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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Can anyone tell me about breast feeding from 6-12 months

28 replies

MrsFogi · 29/07/2006 21:48

I'd intended to bf dd until 6 mths and then move to formula. Now that crunch time has arrived I'm wondering how much of a hassle it would be to continue bfing - will dd begin to drink less or at longer intervals now that I'm weaning her?

OP posts:

beansprout · 29/07/2006 21:51

It gets soooo much easier after 6 months. As ds moved onto solids we just settled into a routine of feeds. I had the reassurance that he was getting the good stuff from the milk which made me less anxious about the food he was (or was not) eating. It was nothing like the first six months - I couldn't have done that all over again!!

beansprout · 29/07/2006 21:52

Sorry, the answer to your question was yes, they can drink more quickly and it is at longer intervals.

hunkermunker · 29/07/2006 21:55

Loads easier to continue bfeeding IMO and IME.

I'd say stick with the bfeeding - if you move to formula you have to get her to take it, then you have to work out when she'll need it, how much she needs, how much water she should have as well, if any, what cup/beaker/bottle to use - nah, much easier to just bfeed her.

aviatrix · 29/07/2006 21:58

This reply has been deleted

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aviatrix · 29/07/2006 21:59

This reply has been deleted

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Tommy · 29/07/2006 21:59

I found it really easy to breastfeed after 6 months. We actually got into a proper routine! think he had one first thing, one mid morning, one mid afternoon and one bedtime (and one in the night quite often)
Really easy and much better than dragging formula around with me

foundintranslation · 29/07/2006 22:04

ds is 14 months and bf. After an almighty struggle to establish bf in the first 4 weeks of his life, the rest of it, including the last 8 months, has been incredibly incredibly easy. ds feeds got quicker (a lot quicker) before they got more infrequent. I still bf several times a day and about once at night. But a friend's ds was on feeds at nap and bedtimes only by pretty soon after a year.

JennyWren · 29/07/2006 22:05

Personally, I can't understand anyone who, all other things being equal, will willingly give up the convenience of a breastfeed and swap to bottles. All that hassle! Having said that, I didn't go back to work until my dd was a year old, so I didn't have to worry about expressing some feeds... Does your dd feed at usually predictable times now? My dd fed at regular intervals, dropped feeds happily exactly when the books suggested she should, and it was a doddle. Once she was a week off a year, I swapped her to cows milk - we went on holiday and I stayed in bed whilst dh took dd downstairs in the morning and offered her a beaker of milk instead of a breastfeed. She took it as if that was the way it always had been - no problems. A few days later we did the same for the evening feed - again, no problems.

The downside is that if your dd doesn't get used to taking a bottle you are limited in how long you can be apart. If that is likely to be an issue, maybe it would be worth introducing a 'Saturday snack' beaker of milk... If she doesn't drink it all to start with it doesn't matter as it is extra, but if she gets used to it, so much the better.

foundintranslation · 29/07/2006 22:09

[small hijack, sorry]
Jenny! I remember your posts a year or so ago (I was berolina then btw) - so glad you've had such a positive bf experience!

JennyWren · 29/07/2006 22:20

Hi!!! Great to 'see' you! How are things going? I don't post on here a lot any more but I do lurk every now and then! I have to say, after all the hassle we had getting Meg to feed at all, I don't know whether to be pleased that the swap went so smoothly, or devastated that I was so easily replaceable!!!

foundintranslation · 29/07/2006 22:21

BF is going swimmingly, life rather up and down.

JennyWren · 29/07/2006 22:30

Well, one less hassle and all that. We're making the most of not needing to feed Meg to have the night off - she's with my parents for a lovely weekend of being spoiled rotten!!

Original poster

MrsFogi · 29/07/2006 22:32

Thanks for the speedy replies. I think my issue is that we don't really have a feeding routine so it's all a bit random and I'd quite like the freedom to occasionally go out for the evening or a few hours without dd (I've never got on with expressing).

OP posts:

hunkermunker · 29/07/2006 22:33

It doesn't have to be all or nothing though - and you might find that she's happy to have the occasional bottle/beaker of milk when you want to go out.

KristinaM · 29/07/2006 22:34

Mrs Fogi - yes and yes!

Personally I have foubd that the Bf after the first 6 months is the best bit. Then you really feel the benefits of the convenince - no bottles, you can just pop them on anywhere when you are out and about. i think it would be a shame to give up now, after all the slog of the first 6 montsh when they seem to be prermanently attached.

