'Will you still be bf her when she is 5 '? Why is this ok when she is only 6 mths old ?

[lilyloo]

My dd is now 6 mths old and it seems others think i have done my bf now.

However i would like to carry on as dd is my last dc, i enjoy it and so does she.

She is piling on the weight , not sleeping but hey ho ! I feel like we have done the hard bit and can now enjoy it but it seems to some like there is something 'wrong' with me to carry on.

What do i say to these comments ? I stopped with ds at 6.5 mths partly through feeling i should so don't want to be made into doing it again!

My mum bf me until 12m so she was fully supportive of me until ds got to a yr and then she was a bit - now at 15m she sees we are still going for it, I have explained my reasons and she fully supports it. Infact she is full of admiration and sometimes says she wishes she'd done it for longer.

The rest of mine and DH's family haven't bf so they were when I didn't stop at 3-6m!!! GMIL was particularly offended (which made me do it even more in front of her ) Again I explained the benefits and they honestly didnt realise as they had no experience of it. They were ok as soon as they were 'educated'.

If someone asks me directly then I am honest but I dont volunteer the info in everyday conversation. It's private and none of their business.

You're doing really well, stick to your guns

It amazes me that anti bf (not those that have no choice) are more than willing to feed their children breastmilk from a cow, but not the breastmilk that was designed for them. Why is it more acceptable to feed your child another animal's breastmilk than your own? Baffles me!

I BF our wee one till she self weaned at 14 months, was in mourning for about a month PIL and others on DH side were a bit miffed as to why she wasn't on bottles at 6 months I loved BF and was glad i managed for that long, don't get upset, or feel you have to justify it, your doing the best for your LO

i think you should pretend you genuinely dont understand the question... "mmmhhh?" "sorry?" "why?" all said with a sweet butter woulnt melt face. i doubt they will go on with the conversation....

i BF for fourteen months and was in a minority. I had pressure from friends and family to stop.

DS needed no comforter, slept well, weaned easily and ate well. Why change if things are running smoothly.

My close friend who BF for over a year had sleep difficulties with her child and all other friends kept saying - formula, she'll sleep.

Other FF babies had easy first years, some didn't.

Do what you want. It is your child and if it is workng for you and your family, go girl!

I think they are jealous - you are giving your baby the best drink in the world - why on earth should it be a problem? It definately seems to come from those who are anxious about their own bodies and really you have to feel sorry for them. I was not bf and have had no support from my mother who seems to think any slightest problem is due to bfeeding {shock]
I feed my dd until she was 15 months and then she decided she did not want it anymore. I am feeding my 7 month and will continue for as long as he wants...you do what you want to do for your baby

Don't forget the health benefits for yourself too!!

I carried on until DS was 2.5 - fully supported by DH. Why would you want to replace BM with cows milk?

Well done and keep going for as long as it suits you.

Luckily my husband is very supportive. My mum was wonderfully supportive until DS got to a year, at which point she decided I "ought to stop" er, why? I have now told her it is none of her damned business and she has shut up. She may have discovered this site as she is now making supportive comments again.

DH's family are all anti BF and think I am a complete freak anyway. They are in the smoke-pregnancy-greggs sausage roll- contingent so fond as I am of them, on this subject I feel entirely justified in ignorin their opinions completely.

I do sometimes wonder when he will be prepared to stop, but he is in no way the same baby he was a year ago and in a year BF may be many months in the past, as so much of his babyhood is now. I am just cherishing every moment, he'll be a horrid teenager before I know it!

I breastfed ds1 until he was 16 months. Weaning coinsided with me having my 2nd miscarriage which hindsight was not the best time to stop. I'm still bf my DS2 at 8 months and I intend to continue until aslong as it suits us both. My dad used to say that all babys are bottle fed eventually and when asked why he said you don't see many 5 yr olds still being breast fed!! I had such a hard time with DS2 that I'm not ready to give up yet. He was born poorly (had duodenum atreaia) and had an operation when he was 6 days old. Was nil by mouth till he was 11 days old (fed thro veins) and had to be weaned on the breast at that time so its a miracle that he could bf at all. Lost 20% of his birth weight in 3 days until his condition was finally diagnosed. After such a shaky starrt I was so pleased that I was still able to bf and have no intention of giving up any time soon. Had a few comments with DS1 but none with DS2 as yet. No advice really as didn't handle the comments well before almost felt I had to apologise /justify myself by saying things like he only feeds 2/3 times a day or look suitably embarassed if the subject came up (ds1 once wanted a feed in the day at 11 months and mil said to him your not having THAT this time of day mister!!) Regret that I didn't speak up at the time!

Curious, isn't it, how bf-ing an older baby seems to make people feel threatened in some way. Maybe if they were to acknowledge that what you are doing is good for your baby (and you) they would be forced to question whether their own decision not to bf past 3 weeks or 6 months or whatever was the right one, so it's really defensiveness.

There also seems to be this perception especially in the older generation (e.g. my mum) that bf-ing is 'tiring' for the mother and she should stop for her own sake, whereas I found (as others have said) that the first few months can be difficult, but past six months it becomes so easy and natural you feel much less like stopping.

I bf DS till he was 2, but not in public, and kept it quiet - didn't lie about it, but didn't feel the need to mention it. But then I accidentally 'outed' myself with the local playgroup mums by asking what the difference was between the different formula milks for different stages, and one of them asked me, 'what, did you keep giving DS stage 1 formula then?' and I had to reply, 'no, actually he never had any formula' and admit I bf till he was 2. They were surprised and curious, but no-one said anything negative (not to my face, anyway)!

yes agree re the tiredness thing, I was telling my mum only yesterday about a friend who is pregnant with dc2 and still feeding dd1 15 mths. So of course my mum proceeded to tell me all about how taxing it must be on her body and how she should stop, she was flabbergasted when I told her my friend was planning to tandem feed !!

