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?

Nomoresleep - how on earth do you cope? What does the Dr recommend for sleep training? DD is getting worse again. DS went to my parents for a few days over the summer so we weren't as worried about her waking him, but I'm getting lazy about feeding her back to sleep again - its too easy, and 3 times a night is too many at 11mo I think - I'm pretty sure she's not hungry. DH has been great trying to settle her so milk isn't an option but he's shattered, its not really fair

I'm feeding Ds, 6.5 months. he's up every three hours for a feed in the night. nomoresleep, have your baby checked over by your GP before you start the sleep exercises,just for your peace of mind.

Hi all,

Sorry you're not well Hulla hope you're feeling better soon.

Isitmeor DD went through a phase like that with her feeding - now I try to remind her regularly during the day to feed, otherwise she'll happily just rely on food during the day and make up for her milk intake at night.

I'm also wondering if i've missed something at Ikea. I just fed DD in the cafe when i've been which was fine.
The only feeding room i've ever used was at mothercare, and only because I was standing next to it when DD suddenly decided she needed feeding. Had a lovely comfy feeding chair in it - I could have stayed there for ages

hello ladies. May I join you? I've got mint Penguins if anyone wants one...
My dd2 is 10 months. I went back to work 5 weeks ago. She absolutely refuses a bottle of anything, and will only drink water from a beaker (tiny amounts), so on the days when I'm at work she goes to nursery and manages with her solids and sips of water, then I BF after work and again after her bath, then usually 3 times over night and pre breakfast. on non-nursery days she gets boob once or twice in the day too. I'm enjoying the BF and don't have any time scale about stopping. We've been through a bit of biting but that's settled now - and she doesn't have any teeth so it wasn't too bad. I'm starting to feel like other people think I should have stopped by now though - I don't know why I think it because no-one has said anything of the sort to me, but where I used to be confident to feed in public, I now feel a bit like I'm offering my boob to an 8yr old! Also nights are slowly killing me . I'm soooooooooooooo tired. We tried for a few weeks to not let her have the boob overnnight, and we did manage, but she would wake and cry so much that we were getting less sleep by not feeding her! SO I've decided to let her feed when she wants again, though plenty of people are telling me she doesn't 'need' to feed overnight.
Anyway I've just come along and waffled on about myself...sorry!
Hope to get to know you - I love the idea of this thread

Hello everyone, I'd like to join too.

My dd is eight months old, and still loving the boob. We've been doing BLW for two months, although I slipped into purees for a couple of weeks to try and get more into her tummy in hope of it making her sleep better.

We've co-slept almost all her life, which was great, but from five months she was waking every 90 minutes or more, and I was exhausted with awful bachache. She's also on the 97th percentile for weight, and definitely not hungry in the night. The paediatrician advised sleep training. It was a last resort, but we've just finished a week of it. She's now falling asleep in her cot at 8pm after 10 minutes of grumbling, and sleeping till about 6-7am.

The IKEA feeding room is great - it's a dedicated baby-feeding room area within the restaurant with comfy Poang chairs, low tables for your drink, and soft lighting. It even convinced me to buy a Poang chair for nursing in the nursery.

DH gave dd cows milk in her porridge this morning, while I was having a lie-in. I was quite angry when he told me, but it was microwaved, and when I checked in my Gill Rapley BLW book it said that was ok as long as the milk is cooked.

I love bf, and now I'm weaning her, have suddenly realised that it won't last forever. So I'm making the most of every feed by gazing into her eyes and stroking her hair rather than surfing mumsnet/watching telly. Can't believe I just admitted that!

Bachache? Sounds like a painful classical music session. I meant backache, of course.

Oh, and she bit me lots (and laughed about it) around the 7 month mark. It coincided with teething, and she's mostly stopped. The only time she bites me now is when she's pretty much finished her feed, but is still latched on. It's more like a cheeky nip!

