Breastfeeding regret, need some advice please.

[AJayne48]

I have an 8MO DS and he has been breastfed on demand from birth - 7 months. After that I started to combination feed due to the pressure I have been given from my family to stop. They say that he looks silly because he is big for his age and that it doesn't fill him up anymore, I listened and started giving him bottles.

The thing is that I miss Breastfeeding so much, I have told them that I have stopped completely but I do feed DS twice a day from me, I want to carry on Breastfeeding but I'm worried that now I have given him bottles my milk supply would have lessened and I won't be able to 'satisfy' his hunger now.

Can I salvage Breastfeeding? Or have I ruined my chances of solely Breastfeeding?

I'm no expert, but I'd have thought you could easily carry on. After all supply is supposed to meet demand, isn't it? I'd have thought you'd have to gradually reintroduce it, to allow your body to catch up maybe?

Or could you start expressing a bit? This would help increase supply I'd have thought.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me will be able to help...

IIRC all you need to do is feed him more and you'll make more milk, so you can ditch the formula if you want.

Don't listen to those who say he's too big, it's your body. I BF ds until he was 1.

Hi I have 8 month old ebf and have had the same (and much worse) from family so really understand the pressure. (Dm said ' you'll be sticking your titts through the school gate at lunchtimes if you don't stop soon )
Tell them to fuck off! Your baby and you'll feed him however YOU want. What other parenting choices will they make for you? ? If they think he looks silly they don't have to watch.
8mmonths and it's just getting to the fun bit :)
If you're still feeding then you should have no problem upping supply. Just keep offering. It this stage milk supply is quite robust. Lots of mums return to work and just feed am/pm on work days and on demand when home.
I have no intention of stopping anytime soon, I long to hear ' I want mummy milk' :)
I usually pull the 'WHO guidelines say till 2.
Grrr these people make me SOoo cross. Xx
if you've grown him 'big' you must be doing ok :)
Bf is more than just giving calories.
Good luck and carry on till YOU or lo want to stop.

Hope you get on ok OP. Agree with others, just allow him to feed as often as you can.

Rosie my youngest is coming up for 2 and after Hi Mummy when I get in from work, will follow me about waiting for mummy milk (and asking like a wee broken record) till I'm ready. :)

It is none of anyone's business how long you breastfeed for!!!
Stop offering bottles. Offer bf at every feed then top up & offer less & less formula each feed. Night feeding maybe an option to build up supply

Christ on a bike - don't stop bf your child because of other people's issues with bfing!

Have no fear OP - our breasts are amazing (yay!) and after 6 months ebf your supply will be well established and hence very flexible. For example, I went back to work full time when dd was only 5 months, but could still comfortably ebf her through tummy bugs she had when she was well over 1. Regretfully stopped bf at around 22 months when she self-weaned. If I were you I would keep going, if you and your dc are both finding it works for you.

Your family are very ignorant about this issue!

I bf DS1 until he was 15 months. I'm sure your supply will adjust very quickly.

jaggythistle & to very special moments.

Keep feeding and the milk will come. Do it as long as you want to. It's your decision alone b

I stopped at 14 and 18 months. Dd2 is 3 nearly and I still miss it

I'm very glad to hear that I can carry on as we normally were! I will feed him often to make sure that my supply increases as we both loved Breastfeeding, he is much more relaxed when feeding from me.

I will tell me family that I'll do what I want with my baby, they can be very judgemental at times and they keep going on until you feel guilty.

Thank you for the advice, I'm so relieved that I'll be able to solely breastfeed

Whenever they make you feel guilty, come back to MN for a refresher dose of bf support. MN is GREAT at that

Thank you, he is feeding from me now and we are both so relaxed doing it. I love it

I will most likely be back here for some advice, MN has really helped me.

Fantastic A.J. It's magic :) I'm feeding now and dd is stroking my fat tummy, waving her legs about and singing to my boob as she falls asleep. Big baby /toddler feeding is the best bit imo.
You'll always find support on here. Xx

Glad he's feeding well again. I'm sorry your family are so unsupportive. Just ignore them though. I fed mine until 16 months, and it was lovely. By the end I did find myself not telling other people about it, but my family were fine, luckily. If yours continue to be negative, just don't tell them, but carry on!

This may be a stupid question (and my baby is only a month old so it will be a while before this applies to us) but doesn't it start to be a problem when they have teeth? I just assumed it would get painful then but from all your experience it looks like I'm wrong?

AJ lovely to hear it is working out for you.

Imeg it wasn't really an issue for us. I can't recall being bitten or anything.

Your breasts have magical hormone "switches" in them after a few months of feeding, so they are always full and ready to give milk whether you feed once a day or 6 times a day.

In the early days it's all about supply and demand with your body learning the right amount to make - in the first couple of months you can mess up your supply by introducing formula, but after 3 or 4 months if feeding (it differs from person to person), you shouldn't need to supplement with formula at all, unless you want to. Your supply should be stable enough to feed again without any topping up.

As for teeth, they don't get in the way at all, unless your latch isn't great to begin with. It's very possible to continue feeding when a baby has teeth - you really don't notice the difference.

They do sometimes nip, but in my experience I've only ever had it once or twice (the yelp of pain scared them). I fed ds1 until 19 months and ds2 is 23 months and still going.

What a lovely post:) well done op on doing what suits you both:)