Extended BF - is it really worth it?

[love2sleep]

Come on you BF experts help me get my head around this. Please

DS2 is now 15 months and has 1 bf at night. I'm thinking of stoping this purely to make the bedtime routine more flexible. It is just a convenience thing and I could easily be persuaded to continue if anyone can convince me that there is a significant advantage to continuing.

thank you

fishie - re: rheumatoid arthritis - there was a very large study, which showed that "Women who had a total lifetime history of breastfeeding of at least 24 months were half as likely to develop RA"
Here is the link along with a couple of similar studies with similar results.

love2sleep - my ds self-weaned at 18 months, (with a little engineering). I had been advised to do night wean at around 9 months and then I dropped a daytime feed at 14 months, so weaning was a gradual process, as ds became less and less interested. At the time, I thought it was great, although I was rather sad when he decided he didn't want his bedtime feed anymore.

However, my dd is now 23 months, and still happily feeding (sometimes waking in the night) and I look back and regret that I didn't let nature take it's course with my first, especially with the night weaning, as it wasn't such a problem just waking once in the night to feed. When you have a paediatric consultant telling you your PFB "ought to be sleeping through now" you tend to go along with what they say. You can never tell what you'll regret in the future.

Hi Ladies.
Thanks for all these comments - sorry for slow response, the boys have been a real handful the last few days.

TullyTwo: "Why does it matter to continue only if there are health benefits? Are emotional, psychological ones not reason enough?"
I completely agree, but for ds2 and me right now I cna't see any great emotional or psychological benefits right now. I can see that for others at this age bf might still be an important part of their relationship but for us I don't think it is any more. To be honest he is just as happy with cows milk from a beaker which is why I was asking about other benefits.

NAEN - I definitely believe peer-reviewed data. If not I'd be out of a job! However I really don't know the bf literature well and none of the stuff I have seen refers directly to the additional benefit of continuing to feed past 1 year. I guess I was being lazy and hoping some mn-er would be able to point me straight to the most convincing relevant info

This link is specifically for benefits in nursing after the first year L2S (& Gina in case you want some more back-up! )www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/index.html
You could always do the 'don't offer but don't refuse' method of weaning. dd started to cut down just before she was 2 and now (2.4) has only had 3 feeds this month when she specifically asked.
Surprising how clever your boobs are at just providing when required!

Ds is 20 months. I do want to stop too and dh is keen for me to because he thinks it will improve ds' sleep and move him along to the next stage. My dd's sleep suddenly improved when I weaned her at 17 months during a nursing strike and dh thinks it will work the same for ds.

The problem is ds won't give it up. Jackstini, the 'don't offer don't refuse' option does not work with ds because he is always the one demanding to be nursed - he has got his own term of it, assumes the nursing position, gives me his winning smile (or tantrum if he cannot have it).

I am contiuing for now because he really seems to need the comfort. Ironically, a few months ago, it seemed like he was losing interest and I was not keen to wean. Now his interest has suddenly picked up again (he is cutting 8 teeth and was poorly with the runs recently) and I want to give it up because it is such an inconvenience.

But I won't take away his comfort at his time of greatest need. His teeth hurt, he has eczema/heat rash in this muggy weather, emotionally he is all over the place at this delicate developmental phase. As others said earlier, it is invaluable for when he is poorly.

Will just soldier on for now.

The thing with the higher IQ, less allergies etc is you always get people comparing FF and a baby who fed for six weeks. Don't get me wrong any amount of time is good, but the longer you continue the longer the benefits last for. If you are going to compare things like that, you need to be looking at babies who carried on for a long time and weaning age can also have a lot to do with it. I once spoke to someone who said they were breastfed but they have loads of allergies, when you dug deeper you find she was on solids at 3 weeks and off breastmilk by 6 weeks.

The benefits of breastfeeding are rarely seen because mothers are giving up so early. Most babies these days have formula at some point in their life and usually not just the one feed.

Love2sleep - I think the problem is that very little research has been done on the effects of extended breastfeeding, but if anyone knows of any I would love to see it too.

From my own experience, I would echo what others have said about how reassuring it is to be able to bf a toddler when they are sick, and about the emotional bond.

I understand what you mean about the bedtime routine, although toddlers can become more flexible about this - dd (2.10) always has a feed at bedtime if I'm there, but if I'm out working is usually just as happy to have a beaker of milk with dp.

However, if you really do feel this is the right time, then I would probably be inclined to go for it.

DD stopped at 14 months. I would have carried on (she was down to 2 feeds, 1 morning, 1 evening), but she refused the breast in the morning, then in the evening.

Blueshoes - I think you are doing really well to keep going then - it does help them so much when teething and he no doubt appreciates it.

thanks for the support, Jackstini

You'd have to clean teeth after the cow's milk from a beaker, but breastmilk itself protects the teeth, so makes it less vital to have teeth cleaning be the very last thing you do at night. That can be a big bonus with some children

Another reason for continuing is the mad conversations you get to have with your dc. Dd just told me that hot milk was coming out of one boob and cold out of the other. (Or it might be a reason to quit. I'm not sure.)

lol Iorek!

Still BFing Ds at almost 15 months and have to admit that I've thought about weaning a few times. The reason I haven't are firstly that he absolutely loves it. Secondly he has been in nursery 3 days a week for 4 months now and has never been ill despite exposure to lots of germs, I'm sure the BFing has something to do with that. It's nice to have a BF and cuddle when we've been apart all day aswell