Do any RL people actually BF? Or is it just the imaginary people on MN?

[evenhope]

There were only 2 mums at my baby massage class who weren't bf, but now that DD is 6 months old and I'm starting to try out other baby groups I'm starting to feel like an endangered species

There were 5 other babies at the group I went to on Friday, every single one of them ff. Talk was of how long in advance to make up feeds and storage of milk powder...they may as well have been discussing astrophysics!!

When I had DD1 in 1986 I never came across anyone ff at all. Have things really changed that much in 20 years?

(Or have I not found the right groups- where are you hiding?!!)

Lots of my RL friends gave up around the 6mth mark and I felt a bit of a loner
Still carried on though and after 9mths didn't get any comments or questions

aah join the nct!
out of my friends in the local nct 1 or 2 ff, about 20 bf

Perhaps it depends where you are. In my NHS run 1st time mums group all but 1 of us BF and at my local toddler group my baby was the youngest there but I had only to whip out my norks and I was inundated with tales of milk squirting across the room etc

yes, people in rl do bf,i guess its just where you are, in your group, they mostly don't. anyway,method of feeding is a small snippet of the whole parenting thing if you ask me

i'm a rl first time mum and i'm still bf-ing ds at 8.5 months! however in my rl postnatal group of 6 mums my ds is the only one who has never had formula at all (he won't even take a bottle of EBM so i reckon i've no chance with formula) and 2 of them are exclusively ff-ing now. ime, it was the ff-ing mums who tended to feel a bit marginalised in the baby groups i went to, but then i tend to frequent the Baby Cafe where there is a LLL prescence, so that probably has a lot to do with it. i think, also that because i'm not going to back to work yet, that has a definite impact - if i was, ds would just have to take a bottle (either of EBM or formula) and that would be the end of it. i know i'm very lucky to not have to go back to work even though it does mean we're constantly skint!!

i would definitely have a look and see if there's a Baby Cafe near you. i know i always bang on about them, but it's free (well, you can make a donation, but you don't have to) and you can probably find some likeminded people there. of course, if you have to drive it's self-defeating, but might be worth a look?

I'm still bfing a 2.6 toddler!

I suppose it doesn't matter, except that I feel awkward feeding in front of people with bottles! Someone else said about feeling that the other people think you are being superior? It's probably daft, but it's just so different from when I had DD1 and never saw anyone ff at all.

Sadly the nearest Baby Cafe is over an hour's drive away, but thanks for the link.

I live in France and breastfeeding rates are pretty terrible here. People tend to think that feeding past 6 months is weird.

I fed DD1 to 14 months and am currently feeding DD2 at 15 months, people think I am very odd and possibly a bit scary.

I went to a music festival a few weeks ago and there were loads of people breastfeeding babies. It was so nice to not be the only one for once.

I see lots of women breastfeeding whilst out and about. I actually see more breastfeeding mums than formula feeding mums in cafes, shops, at park, etc.

Only one of my firneds didn't try to breastfeed. 3 or 4, including myself, ended up stopping bf for various reasons within the first 3 months. Some brestfed until at least 1 year old.

evenhope, when I had DS not ONE of my friends had breast fed!!! They seemed to think I was some hippy earth mother who probably ate daisys!!!

I'm still breastfeeding DD3 at 7.5 months, and I'm starting to feel more embarrassed feeding her in public; for some reason I feel like it's more 'socially acceptable' to bf a tiny newborn. I do really want to keep it up until after the winter though so I'm trying to be brave. I will try to start going to LLL meetings for moral support (sorry have just rabitted on about myself and not been helpful at all )

I'm finding it's exceptional to see people bfing in public.

I'm bf DS who is now 6 months and plan to keep going till he's at least 1yr.

I go to a local NHS-run bf support group where you can whip out your norks and no-one bats an eyelid. At the other group I go to there are 6 of us and I'm the only one breastfeeding. They do seem to think I'm a bit of a lentil weaver, especially as I also use cloth nappies, but I just smile and get on with it.

All of my NCT class (7 of us) bf for at least 4 mths - 4 of us are still going at 10 mths. All RL people! Don't generally feed in public myself as dd is very easily distracted and a real wriggler...

I am still bf DD at 8.5 months and out of my NCT group, 6 out of 7 of us bf. From my other RL friends who have babies they all bf and most of them until at least 1 year. It is getting a bit more awkward bf in public but only because DD is such a fidget!

i think a lot also dependds on deograpy. socioeconomics etc etc etc.

I agree Stitch. I'm fortunate that just about everyone I know in rl bf's, I can't remember seeing anyone ff at the baby groups I go to but then they tend to be a bit middle class and/or hippyish.

My friends back home have had a very different experience, one had a hv express surprise she was still bfing when her baby was 6 weeks old!

Hi Evenhope, only just saw this!!

Most of the Mums in my Mums & babies group are ff, but apart from feeding, we've lots of other things in common.

Also though early on in ds's life I joined a LLL group and although I don't go there any more I met up with some bf Mums, two of whom I'm still good friends with.

I have also just started doing a course on how to be a Peer Supporter to help other Mums who struggle with bf like I did in the early days. I have met some lovely bf Mums there too!

And I'm in real life!!

I havent got any RL friends who are BF mind you, they all had their last babies 7 years ago and so have long stopped now ! I was at the coffee shop with the school mums this morning and no-one batted an eye when I started BF my 9 month old. I think it all depends on where you are and who you mix with.

I suppose I am used to being a bit of an oddity ... cloth.. veggie ... organic food etc ... but I am a bit of a Boden, fee paying school, 4x4 driver ... so pretty hard to pidgeon hole really !

Not read the whole thread, but probably depends on where you're going. I encountered lots of 'extended' (past 6 months) bfing mums at sing and sign groups and NCT mornings.

I am a midwife and when I had my first child about seven of us delivered within 6 months. I was amazed that only 3 of us did it up to 6 months, one did not even try and a couple gave it up in the first month. This time I have fewer midwife friends having babies at the moment but we are all bf. I went to a baby group the other day and out of five of us my ds was the youngest (6mo) and all were bf.

I'm also real!!! - bf & co-sleep - a conversation stopper!!

Excuse me for being dumb, it is probably really obvious but what is co-sleep???