funny how bf is almost looked down upon after 6 months

[robinredbreast]

just struck me, reading these boards, how after 6 months bf support really if virually non existent .....except on MN of course

i have also been told my a gp friend of mine and a pharmacist friend theres no nutrisional [sp] value in bf after 6 months and from many family that bf past 6 months is odd and only for the mother, and you'll getting your shirt pulled soon with dd asking for bitty grrrrrrr

ds2 (17 months) has just had an awful diarrhoea and vomiting bug and I have breastfed him hrough it. I'm pretty sure that without bf he would have become severely dehydrated.

Choc - I think a lot of people use the 'don't offer, don't refuse' approach and just see when they wean themselves off.
dd is not really bothered now in morning unless she she see me getting changed and sometimes asks. Other than that she just cut down feed by feed really gradually and now just has it last thing before bed. I have no intention of stopping until she's ready really. I do have the odd night off if I am out too and my supply is fine - even been away with work for 3 days and carried on when I got back.
Just do whatever you feel is right for both of you - well done for getting to 12 months!

Wallace - meant to add I think you are right. Sometimes it seems to be the one thing that keeps them going

My mum asked me if I was "one of those crazy extreme breastfeeders" cos I'm still bfing my ds at 3.5 months!!!! Oh well, it was all so different in their day!

Wow MrsMar. She would consider plenty of mners complete nutters then

I have noticed that i rarely see older babies being BF in public, indeed i was in borders in bristol the other day and i noticed a lady with a baby (he was 8 months) being BF and i actually went up to her and said how glad i was to see her as i hardly ever see anyone BFing older babies in public. I just wang my norks out everywhere, but sometimes i feel like i am the only one in the world BFing a baby that is not a new born (apart from MN of course!). People (incl. family) start to act like it is some kind of perversion and infact the point was made that i was doing it to satisfy MY needs and not my DD's!!!!

Wow, it makes me feel quite sad to hear an 8 month old being described as an 'Older baby' when it comes to bfing.
It really sounds like people are down on it in the UK.
Many people here in Japan carry on for a year or even more. Some people seem to think it's strange but it's a more private affair and I doubt that most people even notice.

I finished BFing my DD almost 2 months ago.
I dropped the feeds one at a time, starting with the middle of the night ones. For the daytime feeds, my main technique was distraction and giving her other foods and drinks when she was hungry. She coped with it pretty well and the hardest to drop was definitely the last feed of the day before bed.
Early morning just switched to a bottle of cow's milk.

I fed DS2 till he was 11 months, he actually weaned himself off, I was quite upset when he started dropping feeds, but then I realised if he was dropping them himself, it was obviously the right time for him to stop BF.

I did have an absolutely fantastic support group though, outside of MN, and allthough we didn't have one problem BF from day one, the lady from the group rang me every few weeks to make sure everything was fine, and to basically shower me with praise for still going and what not, was great She did stop ringing when he was 7 months, but did make the point of if I needed to ring her I was more than welcome to.

Wish I had that kind of support with DS1 when the HV told me to top him up with formula at 2 weeks old and that was that, he never went back on the breast after that bottle and even nearly 6 years down the line.

I've just fed DS3 - 16 months - at the room at the back of church and got some slightly funny looks. I'm afraid it makes me more determined to do it. My Mum thinks I should have given up about 15.5 months ago!

Wow NJ - that support group sounds fab. Sorry you are still about ds1 Remember, someone else let him down, YOU did your best

Yes the group was fantastic, the lady, Fiona her name was, she was so kind and really helped to give the little bit of encouragemnt to get through the growth spurts!

Can honestly say that feeding him everywhere from my mums sofa infront of my whole family to pubs (soft drinks only of course!) to parks, nobody ever gave me a funny look, not once - guess I was lucky!