Support thread for bf 6-12 months

[Hulla]

We've passed the ebf stage but we're not quite extended bf-ers. Any other "inbetweeners" want to join me in a general support thread?

We can chat about anything - bf & weaning, night feeds, going back to work, coping with pressure to stop, biting when feeding (ouch!, whether to stop, whether to carry on...anything.

Pull up a comfy chair and lets support each other. Chocolate biscuit anyone?

My dd is 8.5 months and is at that distractable age, it seems. She can be very disinterested in bf in the day but makes up for it at night (we co-sleep). I've been surprised at how much I've enjoyed bf and have no plans to wean dd anytime soon (although I am feeling pressure to stop and am starting to feel self-conscious feeding her in public/around family now).

Well, my son is 26 weeks old today, so I'll join you!

HobNob or Digestive?

oh can I join you? my son is 8MO tomorrow and I'm still breastfeeding. And he bites sometimes too. We co-sleep but I'd like to move him to his cot soon, this is unfortunately not mutual and he's putting up a fight.

can I nearly join you, DS is five months, tried to wean him on to formula but now EBF due to reactions to formula.. no toothpegs yet, but likes to challenge me with not very good latches, ouch.

night feeds boo hiss, dream feeds, tried it once, he woke up sooner than normal!!

Welcome Guimauve and america

Apologies for any typing errors I'm NAK .

So are you weaning now Guimave? How's it going? We are BLW which is fantastic fun - if a bit messy.

What do you do when ds bites america? I usually tell dd "No biting mummy" and gently push her chin so that her mouth opens. Now I'm at the stage where if I put my finger on her chin she just quickly goes back to sucking!

The biting comes and goes for us and seems to coincide with a new tooth (just before it pops through). Once they're through she stops. We're getting a top one now so she has started nipping again and, my personal favourite, dragging my nipple across her bottom teeth!

Have you tried part co-sleeping so ds starts the night in his cot and then comes in with you after his first waking? I read of another MNer doing that until the night wakings got later and later and eventually their dc was sleeping through (I don't recall how long that took!).

I think dd was irritated by having me next to her last night. She ended up pushing herself past me to the headboard and lying with her feet in my face. On the plus side, she slept until 8am which is unheard of.

I tend to scream and pull his mouth towards my breast when he bites. Doesn't really help though, he just pulls himself further away and smiles without letting ago.

He used to go to his cot in the evening but now if I as much as go to the loo, he screams his head off.

I find that he sleeps easily until 8am if he is with me. Bliss.

Yes, BLW here too! Very messy indeed, but I am enjoying it. It has also made me eat more healthily, which is an unexpected bonus. He's just demolished a large amount of mango, and had a good go at a pear - I'm amazed he's got any room for milk, but he's now drinking as voraciously as ever!

Hi everyone! Can I join in too? My DD will be 7 months this weekend and we are still bf. Quite honestly sometimes I can't believe we are still going. My first 2 months or so of BF were officially Hell on Earth - large nipples, small mouth, bad latch and consequent soreness, terrible back pain trying to find a comfortable position. But we struggled through and now I love it!

We are BLW too, which is going pretty well - hi Hulla, think I've seen you on that thread! DD is eating like a small elephant. Bit confused about when to offer her milk and when to offer food but we are kind of finding our way.

I've not had biting yet - no teeth to date although I keep thinking they must be on the way as DD is unusually grumpy at the moment and after being a pretty good sleeper since she was about 3 months has started waking in the night again (boo hiss). My biggest struggle at the moment is going back to work - started back PT (3 days a week) 3 weeks ago and it's hard. Doing lots of expressing but all that exposure to the plastic on the pump is irritating my skin. And I am seriously knackered!

Lovely to meet you all anyway - away to have a biscuit now ...

Any baby naturally sleeping through? DS varies between waking up 1-4 times a night and he is nearly 7 months old, has slept two long stretches ever in his life. I won't give formula but I'm shattered with a toddler to look after all day too and I have to say I'm more tempted this time.

