did any of you have an idea in you head how long you wanted to BF for?

[jomummy2]

My DD is now 14 wks old and i'm BF her exclusively except for the odd dream feed of formula by DH if i need to go to bed early to catch up on sleep.

Before i had her i was determined to BF her and went through some initial problems (mastitis etc) but the last 6 / 7 weeks i'v relly turned a corner with it and we are both loving it and i feel so close to her. I wanted initially BF her til she was 6 months and then wean her off onto formula but now i'm not too sure if i want to stop but don't feel 100% comfortable with the idea of feeding for an extended period of time either. Just never thought i'd feel like this. Thought i'd just do it until she reached weaning age. Did anyone else have a similar goal in mind and then change and carry on longer?

I wanted to go for at least 6 months. I remember seeing a woman feeding her 6 month old when my DD was only about 4 weeks old and I found it really tough to imagine feeding a 6 month old and wondered if I could possibly do it. DD is now 16 mo and aside from having more hair and being a bit taller, she's still exactly the same to me as when she was 4 weeks her feet stick out a bit more when she's lying on my lap though!

So I guess just take it one day at a time and see how you get on. You never know how you'll feel when your DD is 6 months so you don't have to make a decision now.

I wanted to feed dd4 until she was 6 months mainly as I never managed to bf my other three, however she is now 15 months and still on morning and nightime feeds. I'm hoping to wean her off bf by the time she is 2, mainly as she still feeds through the night and I would love a night off!

I wanted to feed my children until they self weaned

dd1 severe depression made me stop at 14 months

dd2 she self weaned at 9 months
she preferred her thumb

gecko turned 3 on the 7th of feb
still feeding

I'd thought I'd like to do 6 months, ideally, but if I could do 3 months that'd be good.
I did just over a year. I hadn't wanted to stop at 6 months at all.
So DD went straight onto cows milk. It was convenient to miss out the bottles and formula.

Before I had DS1 I thought about a year - he self weaned at 19 months when I was 3 months pg. DS2 is still going at 2!

I've had various ages in mind at different times. Initially I thought I'd do 6 months, but then when I realised that babies still need quite a lot of milk at 6-12 months I figured I'd rather just keep BFing as I certainly was not up for getting to grips with bottles after putting the effort into mastering BF.

Possibly could have stopped at 12 months but by then it was so easy that I just kept on going: I thought, it's good for her health and good for my health, so why not? Plus, it was nice to have something she really loved which was also good for her - she loved biscuits/CBeebies/toast and jam but I always felt I should set some boundaries on those. But she loved BFing even more than those things - and it's healthy! Result!

BFing an older baby or toddler can seem a bit daunting but you can take it a day at a time - it's a two-way thing. good luck with whatever you decide.

I had no experience of BFing in my family and thought it was weird.
I was aiming for a few weeks and then was all ready to stop, bottles bought, everything.
Then just before DD1 was born I started reading up on it and thought it sounded pretty cool actually, so was aiming for 6 months.
Then she was born and fuck, it hurt, but it was ok. She self weaned when I got pregnant with DD2 at 12 months, partly cos I kept wincing and putting her off
DD2 I fed until she was nearly 2.

Before I had DS, I hadn't thought past 6 months. I vaguely thought 'oh I won't be feeding when he gets teeth, talks or walks' but mostly I was just focused on getting through it. DS will be 6 months next week and I'm nowhere near stopping!

My initial reaction to extended breastfeeding was somewhat negative and I didn't think it was for me. Now I'm not so sure. At the moment I definitely see myself continuing to 12 months, and possibly longer. I'm still sort of getting my head around it.

I had no experience of bfing in my family either and never thought I'd do it for long. Then started reading up during the last bit of pregnancy and spoke to my MIL, who has bf 5 children. I thought I'd feed for about 6 months because as far as I had heard that was how long you were supposed to feed for. Then DD was born and I took it feed by feed. Once I'd come out of the difficult and painful stage my age limit extended to 1 year as I couldn't imagine stopping any sooner. Then it moved up to 2 years. DD is now 2.5 and still feeding. DD2 is due in 9 days and I'm quite looking forward to feeding a tiny person again [mad woman] I plan to let both of them decide when to stop.

I think the best way to think is that you don't have to set a limit in stone at any time. The bfing relationship is a two-way relationship. If ever either you or your child are not happy, you can reassess your goals, look for coping methods or stop, depending on how you feel.

I was aiming for 6 months and at that stage decided to go for a year.

At a year I decided to go day by day and see now things went.

I am now tandem nursing 3.6 year old DD and 18 month old DS and I'm 18 weeks pregnant with my third.

Any time can be weaning time, your child doesn't need to be a particular age. You can cut down when/if you want to and carry on nursing on request if that suits you more.

Nursing older babies and toddlers has many advantages, it stops being about milk and starts being more an easy-to-use parenting tool. My children rarely tantrum and if they are upset, hungry, thirsty, bored, ill, angry, a few moments at my breast and they calm down quickly.

I am working on the principle that I am happy to nurse them today and we'll see how things go tomorrow.

With ds1 I wanted to bf for 6 months and ended up feeding for 2 weeks. Formula was first given at 2 days so I'm surprised I even managed 2 weeks tbh.