Hello, may I join you please? My non-id twin girls are 6mo in 2 weeks time. We are still ex bf and intend to do BLW and continue to bf, hopefully to 12mths. They've already had a munch on some bits of fruit and toast during sociable family breakfasts but I'm waiting a few more weeks until they can sit up a little better before we start in earnest.

Most of my friends bf until 6 months on the dot and then gave up immediately 'to get their body back'. People keep asking me when I'm going to stop so I'd really enjoy having a thread of like minded poeple to talk with. I can't imagine stopping - I don't want them to have any formula and I love bf, but not least can't imagine faffing around with bottles now, especially with two.

They both wake for one feed in the night - DT1 at about 1.30 and DT2 at around 3. I'd love it if they did it at the same time, but it could be worse! They do wake a couple of times each in addition to the feed, but are usually easily settled back to sleep.

Highs

1. DT1 feeding for 40 mins straight after getting tongue tie cut (10 mins max before that, which seemed to exhaust her) and:
2. weaning herself off the formula top ups within days of us getting home from the hospital
3. The first time each of them pulled off the breast mid feed and smiled broadly at me Lows
4. Feeding them so often/for so long in the first few weeks that I didn't want to cuddle either of them when I wasn't feeding. I used to cry because I felt so guilty
5. Each of the times I tried to feed them simultaneously - it just didn't work for us and was so stressful but I thought I 'should' do it because that's what everyone told me I'd 'have' to do with twins. Now I know that's not true!

Anyone else feeling a bit emotional about the thought of stopping BFing?

I feel like we have had a fast-forward to stopping in the last couple of weeks, as I have (temporarily) gone from part time to almost full time work. It's difficult for me to express at work, so he's had formula. The boobs feel smaller than the pre-pregnancy days and BB has dropped from 4/5 feeds a day to 2/3!!!

I have two full days at work tomorrow and Tuesday, then 12 days off, so hopefully I can rebuild my supply a bit then. Or maybe he's just starting to come off it by himself. (that's what MIL thinks)

I always thought it would be me having to wean him off the boob at 12 months (he's 10 months at the moment), as he's always loved BM, so the thought of it being the other way round makes me a bit sad

Sorry to ramble on, perhaps it's the hormones making me go a little crazy?!?!

cara yes i'm also feeling a bit sad at the thought of stopping bf, as DD seemed to be taking less and less milk over the last few days. However today she's been a real milk monster so maybe its all changing again.

2/3 feeds at 10 months doesn't sound too bad though, especially if you're planning to stop at 12 months anyway. Maybe BB's just showing you how adaptable he is at coping while you're working, and will go back to his usual feeding routine when you have all those days off. Hope it all works out for you anyway.

Me too - I do feel emotional at the thought of giving up bf - and every time LO seems less interested in having a feed (also quite often at the moment), i feel a little bit rejected. tragic i know!

Also, bf is so good at comforting whatever the problem - when we are half asleep at 1am and saying to each other "what do we do?" the answer is usually "i'll try and feed her and see what happens".

She has a cold at the moment which is pretty horrendous and seems confused when she is bf as to why she can't breathe through her nose as well. Managed to get a bit of sleep using the trusty calpol last night. Was hoping bf would avoid her getting colds entirely. Any advice gratefully appreciated - I've lifted her mattress head end and stuck some olbas on it but she is still so bunged up. She's fighting the nasal aspirator but i will try some more.

1stmrsf - feeding twins for so long - WOW - amazing

Fun what was the sleep training like? and cara - I know what you mean about it being sad that they might start to wean themselves off the boob, but I think it's better that way. I got really upset thinking I'd have to stop BF to go back to work, because neither I nor dd2 had any part in deciding - it was simply 'must work, can't BF when I'm not there', and that felt terrible to have that imposed on us. So even though it's sad when they lose interest. at least it's their choice, IYSMIM!
My LO had a rubbish night, even boob wouldn't settle her, so I'm a bit of a zombie today! Off to work soon

Oh no - t'internet was not working all weekend and now I have lost pace with you all! I'm at work so just popping on to say hello. And congrats to Yorky from a fellow Nov-08er!