I'm not doing BLW this time, did it with DD as she refused purees and I didn't enjoy BLW as she barely ate until she was 2 and was a very/too enthusiastic BFeder until she self weaned at 2 - not sure if BLW the reason or not but not keen to repeat it as I was so shattered by all the BFing. This time giving purees plus finger food fairly successfully he has cut down on BFs tried offering more feeds a day but he is not intereseted. Still no sleep.

All I want for Christmas is some sleep...

Hi DrCosy and iwantitnow, welcome!

Oh DrCosy my sympathy on all that expressing, its sounds like hard work. Is your employer good? I work with a lot of people who seem to think that bf is an awful burden that you'd want to stop asap (if you even start).

iwantitnow my dd occassionally manages to go from 8pm to 4am (we co-sleep which I think encourages nighttime feeding) but mostly she feeds quite often at night. I only cope by co-sleeping. Is that an option for you? I can't imagine how tiring it must be having a toddler and a 7month old. I guess naps with the baby are out?

My dd has been feeding all day today, I wonder if its the 9 month growth spurt....

Hi all, can I join you

DD is 9.5 months, and I'm 6 weeks pg so bfing is getting pretty exhausting. She doesn't bite, but my boobs are quite tender at the moment and her new top teeth seem to rub a bit. She's currently feeding 3-4 times during the day. Was sleeping through but we've gone through a bit of a bad patch with her sleep which i think we're coming out of now. Last night she did 11.30pm to 7am which was good, but a little frustrating as I know she's capable of doing 7-7.

I think my milk supply might be beginning to drop with the pregnancy, as she's been spending less time feeding today. She seems to have eaten more this evening to make up for it, but it will be really interesting to see how things pan out over the next few weeks/months.

Hey all! I'll take one of those biscuits please Hulla. DD is nearly 10 months now (how did that happen??) and also BLW (hello all from that thread..) and shows absolutely no sign of dropping a single feed. Still feeds once or twice at night and every 3/4 hours in the day (more like 3, usually). God knows what I'm going to do when I go back to work...

DD only has 1 tooth but has also started biting, which I'm hoping means another one is coming through because she's been a bit grumpy at night and waking more frequently the last few days.

Hello all - I am another inbetweener! DD is 7.5 months and we are trying to figure out the bf/ solids balance. My DD hardly feeds at all compared to some on here whihc sometimes makes me worry about her getting dehydrated. (As she doesn't take much water with her meals either). DD has 4 teeth but has (touch wood) never bitten me - i think i will get a huge shock one day when that changes!

Hello everyone - can I join you and your biscuits?

DS is 5.5 months, and we're hanging on till 6months to start with food but planning BLW, as that's what we did with dd, now nearly 4yrs. With dd, I did mixed feeding until she was one, but this time, I'm planning to just bf alongside BLW.

DS doesn't sleep through at all, bless him. I give him a dream feed but he still wakes at least once before 6am, and usually twice. I'm hoping starting solid food might help him sleep longer. (optimist emoticon)

I meant to say - good idea for a thread - in RL everyone i know starts to stop bf by 6 months and i have been feeling a bit odd for carrying on - good to know i'm not on my own.

Hi all,
Can I join in? Hello to all from the BLW thread, I have been missing you since DS decided he wasn't going to eat so I bowed out gracefully before I was chucked off for being an imposter. He is 7 months today, still BF well but turning up his nose at anything resembling solids, whether pureed or fingerfood. Going to try again tomorrow now he is 7 months but I can't see it happening.
To be fair, the little lad was nearly 2 months prem so has got a bit of catching up to do. Plus he started at nursery today so has a lot of new things to cope with.
Well done DrCosyTiger for expressing. I have decided for the 2 feeds a day DS misses 3 days a week I am going to let him have some formula as I just can't face the stress of expressing at work. I have always been crap at expressing and it reminds me too much of the horrible first 2 weeks of DS's life where I was trying to feed him before he learnt how to suck. Still I am a bit that he is now having some formula and hope it doesn't hasten the end of BF for us. So this thread is ideal to keep us going!

