breast feeding a toddler

[docma]

hi!i am new to mumsnet and would dearly love to know if anyone else is breast feeding their toddler.my dd is 1 year old and im a stay at home mom.she suffers from cow milk protien allergy and has never taken formulas and is not too keen on the anti allergy ones.my paediatrician and health visitor are subtly telling me that it is weird to still bf her but i am happy to go on since she feeds only in the morning and at night.

I am bfing my two year old and am currently pregnant with number 2.

As others have said, WHO advice it to feed until 2 anyway, so your hv and paed are talking bobbins.

I am bfing my ds (nearly 2) am feeling a bit of pressure, but so far I haven't let it bother me, he's happy so I'm happy!

My 15mo toddler is still feeding in the evening. It is a great source of comfort particularly as she is teething and has a heavy cold. If she hurts herself during the day, it's the No. 1 painkiller I know too. Tears vanish and a smile reappears very quickly.

i am still bf my dd - 18 months next week. we're down to just bedtime and first thing in the morning but she is still a very enthusiastic and committed bf'r and goodness knows when we will finish! i have set a long stop date of 2 years but will review depending on the situation when we get there.
contrary to popular belief i have had really positive and encouraging feedback. i cant tell you the number of women i have recently met who have said that they wish they had bf for longer and it is one of the main things they miss. these accounts have come from various quarters, from friends to complete strangers at parties!
if you are happy and your toddler is happy then why disrupt all of that to placate a few people who have set ideas about how and when babies should be fed. you are doing a great job!

I have just started bfing a toddler - DS started walking a week or so ago (he's almost 14 mo) . Don't plan on stopping any time soon, in fact I'd love to keep going until he self weans but we'll see.
MN (and one RL friend who I suspect is an MNer) is solely responsible for this - I remember going to an NCT group when pg and seeing a woman feeding her 8 month old - I was amazed that she was feeding such a big baby . She very kindly showed me in detail how it was done
Welcome!

I'm bfing a toddler too - he's 2 next month. I can't say that I'm 100% happy about it as he is still demand feeding, so often hourly or more. However, I'd be very happy to be feeding him if it was just day and night. I fed DS1 until 22m this way, and it was great. It didn't help much with lie-ins - I still had to feed him first, but it was OK otherwise.

No idea at all how I'm ever going to wean DS2 unless we go complete cold turkey which I almost can't bear to do.

In terms of other peoples reactions, I haven't had that many negative reactions. My mum maybe, but it's because she sees the effect it's having on me, and knows that I'm not completely happy with it. She fed me until 18m (then stopped because she was struggling to conceive again), so she can't really say much! I've had the odd comment from a GP or HV, who presume that I'm not bfing, or that I want to stop (which I don't really, just don't want to be demand feeding), so can't complain too much. Luckily I'm all past caring about who sees, so just get on and do it now!

I fed DS1 till he was 2 ish and am feeding DS2 who is 13 months, no plans to wean until he wants to.
Please don't worry about the HV and paed, but I do think it's not something you need to hide away or feel apologetic or embarassed about.
The more women who openly and proudly feed older babies the more accepted it will become and the easier for women who want to feed beyond the first weeks/months.

Docma - I'm 34 weeks pregnant and breastfeeding my 20 month old DD as well!

Haven't seen the health visitor since she was 10 months old though, frankly I don't need to take the opinion of someone who thinks breastfeeding needs limits

The GP however has a slightly wiser view and just says 'blimey, well done' on the rare occasions I have cause to go see her.

But you go for it - it's actually really common but because most people just feed morning and evenings with toddlers, you don't see it so much.

My DD feeds three to four times a day though so it's fairly obvious in our case (mind you it's tough when you are very preggers - she falls off my lap if she's not careful).

wmmc I didn't know you were pregnant - congratulations!

I am feeding DS (14mths) morning,evening & 1, sometimes 2 naps in the day. On his last monthly weigh in session at 12 mths (for our baby book) My HV asked how much formula he was taking and when I said None as I was still feeding, she looked shocked and said with distain "Why???" ......Stupid bitch

There are lots of pro-toddler feeders on MN - That's why I like coming on here

I'm feeding DS who is just 3. I love it, because I get a big cuddle. He seems to quite like it too .

Ignore them. You are doing the very best thing for your child. As long as she is starting to get some solid food now too, then no need for them to worry.

i b/fed my DS until he decided to stop at 2yrs 4 months.

Ah thank you stealthpolarbear.