Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Oh my God! Are you still breastfeeding, don't you want your life back?

133 replies

Sushipaws · 17/03/2008 21:49

This is what someone said to me this weekend.

DD is almost one and I'm getting pressure from all sides to stop bf'ing. It's not all strong comments but lots of subtle hints.

DD has 4 bf's a day, most of these are done in the house so I don't even see how it effects anyone else. If I start on bottles now it's just more work and expense and it's not as good for my baby as bf.

I have a life, I work pt, I even went away on a hen weekend recently.

Are there any other freaks like me out there who don't want to stop.

OP posts:
abibatousmum · 17/03/2008 22:13

my dd is just over a year and I am still feeding- I too have gone with the 'yes thanks, it's going really well' when asked if I am still feeding. In general though people have been really positive. I returned to work full time when she was 6 months and she started taking expressed milk from a cup during the day. At 10 months she decided she wasn't interested in expressed milk any more and would wait for me to come back- now she is one she takes cow's milk during the day and I feed her in the morning and evening, plus extra feeds when I am at home. She really enjoys it so I don't see any reason to stop- plus it is a great way to get her to go to sleep! Keep going and best of luck!

NoBunny · 17/03/2008 22:15

I'm a bit mystified about how stopping bf suddenly gives you your life back anyway? It's not as if the children disappear at the same time, and you lose that "magic bullet" of a breastfeed when they're ill, upset or just unsettled.

The fools!

princessmel · 17/03/2008 22:15

Agree anybodyhomemcfly, last year dd was in hospital for 3 days and the only thing she could tollerate was my bm. Even though one urse said 'Idon't think dairy is a good idea as its too rich' when I checked if I could feed her. A doctor put her right though. I also said I thought that bm would be the best thing for her re the easy digestion of it.

gegs73 · 17/03/2008 22:18

Mwahahahaha
"Stopping bf suddenly gives you your life back"

aviatrix · 17/03/2008 22:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

PrettyCandles · 17/03/2008 22:34

Ignorant people seem to think that bfing a 1yo is the same as bfing a 1wo or 1mo.

They are so wrong!

moondog · 17/03/2008 22:36

Good God,tell them to piss off.It has nowt to do with them.

harpsichordcarrier · 17/03/2008 22:39

oh tell them to fuck off mind their own business!
I have been bf for fiev straight years and I can assure you I have a lovely life all of my very own.
stupid, ignorant, interfering people...

chilledmama · 17/03/2008 22:42

PC you are so right!!! People seem to think that you are BFing every minute of the day...they were really confused when I'd say "well I feed him at bed time and when he gets up in the morning"...I think they thought I was starving him...stupid ignorant people but to be faire I was no better before I had my DS

chipmonkey · 17/03/2008 23:10

I think when my youngest ds has gone off to college, then I might get my life back!
Bfing has feck-all to do with it!

MrsJohnCusack · 17/03/2008 23:19

DS just 1 and showing now signs of stopping
I reckon I have more of a life than most people. Unless your 'life' consists of going out and getting hammered all the time I can't actually think what one might be missing out on

MrsJohnCusack · 17/03/2008 23:21

NO
not now
grrr

JodieG1 · 17/03/2008 23:25

Ds2 is 14 months and I still bf him, quite a lot actually. He signs to me when he wants milk a lot of the time He still feeds 3ish times a night also and during the evening, up twice so far since 7pm. Imo it's normal and I don't mind (most of the time!).

harpsichordcarrier · 17/03/2008 23:28

actually, come to think of it, I do want my life back.
where is my life, actually? I haven't seen it for ages.

moodywren · 17/03/2008 23:31

I am still feeding ds2 aged 14 months despite being pregnant again and I have no intentions of stopping until he is ready which I don't think will be soon as he still feeds about 5 times a day.

I fed ds1 until he stopped of his own accord at 11.5 months. I fed dd until she was 2.3 yrs and only stopped then because I was put on medication.

