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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Breastfeeding older babies

32 replies

hunkermunker · 28/04/2005 15:21

Anyone got any tips?

There is lots and lots of help out there for people who are breastfeeding a newborn (and rightly so, of course!!!), but there's not much in the way of information for those of us who want to continue feeding and have children who agree with that choice, shall we say?!

OP posts:

dropinthe · 28/04/2005 15:23

Dont do it!

beansmum · 28/04/2005 15:23

I haven't got any tips, but I need some!

Fennel · 28/04/2005 15:24

dropinthe!

beansmum · 28/04/2005 15:35

nobody got any tips?

how do you feed an older baby in public? ds keeps getting distracted and turning around to stare at people, usually causing me to flash everyone.

also how do you stop them pushing at your breast and pinching and scratching when they are feeding?

babaworshipper · 28/04/2005 15:39

I just bought a breast feeding necklace from little gems (american company) it is working a treat with distraction and the pinching!

can't find the site just now.... I know it is on another thread here somewhere.

misdee · 28/04/2005 15:41

dd3 is only 9 weeks old atm, but am planning to bf for a while (hopefully one yr old minimum) and have bought a nursing necklace in an attempt to hold her attention for a bit long. got it from www.littlegemsonline.com/nursingnecklaces.html (mieows keyboard is odd so cant do links)

misdee · 28/04/2005 15:41

snap!!!

collision · 28/04/2005 15:47

Ds is 6 months and still BFing which I am pleased about. I am a bit freaked out about what Dropinthe said the other day about trying to stop her baby BFing in that the baby is addicted to the breast but I will keep going for now.

Also, how do I stop ds from looking round the room with MY NIPPLE STILL IN HIS MOUTH????? My nipples are about 5 inches long!!!!

beansprout · 28/04/2005 15:56

Same here - ds is distracted by everything in a 100m radius. And when I tell people I am with that he is easily distracted they say, "mmm. ok" and then stand there and talk to me while I am trying to feed him!! Argh!!

dropinthe · 28/04/2005 15:57

LOL collision! Mine are too-mind you,was blessed with massive nipples-if you spred them on a plate they would look like burgers!!!

suedonim · 28/04/2005 15:58

Haha, Collision! Mine did that, too, esp dd1 when dh got home after being away for two weeks at a time. Every time she heard his voice.....zippppp.....and my nipples were like bungy ropes!

I fed mine until two of them were over a year and one for two yrs so did quite a bit of 'public' feeding. I'd keep their one arm under them and just hold the other one down as much as poss. Dd2 was a terrible fiddler, though, and used to 'neck' me constantly. If they constantly looked around when feeding in public I'd end the feed as there were obviously more interesting things going on. A cardie or baby blanket is handy for slinging over your shoulder to cover your modesty.

FLUM · 28/04/2005 15:59

Well surely you should know how to breastfeed by now if baby is older.... no?

FLUM · 28/04/2005 16:00

You could go in a nice quiet room...........................

mears · 28/04/2005 16:05

You just feed them when they ask for it and put it away when they start messing about. They soon get the message to keep their monds on the job Do not restrict them to times but let them have a nurse at the breast when they want it, even inbetween established meal times.

Original poster

hunkermunker · 28/04/2005 18:20

The distraction thing - they grow out of, IME. DS was at his worst for doing that between six and nine months.

Flum, I know how to breastfeed! If I didn't, there'd be something up, since DS is a year old now!

What I was getting at (and I have more time to explain now - I was going out earlier!) was that there are lots and lots of books/websites explaining exactly how to position a newborn, what to look for with poo frequency, wet nappies, weight gain, etc and how often to feed them.

All of the literature about feeding older babies (say over one) is geared at how to stop - it's not written with the benefits and positive things taken into account.

That's why I started this thread - I thought it might be interesting for long-term breastfeeders and those who are interested in continuing

OP posts:

serenity · 28/04/2005 18:58

Well at 18 mths DD does not get fed in public anymore, in fact I can't remember the last time I fed outside the house. She keeps swapping sides, and gets p'd off if I dare put them away! Because she messes about so much I know she doesn't actually need to feed, so I'm not concerned if we are out for the day and she misses out. TBH she really now only has one feed (first thing in the morning) a day now.