I should say that I didnt have to go back to work though...dont knwo how long i could have done the expressing at work thing...major hassle

hunkermunker · 29/07/2006 22:34

Oh, and I found with DS1 that a feeding routine fell into place once he was eating more - I think the same will happen with DS2 as well - he's just started eating food.

loobywoof · 29/07/2006 23:04

My DS was BF to 17 months and my DD is now 16 months and still BF. I went back to work on 2 consecutive full days a week when DS was 7 months and DD was 9 months. My job is way too hectic to express but both children adjusted really well to no milk in the daytime and just made up for it when I was home. They were both able to take water from a beaker by the time I returned to work and were enjoying their solids. It worked surprisingly well. However I don't think this would work without expressing if someone was working many more full days.

Original poster

MrsFogi · 29/07/2006 23:41

Just to check I'm getting this - I could give dd water for a certain period each day or the odd bottle of formula but carry on bfing the rest of the time? Would my supply be ok?

OP posts:

KristinaM · 29/07/2006 23:50

LW - you are lucky - i couldnt go for a 10 hour stretch without feeding or i would get blocked ducts. the most i can manage is about 5 hours.

Mrs Fogi - as far as i know the odd bottle wouldnt do any harm to your supply at this stage.
but im not an expert. and no doubt someone will come along and tell you that formula is the work of the devil and your supply will dry up tomorrow

VeniVidiVickiQV · 29/07/2006 23:53

With DS I carried on b/feeding at around the same intervals and fitted in food inbetween.

I used to leave a cup of water around for him to have if he wanted it. He is 15 months and has only just started drinking water the last 2 months. His fluid was all from b/feeding. He is eating 3 good meals a day now.

When I am home he still gets 4 b/feeds a day - ish.

When im working he gets a 2 and a bottle of ebm in the evening. This doesnt affect my supply at all i have to say.

MrsSpoon · 29/07/2006 23:58

Just to echo everyone else I found b/feeding soooo easy after six months, it was almost a reward for putting in the hard work in the first six months. I found that my DS2 was happy to feed less and quicker, also as time went on if I wasn't there he wasn't bothered about a feed which was a plus as he wouldn't even take expressed milk at this stage so I could still go out occasionally.

tigertum · 30/07/2006 00:22

Hi Mrs Fogi

I decided to carry on with the breastfeeding and am feeding DS to (15 months) and plan to continue to until he's twoish when I plan to 'not offer and not refuse' and see how that goes.

It has worked really well for us.

As for the hassle issue, its been no hassle. The opposite in fact. A tasty, nutricious snack, readymade and 'on tap' between meals

I instigate most of his feeds. As he's grown into a busy toddler, I've found it's been great for us to have a restful, calming few minutes as we have a feed. We have 'milk and beebies' in the afternoon when his energy (and patience) levels are low - It really helps.

One thing to consider is that quite a few babies go off milk as they get to this age. This is just anicdotal, but most of the babies I know that moved to cows milk or formula (or who were on it since birth) seemed to go right off it as they got into solids and certainly past the 8 month mark. Of course, some babies do this with the breast too. So what I'm saying is that I've found it a good way of getting milk into him and it's also a fantastic nutritional safety net. Sometimes even the best eaters have a bad few days where their solid intake goes right down. Its good to be able to offer something nutricious that they will be happy to have in these situations.

I would so go for it, but that's of course because It worked really well for me and DS!

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

tigertum · 30/07/2006 00:38

Forgot to say, as DS has got older and more active, he has ineviably had more accidents.

The other week he chipped his front tooth and (after making sure it wasn't wobbly) I offered him my breast to calm him down. He went from hysterical to calm in less than a minute! Another great use for extended breastfeeding that I found.

DS is not at that stage yet, but I've also been told that it helps stop toddler tantrums.

Hope this helps anyway.

lazycow · 31/07/2006 09:53

I didn't bother with bottles as it seemed more hassle than it was worth by then and this from someone who actually pretty much hated bfeeding for the first 6 months. My problem was mainly the randon feeding - I couldn't work out how to drop a feed when he copuld have anything between 5 to 8 feeds in the daytime at any point during the day. Once he started on solids this stabilised a bit - though it still wasn't very predictable. Bottles just seemed to require too muc thought and planning (see my name !!)

Ds had a bottle of formula a day at childcare when he turned 10 months old but he drank almost none of it (grin] so I stopped giving it at 11 months old and he just drank water until he got me again.

I did give him cows milk for a while in a cup after 12 months for times when when I wasn't there but he didn't like it either.

Now at 20 months he often brestfeeds then points to the fridge and asks for cows milk as well so now he has decided he likes it - go figure !!.

Tinker · 31/07/2006 11:52

Easier to keep going, I've found. I intended 6 months, then 12 now after her MMR then who knows? Still wakes 2 or 3 times per night though but, although I should deal with that, as least by still feeding I don't have to, iyswim.

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