I like the idea of BF highs and lows. Mine are:

Highs:
-DS latching on perfectly from the beginning and never having any pain.
-DS behaviour whilst feeding - staring me in the eyes very intently, twisting his hair or mine

• being able to instantly calm DS if he is ever upset

Lows: -
-feeling like a milking machine so not being able to enjoy BF early on

I don't have any specific memories but BF to me is even more special now I am back at work and only spending 45 mins in the morning with DS as I just look at him and feel so happy that we still have this special bond that cannot be broken by a day in the office!

Question people keep asking me when I am going to stop BF so I say I will continue until at least 12 months as it is still a main part of their diet until then. 12 months is 3 weeks away and I can't see myself wanting to stop then so what are the good reasons (apart from just wanting to!) to continue after 12mo - i.e. what nutritional benefit, if any, are they still getting from BM?

Hope everyone is having a good day.

hello, are there any biscuits left? I could do with one. (or several)

DD is 7 mths, still bf, tho I'm starting to think milk supply is dwindling, is anyone else having the same?

She's on a mix of finger food and mashed up stuff, and was eating LOADS to start with but less now.

I have been ill for around 2-3 wks now, and she's teething so been up all night, so v v tired, does this affect supply?

Had to top up with formula on some feeds yesterday and today (yes I know it's the kiss of death to bf!) as there was really nothing there.

Also will be going back to work (part time) in December, so not sure whether to carry on bf and see how it goes with maybe just morning feeding. (absolutely no chance whatsoever of me expressing at work - I could sit there for an hour, expressing both sides and get 2oz out, if I had an hour and wanted to sit in a toilet with children crashing around outside and banging on the door)

Haven't done an evening feed for a while (she's had formula) - would it be possible to start bf at the time when I go back to work, how long would it take to build up a supply for that time of day?

It's good to hear that other people are still feeding in the night, dh thinks I'm a soft touch and we should be leaving her to cry (even though I can tell she's hungry! )

Hi all,

On the stopping at 12 months thing... what I did with DD when I went back to work at 11 months was to feed at bedtimes only. It was just part of a nice snuggly bedtime routine and a way of re-connecting after being apart. I didn't do it for nutritional benefits, though I wonder if there is a benefit in still getting antibodies? We'd need to ask Tiktok or someone.

On the sleep thing.....perhaps I should see the GP before sleep training DS though my local practice is pants and I'm pretty confident that there's no obvious medical issue (e.g reflux, ear infections etc). 3 feeds a night would be fine, 2 would be perfect....what method did you use, funwithfondue?

Isitmeor - i've just seen your other thread so it seems we are in the same sleep boat!

nadssss thank you, that's kind of you to say. I hope I can keep it up for even longer

Ladies, if you are feeling emotional about stopping bf then there is an easy solution - don't stop!

Are you all familiar with the reasons to be proud btw?

There are definate benefits post 12 months - I think its something to do with it being "live" and made for your baby. For me, comfort is as valid a reason as nutrition or health benefits anyway.

IsItMeOr I can see why bf is important after a day apart. Going back to work is one of the reasons I'll carry on past 12 months. I don't want to impose too much change on dd before she is ready and I want to continue our nighttime "routine". I'll continue to co-sleep for the same reasons.

WRT supply issues once you go back to work, I think that by 6/9/12 months your supply is well established and will adapt.

There are lots of comments on this thread that I'd like to comment on but I don't have time to go back and check them. Loved Bachache!

Ok, my BF lows:

• Sobbing in the early hours of the morning because dd's latch was terrible and she kept falling off and then crying.
• The pressure from family & friends to ff (so they could help, for my health etc etc). If I'd been as agressive in trying to get someone to bf they'd think I was the worst in the world.
• Having the male midwife at the hospital "show" me how to bf by repeatedly squeezing my breast into a "burger" shaped and shoving dd on. Humiliating and painful.

