Anyone else like a lioness whilst breastfeeding?

[CheeseGrater]

I know it's Mother Nature and instinct etc but it seems that for as long as I bf my babies I find it hard to be away from them / let anyone else other than DH have them for any length of time.

I fed dd1 until she was 18mths and when I stopped it was like I got me back and I was much happier for her to go off with grandparents/childcare. And I feel the same with dd2 now. Perhaps it's because I feel they are that little bit more dependent on me, which I love. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing their independence grow too but there's something that's powerfully innate about feeding that makes me feel all lionessy.

Not sure why I'm posting really, but as I sit here feeding dd2 I wondered if anyone else feels like this!

I'm only on my first baby, been feeding him for 9mo and what you're saying sounds familiar. No plans on stopping til he chooses to. Hope what you're saying happens to me when we do eventually stop. I've never left him overnight and have only left him with grandparents 3 times

Dd1 was 16 months when she stayed over at grandparents and down to one bedtime feed only so I knew she'd be ok for the one night.

One night when she was 18 mths, we had people over and DH put her to bed. She went to sleep no fuss without a feed and that was that. We were both ready to stop I guess.

Dd2 is harder work and more of a boob monster so god knows when she'll stop!!

I had the opposite really - fed till nearly 2 but she was spending lots of time with other people certainly from 5-6 months onwards, and at 10 months I went back to work doing long shifts and night shifts. I didn't express, we just fed when we saw each other.

I loved breastfeeding from about 8 months onwards. It was so special and never restricted me at all.

DD2 is nearly 6 months now and I don't know how it will pan out, I feel a bit more attached to her to be honest… maybe cause she'll probably be my last baby.

Ahh the "last baby" thing tugs at me too. Breastfeeding is the last physical tie-in with pregnancy, the last thing where you give over your own body physically to your children.

Amazing really!

Saying all that, when I'm done I'll be glad to get my libido back and wear dresses again

Ah cherish it ?. I felt the opposite, although I bf for 6 months with each I hated the feeling of being tied down and it was a purely practical decision for me, even now looking back I don't really have any emotional misty eyed feeling about bf. I actually found bottle feeding much more of a snuggly bonding experience, probably because it meant I could look into baby's eyes while feeding rather than seeing the side of their dace buried in my chest!

Not quite, but I know what you mean. I remember looking at DS1 and now at DS2 and I think "You're BUILT of MY milk!!!"

I'm only 8 weeks in and we're still in no routine at all so I actually cannot be away from baby.

I leave her with OH whilst I nip out sometimes - so an hour maximum if I am taking older child to the park or popping out to the shops...

We did have to leave her for 4 hours when toddler had a head bang and had to go to A&E recently. Left her with bottles and formula - which she refused!!

I must confess though that we've never left DS overnight [2.4] and I didn't breastfeed him!! I just don't like leaving my kids!

Ha ha yeah maybe bfing has nothing to do with it and maybe, come the time she was 18m it just felt like dd1 was old enough to be a bit further away from me!!