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...

Acksherly, it was chocolate.....

a)I think the same way about cows milk..although I quite like my butter & cream too much to completely give it up ...we are the only mammals who consume another's milk....defo not essential to human survival...otherwise there would be no vegans! If you have a cows protein allergy then its only sensible to introduce it carefully (if you introduce it at all).

b)Nowt wrong with just water & occasional juice. That's what my own DS (3yrs old) drinks apart from BM

c)No...why would it as you are likely to be bfing less than you were when your LO was younger. As long as you have a good untake of calories and nutrients then you will have enough for you & your child.

No time now...but I have a link somewhere with some good come backs for negative bfing remarks both extended & general...shall have a hunt later...

lol crokky re university ! have visions of -

ds 'Mummy I don't feel well, i need booby'
puffy ' no darling, you're 35 now, don't you think it's time you got a place of your own ?'

We're all water drinkers here too. Am not sure how much any of us drink, we just all have a glass/cup/beaker permanently on the go and take a sip whenever we need it. Kind of like demand bf...

You can make a list as long as your arm of reasons why drinking water is better than juice for babies.

I'm not cows' milk's greatest fan either. I think it's hugely overrated.

dd1 has CMP allergy and we've managed fine - so much so that although dd2 is now 13 months I haven't bothered to start her on dairy stuff. I do make sure they have plenty of calcium-containing foods though. dd1's allergy is easing up a bit now and she can eat things baked with butter (for instance) which is great - but none of it is necessary.

(dd1 reported to DH that we had gone to the library cafe and eaten rhinoceros - my memory is of eating croissants but you never know with these poncy cafes, do you)

go for it puffy
breastfeed for as long as you want to
i fed dd till 15m and ds till 2y i did feel other people thought i was a freak but i didn't care what anyonelse thought - my mum was the only one to actually be honest enough to say surely you've fed him long enough which was her opinion which i happilly ignored!!!
i still miss breastfeeding ds now 8m on but i think that's prob cause i know he's my last baby

Weel done and good for you!

Hippy? I prefer the word "normal". What do these people think breasts are there for? And what did we do before bottles were invented???

You do as you please me dear, as do others with their children. You do best, that's what you do. And smile while you're doing it, cos you're doing a great job!

Hi again, been checking the Department of Health guidelines...and I quote "Carry on breastfeeding or giving infant formula milk each day until at least 12 months of age. Cows milk is not suitable as a drink until your baby is 12 months old." This is taken from the weaning leaflet which you HV may be able to give you. Our local HVs prefer to give out Cow & Gate guide to weaning instead though! Nothing like impartial professional advice eh! If you want a copy of this leaflet either google it or I can email you a copy. I wouldn't worry about giving your son any other fluid for a while, you've got all that lovely foremilk for him! Whenever people get you down just remind yourself of all the benefits of BF, for both you and baby. Enjoy it, cos I'm really not looking forward to cutting down our feeds.

Moondog, Dw'n iawn, a ti?

Take note ladies - when we are grandmothers lets promise to keep our bloody opinions to ourselves, well meaning or otherwise.

I've just been told by my mum it's "disgusting" if I keep feeding DS now. (He turns 1 next wk.)

I'm ignoring such advice, she knows nowt. I've been giving cow's milk on cereal etc and yogurts and cheese from about 7 months. I wanted to go on feeding until DS was ready to stop; unfortunately he seems ready around about now. Gutted, I want to do it til he's 21 just to piss everyone off!

I guess what I'm saying is ignore everyone and do what you think is best. (Obviously don't ignore these other fab MNers, they all talk a lot of sense!)

ha, think i must be turning into a militant lactator. just been to HV weaning talk, where they advised us to stop breast feeding afte 1 yr and go onto cows milk - this after very carefully explaining that we should exclusively bf till 6 months under WHO guidelines !!! despite WHO and Unicef guidelines being to bf till age 2... hmm.. had to keep mouth shut v tight...

