Breastfeeding at 13 months - will the milk keep flowing?

[NewMumJuly11]

My DS is 13 months and has dropped all his day time milk feeds and is just having a B/F first thing in the morning (between 6 - 6.30) and before he goes to sleep. This is a big relief as I went back to work full time when he was 6 months old and had been expressing at work ever since. However, I am now worried that my milk will stop flowing as I am not expressing like I used to. Does anyone have any experience of this? Will the milk keep flowing morning and evening even if I don't express during the day?

Also I wondered if I should be moving to cows milk or whether to carry on b/f. Any suggestions gratefully received....

Sure there will be someone more knowledgable along soon but just wanted to say i carried on bf morning and night until dd2 was around 3 with no issues about supply at all. No expressing needed. She also had cows milk with cereal but not so keen on it as a drink. I'd say keep going as long as you both want to. Good luck.

Thanks v much DaisyH, DS doesn't seem keen on cows milk (I tried and he just ignores it) but seems pretty content morning and evening, maybe I'll just keep going for now. How did you stop in the end?

We are still feeding at 17mo, just morning and night. I think we dropped to two feeds at about 12 months. Ds seems to still think there's enough anyway.

Yes, by 13 months your supply should be (provided you don't already have supply issues) robust enough to cope with your DS reducing his feeds. I did just morning and night from about 11 months and then just mornings until DD1 self weaned about 21 months.

There is no need to force him onto cow's milk. If you are happy to keep bf, just keep going. You don't need to set a deadline for stopping. Just wait until he wants to, or until you want to if that comes first.

b/f better than cow's milk, although cow's milk not a problem now. But b/f is designed for humans plus has all the immunity benefits and also more comfort.

Once b'f is established this well you shouldn't have supply problems, my own DS went very erratic from about 18 months, occasionally missing an entire day, still no problems when he wanted it.

Thanks everyone, thats a real reassurance. I'm glad to hear other people are still b/f - everyone I know stopped much earlier and I keep getting funny looks when I say I am still b/f. I have had no problems b/f and so think I will just keep going until ds is ready to stop.

Thanks again

It can be hard if you are the only person in your group still feeding. However, I think it can be quite a good lesson in parenting the way you want to. For some reason, we all feel a lot of pressure to conform with our friends in parenting styles - whereas we are happy to like different music, clothes, films, styles of house.... I think it is so personal that it can be hard not to think your way is 'right'. Do what feels right for your and your family and practice the look at anyone who makes comments.

FWIW I am going through something similar. As I said, DD1 was down to morning and night by 11 months. DD2 wants to feed multiple times a day still, so I am still feeding at playgroups, etc at 15 months. I am glad I had the easy practice at 'extended' bfing with DD1, as this is a different level of funny looks!

Mine did. I had of course planned to cut down on expressing at work gradually, as you do, but when the first birthday came I was so happy that I just stopped expressing cold turkey. Carried on feeding for a further year or so.

Hello, my dd did the same. We had just morning and bedtime feeds for quite a few months, then she dropped the morning one and then eventually the bedtime one (when we got her a bed and duvet and she was so excited she wanted to go straight to bed)! I never had any supply problems, and it made stopping very very easy and stress free, since it was in her own time. Also I felt better about what she was having, because she didn't like cows milk at all, so at least she was still getting milk. Xx

Your milk supply will almost certainly be absolutely fine, it will work in the same way it always has, supply and demand.

As for when to stop breastfeeding... Well, that of course, is up to you, but your child will continue to get the benefits of breastmilk as long as they are getting it, no matter how old they are and your milk will keep changing to suit their needs. The World Health Organisation recommend breastfeeding for a mimimum of two years and then beyond for as long as mutually suits both the mother and child. Of course, no one has to breastfeed for that long and nor should they feel obliged to, but as that's the mimimum recommended age to stop, there's absolutely no need to feel it's at all strange to still be breastfeeding a 13 month old.

La Leche League hold 'toddler ,meetings' if you want to meet other Mums breastfeeding toddlers, although if you're working these may clash with your working hours.

Will be absolutely fine. After i went back to work full-time, I only fed around 5.30am before leaving and then around 6pm when i return (plus once or twice at night admittedly as she didn't sleep through) :-).

I bf'ed until she was almost 20months like that, supply only dropped after I became pregnant (when Dd was 18 months) and then bc supply dropped a lot and I felt tired, I just stopped from one day to the next and never got engorged!! So past the 12 months mark your body can handle things much better than in the first 6 months, you should be absolutely fine!

Forgot to add, I never expressed at work so there was always a 12 hour gap between morning and evening demand :-).

Thanks everyone, this is really reassuring. Glad to know there are plenty of other people still b/f. I think its a great thing to do, if you can and if it suits you. I think I will just keep going for now. DS doesn't wake in the night (normally ) so only has the two feeds (morning and bedtime) but seems very happy at the minute so I guess why rock the boat when you don't have to!

both my DDs fed like that until they were around 3 yo. Plus the occaisional other feed for an 'emergency' like a bad fall or nightmare. No problems with supply. Enjoy it.