We had IVF to conceive DD - I'm bfding her at 11 months. The fertility treatment put me at a higher risk of breast (and ovarian) cancer - so my answer would be that by extending b-fding I'm just trying to get myself back to my original position in terms of breast cancer risk. I don't imagine that the body really works like that but here's hoping...

I'm still bfding DD at 18 months and I do get bothered by people's attitudes as however certain you are of the reasons you're continuing (i'm so clear it's the right thing for us) it can be quite unsettling knowing some people think it's weird!
I do defend my position and try not to mind too much as in fact I remember clearly feeling the same that extended bfding seemed odd, until I became a mum and instincts overrode this as for me it felt actually unnatural and unfair to stop. One of my friends is busy re-educating her friends on this issue whether asked or not she feels so strongly! And after all the World Health Organisation recommends bfding for the first 2 years...

Sails that you have to apologise or justify yourself.
Looseleaf didn't know that worth a mention though

Sorry if i am repeating as I haven't read all of the replies... I think 6 months gets mentioned a lot when talking about bfeeding because that is when we are recommended to bfeed exclusively to. Not stop at as many confused people must seem to think! As previous poster reminds us the World Health Organisation recommends bfeeding for 2 years so just remind people that when they give you their unwelcome comments. I'm still bfeeding my 17 month old and for me it's such a political point that I'm almost glad to do it in public to dare anyone to challenge me!

Haven't got time to read the whole thread, but basically tell anyone who queries your BFing past 6 months:

• Weaning is a gradual process. If you wean from about 6 months your baby does not suddenly go onto 3 meals a day with glasses of water.

- Most babies continue to have 4+ milk feeds over 24 hours. If your DB is breastfed, s/he is not suddenly going to switch to a bottle of formula or a beaker of formula. Cow's milk is nutritionally unsuitable before 1 year.

• There are significant health benefits to longer term breastfeeding, at least into the second year.

Congratulations on doing the first 6 months, those early days are the hardest with breastfeeding. You'd be mad to stop now because of the ill-informed opinions of some narrow minded people.

Ignore them I bf ds untill he was 2 and I use to get comments like this all the time especilly because I am very young and all my friends thought it was weird.
But I did't care what any of them had to say.

This kind of ignorance does get on my nerves. They are only boobs for goodness sake. I'm still bf my dd at 21 months and will continue for as long as possible. I tend to bf most public places but prefer not to on a bus. So far no-one has ever asked me to stop but I have recieved tuts, muttered comments and pointed stares which I return with an equally pointed stare.

My pet peeve is when I have asked if a premises has breastfeeding facilities and I am directed to a toilet with a fold down nappy changing table. How would they like to have a meal in a toilet?

When I get comments about it I point out that in addition to all the benefits "that as a knowledgable person, I am sure they must already be aware of" I am a vegan and I am raising my daughter on a vegan diet too, so formula /cows milk isn't even an option for us.

This usually horrifies them so much that they have a whole new set of disparaging comments. So then I just bore them to death with nutritional info and they don't usually ask again.

I think to breastfeed past 6 mnths you have to develop a thick skin and get used to various idiotic comments, often from nearest and dearest, develop a little collection of stock replies and remind yourself regularly what a fantastic thing you are doing for both you and your baby!

I think that every time you either educate some-one to the pros of bf at 6m+, or remind some-one that it is none of their business or just challenge someone with your alternative viewpoint or even simply be seen bf a toddler, you help empower other breastfeeding women!

to the op
carry on until you feel happy to stop.
ignore what every one else says. they are only speaking through their own hangups. personally i think everyone should stop at two, but that is my hangup!
well done for having a lovely healthy baby.

Here we are still bfing at three. It's just happened a day at a time. We used to get comments, but I think people just assume we must have stopped long ago!

I must say I almost always avoid feeding her in public these days.

I never understand why people think breastfeeding should stop at 6 months. Babies can't start drinking cows' milk then, so why on earth should you start all the faff with bottles and formula, when you have a built-in milk source that is the perfect food for your baby? It absolutely doesn't make sense from a financial or practical point of view, not to mention the many health benefits to both mother and baby. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until well into the second year - tell your doubters that.

I had similar stuff with DS1, but I was all new to it, and dazed, and polite to say anything.

I hope this time around I have the nerve to tell any negative people to just fuck off and mind their own business.

So right Alberta.

I had no problems whipping 'em out for DS1 (till a year) and will continue to feed DS2 (7mths) wherever I need to.

My stock answer to anyone who looks disapprovingly is "They're not just decorative you know!", but on the whole most people are considerate, and one dear old lady in a café came up and congratulated me for breastfeeding once.

Totally agree with Veganmama - refuse to BF in a toilet! In some towns, some shops and cafés have the business sense to advertise themselves as "BF friendly". Clearly hoardes of appreciative mums will remember the favour in the months and years to come. It would be good to see more of that.

Whilst I'm on my soapbox, I can't believe the new legislation only protects your right to BF a baby up to 6mths in a public place. Do our legislators expect 6mth old babies to start ordering skinny lattes at that point?

I'm starting to get those comments now I'm pregnant and of course "how will she take to a baby sharing her milk?" People speak with such authority on BFing, tandem feeding, weaning off BM, etc and you wonder where they get there information from! The rubbish I've heard you wouldn't, well probably would, believe. I like that through here and FB groups I can say "I have lots of friends who BFed till/through xyz and they say abc" so ha! Stick that in your pipe!