Is it possible to start breastfeeding at almost 2.5 years old?

[Sarahdesert]

I regret no being able to due to infection and now i feel i have lost a bond, is lactation possible now?

[lunar1]

The amount of effort needed to start breast feeding at this point could be very stressful.

How would you feel If you managed to establish a supply of bm only for your child reject it? You need to hunk everything through because it has the potential to put an incredible amount of pressure on you and your son.

[lunar1]

Think not hunk!

[stargirl1701]

OP, I relactated.

DD was 11 weeks old and I had stopped bf at 3 weeks. It took a great deal of effort on my part. I had to hire a double pump and express at least 12 times in 24 hours - 3 of those overnight. I had to spend a great deal of time with DD skin to skin. In addition, the pump needed cleaned and sterilised. I then used an SNS which needed the same. And, the bottles for the formula.

It took 3 weeks to see any milk back and I never returned to ebf. It's bloody hard work. I wouldn't attempt it in your circumstances.

[BobPatSamandIgglePiggle]

Could you look into toddler massage to boost your bond? Or share baths for extra skin to skin?

[lucy101]

I didn't have any milk after my son was born (tonguetie, PPH, other health issues) and was devastated. With enormous effort we managed to get to about 80% bf... but it was gruelling (I was the most challenging case my lactation consultant had ever seen and she was in her 50's) and took up all my time and energy... time that you could be spending doing other, perhaps more useful things, to develop your bond.

Your child may not want this either. Mine flat out refused to continue to bf well before 2.5.

I find this a rather worrying post actually. Do you think you need to access some other skilled rl support to deal with your issues? Is this more about your feelings of loss than what your child might actually need from you right now?

[NomDeClavier]

If you're worried about the bond in general you could look into attachment parenting. Sears is obviously very pro BF but there are lots of other ways to be close to your child - bed sharing and baby wearing are two quite easy ones.

[Sarahdesert]

lucy101 why do you find it worrying that i want to breast feed my daughter?

[lucy101]

Hi there, sorry, I think I should have expressed that better. I completely understand why you want/wanted to bf. I just know that in my case that my desire to bf at any cost was actually more to do with grief for my first baby who I lost near term less than a year before having my ds, and perhaps less about what my ds actually needed. Projecting perhaps so possibly not helpful! I hope you find a solution.