Support thread for those keeping it exclusive till 6 mnths

[charitas]

I meant to start this yesterday but had to feed my lovely 20 week old about every hour soonly wrote half the op before being "called on". I need someone to moan at who won't suggest weaning or ff as I am not going to do that I am just moaning 'cause I'm tired fed up with babe who takes ages to feed in public 'cause now he's so damm nosey.

So anyone who wants to bolster their beliefs in the face of rl opposition or remind me why I am doing this please join in.

Reasons why I'm exclusively bf till 6 mnths:

I read the eviedence and I beleive it
Once made meal for friend with coeliac's and it took flippin ages to find all gluten free ingredients and make a torte for pudding. Am far too lazy to deal with allergy prone child
I want to blw as piglet is so determined to do things for himself I cannot see him taking to spoon feeding.
Piglet likes it, he falls asleep quickly afterwards.

There are more but there are now sounds coming from the bedroom

Hey, I know just what you're going through, I waited the whole 6 months and you do start to think you're the only one - but you're not really! Just hang in there, you'll get to be one of the 1% smug mummies like me who do EBF for 6 months. It's almost like you need to justify why you're waiting even though everyone is officially told to!

Good idea for doing BLW too - for me it felt like the reward for waiting the full 6 months. DS is doing so well on BLW and has overtaken those who started earlier on purees in terms of the range of what he likes eating.

I know I'm not in your 'support group' as DS is older but I just wanted to really encourage you to stick to your guns

I am still ebm, but thats cos I'm lazy

Weaning? Solid food? bother, she can just have a little of her siblings

i have managed to exclusively bfeed DS2 until 24 weeks - does that count?

Every bit of breastfeeding counts! I'm in - ds is 6mo and 2wks and still exclusively bf...

what do you consider to be 6 months?

is it 6 calendar months, in my case 15th august, or 24 weeks (6 lots of 4 weeks, if you get me). i always found that confusing...

Blimey - I wouldn't worry about it - that's really splitting hairs - just celebrate you got that far! .

DD is 24 0r 23 weeks (depending if you are HV or everyone else) and excl bf. Can i be in your group? Actually everyone seems to have got used to the fact that I am still bfing (haven't told them that i'm not going to stop at 6 months though!).
Is your LO having a growth spurt? DD always takes an hour and feeds every three hours. I've got two episodes of 'Friends' left and then I'll have watched them all since she was born!
BF was sooo hard to start with I had a target of 5 months, now I'm too lazy stop. It's funny wise mners said that would happen!
Like you I'm looking forward to blw (although a bit scared).

Another reason to enjoy the bfing - all the lovely cuddles! And you don't need to be organised or faff about with sterilising. And saving money. ohh and we can eat loads of cakes!

can I join? :-). Dd2 is 20 weeks excl bf. Took dd1 to 17 wks then mix fed (1 feed, expecting to stop at 6m for some reason though in end she self weaned at 18m) so feel very pleased to have got to this point. Did sort of do blw but had never heard the term, at the time just did what worked best for us!

It's very rewarding in so many ways but hard work at times, esp hearing people having an easier time of it with sleep, getting time 'off' etc. Still, it's not forever!!

I'm in, DD was 5 months yesterday. Looking forward to blw and continuing with BFing, cannot be arsed with carting bottles around.

It paid for itself this week - we flew longhaul and feeding was easy.

I am not a fan of baby books in general BUT check out this website: www.thebirthden.com/Newman.html I had a friend post the book from canada. The compression articles and videos on line are really useful. Compression and fenugreek supplements have helped 2 reduced babog's frequency of feeding from 10 times a day to 6-8.
Keep going!

Signing up for this - ds 5 months and ebf. DS is big so started getting the old weaning pressure about 2 months ago from some quarters - but think people have given up pestering me now, or have assumed I have started (live abroad, so have only had telephone pressure which I suppose is easier to shrug off than face-to-face pressure - my 'mum' friends here have all started but think the 6 months thing is just a cultural difference and I haven't corrected them )

Am also planning on BLW - and have the full support of dh - whose inbox I bombarded with links gleaned from mn and google.

I will have to return to work when DS3 is 22 weeks old which will force some FF by childminder as I do 3x10hrs days and have been pitifully inefficient in expressing the volumes that would be required to cover that time .
So, I am planned to EBF 4 days a week and not so exclusive the other 3 with BF in the evenings and overnight until I have to hand him over again.
Does this count?? [pathetic want to belong to this thread emoticon]

have exclusivly fed my DD for 24 weeks and counting, going to BLW too!
I just love the real sense of achievement it gives me. But it has been hard work at times i must admit!
It great not having to worry about bottles and all that faf i must agree!

have exclusively bf my DD for 22 wks.
Bf and ff my DS and weaned at 4 months and he is perfect ( he is now 3).

