ok, thinking of stopping bfding at 10months...any point carrying on to 12 months?

[Heathcliffscathy]

weirdly it's both my homeopath and my osteopath (am i alternative hippy dippy type...well, yes!) that have separately said that maybe i should think about stopping. homeopath said this with regards to my hormones (i'm getting terrible headaches at onset of period and at ovulation) and osteopath said it re posture and just heavy boobness.

i'm really pleased i've fed ds to 10 months, altho i have been giving him a bottle of formula at the last feed since he was 4 months old.

is there a massive advantage for him if i carry on to 12 months or beyond? or can i decide whether to stop or not based on my needs? (would love my boobs to go down, wouldn't have the excuse of still bfding for being overweight, plus hormone and postural stuff as above).

would like some genuine advice (not looking for one answer either way).

anyone?

tia

sorry soph, didn't mean to be cheeky but I turned into crazy breastfeeding lady with number three and want to spread the gospel of the joys of breastfeeding an older baby to anyone who is too polite to tell me to bog off!

By the way my two sisters and I all found our boobs got BIGGER after stopping breastfeeding!

You can't use breastfeeding as an excuse not to lose weight, but good try . My best success at weightwatchers was while I was breastfeeding as I was allowed more food than if I wasn't.

As for benifitting bubba, mummy's milk has to win hands down over cow, goat, pig, sheep, frog, antelope...whatever milk! That's both logical AND intuitive .

jasper nooooooo (bigger boobs and no weight loss). kiwicath, any luck with that site?

trythis

here

thanks herc. tbh i don't think that ds will be interested for that long...! if he was the one that expressed a need to be bf, i wouldn't be having this debate. but he seems as happy with a bottle or cup or nothing tbh, so long as he isn't hungry...definitely no milk fiend this one!

some interesting articles on this site too

lotsofmedicalstuff

Sophable, I have just had my second AF since ds was born 9.5 m ago and had an unshiftable, splitting headache for the week before that only went when AF arrived. Same happened previous month too. I was speaking to my consultant recently and he said that it will take 2 clear cycles after stopping b/f for my hormones to completely regularise. I'm just feeding 2 or 3x a day and not sure whether to continue till a year either. I wish my ds was a bit more take it or leave it. He's still pretty wedded to my boobs, certainly first thing. Anyway, good luck with your decision.

If you want to stop now, and you think it would make you happier, then yes, stop. If you think you would feel sad or guilty (you have absolutely no reason to at all btw, but you know how we are about these things) then carry on. I am deeply sceptical about osteopaths personally, after two told me my agonizing back pain was due to my 'alignment' when it was actually caused by two giant cysts on my ovaries - but that's not really relevant here! It's up to you. I am certain it won't harm your ds in any way at all. But make sure you are stopping because you feel ready, not because of outside pressure.
Just seen your post! No, and I didn't feed for two years either, but I do object to silly doctors bullying a perfectly happy mother into stopping at 8months - though she needed some ammunition!!

I gave up at around a year as I wanted to wear dresses again. Shallow? Moi?

oh bum, i don't know...

will just carry on until feel more either way i think. so portree, these headaches could be hormones to do with bfding? i really really could do without them. they happen every ovulation and every period and last 2-3 days. and i started my periods 4 weeks after ds was born and have had them regularly since.

Do you want to carry on Sophable? Forget everything else. If not, then dont. The earth will still keep revolving either way. You will feel guilt when ever you decide to stop. I stopped with ds at 4 and still felt guilty as I knew mums who fed longer!

hercules!!! 4!!! and you still felt bad!!! you fork woman you (that was you wasn't it?)

Yes, and I never did buy a hand blender!

Sophable, I'm not sure if my headaches are specifically to do with b/f + return of periods or it's just to do with the return of periods and rising and plummeting levels of hormones with prolactin in the mix, iyswim. I suspect the latter. Is your mood up and down as well? I had such a stable mood until af arrived and now I'm like a banshee on a rollercoaster. I keep meaning to do a bit of research on hormone levels and b/f but just haven't got round to it. I can understand your dilema though as I have similar thoughts every day then apathy wins.

def rollercoaster here...any resident experts on bfding and hormones? unbiased only please...i don't need persuading of the benefits of bfding: i've done it for 10 months fgs!

Not an expert on hormones and bf, especially, but I'd point out that physiologically and endocrinologically, being pregnant or breastfeeding is actually the normal state of being a woman. In evolutionary terms, we are 'abnormal' compared to our sisters across every generation apart from the last half dozen or so (a blink of an eye, in other words) in having more than a few menstrual cycles in our lifetime.

Not sure if that helps, sophable....but my instinct is to be sceptical when 'stuff' people can't explain otherwise is laid at the door of bf. Are your breasts really still that heavy at 10 mths to cause backache and a different posture, too?

I think that my periods have become worse since having ds, they returned after 10 months and the first few were okay, but now they are arduous affairs with nausea, stomach upsets, extreme tiredness and cramps. However I would be extremely upset if I gave up bfing and it didn't get any better so I carry on (ds now 18 months). My boobs are a shadow od their former self though so I have actually not got neck pain for the first time in my life! So it would seem we are both suffering, but not the same way. I hope you feel better soon.

I thought you didn't get periods when you were b/feeding??

Ha ha ha. As if. With ds I restarted at 6m, 2 weeks after his last breastfeed, and he was mixed-fed. With dd I restarted at 7m, and she was fully breastfed (plus solids from 5m). My mum got hers again 6wks after each of us were born, and we were all fully breastfed. That's why I don't understand the claim that it is actually abnormal to have so many periods, biologically we should all be either pg or bfing and therefore not having periods.

Well, I suppose before the days of telly and breakfast meetings the minute your periods returned you'd be up the duff again! So yes, you'd either be pg, breastfeeding...or a nun...

I'm 9wks pg and still b/f 10mo dd once a day, first thing in the morning. Big advantage is if she's ever really upset/in pain, I know I've got milk any time so she can have a comfort-nurse.

But totally agree that you should do exactly what you feel like Sophable - I hate getting headaches and if I thought mine were exaccerbated by bf I'd have stopped ages ago!

ps I bf lying in bed so no nursing bra palaver (and cosy time not having to leap out of bed to get dd's breakfast!) (though obviously being pg I never quite got back into underwear that could properly describe itself as "lingerie"!)

ok update for anyone interested: had the most humdinger headache/migraine last night...finally have bitten the bullet: stopped bfding today. ds is exactly 11 months old today and has only had one bf (in the morning) for a couple of months now. he didn't seem at all bothered about going straight to bkfast with his dad.

v weird and feels a bit unreal. but it was time i think. would have loved to carry on, but if anything helps these headaches, it's got to be worth doing and ds really wasn't that interested in bfding anymore (some days hardly had any).

have i done the wrong thing? he doesn't drink much milk (one bottle of formula in the eve, rest in food).

i can stil change my mind???