i have now officially breastfed for 7 years

[StealthPolarBear]

If you consider children separately, 5 and a half actual consecutive years. Thats about one sixth of my life!

mawbroon - it's funny how it becomes second nature after a while, I can't imaging not nursing now, I've been bfing for about half my adult life now!

Brilliant. I did 7 years too 9with 2 children)

Wow well done you!

I fed both mine to 19 months which was long enough! Your babies must be so healthy getting all that goodness for so long :)

Congratulations! How lovely. :)

Another one here who has been going since March 06 - three DC, first two fed to 22mo and 20mo, third now 15months old and showing no signs of stopping.

It just feels normal. And I love the ability to comfort and feed in one fell swoop

I hadn't thought of it in terms of life proportion - tis only about 1/7 of my life cos I is OLD.

Glad to hear there are so many of us.

"Your babies must be so healthy getting all that goodness for so long " DD is I suppose, long may it last...DS ha! He is now, but when he was tiny he had ear infection after ear infection. He was Mr Antibiotic :o

i tandem fed for a little while, until DD was about 20m, but I really didn't like it :( Wasn't too bad feeding them separately but I fed them together a cuople of times and I literally felt pinned to the bed. Made me appreciate how hard it must be with twins - I only had one child who needed head support!

How funny you say that-DS had many ear infections when he was younger and has glue ear! But you know I knew breast milk wasn't going to ensure they didn't get ill there's so much more to feeding than that

Having said that my two are rarely I'll :)

Argh ill

Yes, that's true, just luck of the draw to an extent. And tbh he may have been worse. And when he wasn't eating, he was still feeding like a ... feedy thing...so I knew he was getting some energy and nutrients.

My lot are like a plague ship - I have a big red cross on the front door and yellow biohazard tape decorating the front garden .

DD1 is currently battling cellulitis (5th or 6th time in the last 18m) and all of them are atopic and/or auto-immune diseased too. Still it was never about stopping them being ill (that would have taken a re-write of their genetic material for a start) but just being mammals

:( that sounds awful. Makes me glad my two are just plagued with the usual childhood snots and gunky orifices. What is cellulitis in a child - I've headr of it in adults and it can be nasty, does it affect children badly?

at truthsweet

But for me, my two were allergic (intolerant? Still get confused as to which one) to dairy so I could ensure they were getting all the nutrients they needed even though they had no dairy intake. And all the usual stuff when they were ill they would still feed etc the dairy thing is definitely what kept me going, and of course the support of mn

I fed for aggeeeessss in comparison to my friends although in mn terms I do realise Im a novice

Congratulations and Happy birthday A!

I always say I could bf for ever if I had the same sort of bf relationship you and A have now, you are something of an inspiration you know :). I know you found it harder with T but the way things work with A, complete freedom in that she can go away or you can go away but still feeding when you are there. Hell I'd love that!

3 and a half years here. No consecutive and spread over 3 children. Roughly 1 year, 2 years and the baby is only 6 months so not stopping any time soon.

Sorry truthsweet hope my wasn't in poor taste

Wow well done you! Just trying to work out what I did - three children in 5 years, fed the first for 13 months, second for 14 months, third for 22 months. With the pregnancies too that's close to 7 years but just breastfeeding for just over 4. Kudos!

I'm so impressed with all this! I did 8mo with DS before HE decided he'd had enough :(
Genuine question though; do you get any stick from judgy pants friends/relatives/strangers about it, and if so how do you deal with?

Congratulations everyone!
I did about 18 months each with my 2 DC, so nearly 3 years in total. Even now, if my DC fall over or hurt themselves I still get a "special tingle" in my armpit / boobs as I had a very strong letdown reflex and needed to use nursing pads all the time. I used to feed on demand and found it helped when they were upset and my body hasn't forgotten!

I'm at 4.5yrs. 3.5yrs with dd and ds is 12mo and still going. He'll probably still be going in a couple of years.

Well done. I had a lot of ups and downs feeding dd so was v proud to get to 3.5yrs when she self weaned. DS and bfing is the most uncomplicated relationship and was from day one. He feeds, he grins, everybody's happy. I'm a bit sad that this will be my last baby to bf and he's not really a baby anymore. He is well into acrobatic, gymnastic feeding in unusual places. No lying still and drifting to sleep in this house.

JustMe - no it's fine, I have to laugh too or I'd cry

Stealth - DD1 gets cellulitis in her fingers mainly though she has had it in her knee (first time she had it).

It's a bacterial infection of the skin so she gets pus filled blisters that need to be soaked open to get the pus out You have to keep a really close eye on it to make sure there is no red streaks coming from the wound as that means it's entered the blood stream and it's serious (IV anti-biotics serious). We have cream on repeat prescription to keep on top of the wounds as soon as they appear but often the cream doesn't work and she needs oral anti-biotics. It's very painful too.

Self inflicted though unfortunately as she chews her fingers but the first time was triggered by a grazed knee and she now seems vulnerable to that particular bacteria. DD3 also had the same bacteria infect her eczema which was equally pleasant (different times though so they weren't infecting each other).

Almost 5 years here

Ah thank you Indith :)
Lol at the special tingle!
gritted, not sure anyone other than DH actually knows. It's been a long time since I've dared to bf in public (pathetic I know) and it's only been bedtime feeds for a while now anyway.
Truth, sorry to hear that, sounds awful. Wil she grow out of the vulerability?

If I can get her to stop chewing things (esp. her fingers!) that would be a good start .

Greenhill - I get the urge to bf the weaned children when they are in pain or unhappy as that was the default position for so long, feels weird I can't make it all disappear by just nursing them (it even worked on DD2's arthritis! so it's pretty powerful medicine).

I should add I don't bf them though as DD1 has 11 adult teeth (4 back molars, 3 front top teeth and 4 front bottom teeth) so well past bfing ability.

Well done to you all!

I'm forbidden to say how long DD2 BF for and I'm not sure that the relaxed weekend mornings and occasional evening cuddly feeds you give a much older child count.

They aren't anything like as exhausting as feeding conservative small DCs and you get back to unwired bras and the odd drink.

go on - we promise not to do catsbum mouths, unless she is visiting yu in your home for the elderly, for a quick bf :o