Please may I blow my own trumpet a little bit? And invite others to blow theirs too?

[feralgirl]

Would anyone mind if I just have a small proud moment because DS was 1 year old last week and I'm one of the 3% of mothers still BFing?

Noone in RL has bloody congratulated me but I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself tbh.

Feel free to blow your own trumpets here:

forevermore, it's not necessary, but it's better for the baby's health and the mother's health.

Some of the immune factors in breastmilk actually increase in concentration during the second year, and nursing toddlers (in the developed world, not just in developing nations) have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers.

Increased duration of breastfeeding also reduces the mother's chance of breast, ovarian, uterine and endometrial cancer, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

I bf'd my first for 5 months and combined that with formula.
Number 2 is 8 and half months old and still completely breastfed, no formula or bottles and I am very proud. I have no intention of giving up anytime soon.
I was not breastfed and no friends or family of mine had ever breastfed but I felt it was something I had to do and I am so glad I did with both my boys.
I love the bond it gives.

I understand what you're saying forevermore. I bf my 3 dcs with varying success - dc1 for only 2 weeks , dc2 for 3 months & dc3 for nearly 7 months. I loved bf-ing but was really relieved to stop iyswim. I was glad to get my body back to myself. I know it's controversial, especially on MN, but breastfeeding, although undeniably best for both mum & baby, does involve two people and if one of them is unwilling (dc2) or reluctant (me with dc1) the chances are it's not going to work. But any woman who can carry on successfully for many months deserves a huge pat on the back!

I think we should get medals! I bf dd for 18 months when she self weaned . She's 3.5 now and I'm still bragging about it! Best thing is my mum (who didn't bf wither me or dsis) was bragging for me too and my grandad gave me a big hug and told me he was so proud of me

Well done ladies!

not wither but with obviously. Preggo brain

no way is that the statistic 3 percent I am shocked its only that much tbh! wow!

Congratulations & well done to all you ladies who are still Bfing their LOs!

I buggered mine up at 7 mo, went on a course and couldn't keep up the expressing - way too stressed!

DD then decided she didn't want the moning BF anymore so I was surplus to requirements

Keep up the excellent work!

morning, not moning!!!

I did

16m

I think about 28m and so far 15m going strong...co fed two, now that deserves a wee trumpet blow too surely lol

WOW at BFing 18 month old twins [mahooosive admiration emoticon]

Toot parp to us all

I haven't heard the stats before.

DS is nearly 18 months and we're still going strong.

'Tis true no-one in RL seems to congratulate, they just ask when you're going to stop.

DD is nearly 31 months. I think she has recently started to wean herself.

When I spoke to my HV about it over the summer she said that there was no need to stop if neither of us wanted to and that with swine flu around it was best that she kept getting some of my general immunity.

WHO recommend BFing until AT LEAST 2.

well done ladies one and all.
I bf dd till she was 2.5 yrs, self weaned with gentle encouragement (pregnant, no milk, hurty boobies!)
Am feeding ds currently (9 months) & also did 2.5 months expressing for hospital milk bank. I highly recommend it if there's one in your area & you've a baby under 6 months. Makes you feel all warm & saintly knowing it might help someone's LO survive!
Toot toot!

feralgirl All I can say is more power to ye woman! (showing my Irish roots here!).

DD1 is 14 months and we are carrying on regardless. We've gone through discomfort, outright pain, social humiliation, interfering family and strangers and no intentions of stopping!

She loves it, I love it, DP loves it. It's easy, it's free and best of all it's nutritionally designed for my wee girl giving her everything she needs and more.

Here's to eroded nipples all round

forevermore, with dd i was desperate to stop at that stage too, at 6 months i introduced a few bottles of formula with a view to weaning but she was cow's milk intlerant and reacted to the formula and refused soya so i went to 12 months and actually began to enjoy it from 8 months onwards, if i hadn't been pregnant i would have continued but she wasn't keen on pregnant milk and i was absolutely knackered so i mad the sad decision to stop.

as others have pointed out, bm is still the best thing a baby can be drinking, well past the introduction of solids. there is a noticable differance in how often my kids get sick compared to ff kids i know, and how severely they get sick, each of my kids has only had AB's once in their lives... and for ds2 that was due to an accident at birth not an actual illness. No-one else i know in rl visits the doctor as rarely as we do, our gp is always stunned at the fact that she rarely sees my kids and they never need ABs when she does, in fact ds2 never went to the gp for a single illness until after he weaned at 2.5!

DS1 - 1 year (and 3 days)
DS2 - 2.6 (still going)
DD - 9 months still going

I Love BF, and so do my DCs

I breastfed both of my dds for a year and 20 months respectively and am very pleased I did.

However I really didn't think I deserved particular praise for it. To me, it seemed a lot easier than faffing about sterilising bottles. I know some people crave the freedom that bottle-feeding gives, but I didn't exactly have a queue of people offering to babysit, or any real desire to leave my babies when they were so young (I appreciate how lucky I was not to have to rush back to work).

Now my DDs are nearly as tall as me , and increasingly independent, I'm glad I made the most of that short special time with them.

DD's 2.4 Lenin and I think she'll probably still be feeding then too. She's cut down a bit due to pregnancy but I'm sure she'll pick back up once the new baby comes. That webchat did help, and also knowing there's lots of other people doing it

Well done ladies, I was congratulating myself on making it to 4 weeks this week with DS3 and it's nice to have a reminder that it will get easier! Only managed 6-7 months with the first 2 as I had to go back to work but have the whole year off this time so hoping to bf to at least 1st birthday.

Well done op

I'm still bfing my ds who is a year on nye. He was really early and tiny so I am doubly pleased with myself

yay for boobies !

16mths and still going here too!!

I've had a few wibbles recently too, not helped by every midwife I see going . It annoyed me because I know I'm going to carry on, just felt almost a bit embarassed. I do go to a bfing group where I don't feel so odd, even though DD is the oldest. It's worth it when DD tells me 'it's delicious, like teddy bears' I loved the bit about the Malaysian official too. Didn't see the Algerian bf thread, will have a look when I've taken DD for her morning run