This time round I would ideally like to bf for 6-8 months but I'm going to take it a day at a time.

I had several goals - the first day (!), 2 weeks, 4 months, 6 months and then until we stopped which DS3 did himself at 9 months. I think that the not pressuring myself this time helped me carry on tbh.

When I was pregnant I had this crazy idea that I was going to BF till 6 months, then express and bottle feed in the day, to save embarrassment. Once I discovered how much simpler (if very very time consuming in my case) BF was, I started to rethink. When I started expressing at 4 weeks, and discovered it took me half an hour to get 2-3 oz I realised that this was a stupid, stupid plan for me (and the bottles got swiftly ditched - they weren't helping anyone!)

When DS was a few weeks old and I had found mumsnet, DH and I were talking about how long to carry on. He asked how long I was "supposed" to do it, and I told him WHO said to at least 2. He said, "well that's what you should aim for then, surely" and he has supported me about it.

I fed in public till well past 18mo and never had any comments from strangers (and nothing overtly nasty from people I knew, except looks of exasperation and embarassment from MIL, which I ignored )

The thing to remember is that once you get to 6 months, you've got much more choice. It is much easier to mix feed then - your DC is getting used to all sorts of different ways of taking their food etc. Once you've been going that long your milk supply can stand up to a lot more. IMO although I would encourage BF to at least a year, I'd much rather support someone to maintain some BF than to switch because lots of people claim its easier just to go cold turkey.

I night weaned at around 19mo, which was actually pretty easy, and then once I got pregnant a couple of months later I started cutting down feeds (because of the discomfort). Again this wasn't too traumatic as I was flexible about when I said no, and relied a lot on distraction. Lots of people are only on 2-3 feeds a day by a year, which is when you do generally start getting funny looks (unfortunately). I guess it might be harder earlier on, but if your baby loves BF, its going to be hard to stop too!

DS is now 2.1 and I am 24 weeks with DC2. We've had some tough times during the pregnancy but I'm really glad I changed my mind. Planning to tandem feed these but I have an idea I might want to restrict DS quite a lot!

My goal was six months. I felt that if I could get to the point of weaning, it wouldn't feel so bad if I stopped.

The more I breastfed, however, and the more I realised how beneficial it is, I decided I would carry on. It was still hard, until around the eight or nine month point, when it started to feel easier. At that point my goal was a year, but then it got so much easier that I just carried on until my daughter began to lose interest, which was at around 28 months.

I had no bf in my family, ever, and didn't fancy trying. (I didn't much fancy being pregnant either tbh)

Dd self-weaned at 5yrs and 8 mths.

Inititally I was aiming for 6 months exclusive, as per the recommendations. Then, for some odd reason, I was under the impression that I "had" to give formula at that point. Like others on here, I soon realised after reading MN that I didn't "have" to do anything I didn't want to.

So, then I said, right I'll do it to a year. And at a year, I saw no reason to stop. Then I learned that the recommendation was until at least two years. At 2yrs, I was thinking about weaning ds off, but he developed a dairy intolerence, so I then decided to let ds self wean.

He is now 4.3yo, has fed throughout my pregnancy (am 39wks) and is all excited that there will be lots of milk when his brother arrives shortly.

If you had told me at the beginning that I would be breastfeeding a 4.3yo, I would never have believed it.

My advice would be just to look a short while ahead rather than trying to set a weaning time in stone.

i'd like to stop at 6 months but ds won't take a bottle. not sure i can be bothered with the fight on th other hand i'd like my body back.

i thought i would do it for 3-6 months. i had problems at first but like you i changed my mind. i now still fed dd1 who has just turned 2 and have another dd who is 6 months

my goal was 6 months, then I read a lot of posts about extended bfing on here, and DP read some stuff too, and now we're planning 2 years or if he self weans before then, fine. DS is 5 months next week, and still feeding 8-10 times a day, so doubt he'll be weaning himself anytime soon!

aimed for one year. did 14 months. gave up as thought might make me less tired (pregnant). didn't.

dd2 3 weeks old. this time thinking a bit longer. maybe 16 months

I kind of did it in stages.

Initially, I just wanted to bf for the first 6 months, then once that milestone passed 1 year and then until 2.

Now my goal is to tandem feed (DS just turned 2 and baby due in May) and from then on who knows. If he decided to self wean now I wouldn't be upset, but I doubt that will be the case!

Tbh, I never expected to reach 1 year, let alone 2. The first 9/10 months were definitely the hardest and after that it just became something which we shared, albeit less frequently than before.

I assumed I'd stop at 6 months ish, as that's what you do.
Now feeding an almost 3yo and a 5mo - no plans to stop any time soon with 5mo, not sure about older one

I struggled with feeding DS and wish I'd known more and asked for help - only lasted 3 weeks

DD - fed with much less hassle and lots of good help and advice until 14 months - she just lost interest

I'm pregnant again and hope it'll be fine although ghosts of DS struggles are making me a bit nervous. My goal is a year because I don't want to bother with the hassle and expense of formula - I could see myself going until 2 years though as per WHO but will just see what happens after that.