Highs:

• Finding MN and people who really understood how desperately I wanted to be able to bf. Using Biological Nurturing positions as suggested by TikTok. DD "learned" how to latch on.

-Feeding lying down and finally getting some sleep at night!

• DD finding my nipples funny and waking me up by blowing a raspberry on my nipple

I love that list csws, fascinates me.

ps don't know if you can see my link in my last post but its a good article I think.

Oh, one last thing on the subject of periods. I visited the doctor on Friday with abdominal pain & nausea. I mentioned the period-type pains I'd had for a while and said my periods hadnt returned since dd's birth. He said "But your not lactating!". I told him actually, I was and he asked what did I expect, you don't have periods if you're bf.

So there you have it - you're all imagining them! [hmile]

like the highs and lows, hulla I had a similar experience with a midwive making a 'burger' out of my breast, I realise now it is one small comfort is that midwife was a woman!

Highs:
dd recently demonstrated her pincer grip by reaching out and squeezing my nipple and shooting out a spray of milk

lovely snuggly moments with dd and time out to relax for me

Lows: screaming hungry dd on the postnatal ward, midwife snapping 'just give her formula, what do you mean, you don't have a bottle'

milk not coming in for 8 days - and all the palava that entails with a very hungry baby

I think it's a small miracle that I'm bf at 7mths, thanks in part to Mumsnet advice (and my stubbornness!)

Hello all,
This thread is getting very popular, it has just taken me half an hour to catch up with how everyone is getting on! Hello to all the newcomers.
I am very tired after my first day at work today. Luckily DS seemed to have a fantastic day at nursery, grinning in the morning, when I popped in at lunchtime and when DH collected him and they waved goodbye. He was even excited and smiling in the evening when he is usually really grumpy so no idea what they have done to him!
He did have quite a bit of formula today at nursery but he was still very keen for a breastfeed before bed. I have had no problems with pain having nearly 12 hours without a feed but am keeping a close eye out for it. Can't wait for thursday, just hope the supply lasts out until then as I don't want to start having to faff with bottles.
Great to read all your highs and lows.

I love this thread! These comments have cheered me up tonight.

The hospital horror stories make me glad I had a home birth (not planned). We didn't have any formula in the house so it wasn't an option.

tasmanian I have been ill twice since BB was born, and both times it changed my supply. My fullest boob switched over the first time, and the second time both boobs became more even. Keep putting her on and your supply will increase. Are you a teacher then? I am, and it is so hard to express at work - even if I had more than half an hour for lunch, the noisy kids are so off putting. I didn't change anything when I went back (2 days a week) - but both BB and the boobs have adjusted pretty well.

Just asked OH if I could spend the £450 we've saved on formula on clothes! One guess what he said

I'm going back to work full time and DS2 will have to have formula if he wants milk at the CM. I will be effectively working a variable 4 day week for a few months and then going back to 5 days when I get to the end of my leave year and annual leave entitlement towards the end of May. I hope to carry on feeding morning and bedtime, night feeds if asked, and will offer daytime feeds when I'm around and see how it works. He eats quite a lot of food as well and has only drunk a very small amount of the formula I've taken round for him on trial mornings at the childminder, though he's only been there for 2-2.5 hours, twice, and will be there for a 9 hour day from next Tuesday.

I've no particular plan for stopping, would like to carry on for a while if I can.

I do wish he wouldn't bite or try to play with me in the middle of the night but we'll survive, I guess.

I gave DS1 (mostly formula fed from early on, not by choice) cows milk with cereal from whenever I gave him cereal (cornflakes or Weetabix for example) and other food, at some point after 6 months. I would give ds2 cows milk but don't think we've done so yet. He does have yogurt regularly.