Anyone demand breastfeeding longterm?

[MalmoMum]

Still breasting and expecting no. 2 in Aug.

Ds has always wanted the breast bigtime (no teats, bottles or dummies would do and long sessions on the breast would do).

I don't want ds to be jealous or cut out or the equation. What can you suggest?

Im in the same boat with number 2 due in September so I would appreciate suggestions too.

Sorry, this is on further down too. I thought it was our system being slow but it was only me being none too quick...

I was thinking about starting a thread on this ? I too am in the same boat ? No 2 due in just over 6 weeks time. No 1 is 2.6 and still ?feeds? at night and sometimes nap times during the day. I think it is too late for me to try to stop so I was wondering if there was anyone else out there who was feeding two.

Malmomum/Joe1 ? have you tried the LLLI site? www.lalecheleague.org (Look for tandem feeding) I got some information from there ? most of it anecdotal stories from other mums and largely American. It seems that situations vary and it is mostly up to how you feel about it. How old are your No1?s? I think that makes a difference as to how they would react, but of course it is down to the individual personality of the child. You?ve both got time to try to wean before your babies so if you think you?d rather do that then start now. I found the first part of my pregnancy difficult because I was nauseous and my nipples were quite sensitive. However I was feeling so awful and giving him little attention so it was nice to be able to give my son some sort of mothering. Somewhere about 4-5 months my milk dried up (this is totally natural) and since then I?ve been only comfort ?feeding?. Apparently some babies naturally wean at this stage of pregnancy because they aren?t getting any milk, but some like mine are happy to do it on an empty breast. In retrospect I should have tried to stop then as he did seem to be forgetting about it but would always cling onto that last feed at night. As time went on the tenderness went away and now I find it more irritating than anything. I don?t mind for the moment but am worried about ?fights? when I am feeding the new baby, particularly in public!

Some mothers actually feed one on each breast but I?d imagine this to be cumbersome and not easy if No1 is fairly old like mine. Others explain to the older one to wait their turn and let them have a go after the baby is fed. I don?t want to increase the no of feeds for No1 but I may give in for the first few weeks as it can help with jealousy issues. Sometimes them just knowing that they are ?allowed? is enough to know that they haven?t been ?replaced?. I know that the ?feeds? I give my son just now can be as little as 30 secs long and it just seems to be a way of ?touching base? with me.

As I am due before you I?ll be able to tell you how it is going?!!!

Eulalia, MalmoMum, Joe1,I can't offer any advice on feeding two I'm afraid, but my son, pretty much the same age as Eulalia's, gave up entirely unprompted about eight weeks ago. I had resigned myself to waiting for him to do this and it took me by surprise as I had read most self-weaners go on to over three. So, just to say that your little ones might do the same. I had no warning changes in feeding behaviour or anything - just like that.

I've been there and am still feeding both a 2.5 yr old and a 10 m. old. My eldest is also a breast fan and weaning her would have probably done some kind of emotional harm - plus it always seemed like more hassle than it's worth. I didn't particularly like the pregancy feeds, but it gets better afterwards. Found it very useful in the early days as I always had a somwhat overabundant supply with no.1 and she had bad colic, so with no.2 this was not a problem - I just let my toddler have a bit first. I never really worried too much about who was having which breast - you just use your common sense and don't let your toddler guzzle everything.
At the moment it looks like no.2 will be weaned before no.1. :-/
No.2 had a few medical problems during the early months, so it really helped that no.1 was still feeding. She made my milk come in and maintained the supply when no.2 couldn't have any oral feeds for six weeks. So, I'm all in favour of breastfeeding both (though it can be a pain in the bum at times!).

Thanks, it is nice to hear from all of you and know what else is going on.

The whole process feels pretty natural at the moment. In my case, the first thing in the morning feeds and the last at night have gone, now that we have moved abroad and dh is there for these times. At the moment it's the anticipated problems that give the worry. Like every second time plus parent, I want to ease the way of a new arrival as much as possible while trying to enjoy it. Let's see what the coming months bring.

I was glad to see that Eulalia was able to post as I had been worried that other threads were taking up up all her energy!

2under2 - thanks for your post. I guess it was easiest thing to do with your first still being relatively young. My son will be 2 3/4 when the baby comes and part of me feels he is old enough to do without boobies. However having said that I know plenty women do it till a much older age. It is just that he is quite demanding and rough with me (I mean just in general not necessarily when b/feeding) but I have visions of him pulling my clothes off in public to get to my breasts and pushing the baby away. What did you do when you were feeding the baby in public?

malomum - yes I do like to discuss these issues properly and one board can take up a lot of time. I like to do my research properly as you can probably tell!

MalmoMum - sorry I spelled your name incorrectly.

ks - are you around? Can you tell me your experiences of b/feeding your 5 year old. I am currently feeding a 15 week old and a 3 year old. I really don't want to be in the position of feeding a 5 year old and a 2 yr old (assuming dd still wants to carry on). Is this your last child/only child? I ask because my ds really stepped up his demands on me since our daughter was born. I think some of this is a territorial thing but I am wondering when he will slow down as he still wants 3 times a day and sometimes more if he sees me feeding the baby.

Any advcie/comments appreciated. thanks.

Thanks ks. I think I'll just keep things running as they are for just now. On a positive note I think it has helped with jealousy issues with the new baby. I've seen a friend who didn't b/feed her older who had terrible times when the new baby came along. DS has been extremely good and I just have to be careful to allow him to have his 'turn'. He doesn't ask for it in public and I can usually manage to keep the both of them happy. It must be hard enough even if I am not b/feeding no1 and it is a useful pacifier to have as I know it will always keep him happy and it is free and good for him so I can't ask for much more. Is your ds at school now? Does he talk about it to other kids or is it a private thing between the two of you?

And yes my milk did dry up completely from about the 4th month of pregancy but he was still happy to do it for comfort. I think he would have stopped around 2.5-ish as he did seem to be slowing down but then 3 months later the new baby came and lots of lovely fresh milk!