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

Planned at least 6 months. Managed 1 week exclusive , 4 months mixed.

By the time dd arrived - I was generally feeding ds in the evening just before bed and if he was ill or in particular need of comfort. It was very useful to be able to include ds when I was feeding dd in those first few weeks of her life as he was very young still and needed reassurance that mummy was still there for him. He was a little put of by the taste of the colostrum but I did find that allowing him to feed first when my milk had come in was useful as dd would sometimes be overwhelmed by the supply (sorry if tmi - but I could produce sprays of milk that would hit the walls)

with DS1 I went on to formula at 3 weeks - ditto olihan

with DS2, about 13 months. I hadn't planned anything - just though I would carry on as things were going so well.

DS3 is 6 months and I keep threatening the formula with him if he doesn't stop biting...

ds1 - planned for at least a year but at 7 months he just wasnt interested anymore and refused to latch on.
ds2 - at 15 months I broke my toe (involving ds1 using changing mat as a slide) it got quite badly infected and had to go on some strong antibiotics as ds2 had already dramatically reduced feeds I decided maybe time to stop.

18 months. Longer than expected but had no set plans when to stop, just when DS was readyp. Would have been longer but had to stop suddenly

2 years. Much longer than I thought. Could possibly have been longer but was PG and looking back it was the right time for me to stop.

DS - 6 weeks - much much much shorter than planned
DD - Nearly 12 months - way longer than expected

DS1 - 3 years
DS2 - 3 years

wasn't able to feed DD1 and DD2 ( medical reasons) so they were FF

I hoped to feed DS1 for a year at least but got Pg again when he was 8 montsh old so just kept going. he self weaned when he was 15 months. i woudl have been upset but i knew i woudl be starting again in a few weeks. I'm still feeding DS2 who is now 20 months

me did not want to feed longer than 12 m but dd2 12m
dd3 22m and dd4 is still fed at night and knows that she is only fed at night so goes and gets her pj's and says please when she wants a feed trying to stop but feel guilty ?!!

dd4 is 2 and 3 months btw

I would have liked to bf for at least 6 months and probably longer, but baby taken back into hospital at 7 days, carried on trying to bf a little for a few weeks, express a little milk for another 3 months, but with very limited success .

Ghosty and Olihan, I would love to know what made the difference for you with your 2nd and 3rd kids respectively, as if I get to have another one I really hope to do better next time. I just don't feel I was prepared and I met people who could have given me good advice but just a little too late.

ds1 13 months, (got the chance to go to Paris on my own so weaned him then...!)
ds2 now 7 months, still feeding a lot, not sure when I'll stop...

dd1 breast fed for 10 weeks, in those days you only got 12 weeks maternity leave, would have gone on for longer but I was going back to work and had never got the hand of expressing so just put her onto bottles.

dd2 I planned to feed her for 6 months due to longer maternity leave this time around.
Only managed 6 weeks as she fed every hour on the hour and I just wasn't coping with feeding her constantly and looking after dd1. She was a really lazy feeder as well and kept falling asleep mid feed, so she went onto bottles.
I was annoyed with myself at the time and for months afterwards was convinced that I should have kept trying etc just the other day infact I was thinking that I should have tried harder,tried to keep going etc but at the end of the day she's a healthy happy 3 year old now, so no harm done.

BF all three lads for 14-16 months (ish).

Not planned at all really, just thought I'd try it with DS1 and see how it went.

(Feeding was one of the few things I didn't stress over when I was pg first time round, my best friend had bf her two, and at that time she was the only one I knew who bf, but I thought I'd follow her lead).

Luckily, DS1 fed really easily and well from the off.

DS2 was more difficult, So we decided I'd persevere for six months with bf and expressing, (DH was a fantastic support) then it became easier at around 5 months and carried on until he was about 14 months.

DS3 was a doddle after DS2, lol.

DD - 12 weeks, not as long as planned

DS - 12 months - I intended to feed for as long as we were both happy with it... in the end we were both ready to stop, but I now miss it terribly

Ds1 - 11 months, 9 months longer than planned!
Ds2 13 months, 1 month longer than planned!
Ds3 2.6 years, 6 months longer than planned
At this rate if I ever have dc4 they may very well get bfed to adulthood!

2.5 years which was 2 years more than I planned once I was pregnant and 1.5 years longer than I planned once I was actually bfing.

I had hoped to bf until 1 year. One year has come and gone and dd (19 mo) is still going strong. Would kinda like to stop but she likes it so much I feel bad. My new goal is to try to have her weaned by 2 but I'm not sure I will have the heart to do it if she doesn't initiate...

For both I wanted to BF for min 6m - never got there

DS - 4 months (only 1st 7/8 weeks were excl)
DD - we have reached 11 weeks today (on and off excl now back to mix) and have decided to stop at 3 months.

Both times have had TERRIBLE times with advice, medical issues and so on. I hope IF there is a 3rd DC I will be a bit more successful and that it is really 3rd time lucky.

For 1st I BF for 9 months, a bit longer than the 6 months I planned on
For 2nd it was 22 months, about a year longer than I had in my head.

I'd initially thought about 4-6 months (if I though about it all), but given that it took about 3 months to get feeding established, was really pleased that I ended up feeding ds for 13 months!

Dd1 - 12mths,weaned by herself
Ds1 - 12mths weaned by himself
Ds2 - 17mths,i was admitted to hospital
Dd2 - 13mths and feeding as much as she did at 6 mths!!
Never really set any goals - didn't want to disapoint myself if i didn't make them.

DS breastfed for 15 months, atopped when was preggers and milk changed
DD breastfed for 11 months and I stopped it as she was biting really hard! Would have fed her longer but too painful!

I had the vague '6 months' floating around in my head before DS came along. Then he was born and we had a bit of a hard time to start with, sleepy baby, jaundiced, losing weight, admitted to hospital etc... (5 days after complication free home birth). It to a while for me to feel completely confident with it, at least 3 months, so by 6 months I felt that I should keep going after all the hassle getting started!

DS is now 13 months and has feeds morning & betime, occasional nighttime (which I could do without, but it is improving). He is well on his way to becoming a toddler, and occasionally I think to myself 'wow, I've become one of those women who bf a toddler".