Anyone interested in an 'extended' bfers support thread?

[lilysma]

Not sure what I mean by 'extended' exactly - maybe it's a self defined thing?

I define myself as an 'extended' bfer because I hardly know anyone else bfing a child as old as mine (DD is 26 months) and feel the need to discuss some issues with people also doing this and wonder if anyone else does??

Anyone up for an informal support thread on this?

I think my DS dropped his one night feed naturally, just as he might have dropped a day feed. He'd been on 3 feeds for ages (morning, evening and one around 1.30/2am), except for when ill. In fact, i was just contemplating going back to BF support group to ask advice re night weaning when he stopped, must have picked up the vibes...

The interesting thing is that even though he's feeding more at present because he's ill, more often than not he's still sleeping through the night.

Hallo - I'm still bfing 2y4m ds2.

He started cutting down of his own accord about 6m ago, but we had just discovered that he is dairy-intolerant, so I didn't let him cut down, and upped his feeds.

At the begining of the thread there was mention of being asked to leave a bfing support group at 12m. I have been asked by a bf supporter to attend her bf group, in order to encourage mums to feed longer! It can be quite a challenge, having a hulking great 2yo charging around tiny babies, but toddler toys are provided and place outside the circle of chairs. There haven't been any problems at all.

Prettycandles, my ds became intolerent around his 2nd birthday after a particularly nasty tummy bug, so I did the same as you and just let him carry on breastfeeding as much as he wanted. I had been thinking about winding it down around about then, but having kept feeding as long as I have, I am glad that I didn't stop back then.

We go to the allergy clinic about his egg allergy and when I mentioned the dairy intolerance, I was asked what he was having instead and the paed didn't even comment on the fact I was still feeding which surprised me enormously after some of the things I have read on MN!

We haven't nightweaned as such. DD is sleeping through about 3 days out of 7 at the moment. (10pm -7am, she always wakes when we come upstairs for some reason, no matter how quiet we are) Therefore I don't feed her at night on those days but I can't be bothered to nightwean so if she wakes up for a feed then I do.

She doesn't eat much dairy at all but on the days that she sleeps through she does appear to eat more food. I know when babies are young food doesn't appear to have an impact on sleeping through but I've noticed recently that her sleeping has been getting much better and this has coincided with her eating bigger more varied meals. This has been a natural process where she is asking for more food/snacks. Who knows whether the two are actually related though

That was probably no help at all

DS had his MMR today, and the nurses weren't at all phased when I fed him right after.

Biskybat, I notice a correlation as well between how much my DS eats and how well he sleeps (as well as teething/colds etc!). If he doesn't eat well during the day he definitely makes up for it at night. If he does eat well during the day he may wake up for a bf but its definitely a bit half hearted and more for comfort than for food.

Last night for the first time in ages we had a good nights sleep - he went from 10-4, which is brilliant for him. Like your DD, my DS always wakes at about 10pm and wails until I take him into my bed. Mondays are a pain because he always wakes just as I am watching the climax of America's Next Top Model!

Argghh! I meant fazed not phased! Doh!

biskybat - how do they know when you come upstairs? My ds does exactly the same. I can make no noise at all and he still wakes. DH doesn't bother and always seems to blow his nose like a foghorn in the bathroom which is right next to ds's room and then wonder why he wakes...

Ow! Ow! Ow!

My right booby is very sore, I am having difficulty with Daniel's latch on that side, he has been scraping the nipple with his teeth! I'm actually glad to be going to work today to give it a chance to recover

The weird thing is he is not doing on the left side... I could just try feeding him on that side, but he used to getting both!

He has nipped me as well, but I don't think he is doing it deliberately, but the night feeds are getting down right painful to the point I'm wincing when he latches on - it feels as though his teeth are pressing into the nipple!

Any advice?

ouch! The only time I ever get this is when T is teething (or because I'm pg....?) but I assume you'd thought of teething?
It might go as quickly as it started I suppose.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, help I have a vomiting toddler on the loose. She's never had a vomiting bug (I assume it is this). I don't have time to search mumsnet archives, so can anyone tell me if what I'm doing is ok? Am still breastfeeding but she does seem to bring it up about 15 mins later. She is vomiting every hour or so. I haven't given her anything to eat but have given some water with a teaspoon of sugar and some salt in it, is that ok? Is there anything else I should do.

Will read through thread later as have to go and do a mammoth wash...sods law that our tumbledryer broke a few weeks ago and we haven't got round to fixing it....

Hi BouncingTurtle,
I am having a similar thing (but on the left boob). DD has three or four teeth coming through at the top and that side's been really sore for a week or two whe I've been feeding. I was feeding her at the weekend and she stopped and looked up at me with a big smile...and a trickle of blood running out of her mouth and all down her chin. Then I looked down to see another trickle of blood running out of my nipple .
After I'd had a quick wash I could see a perfect tooth-shaped incision in the side of the nipple, her teeth must still be so sharp that I'd hardly felt her biting.
Anyway, it does seem to be getting better, so hopefully yours will too, once your DS gets used to his teeth he'll probably refigure out his latch and you'll both be OK.

Biskybat - I'm not a doctor but I did the same as you. Just kept feeding and kept topping up with water. Hopefully it won't last. Sending best wishes and swift recovery vibes your way.
buncing turlte - have you tried changing position? if your lo usually sits on your lap to feed, maybe get him to sit on the couch next to you so he's coming at you from a different angle? dunno? worth a shot?

Hmm, Just back from napping DD, she refused to sleep unless my nipple remained in her mouth, so I am well rested too

She is demanding toast so I have given in...hope I'm not mopping up lumpy vomit in 15mins

bouncing turtle I have had this a couple of times, she only ever 'grazes' my left boob though. She leaves teeth indents just outside the nipple. In my case it doesn't seem connected with teething but it normally doesn't last long and she stops after a couple of days. I have no idea why she does it.

