how long did you breastfed?

[ladymelo]

Newborn is 3 days old and breastfeeding really well, I'm not 100% sure how long I want to feed this way (thought about expressing and bottle too). I'm just wondering how long everyone fed this way?

I exclusively breastfed dd for the first six months, expressing so she could have one bottle a day. My plan was to start mix feeding at 6 months and stop breastfeeding by 10 months when she went to nursery.

What actually happened was she had one bottle of formula every day and dropped feeds quite fast once she was on solids. The formula meant I could go out for longer as she was happy to have more bottles occasionally. By the time she went to nursery, she was only on 2 feeds, first thing in the morning and just before bed. At 11 months I swapped the evening feed to formula, and dropped the morning one just before her birthday.

I didn't intend to keep going so long but, for me, it got easier and easier. My sister found the opposite and stopped much sooner, which was definitely right for her. You wouldn't be able to tell which of our toddlers was breastfed longer now, they're both doing really well.

Do whatever is right for you, your baby will be fine either way.

Congrats on your new baby.

DD breast fed for 1 year then introduced formula, as went back to work.

DS am currently planning to breast feed for the same time is possible.

A year and two weeks for my first. Coming up to a year for my second and she is still feeding four or five times a day and once at night...sigh.

Dd is 2yr 5m and still bf before nap and bedtime. No plans to stop atm - think self weaning would be my preferred option. New baby due in 3months though so change in milk might speed up ( or prolong!) process. If she's still choosing to nurse coming up to end of nursery I'd prob wean her before primary.

Since January 2012... DD1 Stopped at 3y2m the day before her sister was born... sister is 15 months and shows no signs of stopping

2.5yo
I loved it and I benefited from it (hormones produced which were previously produced) and Dd definitely benefitted too.

DS self weaned at 22 months. DD is 3 and a half and showing no signs of being ready to stop anytime soon

Three months both times with no problems. I stopped because not only was I exhausted with two hourly feeds day day and night, but I was going back to work at 4 and 5 months. I expressed too from about three weeks old to ensure I wouldn't end up with a 'bottle refuser'.
It was more than enough for me. I'm glad I did bf, but we all slept better and felt more in control generally when I stopped.

Congratulations on your lovely new baby OP. We managed 6 months exclusive bf (with quite a lot of expressed bottles) but then DS's teeth started arriving one after the other and I couldn't cope! Others in our group were fine though - iron nipples? I struggled on and phased out by 8 months. He was on to solids by then and didn't seem that bothered. The convenience was fantastic (we were once stuck on a 3 hour train for 8 hours when he was wee) and snuggles were lovely but the freedom regained after was good too! And I just gave bottles in a snuggly way instead. Now pregnant with DC2 and will hope I can make it to 6 months or further but no pressure. DS seems just as (non)sickly as his mix/formula fed peers and I've yet to see any hint of major intelligence from him .

I breastfed my middle child til.he was 2.5, I intended to make it til 6 months, then a year etc but just found it was no bother to just carry on. I'm currently bf 10week old ds3 and will carry on for as long as we both feel like it.

Congratulations! I found bfing incredibly painful and dd would feed for hours and hours on end, but I battled through for 'one more feed' and it became easy at about 4 months then fed her till she was two. I would have carried on but she lost interest. The first 4 months were horrific but after that it was great. If I have another I don't think I'll go past 6 weeks if it's still painful and lasting hours per feed. I don't think I could do it again.

18 months with my first, am now 5 months into my 2nd. I will keep going until she gets fed up or we get to 18 months, whichever comes first.
However - the first 10 days or so were HORRIFIC. Thank goodness there is masses of BF support down here as I was in total agony - cracked, bleeding nipples, the works. I realised why a lot of people give up.
However now its a breeze, she finishes a feed in under 3 mins and its just so easy. And I lost loads of weight ;)

DD1 4 weeks, DD2 3 months. Whichever way you choose is fine, where it comes from matters more to us than them, I think! Breastfeeding is great if it's working for you, if not I say switch and don't worry too much. Best of luck whatever you decide.

