How long did you breastfeed for?

[alwayssunnyinsoton]

And once you went past infancy, were you still comfortable doing it in public and/or your LO asking for it?

18 months & 3 years. But it was only a first thing in the morning feed after about 18 months so not in public from then. I don’t think most people would know I fed as long as I did.

18 months and 14 months. Happy to feed in public all the way through.

By the end, both times, it was just morning and evening feeds. Miss those days!

3 years and 4 years, with maybe two months gap in between so no tandem. Yes fed in public, though I was gently weaning in the last 6 months or so with both so tried to stick to morning and bedtime.

At 3.5yrs you really are allowed to set the boundaries as to when you are happy to nurse. If you don’t want to nurse in public then get prepared to distract. Get in ahead of her - of you think there is even the tenor possibility that she’s going to ask, get up, get moving, engage her in something else. At her age, you can tell her as well, talk to her about it.

if you want to night wean, then you can do that too.

2 years 4 months and I weaned him, he would've continued longer. He weaned very easily though and never asked for it again after a few days. I'd say I wasn't feeding him in public from about 18 months though- only because he was "too busy" and never asked for it out and about. He was just feeding morning night and nap time by that point but more when unwell/ teething.

1st 2.5 years whilst tandem feedings her baby sis fed her for 16 months she decided to stop not me
Currently feeding my 4 month old will do it til he wants to stop

Thank you everyone!

I'd love to nightwean, but I'm on the fence with it. Someone told me that i may be taking the one thing away that gets her back to sleep quickly...

I am also happy for her to self wean, I've always said this.

What is everyone's libido like? Because I'm still really not interested in having sex at all. I think that is normal while breastfeeding still? My drive was high before having her!

She usually never asks in public or when out and about to be fair. But when she did yesterday in front of all the parents I was 🫠🫠

It was a bit shortsighted of you to teach/encourage the phrase “booby milk milk” and then be surprised when your child says it.

I didn't teach her, and I didn't think I would be breastfeeding her for so long! If I knew, I'd of encouraged her to say something different of course. Hindsight is a fine thing.

DC1 - 13 months - only stopped as my period hadn’t come back and I wanted to try for DC2 - it came back the day of my last feed. DC1 very happy to stop though and loved his cups of milk.

DC2 - 20 months (and period came back at 13 months so I probably didn’t need to stop with dc1). She had started asking for it constantly during the day at weekends (had nightweaned at about 12 months) and I was fed up of getting my boobs out in cold parks having basically lived outside during lockdown. She wasn’t really ready to stop and I wish I’d kept on a bit longer.

DD is 18 months now and still BF. Still comfortable doing it in public. Plan to BF until around 2 and a half but we'll see! May carry on longer if she wants to.

And my daughter also asks for boob - made the mistake of teaching her the words for all body parts including that one!

Stopped when my son was 2yrs 10m. By that point though, he was only having 5 minutes at nap time, and before bed. He was younger when he was still having when we were out and about, so I wasn't awkward about doing it on public, but I was always as discreet as I could be (find a corner, use a cover).

Children that age don’t learn the word “Booby” from anyone other than their parents!

@HotCrossBunplease children also pick things up... and as I said before, if I knew I was going to be breastfeeding past infancy I'd of been more careful.

Yeah I've always taught my DD it's called 'milk' but mistakenly used the word 'boob' one time and from then on she latched on to that word! Pun intended!

i weaned my daughter at 2 - she was furious and it was awful. I’d wanted to let her self wean, but she was obsessed - climbing on me, trying to gain access or screaming for it all of the time. I tried to instigated nursing manners to no avail, with tantrums they just got worse and worse. She also required access ALL night. But I still regret forcing it, and that ability to provide instant comfort was a huge loss.

( it later transpired she has ADHD/ autism / PDA😗)

DS called it num-nums 🙄 could have been worse I guess but like you say, if I’d known in advance how long it would continue, I might have thought it through a bit more!

2 years 8 months. She quit by herself the day I found out I was pregnant with my second. The midwife said it was very normal for children to self wean at that stage because the milk changes flavour!

DD - 3 years
DS - almost 5 years

Night weaned at 11/12m. Around the same time I only fed them lying on my bed first thing in the morning or before bed, which dropped to once per day by about 18m. Luckily we used the term 'milk from mummy' which was a bit more ambiguous and they only really asked at bedtime.

Oldest child till 3.5 years
Youngest till 2.5 years

I never worried about feeding a baby in public and rarely had the need to feed them in public after 12 months but I agree it is different when they are older as people can be very weird about the idea that toddlers breastfeed.

I find it fascinating how many people do extended breastfeeding.

Like so many previous commenters, I used to think it was a bit odd to breastfeed past Infancy until I had my own kids and it feels like the most natural thing ever. My baby is 1 and I can quite imagine we will keep going for a long time.

I think we only find it odd because we don't see it. I wish it was more normalised. I wish we saw more mothers feeding toddlers in public so that the shame / judgment we feel starts to diminish.

X

@favouritecrisps it's odd in the UK where the rate of BF is sth like 1% after 1.

I'm British but live in North America where the rate of breastfeeding past 1 is almost 40%. Everyone has to go back to work after 3-6 months so you'd think it wouldn't be so high but it's very very normal. I'm a lawyer and many of my colleagues have breastfed until 2 (I know because they see me store my pump and breastmilk and it comes up in conversation).

We visited family in the UK when baby was 6 months old and all our friends were shocked I was still breastfeeding. And they all had tales of how their "mental health" couldn't take BF any longer, which I find weird.

BF is hard. But feeding a baby is hard. I don't know why British people (and mumsnet especially) think breastfeeding is the root of all baby related problems.

I think at that age it is fine to put in some gentle boundaries so that you feel comfortable (it’s a two way thing!) If you don’t want to feed when you’re out, let her know this and let her know when she will be allowed to.

I fed until 28 months but from about 18 months it was usually only at home and normally before a nap/bed.

A year each, for both of my children.

This was right for us - I think every second spent breastfeeding is precious, so no judgement here for anyone who manages for 3 minutes or 3 years.

I did not want my children to have formula, but recognise that it is single-handedly one of the greatest inventions ever and anything that saves a child’s life is a good thing.

3.5 years. For the last year it was mostly just before and after sleep (& nap) so didnt really happen outside the house. I recall feeding her after toddler meltdown/tantrums at 2.5, but definitely felt a bit embarrassed at that age! I think people start to get a bit judgey about it at that age. I loved it though and very proud of our journey now i look back (DD is 8 now)