Ooh it's a slippery slope to extended breastfeeding. Before you know it you'll be in an extended breastfeeding support group .

Just want to say a quick hello (knackered and off to bed!). I am breastfeeding my 8 month old DS2. Struggled with my first son (now nearly 4) and only managed 3.5 weeks so am really chuffed to have made it this far (especially because there were times I nearly cracked open the formula). I actually miss the cluster feeding of early days! My little man is very distractable in the day and I worry that he's not getting enough milk (really just quick slurps about 4 times). He wakes a couple of times a night so maybe makes up for it that way. Annoyingly AF returned today - been loving her absence! Night night.

Hi, can I join you too? DS2 is seven months tomorrow. Still feeding pretty much on demand (not really a routine person) but frustratingly he still feeds frequently through the night - his best ever sleep was 7 - 4 but he's only done that once. Giving him purees plus finger foods and it seems to be going ok. I BF DS1 til 14months, hoping to do the same or longer this time. I think DH believes BF should stop at 12m, so it will be interesting to see how we get on!

Hi again everyone,

Bunny how did nursery go? Was it ok? I think I am quite lucky at work. I have my own office so I just shut and lock the door to do the expressing. But it is time consuming and, as I said, is giving me nasty sore patches - I think I might be allergic to the plastic! - so I'm not too sure if I'll keep it up. Will soldier on for now though - I almost gave up bf many times in the early days and really glad I didn't so maybe will be the same with expressing. Oh and good luck with the food. Look forward to your return to the BLW thread.

IWantIt urrgh I feel your pain I really do. I have been very lucky up to now as from about 3 to 6 months DD slept roughly 7pm to 5 or 6am. Or occasionally 7am. So it can happen. But she's started night waking again recently - it's grim isn't it?

MHill Hi, I know what you mean about everyone seeming to give up at 6 months. I've been feeling a bit alone too. Great idea for a thread Hulla

Hi can I join too?

BB is 10 months and is still BF, except when I'm at work, when he has any milk I've expressed and then formula.

I occasionally feed in public but find I can hide him under a blanket or coat!

To those whose babies still feed at night - at around 9 months, BB pretty much stopped night feeds, and I did NOTHING different to encourage this. It just happened by itself. It helpfully corresponded with me returning to work part time. Now he either sleeps through from 8pm-6am, or wakes around 5am for a feed and then sleeps again until 8ish.

bunny hello again. I hate expressing at work too.

That said, I was a zombie for many months - well supported by helpful comments like 'he should be sleeping through' - so can empathise with how it feels to have a night waking baby!!

What a good idea for a thread.

DS2 is over 8 months, and I'm going back to work at the end of this month, when he's just short of 9 months. I'm doing baby led weaning but have given in to letting my dad spoon feed him his home made apple puree, and he gets fed a bit of yogurt as well. I just wish my dad would also leave him to pick up other food, I think he finds the fling factor too much to take!

He hadn't had formula since before 6 weeks (weight loss at the beginning and hospital insisted on top ups) but will be at CM 4/5 days a week so will need to have formula - I'm not good at expressing and can't imagine doing it at work and carrying milk/kit home on the tube etc.

Hi elkiedee. Are you planning to carry on bf on the days you are not at work? If so are you going to hand express or anything in the day to avoid engorgement and/or keep up supply?
I was planning to do this but not sure if it is really needed; I forgot until 4pm yesterday (on the first day, so that bodes well!) and had no ill effects.
cakeforbrains how are you sleeping? I was dreading going back to work with DS still night feeding but usually he will feed for 10 mins and then go straight back so I think I can cope with the 1 or 2 night feeds he still does. However last night he was slumbering away and I was awake worrying about nursery for hours!
DrCosyTiger. Things I think are OK at nursery; not too great but I think that is to be expected (see my other thread here).Is your DD at nursery?
Tried food again this am; to no avail (gagging galore). Will keep trying.