fed till just after 2nd birthday too and mine weaned when i was pg too.

it was great when he was ill and wouldn't eat but would bf.

My bottle refuser manages fine on solids and water while I'm at work. She feeds around 5-7 times between 5.30pm and 8 am - but she isn't a great sleeper. My supply has adjusted fine. This is since I went back to work at 6.5 months.

Benefits - health, bonding, convenience, money!

Thank you all for the responses. It's very much appreciated - especially as the reason I've been slow to respond is that I've been dealing with a probably early return to work in the next few weeks unexpectedly (when he'll be 4.5 months) so have been trying to get to grips with expressing and getting him on cups so he can continue to be ebf til 6 months. Not quite what I had planned but change in financial circumstances and at least I have a job to go back to. I know many have not right now. Determined that one way or another we will get to 6 months ebf whilst starting nursery and then continue to feed together beyond.

MrsMuddyPuddles - I hadn't really even considered a nursery near work but have arrange with work to work from home for a few days til he's 6 months now as part of my agreement to go back early so will pop and feed him at lunchtime if needed.

jaggythistle thanks for the expressing info - really helpful.