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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

In an ideal world how long would you breastfeed?

53 replies

BlueParrott · 06/01/2017 13:38

Hello. Just curious how long if you had no other commitments ,ie work or other kids, would you breastfeed for? My son is 18 months and has an occasional night feed but I stopped breastfeeding during the day at 14 months partly because of work and my relationship. I love breastfeeding and would have carried on but I felt he was ready to stop.

OP posts:
Queazy · 06/01/2017 20:48

I fed my dd until 13mo. She was poorly from her MMR vaccinations and became grumpy and bitey at the breast. She never wanted to feed again :( I was sad as hadn't expected it. Both dc have CMPA so she had to just sip soya milk and bulk up her calcium intake from food, but it really worried me as she didn't like soya and constantly worried she was calcium deficient! With my little 1yo DS, I'd like to wean now as he's 1yo and is so demanding with bf, in the sense of wanting to treat me like a dummy from 4:30am. It's driving me nuts and tho I know I'll miss it lots, I just feel touched out.

Does anyone have any tips for weaning off bf at this age? Or remember any posts that discuss it?

x

Ohdearducks · 06/01/2017 20:57

I'm so conflicted about this, after a very difficult (horrendous) start I've gradually started to like breastfeeding on some days, other days I just wish DD would give it up. I'm 7 months in and tentatively said 6 months at the beginning but here I am approaching 8 months with no signs of stopping.
DD LOVES breastfeeding, I think she'd stay on my boobs all day long if I let her, its so trying at times but I can't bring myself to deprive her so who knows when this will end for me?! I really can't see myself doing this past 1 but then I said that about 6 months!!🙈

ZZZZ1111 · 06/01/2017 20:59

11 months in and will continue for as long as we both want to. No set goals in mind.

DramaAlpaca · 06/01/2017 21:04

Mine were all breastfed until 8 or 9 months and I was very happy with that.

GieryFas · 06/01/2017 21:07

Queazy From about that age I started the idea that 'blue moon' on the Groclock meant 'milk all gone' (which were signs that they knew by about 12 months). So I night weaned doing that, and by sending DH in to settle them with a sippy cup of water and cuddles, and me staying well out of the way.

I fed dd1 for 14 months, and stopped as I had gone back to work and found it stressful getting home for the bedtime feed and getting out of the door after the early morning feed (I'd deliberately got rid of the other feeds).

With dd2 I had clocked that it didn't matter if I missed the bedtime feed, as bfing was so established by that point, so I carried on for ages (until 2.9, I think) as it was very much a nice thing to do at bedtime if I was around, and it didn't matter if I wasn't. Never fed at any other time for well over a year before we stopped, apart from one time when she had a really bad nosebleed and nothing else would calm her.

Lugeeta · 06/01/2017 21:16

I think in a perfect world, all children would be bf until at least 2yo. I weaned one of mine at 1yo and the 2nd self weaned at about 2.5yo. I think if you can it's nice to let them self wean if you dont mind bf them-I found bf made parenting a lot easier with my 2nd when she was older actually-an easy way to sort out falls/scraped knees/tiredness etc! I can honestly say my 2nd never cried for more than a minute at a time ( snd that was rare) before she stopped bf!

stayontrack · 06/01/2017 21:21

I BF until 7 months because I went back to work but in reality I wish I could still BF at 16months!

Queazy · 06/01/2017 21:21

Thanks so much Gieryfas - that's so helpful! Sorry for jumping on the post with my own question x

FourKidsNotCrazyYet · 06/01/2017 21:29

I fed my first three until they were between 10 months to a year. Baby 4 was about 3 years old (he was on life support after. Roth until 10 days old so I couldn't refuse him Sad). Never again. It felt like it eventually drained every nutrient from my body. He fed up to 10 times a day and I was constantly ill, colds, upset stomach, fevers. I just felt like I had no immune system left!

mikado1 · 06/01/2017 22:09

Thank you rocky, I find myself swaying massively between 'get him weaned in next 6m', to 'see how we go'..

BertieBotts · 07/01/2017 14:41

Queazy look up Jay Gordon's nightweaning. You can google it.