Shouldn't have kept quiet pl - would have been interesting to hear their reply.

I'm still feeding my 2.2 year old. I do wish I could stop but she's showing no sign.

For her other drinks, it's either smoothies (one per day), milk or water

I don't know whetehr it's taxing on my body tbh, I must have adjsuted by now.

I work full-time during term-times. She feeds morning, as soon as I'm back from work and evenings. When I'm off it more!

I don't feed outside teh home and I don't reallt tell anyone but if teh subject comes up I do say I am. I'm sure there is some lip-curling behind my back but, well, can't do anything about that

"they advised us to stop breast feeding afte 1 yr and go onto cows milk"

did they give a reason?

I wouldn't have shut up.
We need to challenge these idiocies.
Another reason why I find it irritating that so many MNers say they breastfeed for an extended period of time but don't admit it.
A conspiracy of silence only perpetuates these antiquated ideas.

PL, I'd challenge that too. The WHO actually says bf for AT LEAST the first two years.

Puffylovett, can you cope with goats milk and related products, butter, cheese, yoghurt? Perhaps your LO may be able to cope with these after he's 1.

pistachio - do you mean give up bf and not offer a milk substitute at all, or just bf a couple of times a day but not offer a substitute in between? If the latter, then yes, perfectly fine. If the former, then it would be better to offer some substitute (perhaps rice milk with added calcium?) if you can, but you are right that it is possible to get enough calcium from other foods (dried figs are another good source btw).

kittensocks - whilst there are some children who are ok with goats or sheeps products instead of cows, it is very rare, and thus not generally recommended (my dd threw up horrendously in her sleep when we tried her with sheeps cheese ).

you're all right, i should've spoken up ! probably if there'd been less people in the room and i wasn't sat next to a young jugger who informed the whole room in general that weaning at 6 months was a load of bollocks and she was still aiming for 4, i would have ! tend to be a bit non confrontational in these circumstances. My HV already thinks i'm a bit loopy, as i've been hiking with LO & pooch since he was week old and only tend to give him homeopathic remedies as opposed to calpol, infacol etc etc..

re the goats milk kittensocks, i've seen it used successfully on 9 mth old LO's with eczema, at work, although she also had to rotate all the various fruit and veg she was eating as well. i personaly don't like the stuff and rely on rice milk, veg, nuts and i also supplement with calcium occasionally. i can tolerate cheese (love it unfortuantely), but it brings me out in hives and i've noticed that when i've had it LO eczema flares up, hence my reluctanct to introduce cows milk.

pistachio can you maybe express so that if you're away your LO can have bm ? i would have thought that if lO is having lots of bm and fruits, veg and things like yoghurt, especially if they're live natural yoghurt, then surely she would be getting enough calcium and a day or two without bm won't do any harm ? (well i surely hope so anyway as that's what i would do)

I'm intending to try the blw method so can things like figs be given at such an early age, seeing as almonds won't be suitable in the first year ?

thanks for all your replies and support btw

I think you should continue to breastfeed until you or your baby/toddler decide the time is right to stop, don't plan it just do it.

I probably introduced water as a drink at about 6 months just to compliment the solid food (I like a glass of water with my meals).

I don't think feeding past 1 year should be taxing on your body at all, afterall at that age children are on three meals a day so they don't need to be taking too much milk.

If the time comes when you do want to try milk from a carton maybe goats' milk would be better if you are allergic to cows' milk.

Even though I have said here what I think, I reckon you know what you are doing and what you want to do so ignore what other people say and do what you think is right!

hi pistachio i don't blame you, we're only 3 weeks of expressing and nips like leather already
i personally would feel that you're giving your little one plenty of calcium - i think the important thing to remember is that you have to also get adequeate magnesium and vit d in order to absorb calcium properly. also your vit absorption is only as good as the health of your digestive tract IMO anyway !

that's a bit of a tall order don't yu think ? learn to love the rain...