how long did you breastfeed

[JulieC1981]

Hello

Just wondering how long people breastfeed for and when and if you introduced some bottle feeds to give yourself a break?

[dontpokethebear]

Ds1 9 months, ds2 9 months, dd 11 months. I didn't go back to work after dd, so wanted to let her self wean, typically she lost interest at 11 months!

[Salene]

Till he was about 11.5 months

No bottles moved to cows milk from a cup just before first birthday

[Natsku]

Until 14 months. Stopped because she was allergic to so much and the restricted diet was making me lose too much weight.

Bottles were introduced from the beginning as I was told to supplement from the start because we had a bit of trouble starting (which in retrospect I'd rather like to blame on those bottles as she was in SCBU the first night and day and they bottle fed her there)

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Bf just under two years.
Bottle in first few days as I was told to do ebm top-ups because she was so tiny.
Introduced some formula (so mix-feeding) from about 4.5 months as I went back to work, and couldn't be bothered with the hassle of expressing for nursery.

[NickyEds]

I'm not sure why you wanted to know op (though happy to answer)but the answers on here, great as they are, are nowhere near representative of the uk as a whole, for that you could try the infant feeding survey!

[Sparrowlegs248]

Still feeding at 8 months. Won't take a bottle.

[ouryve]

DS1 breastfed until 18 months, but had a bottle a ocuple of itmes a day from a few days old, as I was very ill after his birth.

DS2 was almost 2.5 when he lost interest. He completely refused a bottle.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

I started giving bottles of expressed milk at about 3 weeks old as well as still breastfeeding - but at telecast my DH could help!
At about 12 weeks I stopped pumping (pain in the arse) and replaced expressed breastmilk with formula. DD was soon having breastfeed first thing in the morning, a couple of times in the day and then the rest was formula. She's 11mo now and only has 3 bottles of formula alongside her main meals, but we are starting the transition to cows milk now

[AlleyCatandRastaMouse]

My older 2 were 1 week and 2 weeks and my youngest was 2.5years. He took milk from whatever source it came in but he still wanted boob if I was there as it was mainly comfort by the end.

[StarlightMcKenzee]

I co-slept with my last 2 so didn't seem to need a break. Certainly didn't need the extra hassle of bottle-making, or having to lug around a changing bag.

Could go out with just a nappy in my pocket.

[murphyslaws]

6 weeks. She had bad acid and reflux plus lactose allergy. Midwives kept say breast is best. Doctor said only if she can keep it down.

Stressful for both of us so gave up 6 weeks and she was happier straight away!

[GrowAndRun]

15 - 16months ish. DS had expressed milk from a bottle occasionally when I needed (or wanted!) to leave him. DD absolutely refused bottles. Both had cows milk in a cup in addition to bf from around a year old, when I was back working.

[MooningIntoTheAbyss]

18 months with both DC.

Tried expressing and giving Dd a bottle at 6 weeks but she screamed so hard and so long that she just vomited it all back up within minutes.

Never tried with DS.
They both loved the boob.

[PlaymobilPirate]

4 weeks because of medication i was on. I was glad as I hated bf. No pain or anything, I just hated it.

[zen1]

DC1 combined fed from birth (thank God, otherwise he would have starved). He stopped bf of his own volition at 10 months. DC2 bf for 17 months then went on to cows milk. DC3 ebf for 26 months. Never touched any other liquid. In the end, DH had to take him away for a few days without me to get him to take another form of liquid (has ASD and SPD, so that's why he was bf for so long).

[UmbongoUnchained]

I breastfed for 10 minutes. That was enough for me. I did express for 6 months though.

[NickMarlow]

Almost a year.

She had 1 bottle a day of expressed milk from 2 weeks. At 6 months, we switched that bottle to formula, which meant I could occasionally leave her for a bit longer as she was used to a bottle.

The first 6 months, she fed for half an hour, every 2 hours, 6am til bedtime and some night feeds as well. It all got massively easier once she was on solids and dropped feeds quite quickly. By 10 months we were down to bedtime and mornings, and stopped very gradually over the month leading up to her birthday.

[WeAreWhatWeRepeatedlyDo]

My DS self weaned at about 15 months. I went back to work part time at 9 months and he refused a bottle but no problems just waited till I was home from work.

My DD I weaned at about 20 months, I was struggling as she asked for feeds two hourly and feeding for 40 minutes a time including during the night. I had to stop I was shattered. She took it better than expected. She never had a bottle. But did express and grandparents gave in a cup. But couldn't leave her for too long till after a year.

[Metalhead]

DD1 had one bottle of formula before bed from 6 weeks, self-weaned from boob at 9 months.

DD2 has had 1-2 bottles of formula before bed/during the night since 4 weeks, she's now 4 months. I'm hoping she'll go the same way as her sister as I really don't want to bf for much longer than 9 months, definitely no longer than a year.

[GlomOfNit]

DS1: 2 yrs 2 months, about. Stopped when I became pregnant with DS2 because my nipples were getting v sensitive and I was a bit touched out, but by then he was self-limiting.

DS2, on the other hand, happily fed/latched on until almost 5. He has ASD and wouldn't have understood any rationalisation about why we might think about stopping, and because of his anxieties and occasional meltdowns, it was a blessing TBH. I don't know when I stopped lactating (probably around 4.5) but frankly he didn't care!