Calling all BF passionistas

[puffylovett]

Hello. Am currently bf'ing my 5 month old and over the past few days been thinking that i would like to continue until he's toddling, or around 2 - well really, to continue until we're both ready to stop ! even though am a bit scared of the teeth.. but seem to be coming up against opposition from the couple of people i've mentioned it to. my mum thinks that when i start him on solids, he should be drinking juice, water and cows milk and only feeding twice daily upto a yr old (which is what she did). everyone else just looks shocked that i could consider feeding past 1 yr.

so my questions are these -

a) i'm afraid i consider cows milk to be for calves (cower..) is it really so essential given the calcium content of human milk and that available in other dietary methods such as almonds or veg ? i have a cows milk protein allergy so am reluctant to introduce it to him
b) i would prefer he drink water and only sporadically juice, is this also bad ?
c) is bf-ing really taxing on your body past 1 yr ? I will hoepfully be going back to work part time, working 3 days per week, is it realistic to be able to pump enough past 1 yr old

i've read loads of information about the benefits of doing this and am really keen to do it, but there just seems to be so much opposition and disgust (is that the right word?) out there ! I know it is the right thing for us both, but struggling a bit with peoples attitudes. sorry for the long post but would love some support and other opinions ! thanks...

Loads on MN about this.

You're right.cows milk is for calves.

Feed for as long as you like.
You're doing the best thing possible for your child.If others offer ill advised views ignore and/or tell them 'Snout out'

i breastfed for 2 1/2 years,not remotely tiring.Went bCK TO WORK F/T AT 8 MTHS AND BABY HAD WATER IN THE DAY.nEVER NEEDED TO EXPRESS AND SUPPLY KEPT UP JUST FINE.

yOU have come to the right place Puffy.

(sorry slight thread hi-jack)

Moondog - I take you don't have milk on your cereal, and drink black coffee then .

puffy -

a) there's plenty of other ways to get calcium into them you're quite correct.

b) nothing wrong with that AT ALL (and I admire parents who do manage to get their children to drink mainly water)

c) I only fed until DS1 was 14 months, but didn't find it taxing at all. By that time he wasn't needing so many in the day and just had juice/water. didn't pump either.

a) I agree. When my child starts moo-ing, I will start giving her cows milk . Esp given your allergy history, you would be best to wait until at least a year to introduce CM in any form.
b) No, this is good. Juice helps to rot teeth, water doesn't. My dd has never drunk juice.
c) No. It's actually much easier past a year (except for occasional bouts of teething possibly - my dd gets more demanding at these times, and I end up having to wean back the number of feeds again). Past a year feeding twice a day will be fine, so do morning and night, and let him have just water during the day.

Just ignore people who say you shouldn't be doing it. I frequently have to remind my MIL that the WHO recommends bf'ing until age 2. She has put up more opposition than anyone else. It's no-one's business except yours and your ds' (and poss dh).

Hi Puffy Lovett,
Cows milk is for calves and shouldn't be given until he is at least a year old!

My son is now almost 6 months old and I aim to continue feeding him myself fo r as long as we both feel comfotable with this. All the info I have read is that BF is fab for ages and will cover the main dietry needs of our babies - certainly this is backed up from countries in the developing world. As ofor introducing veg etc, I'm just starting to do this with my DS. We're going down a Baby Led Weaning route, check out Gill Rapely stuff on I want My Mum website.

Lastly my friend is still BF her daughter who is now 17 months old. She has been back at work, full time for 1 year and is still feeding whilst pregnant - on the advive of her midwife! So go girl! DO what's right for you as long as it's right for you! Good LUck!

Phew ! glad 2 hear it, thank you.. have read some of the threads re this, but haven't vbeen able to find any on the cows milk issue and opinions.

i really feel that if he needs milk and i can provide it, why FFS would I give him stuff from a cow or a packet, but no-one i know seems to understand me ! or they think i'm a hippy with weird ideas

QoQ,you are right,nowt wrong with cow juice.
I don't eat cereal although am partial to yoghurt and cheese and a drop if thw white stuff in me redbush.

Sut mae LindaCymru?

I feel like a hippy in RL sometimes puffy, but the great thing about MN is that it makes you feel perfectly normal .

loved bfing my ds1 till 14 months even tho i was back at work part time, jus combined with formula (gasp! but it worked fine for us). only stopped because he lost interest. intend to do the same with ds2. keep it up!

Hiya, PL.

Your mum's information is a bit out of date - breastmilk or formula should be the main drink for a baby up to the age of one. Cows milk can be used in cooking, but not as a main drink. It doesn't contain the right balance of nutrients.

However, if you get into a "what you did wasn't right" conversation with your mum, you'll get her back up, so don't, if you can help it.

To answer your questions:

a) No need whatsoever to introduce him to cows milk, especially given your allergy. In fact, that's an ideal reason to cite to people who question your decision. You know about other sources of capcium too.

b) Just water's fine - mine have both drunk just water with occasional sips of other stuff - DS1's just got into smoothies and occasionally orange or apple juice with a meal (he's 3.3), but DS2 still only drinks water (he's 18mo). They both prefer it and I drink a lot of water, through preference, so I don't see it as "cruel" to only give them water, like I know some people do.

c) I work full time and still bf DS2 - he's 18mo. I feed him on demand on the days I am with him (I have three days off and work long shifts the other four days, so I work a full time 40 hour week) and I feed him morning, bedtime and if he wakes in the night on the other days. He doesn't demand that often on days I'm with him and he will go to bed without a feed, or wake up and not have one on occasions when there's not enough time to feed him or I'm out in the evening.

