when should BF stop?

[nicky111]

My DD is now nearly 8 months and is still breastfeeding happily a 3 to 4 times a day alongside three solid meals. She is happy and healthy but MIL says I should think about stopping BF at around 9 months as it will become more difficult to stop BF after this and it may put her off cow's milk. My mum says me and my sister just stopped naturally at 12 months and I would like to continue until then. What is your experience? Did your babies stop naturally?

have to go now, hope you get some answers hercules, this is v interesting.

Agree about goalposts changing. I planned to bf ds for 4 months, then a year, then 18 months, then 2 years and so on.

Happymomoftwo- we are only asking you why you dont like it? It is a discussion that was going well.

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I hesitate to join in because I feel that I have nothing of benefit to add to this discussion other than my anecdotal evidence... We have 3 happy, independent children with immense vocabularies who breast-fed for an 'extended' period of time. Our ds2 was 3 in February and was a very unwell baby (3 hospital stays/tube fed/iv anti-biotics etc etc.) I had mastitis twice and actually developed an abcess because I was firmly convinced that his best odds of survival was with milk intended for his little body to process. Milk that was full of anti-bodies designed especially for him could only be found in my breasts. He is now a somewhat healthier 3 year old and he still feeds at night. He has NEVER pulled up my shirt; NEVER asked to be 'nursed' (our word for breast feeding) in public; NEVER displayed clingyness even when he was on death's doorstep. GO FIGURE! Sadly he will be weaned next week because my mother (who lives 3000 km away) is about to undergo an open-heart op. and she needs me more than our ds needs breast milk so I intend to spend my first week away from my children in order to help her out.

Emkana: I have not laughed so hard in ages! I loved your post about forcing your 12 month olds to breast feed! I am sure that I was 'begging for it' as well!

Hercules: I wish that I could be half as eloquent and coherent as you are about this emotionally-charged issue. Why do people care so much about how other peoples' children are fed/comforted?

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See my other thread started early in chat just for you, happymum!

Cadmum - that was a lovely post

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