Oh, er, bit of a blonde moment here, but I think I need to join this thread!
Can I just check, though - this is about not topping up with formula? Or is it not weaning before 6 months?

The blonde moment - it hadn't occurred to me that there would be a possibility of weaning before 6 months. So, er, I would fit the thread but by accident rather than by design!

I'm certainly not intending to top up with formula or anything like that, and I hope to bf for 6 months. Ideally straight from breast to food without formula in the middle.

I have to anyway because I spent all my money on hotmilk bras to inspire me and I haven't got any left to buy food

BTW I have a long way to go - DS is not quite 8 weeks!

I am very pro-booby and fed my DD1 for bloody ages (2ish) and am playing it by ear with DC too BUT I think that after 4/5 months, it just depends on the baby...I don't think it's necessarily bad to offer baby rice/light solids if you think your child is ready and showing all the signs.

Just because you offer solids earlier than 6 months, doesn't mean your anxious to stop breastfeeding.

Sorry to star thread and then bugger off, but my internet time is only durring piglet's mornig nap. Everyone's welcome and blinks no rotting veg I'm just fed up with being tolg to wean when I don't really think my babe is ready yet, still only sitting for moments at a time etc.

I am begginning to think some of piglet's extra feeding is for comfort as he becomes more aware of himself as a seperate person as it seems to involve one side only and duck nibbling ( knicking phrase from other mn uncredited as can't rember who)

Anyway are back to sleeping from 8 till 7 ish with a feed when I go to bed, so my sanity is somewhat restored.

Mummy for 3 of coures it counts I labled it a support thread in the hopes people won't come to pick an arguement,but it is for support not judgement. ( will I be thrown off mn for not judging!)

Please may I join? DD is 10 wks and I intend to ebf for at least 6 months. DD slept the whole night through last night and I really missed the night feed...

Just wanted to say good luck and keep it up. DD was exclusively bf to nearer 7 months and then just offered her food from our plates.

She is 15 months old today, eats anything and everything, uses a fork and spoon competently, still breastfeeds 4 or 5 times a day and I am proud of waiting until past 6 months. I was far too lazy for bottles and puree anyway.

You're all doing marvellously. What a nice thread to start.

I EBF both my girls until 6 calander months, even though EVERYONE seemed to think i was a bad mother and was starving them! - i carried on due to the research i had read.

I got really tiring for the last 4 weeks or so but was well worth it. I done Baby Led Weaning with dd2 and it was great. She was ready to start experimenting and fed herself after a few weeks of playing with the food. Now at 17 months will not let anyone feed her - she prefers to do it herself and is more than capable!

Hang in there. It is better for them and better for you in the long run.

Good luck girls.

I managed to exclusively bf until 6 months and then did BLW, despite my mum's insistence that I give DD baby rice every time I had a bad night. Still bfing now at 13mo and DD eats brilliantly

It's hard when weaning is everyone's solution to all your baby problems.

Oh and just for the record a mum on my post natal thread had a baby born knocking on 11lb and she exclusively bfed for 6 months, so size of baby has nothing to do with it, just in case anyone tries telling you that. Your milk managed to get them to that size at whatever age they are and sustain them at that size until now, it can manage till 6 months.

Weaning is such a faff anyway, all that wiping and cleaning! Why do it sooner than you have to?!

Can I join? DS, who is coming up for 20 weeks, is EBF and I intend to keep doing so until he is 6 months. We both absolutely love it, dreading weaning him! Would be interested to hear about when they count 6 months from, i.e. 24 weeks or 6 calendar months. I'm sure it does make some things harder, especially sleeping, and so many people, including my mum, insist I should give him a bottle to make life easier which really annoys me as it's clearly not the best thing for him. His weight gain is great and he's on the 75th centile so is clearly thriving on it, so far any way. Is it true that only 1% of mothers EBF for 6 months? Well done everyone!

Count me in! DD is 5 months (lost count of weeks...). I think people wean early often to get them to sleep longer (which there is no evidence for) and boredom, i.e. they want to move onto the next stage. I have noticed that DD has started to feed more this week but I am quite pleased about it! Had become a little sad that her feedings had become so short and far apart. Am also going to do BLW