I let DS stop when he wanted, he was 4. It was fine. I would continue to self weaning again. It felt right for me.

Stitchfusion · 07/01/2017 14:42

8-9 months.
Not in an ideal world. Thats exactly what I did because it felt right.

RockyBird · 07/01/2017 20:41

mik do exactly what feels right to you and your LO.

Anyone can hand out advice or tell you their own experience but they're not you and their child isn't your child.

Scrumptiouscrumpets · 09/01/2017 12:49

I'd start mix feeding at around 7-8 months and then gradually phase it out. I agree that ebf is overrated - I find bf very easy and practical when out and about, but there are also definite disadvantages which mean I wouldn't want to go on beyond a year.

Camomila · 10/01/2017 15:47

I'm still happily breastfeeding at 9 months, I'm hoping to breastfeed till just after he turns 2. (I say just after as we're planning a long haul holiday just after his birthday and I think he'll probably want to comfort feed in a new place so I'd wean after we got back)

But who knows, he might self wean earlier or get really bitey!

I would like to make him less reliant on boobs for comfort though I'm planning to introduce the occasional warm cup of cows milk when he turns one so he can have it for nap time when I'm back at work and so that I can go on a night out again eventually!

HeddaGabbler · 10/01/2017 15:53

I'm still going at 19 months but it's once in the morning and that's it. So very easy. And means I can wear normal clothes & bras! But I haven't fed on demand since he was about 3/4 months. I got into a routine with it pretty quick & my baby responded well to that.

Original poster
BlueParrott · 13/01/2017 00:22

Sorry only just revisiting this. Thanks for all your different stories on breastfeeding, I was proud I did 14 months. My son occasionally still feeds at night but normally when he's poorly. He's had a bit of a cold this week so I've had him on the boob for half an hour a night which settles him. I know when he wants it though because he has a habit of yanking my top down and looking for the boob!

OP posts:
squishysquirmy · 13/01/2017 00:37

Ideally wanted to keep going until about 1 year, but it got later and later whilst I waited for her to self wean. Still breastfed after 3, but only in the evenings or if she was feeling very unwell.
What I found frustrating was that feeding was hard for the first couple of months (when all the advice that surrounded me was that I really should bf), improved a bit, and then suddenly became very easy around 6 months, just as everyone was telling me I should stop!

DeleteOrDecay · 13/01/2017 00:41

Fed both of mine for a year which was my initial goal anyway. By then neither of them were eating well and weren't overly fussed so I felt that it was a good time to stop. I'm glad I did as I didn't particularly enjoy it, but felt that bf was the right thing to do for my dc (and also saved a tonne of money).

kel12345 · 13/01/2017 01:37

Never. I didn't want to breastfeed at all, so I didn't.

bummymummy77 · 13/01/2017 01:53

Ds is 3 years and 4 months and is very adamant he is never stopping. Grin

Cineraria · 13/01/2017 02:10

Around two would be my ideal. DS may have other opinions though. He is 15 months and still feeds every four hours like he did when he was just three months old, this time last year. He is happy with just oat milk in an open cup when he is at nursery as long as he has a feed on the train there and back, but on days he's home, he wants to feed after he's finished the oat milk.

It used to be time I could look at my phone but now I have to play pat-a-cake, round and round the garden and say parp when he squeezes my nose.

Baylisiana · 13/01/2017 02:30

I don't have dc but have been reluctant witness to some arguments about his among friends, and maybe because of the arguing, I really don't think it matters. The benefits are really negligible especially as time passes, but equally what's the harm? So ideal is doing whatever works best for you. I think looking at nutrition as a whole is important, for example evidence suggesting that continuing ebf when approaching six months can be problematic.

MamaHanji · 25/03/2017 15:49

My eldest was ff and is 2.9 and still has a bottle of cows milk to bed and my baby is 16 weeks and is breastfed and I hope to breastfeed as long as we can so probably 2-3 is when I can see us stopping. But that's probably because we will be wanting to try for another baby and I don't want to tandem nurse.

PetalMettle · 25/03/2017 17:49

I think about 18 months....I've said I'd like to get to 2 (ds is 20 months) but really I think I'm ready for him to self wean

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