I breastfed DS for 16 months. I breastfed twins,apart from one bottle around 6 pm (so I could cook dinner) for 10 months (no 1 went on nursing strike) and weaned no 2 onto a bottle at 16 months, as I was fed up with bottle feeding one and breast feeding the other!

Breastfeeding was hard in the first few weeks, but great after that - free (apart from more food and drink for me), very pleasant, always on tap and portable. No preparation for a day out! We all suffer hay fever and eczema to some degree - my motivation for breastfeeding!

Congratulations on the birth of your baby I fed ds1 for 4 months he was so hungry and my HV (useless woman) encouraged me to wean and use formula rather than sticking with breast milk. ds2 was 7 months when I started to wean him off of the breast he was 8 months when we stopped, he wanted to carry on but he kept biting me and drawing blood and ds3 is still going and showing no interest in stopping he's 2.4. I kept saying I'd stop at 2 but he really is not ready to stop and I enjoy the cuddles at bedtime and first thing in the morning.
WHO recommend bf until at least 2 now which is what I tell people who criticise do what's right for you and what you and your baby are comfortable doing.

A year to the day. Very tricky early days, I would say it didn't really become 'easy' till she was about 4 months old, but then it was plain sailing. Stopped when the teeth scraping across the nipple became too much to bear .

My 3 month old is exclusively breastfed. Will be re-evaluating at 6 months, my son is absolutely thriving but it's been very hard on me.

I'm really not sure if I'd do it again though if we have a second - DS is an insanely hungry baby and feeding a second child every hour for weeks on end just wouldn't be doable.

Similar to other posters in that i didn't have a set plan of how long I would feed dd but well we're only just stopping and shes 2.3 now. First two weeks so difficult, nurse said its like wearing in a new pair of shoes when you start feeding.
I did express in addition to feeding as i had a big let down that was to quick for her. So from 6weeks dd could have a bottle and my dh/visitors could feed her. I found that if I tried to give her expressed bottle, dd wasn't having any of it but anyone else was fine. I enjoyed the freedom that gave me.
I have loved feeding dd so long though, often the only quiet moment in a busy toddlers day.

Still going at 2 years 8 months.

Breastfed exclusively for 8.5 months. Now I'm breastfeeding and ff at nearly 10 months. It was very painful and hard first 4 weeks also due to tongue and lip tie. I wanted to wean her off the breast at 6 months but she has severe milk protein allergy and had to gibe her hydrolised formula on prescription and she didn't have it at all until last month as it tastes really bad. Now she has it but not a lot, between 2 and 6, once had 8 oz a day, which is enough for me as I found it really stressful to express at work, especially afternoon shift as I couldn't express enough

I bf DC1 until they were 3 yo, DC2 is 19 months and still going strong.

3 years

I didn't breastfeed my first, my second child I breastfed for 3 1/2 years, which I think is rare as I was only 23 at the time and still very much a social butterfly. In the end we went cold turkey, which I think was a bit traumatic for him.

My 3rd child is 2 and she still 'feeds' in the morning and every so often at night. I say 'feed' because I'm 35 weeks pregnant and stopped producing milk about 6 months ago, so I suppose it's more a comfort thing than anything else. Once the baby comes along I've decided to mix feed, or just stick to formula.

DS1 was 2 years 8 months - just a feed to sleep at bedtime by that stage. I had to give up because I wanted to conceive...

DS2: 6 weeks old and EBF, no expressing/formula. I think he's less of a boob-monster than DS1 on current evidence.

Congrats on your newborn!

DD completely weaned at 22 months. I EBF'd til 6 months, went back to work and pumped milk for her while at nursery til 1yo (I'd started pumping from day 1 so already had a small freezer stash), then introduced 50/50 goats milk/bm from that point, then 50/50 cows milk/bm a couple of months later.

Getting bfing established was really REALLY hard but after 3 months it was the easiest thing in the world. I still miss it sometimes (DD is 3)