just a quick poll ... how long did you bf for ? what it as long/longer than planned

[robinredbreast]

just a quick poll ... how long did you bf for ? what it as long/longer than planned

My longest was 4 years - had no plans, just to let the child bf for as long as she wanted.

st did u start out with no plans?

I think I planned at least 9mo to a year. No foreign proteins before 9 mo

Planned on 1 year. Fed for 1 year and 1 month, delighted.

ds1 - 8/9mo altogether, mixed from 5mo - about as expected
ds1 - 18mo next week, still going - longer than expected (planned about a year)

st are you actually a science teacher?

I started out intending to definitely do 6 months, probably a year, and with vague thoughts of potentially carrying on to self-weaning depending on how things went. Still bf with DS now 2.7.

Was planning a year for dd, stopped at 13 months.
Planned 18 months for ds, but he weaned himself at 13 months

Yes I am, Robin

10 months, not as long as I hoped. Was hoping for a year but one day dd woke up and decided that was it. Not a breastfeeding strike either as kept offering - she never looked for the breast again even when she was upset or sleepy. Still very happy with the 10 months though.

i wanted to bf for at least 6 months......didnt evn manage 6 days

well u must know what ur talking about then

That's what I keep telling my kids!

Ds1 - 3 weeks, was gutted & feel even more gutted now that I know I was given crap advice.
Dd - 8 weeks but only 3 weeks excl, ditto above
Ds2 - 7.5 months so far and tbh, can't imagine making a decision to stop at a particular age but equally, feel slightly odd about potentially feeding a toddler. Not sure why but will just see what evolves as he gets older.

DD is 2.1 and we're still there. Not a conscious decision, just kind of kept going.

I never thought I'd make it to 6mo as had many problems in the early days. It makes it all the more rewarding that I've managed to keep it up all this time.

dd - 3 years. No plans, just carried on as long as she wanted to, stopped when she wanted to.

ds 10 months. Again his decision. I wanted to do at least a year, but as soon as he realized that if he had a bottle, dp (always his parent of choice) could give it to him, he droped the breast like a hot coal!

Ds - 4 days
DD - 3/4 months

Was very upset about stopping with dd but with ds i had no plans but dd i just wanted to get through the first few weeks & i managed it

dd1- i initially planned for 6 months, but carried on until she self weaned at 25months.

dd2- still excusively bfing at 5.5months, plan to carry on until she self weans

dd1 and dd2 - they were about 15 months
dd3 - I really want to stop now, she's 1 in 3 weeks - I've just had enough really

ds self weaned at 22 months I would of gone on till he did hoping it would be before school, prior to my bf experience I thought extended bf was weird
I'm trying to conceive again and will do the same, I am really proud that my son never had a bottle nor even a sniff of formula but appreciate bf is not for everyone and truly believe each to their own iykwim.

Hello Robin - My ds pretty much self-weaned at 22m by then I also had newborn dd she is still bf'ing now at 16m and showing no signs of wanting to stop. When I was pregnant I never planned to feed beyond 6m - then I had ds and found out more about the benefits and found I could bf easily enough (aside from a couple of bouts of mastitis - ugh) then thought I would continue till ds was one then replace with cows milk. Then when ds 11m I got pregnant again. So I ended up extended bf'ing throughout my pregnancy (which had its challenges incl. breaking ds's new Ikea bed), then I tandem fed for a month or so then ds weaned. I don't know when dd will wean but I don't really want to feed her much beyond 2 (tbh after 3 solid years of bf'ing I am ready for a break). I am sorry about the spacing in this post btw - my return key is not working - something to do with dd sitting on my puter I do hope it isn't permanent damage....

hello bigmouth

did you find it easier feeding the newborn aftr feeding the older one ,did the nwborn sort of take over where the other one left off
must of been a great supply for your newborn !
what a lucky baby

I planned to try and didn't get one full feed done.

DS is 3.1 yrs & I am happy to let him carry on until he self-weans. I didn't start out with any date or age in mind...tbh I wasn't really aware what age you were supposed to bf for, despite seeing toddlers feeding at LLL meetings when I was pg...but having problems for the first few months made me more determined to keep bfing going & then started reading more about natural weaning & the benefits of feeding for longer & so here I am bfing a 3 yr old & very happy about it. Any other children I have will be bf the same way - on demand until they self wean.