Once you get past a year, IMO there's no need to express, unless you need to for comfort, or unless he's not eating cheese or yoghurt or drinking milk past that age, maybe.

There's a fab page on kellymom here that talks about the benefits past a year, so you can arm yourself with a few facts in the face of criticism.

But do remember that people who criticise you aren't the important people in the breastfeeding relationship you have with your baby. The only two people whose opinions matter are you and your baby. If you start to resent feeding, look at ways to change the relationship you have by altering feeding to only in specific places, at specific times, etc. If your baby weans, so be it, you've done an amazing thing for him and you can be very proud of yourself.

And keep posting here for support if you do encounter lunatics

Good for you puffy. Just go for it and ignore all the negative comments, hard I know, but in my case I found the comments gradually diappeared once people realised I was determined to carry on despite their 'advice'

The idea of someone daring to criticise the way I fed my child is just so astounding to me.Who the fuck do these people think they are???

I'm still bfeeding at 2, do what you want and disregard everyone else. I also had the most opposition from my family, but hey, I don't tell them how to raise their kids....

a)Generally agree re the cow's milk, especially before 12 mths, not even in cereals etc. Other sources of calcium are tahini, tofu, sardines etc.
b)DD drank only water until she was 14mo, juice is pointless and risks giving them a sugar habit.
c) I'm still happy and healthy 24 mths on. I only feed morning and night, the rest of the time she drinks water and the odd glass of cow's milk.

Good luck!

Go for it Puffy! I demand fed my DS until I went back to work when he was 13 months old, and I carried on feeding on demand when we were together until he was 18 months old. I would doubtless have gone on longer but I had to go into hospital for five days at that point, and it wasn't practical to try to go on feeding through the hospital stay.
a. Breast milk is liquid gold, it contains lots of calcium - if you aren't eating enough calcium your bones will release calcium to ensure that your milk is up to scratch - so you must make sure you get enough calcium yourself.
b. Breastmilk and water are all the drinks a child under one year old needs - I really tried to keep DS off juice as it's so sugary and so bad for teeth - but he does have it occasionally now.
c. Breastfeeding is not that taxing on your body as long as you make sure you are well-nourished - not eating for two, but make sure your diet is well-balanced and that you drink plenty of water.

To be honest I didn't think about stopping or not stopping BF - it just kinda kept going
a) I did give DS milk on cereal, but never bothered otherwise. He did have yoghurt and cheese - but then neither DH or I have allergies so I didn't think about alternatives - lots of people will be able to give you advice.
b) Water is fine of course! Much better than juice!
c) I think by about 1 year DS was only feeding morning and night anyway - but he was a really good eater so I didn't worry about pumping during the day.

i like the sound of the baby led weaning, but is it really sick of me to hope he doesn't wean too soon ! and so glad to know i'm not the only one who thinks there's nothing wrong with giving ds milk that's designed soley for him for as long as he needs it

am v passionate about water intake actually, i drink 2litres daily normally - are there recommended guidelines for babies over 6 mths ? i don't suppose there would be given that they get most of their water through breastmilk if still bf?

also is it wrong to eat lots of cake in the hope it will keep up my milk supply

Cake essential
Wine too in my case

Cake is fine as long as it's chocolate cake (or carrot cake with yummy icing). Chocolate in its purest form is also essential .

i think the thing about the family is - what i get from my mother is 'well you turned out ok didn't you' with a very pointed look ! i have to bite my tongue about my food allergies and IBS. and agree on the point about daring to feed my child my way moondog - just sometimes get a bit flumoxed when put on the spot and only think of good retorts about 4 hours later

Look over past thr4eads Puffy for good retorts.We have discussed it often.There are some gems.

I fed DS til about 15 mths
Most people I know in RL finished up by 6mths
The best thing is just to not discuss it with people incl family if they are trying to get you to wean

I found after 10 mths everyone just accepted it

puffy: do continue to bf past 1yr if that's what you want to do. From when my LO was 4 months old loads of people were putting pressure on me to give up. Comments such as "you're still going to be feeding when LO is old enough to go to university" I actually gave up at 13 months and I miss it a bit. It would be nice to give just one feed at night before bed. People have some strange opinions on bf and in the end you might have to do it in secret!!

What hunker said.

I ended up feeding ds just past 2 years.

He stopped a few weeks ago (although asked for a b/feed last week - and got one too ).

You dont notice the teeth - usually. DS used to bite down when he had just gums and no teeth. They learn to feed 'around' their new teeth so not a problem.

Cows milk NOT a necessity.

Water absolutely fine - b/milk should be main food for first 12 months at least anyway.

Sorry - that post was more like a stream of consciousness than anything else

VVVQV - I think you've got a little confused. It was octopus he asked for and got, not breastmilk.