If someone doesn't like me breastfeeding thats their problem not mine.

BoysOnToast · 17/03/2008 23:49

i stopped at 5, 6 and 8m (3 dc) . was just how it panned out for me and what i wanted to do. i wouldnt dream of advising anyone else when to stop. weird.

cant say i noticed a dramatic handing back of my life on any of those occasions tho

Original poster
Sushipaws · 18/03/2008 00:20

WOW.

I am feeling the solidarity.

I had to go to the hospital with DD as she has croup and it suddenly got worse, I wasn't expecting to come back to 2 pages of support.

You are all right I need to ignore other people, it's just hard sometimes when it's so often. As dd is so ill bf'ing her is so comforting for her, I can't imagine offering her something else.

Thanks so much

OP posts:
BoysOnToast · 18/03/2008 00:39

hope dds croup is/gets better. croup is awful, poor you/her.

CantSleepWontSleep · 18/03/2008 07:39

My mil has wanted me to stop since dd was less than 6 months. I'm still going and she's 2yrs 1month! Can just imagine what her reaction will be if dd doesn't choose to stop before new baby arrives, so I end up tandem feeding .

You keep going as long as you/she want.

BonyM · 18/03/2008 07:57

DD2 will be 3 on Thursday and still has a little feed before bed most nights. My friends do ask every now and then and I'm sure they think I'm mad but they don't say anything negative.

I can't quite believe myself that I'm still bf, and sometimes wish she'd give it up but tbh it's not really any hassle being just once a day and she never gets ill other than the usual colds etc. which I'm sure is partly a result of bf.

theUrbanDryegg · 18/03/2008 08:01

my MIL is a bit perplexed by the fact i'm still bf-ing and keeps telling me to give ds water instead of bm. and my brother is a bit freaked out by it. when i told him that the average weaning age (worldwide) was between and 2 and 4 he said, "What, months?" pmsl!!

i think i'll let ds self-wean. but only because i'm far too lazy to wean him off!

BabiesEverywhere · 18/03/2008 08:20

By princessmel on Mon 17-Mar-08 22:15:44
Even though one urse said 'Idon't think dairy is a good idea as its too rich'

Why do doctor's think that our human milk is dairy, we are not cows

I shocked my local GP when she was asking if I had breastfeed my first baby (as then 15 months old DD)and I replied that I was still feeding her. She couldn't believe it and checked 'What now ?' I was tempted to look at my chest and say well, not this minute, but decided that would be mean

I agree breastfeeding makes my life easier not harder. Why delibrately give up a portable snack, comfort and sleep aid ?

cmotdibbler · 18/03/2008 08:37

To be fair to those that haven't bf a toddler/older baby, before I had DS I couldn't imagine doing it. I remember meeting a colleagues wife and her two toddlers, and her nursing the 18 month old in the office, and I felt a bit odd about it.

But when I had DS, I realised that he became a toddler day by day, and that bfing was really important to him to have a bit of down time in his busy day. He's 22 months now, and DH has a plan for us to stop around his second birthday - I'm not so sure, but it is very dependant on DS who seems determined to keep his one feed a day.

Not sure I have a life to get back though ! Work and the house eat it all....

ruty · 18/03/2008 08:41

i breastfed around until ds turned 3 [he was only having a little night time feed for the last year or so. Didn't intend to go on that long, but it just happened. Felt i had to keep it quiet though, as people were not very supportive about it. Shame.

beansprout · 18/03/2008 08:48

Someone asked me if I was still b/feeding ds2 yesterday. He is 7 weeks old!!

I fed ds1 until he wanted to stop (when he was 3.3yo). I basically stopped telling people, but if I did I was usually greeted with the silence that people reserve for when they are in the presence of true madness.

Tis a wonderful thing to b/feed your children. It says more about our society than it does about us that we get such an odd reaction to it sometimes.

And I agree about suddenly getting your "life back"!
B/feeding a toddler is a piece of p*ss compared to feeding a baby!