What I really needed when she was a year old or so was ideas on positioning. She's too long and independant to lie across me, this afternoon she sat on my lap and I had to hold everything up so she could watch Cbeebies and drink oh god no wonder Dh keeps laughing and saying 'bitty' to me. How do other people feed? We're OK in the mornings as we are laying down in bed, but I do think I now have t5he most elastic stretchy boobs in existance thanks to DD

Hayls · 28/04/2005 19:33

My dd is 15 months but I don't really have to bf in public anymore because she's normally too interested in everything else going on. As for positioning, it is a bit difficult but she sort of lies tummy to tummy with her head to one side and me turned slightly to the side and slumped a bit (if that makes sense I'll be amazed) Either that or I lie flat and let her crouch over me - works best in bed in the mornings. I think you'll find that in the next couple of months your ds will not be as dependent on bfs but will tka it if it's offered iyswim, which makes it easier to feed in my experience. That's what my dd did, I didn't think I'd ever cut feeds down but we're slowly getting there.

collision · 29/04/2005 10:10

ds is 6 months now and is on my knee as I type. I am feeding him, he clenches my nipple in his gums and turns to look at the computer!

Im not gonna lie.....it REALLY hurts!!

sweetkitty · 29/04/2005 21:40

My DD is 9 months now and yesterday I fed her in the monkey enclosure at Woburn safari park as we were driving along (v v slowly)!

Anyway she is always latching off and having a look around, she never asks for a feed, I offer her a boob she sometimes has a minute on there then turns her head away, she is only having one or two feeds during the day now, in the morning she has a feed then just turns her back to me and falls asleep.

I have decided to wean her straight into cows milk at a year as we want to go for number 2 soon.

elsmommy · 29/04/2005 21:47

Dd used to be terrible, she would pull my top down and scream where ever we were. I HATED feeding her when she got to about 14 months and just had to stop!! And the stopping is even worse!!
I just used to feed her under my coat so she couldn't see anythin and no one used to see what I was doing!!
If I have another a baby I can say 100% it would not be breastfed.

NotQuiteCockney · 29/04/2005 21:53

I fed DS1 to 18 months, and found it easy, but like everyone else, after a certain point, I only really fed at home.

I've pretty much got to that point with DS2 now, he's 7 months. The other day, a friend needed to "observe" breastfeeding, as prep for a course. She needed to see what his lower lip was doing, but every time she brought her head even vaguely close, he would turn to look at her. We kept going back and forth, I'd get him on, she'd lean in, he'd pull off. Grrr.

chipmonkey · 29/04/2005 22:32

My mum b/f my brother till he was 3. As far as I remember she really didn't need to feed in public too often and he would take drinks from a cup at that stage as well. He had a "code-word" for b/f which he used when he wanted a feed so no-one outside the family knew what he was talking about.
Elsmommy, do you mean you wouldn't b/f another baby at all? Not even for a few weeks?

ionesmum · 29/04/2005 23:16

I'm still feeing dd2 at 13 mo and yesterday for some reason she started to bite me. Fortunately that has stopped today. I have lots of little nail marks in the top of my boob where she grabs a fistful of it and shoves it in.

I think the thing I'm most confused about is whether I should be bfeeding on demand still (at least by day) or limiting feeds, and also how important other fluids (i.e. water, juice) are now.

Yorkiegirl · 29/04/2005 23:22

Message withdrawn

mears · 30/04/2005 00:19

I think older babies let you know when they want fed and you have to read the signs. I wanteds to feed my last babyfor as long as she wanted but she decided at 15 months she was having no more. I would have loved to have carried on longer as i knew she was my last but despite offering feeds over a 2 week period, she persistently refused. I even waited till she was half asleep and offered her the boob. She would start to suck but as soon as she realised she was on the breast she would refuse to continue. You will know when your older baby wants to feed or not by letting them take the lead.

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