Benefits of extended breast feeding - is there any actually???

[mumtastik]

Hello everyone, I have a 22 month old DD and i have been exclusively breast feeding her since birth. We did have the usual ups and downs one can expect with breast feeding. The thing is my DD can still feed like a newborn all day and night given a chance. And she still doesn't sleep through. I have been sticking to breastfeeding for so long believing that it will benefit her. What i would like to know is - from real mums not just researches please... I would like to hear from mums who fed their babies for long if it actually helped them e. g. immunologically - like less illnesses, etc...
If i know if it really made your DCs strong and benefitted them in other ways, it will give me inspiration to continue...
Thanks ladies xx

DD is 26mo and I had exactly your problem until very recently. She would bf every 2 hours at night and 5-7 times during the day. I was doing "don't offer, don't refuse" but she was asking all the time! In the end I couldn't take it anymore. This is what I did, it took 2 months to work through all this:

• first I consollidated feeds. I stopped allowing her to bf for 5 minutes, then walk away and come back for another 5 minutes shortly after.

• then I dealt with the daytime bfs, keeping the night time on demand. I offered her the boob only 3 times a day and only in bed.

• then I worked on the night feeds. I offered her the boob to go to sleep and after 6am in the morning but not in between.

• then I worked on managing the bf sessions so that they did not last for ages. She can bf from one breast, then the other, then ask one more time from the original breast and then she has to give it up. She also has to sleep after the bf while I sit on the edge of the bed and not with the boob in the mouth.

The bad news is that all this took time and was exhausting. She cried and tantrumed a bit (but not as much as I expected, about 3-4 sessions of crying per change), but I could still hold her, cuddle her, stay with her, etc. She also got a bit annoyed with me and more likely to hit me during the day, but that also lasted about 3-4 days each time.

The really good news is that it's worked!!! She now bfs 3 times in every 24 hours. When she wakes up, when she goes for her afternoon sleep and when she goes to sleep at night. She sleeps through from about 10pm to 6am without any problems and on her own.

I also made sure she ate really well all the time to keep her from getting grumpy because she was hungry or rely on the boob too much for food. I give her 2-3 options of foods everytime and she eats every 2-3 hours.

Thanks fadbook, we were sort of following Dr jay the first time with the shush pat etc but he settled better for dp than me. He was going from 10 - 5 without milk but never actually slept, he still woke and had to be settled. Then after doing it all by myself for a few nights and a stressful time at work I gave in and that was the end of that.

He has just changed childcare provider so I will let him feed for a few weeks and try again.

At least he will sleep in his cot now and not attatched to my nipple which was the situation we did have. Now he feeds briefly both sides and goes back in the cot.

I think I am still dong it because I am too lazy to attempt the alternative which would be some kind of enforced night weaning. I did put him in his own bed (in my room) but decided I was too lazy to get out of bed to feed him so he's back in with me. I do get nights where I think 'I just can't cope with this any more' but mostly I think I have just got so used to it. I'm working full time too, though not in a demanding job. When he slept for longer than three hours last night I didn't even get to enjoy t because I kept waking up to see if he was awake!

The only thing I really really hate about breastfeeding is the fact that I can't wear petty dresses anymore unless I am prepared the yank them up to get a boob out.

Anecdotal evidence here from a very small sample.

Ds1 and ds2 were bf for one year
Ds3 and ds4 were bf for at least 2 years.

Ds1 and ds2 had glue ear and got grommets aged 18 months.

Ds3 got grommets at 5 ( not sure if that's better but I think it might be better to have temporary hearing loss when older as it doesn't interfere with auditory processing development

Ds4 is five and has never had glue ear or grommets.