How long did you breastfeed for?

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Exactly that really! I'm planning on breastfeeding when our first arrives in April but not to sure how long you're supposed to keep it going?

14 months x 2.

The only thing that makes me at all broody is seeing someone breastfeeding. I loved it and still sometimes miss it 10 months after stopping.

I was planning on a year at the most but DD is 3yo and still breastfeeding, though she only feeds at bedtime and in the morning. It makes her happy, so I'll just keep going as long as I'm still producing milk. I returned to work p/t when she was 9mo. It's been really tough at times, but worth it for us.

Ds - 1 day. Then a gap. Then another 2 days. Then expressed for a month - producing almost nothing. Was belatedly told that I had flat nipples which make feeding difficult. I had no idea. The whole thing absolutely ruined the first three months of Ds's life - the guilt was HUGE.
Dd - 30 minutes. Was going splendidly then I had a massive bleed, was in ICU for a week for transfusion and subsequent infection. Didn't express. Vowed not to beat myself up second time around and almost managed.
Suppose I'm saying that stuff doesn't always go to plan. If it doesn't don't beat yourself up.

I breastfed for 24 months and then 18 months with my second. I gave up as I stopped being able to stand it, but have regretted not going for longer for various reasons.

DC1 was about 15 months, and DC2 13 months or so.

23 months.

We are at 5 and a half months and still going. She only feeds from the right too, so left is dry 😩

Eldest 1 year when he decided he didn’t want it anymore. Currently feeding youngest now and she is 9 months. She just has one feed a day though and the rest of the time takes formula from a bottle as I’m back at work.

2.5yr with 1st and still feeding second at 15mo. Like others have said, there’s no how long you are ‘supposed to’, totally up to you and your wee one. I had no idea how long I would when I started, only knew I wanted to, but when it became clear how important it was to DD, I wanted to keep going for as long as she wanted, and she self weaned when I was pregnant. It was her safe, happy place for so long and not much beats a jolly baby smiling at you contentedly from behind your boob. It’s also incredibly challenging at times and it’s good to learn as much as you can beforehand about positioning and attachment, and where to get support if you need it come the time. And buy lansinoh nipple cream!

As long as you want :) I wouldn't think too far ahead. Just keep going until you or she seems to have had enough. I never thought I'd breastfeed past age 1 but I ended up feeding DS1 until he was 4 (he stopped) and DH just wondered the other day when I was thinking of stopping BF DS2 (16 months) and I was taken aback because I hadn't thought of that for ages yet. Defo not ready to stop. I have a feeling he won't go as long as DS1 though, which is fine.

There are no rules, if you are reading these posts and the idea of months is too much for you don't let that put you off. Breastfeed for as long as works for you, each feed brings a benefit for your baby but your comfort and wellbeing is important too.

I express to feed and have always planned 6 months.
As he reaches that point I'm considering continuing but reducing amount from 5 sessions to 3 in January then to 1 in February ready to completely stop when I return to work in March.

I think once you start when baby arrives do it for as long as you want, there's no right or wrong.

Dd1 3yr9 months, Ds 3yr6 month.

I fed Dd through pregnancy with Ds. Both mine were allergic to cows milk. So I breastfed for nearly 6 years.

I describe it as both of you learning a language, and to begin with you are learning different dialects. It’s really hard and I only got through the first 12 weeks with determination and lots of help.

Good luck

There is no right answer.

I breastfed until just after dd's 4th birthday. I went back to work fulltime when she was 9 months old. I only expressed for a couple of months as I found it a faff and found it hard to find time at work. I expected my milk to dry up but it didn't. I didn't set out to feed that long but dd just carried on.

13 months. From 11 months when I went back to work it was just morning and evening. Baby never took a bottle which was both a blessing and a curse!

4.5 years

14 months and still going! Was a difficult start - tongue tie and breast shields but we got there in the end. Good luck on your breast feeding journey x

2.5 years and still going.

I'm a bit sad as I expected to feed DD for a long time yet but she's just lost interest, she never asks for it, and even when I offer she maybe feeds for a minute and then has had enough It's quite an emotional thing! The only time she'll feed for any length of time is overnight but she's starting to sleep through more now so I think it's only a matter of time.

11m / 7m / 4 yrs
All self weaned although DC3 needed a little encouragement.

Dc1 for 4 years (went back to work when he was 8 months old).

Currently feeding my 9 week old and will continue until she is ready to stop.

DD1 16 months. She went off it when I was 4 months pregnant with DD2, who then fed to 2.5years.

Breastfeeding is great... When it works. Assuming you live in UK/western Europe/USA/Canada etc (plus many other countries)- we are fortunate enough to have access to electricity, clean water, and safe formula. If BFing doesn't work we have a safe alternative.

Bf dd1 for 4 weeks, she just never latched for longer than a minute so was mixed fed from day 3. I felt such relief when I decided to stop trying

Bf dd2 until 2 weeks off her first birthday. I would of kept going but she decided she was done

DC1 a few weeks
DC2 16 months
DC3 10 weeks

All 3 are as healthy as each other

14 months. Would have loved to do it for longer but by then she wasn’t really taking milk and it had to be all or nothing as it made her upset.

Maybe if I had another child I’d just embrace it for a bit longer so she could get through teething. It was quite hard I found as she got older as she would be on me for milk all the time but not really feed, I was quite glad to ditch the feeding clothes by then.

I think when it becomes a nuisance it’s a good time to stop. I look back fondly on my breastfeeding journey and often look at snuggly newborn videos I took of her feeding.