Mawbroon I quite like DD to wake up when I come upstairs as otherwise she ends up waking at 12ish when I am already asleep. I sometimes flush the toilet in bathroom to give her an opportunity to wake up

Thanks for the advice randomama, wasn't sure if I was doing the right to breastfeed her as she seems to keep bringing it up and everyone always says to avoid dairy with vomiting bugs. She seems to be recovering quite quickly though, hope I haven't jinxed it now.

Better go hang out another load, she managed to get all our sheets, pillows and duvet in one go!

Hope she is better biskybat

Hi bouncingturtle...I get the same thing, on my left boob. Every time DS2 is cutting teeth he does this. A few days later he's back to normal again. I second Randomama's suggestion of changing position. I was recommended to do this by another mumsnetter and was amazed at the difference it made. Definitely worth a try .

Biskybat - your poor DD (and you). Hope she's better soon.

Hi varicoseveined,

I'm tandem feeding my 2y9m and 8m children quite happily. I found my older one increased her night feeds around month 4 of pregnancy as my supply dwindled somewhat. This coincided with my nipples getting quite sore but keeping warm seemed to help. I guess this means it's true hormone levels are affected but from everything I've read - Adventures in Tandem Nursing and lots on the kellymom site - not in a way that will harm the little one.

Both my sister and her husband are GPs. Having had 2 children they now know as much about breastfeeding as any other parents of breastfed children but they had no training in baby-feeding at all before becoming GPs. Don't take a GP's word as gospel on this issue!

Absolutely keep feeding biskybat. Even if a child was to feed and then throw up some of it straight away, there would still be some absorbed which would be doing good.

You are absolutly right to avoid dairy during a tummy bug, however breastmilk is not dairy - you are not a cow!! The recommendation for reintroducing foods is BRAT - banana, rice, apple and toast. I took ds to the out of hours clinic once with a dreadful bug and was told to stop breastfeeding for 24 hours and give Ribena . Ignore anyone that gives you that kind of shite advice.

Re the teeth digging in, I would second the changing position too. DS did it, but I don't remember how old he was. I sat him on a pillow to bring him higher up and it seemed to stop the dragging. Once he was older, I could tell him it was sore and to try again with a big mouth which he was happy to do for me.

Just put DD to bed, she has had a remarkable recover this afternoon, so much so that I took her over to her grandparents for a change of scene

mawbroon I know logically BM isn't dairy but it looks soo like it when it's curdled in a bowl. Funnily enough I have given DD all those foods on your BRAT list...she had rice porridge for dinner and snacked on toast, apple and banana this afternoon. I wonder if the magical properties of BM have helped her recover more quickly She has fed so much more today than normal. Its times like this that I am glad she is still feeding - it comforts her so much when she is ill.

Best go and make dinner.

p.s. am very impressed with all the tandem feeding on this thread. Will have to read up about it...do you still get colostrum instead of milk when the new baby is born?

MAwbroon - ribena what a twunt!

I have tried repositioning DS when feeding from the right, and it does seem to help! Thanks ladies! He cut tooth number 8 about 3 weeks ago but it is still not all the way level with his other teeth, so I guess that might be causing the problem!

Can we join too!?

DS is nearly 13mo and I know 3 other mums still BF at the same age (one with a 2yo but not local) and one of those is planning to stop after her DS's MMR. I'm the only one locally that still feeds in public too, so I feel a bit of a freak sometimes.

We've had the biting and the nipple dragging. I have no idea what causes/stops him dragging his teeth along my nipple, but we stopped the biting by reducing feeds temporarily. Over Xmas I never offered daytime BF and if he asked I distracted him with a snack. At naptime DH took him out in the sling instead. He went about 3 weeks with no or 1 BF between morning and bedtime and the biting stopped too! He's since picked up the daytime feeds again, but the biting didn't come back. We stopped because I didn't think he really wanted it in the day but was just playing, but he seems to want it again now!

Hi Biskybat, hope your DD is over the worst of it now. I have had a couple of incidents of sickness bugs with my DS and I carried on bf but just started with little and often - he wanted to keep on feeding for comfort so I had to pull him off at times, but it seemed to help keep some of the milk down. Once he had kept a bit down I would let him feed for a bit longer.

I use loads of towels on the bed to try to protect the duvet and sheets as much as possible - much easier to dump the towels in the washer than change the bed more frequently.

My nips hurt when my DS is feeding, but I don't think its the teeth I think he just latches on really hard and will suck suck suck for ages (feels like all night at times). He went through a phase when he was a bit younger of rolling my nipple in his teeth and looking up at me smiling as if to say how clever he was. I think the novelty of teeth has worn off a bit now!

Ooh I've just come accross this board, can i join please?!

My DS has just turned 2 and is still BF ( very often!) but only at home and ALWAYS when I'm on the phone! As soon as he sees the phone in my hand, there he is, looking at me all forlorn from under his fringe and saying " bub, bub?" The little sneak!

Hi Biskybat,
Yep - milk starts changing months ahead of time. Mine was sticky and virtually clear for a couple of months before DS was born. Afterwards DD said she was glad it had gone back to being milky. I stayed overnight in hospital to make sure DS got a good run at the colostrum but I'm sure he'd have had enough even if DD had been feeding too for those couple of days.

lmao! funky I wonder why they want it when we are on the phone? to make sure they keep a bit of our attention?

I prepare myself now, cup of tea, biscuits, phone, tv remote & settle in for a good half hours chat!