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?

19 months. Had initial goal of 3 months, then 6 months, then I just decided to see how it went. He was an absolute boob monster and would have kept going if I didn't actively wean him off but I wanted to conceive again and I didn't get my periods back until 2-3 weeks after the very last feed.

Incidentally, because he exclusively fed to sleep that whole time, the bugger completely dropped day time naps at this age, and we had to adopt driving him round the neighbourhood every night for about 6 months to get him to sleep. So that was fun :/

Still going at 19 months here. DD showing no signs of giving up yet and we co sleep so she's at the booby bar all night.
It was hellish to start, nipple shields were brilliant to get me going. I worked in weeks, initial goal was to get to 6 then a week longer each time. At about 10 weeks it all clicked into place, lost the shields and we haven't looked back.

I agree with those that say 'see how it goes'. My middle child was a hopeless feeder whereas the other two were fantastic and so easy to feed that it was just all very convenient.If D
C2 has come first I would never have persevered as I did.

First 11 months. I was a very young single mum in the 90's and no one expected me to even try so I was really proud. Second 13 months. Gave up as I was pregnant again and felt drained with HG. Third 2 years.
That kid was born to feed! Gave up as I'd been pregnant, breastfeeding or both for about 4 years so had reached peak touched out.

DD was for about 13 months. DS for about 18 months. I stopped when they were ready to.

Dc1 for 4 months. Dc2 and 3 for just over a year. I found it hard first time round and with returning to work plus having terrible mastitis I couldn't keep going. With DC2 and 3 ( they were two years apart in age) i just clicked with it better.

Still going strong at 2 and a half. I went back to work at 9 months and just expressed for DH to bottle feed till 12 months. Then gave cows milk in bottles but carried on nursing on demand. He's down to 1 feed a day mostly, he just does it for comfort.

The World Health Organisation says for optimum health children should be bf until 2, so I went with that. However, to caveat that: I found bf really easy, and had a v supportive employer who allowed me a room to express. TBH I'd have given formula except DS had terrible tummy problems so neither DH nor I wanted to worsen it (formula made DS extremely constipated). If I'd hated bf or hadn't been able to I would have happily formula fed.

Still comfort feeding DD who is 2.5yrs
Want to wean but she is extremely resistant

6 months and DS had formula for his night feed. I then switched to formula fully.
It worked well for me and was the right time to move on.

See hoq you go and stop when it's right for you both

DS 10 months
DD 15 months( I would have continued for a bit longer but broke my arm and all together was too much for me). Have to say that she didn't feed during night since 9-10 months, then only breakfast, after nap and before bed. When she was poorly would feed more.
Expecting now and I will see, my aim is at least 1 year, then I'll continue until it feels ok with me and family dynamics.

Just to say I found the breastfeeding groups being unhelpful, had some help second time around as DD was difficult to feed. Also breastfeeding support in hospital was bad in my opinion. I ended up doing what I knew worked and ended up well. I also managed to donate or 4 months to the milk bank.

You have to do what works best for you, definitely informed before hand and will help. But don't put to much pressure on yourself if you'll find it hard.

14 months!
Much longer than I thought I would manage.
We weaned quite naturally, just dropping feeds and replacing them with cows milk.
15 months now and barely has milk in the day.
Sometimes he will have breast early morning in bed, or if he's reslly tired or upset, but I'm not sure he's getting much, think it's more comfort.

Until my maternity leave ended. My work hours were brutal. My ExH unsupportive.

Definitely see how it goes. You can only do your best in your own circumstances.

Whenever we were both ready to stop..
DC1 18 months
DC2 6 months
DC3 2 months
DC4 2.5 years
DC5 2.6 years and still going.
Have a look at the Milk Meg. Very informative.
Above all, go with what you're comfortable with and ignore any judgy comments

6 weeks dc1
2 weeks dc2

Wasn’t for me as I like routine and sleep but you’ll find what works for you soon enough! Congrats

Weaned DC1 at 2.75 years as I was 4 months pregnant with DC2 and didn't want to tandem.

DC2 is 21 months and still going, but it's really just a bedtime feed now and pre-nap when I'm not working. Very occasionally a morning snuggle.

I've loved it honestly. Even now it can calm and relax a toddler like nothing else. I've used it to relieve DC2's terrible wind a few days ago when he was hysterical because of the tummy pain. It's also been a godsend during toddler illnesses.

I echo PPs who have said that planning to breastfeed is a great idea but have in your mind that it's not a big deal if it doesn't work out. Giving birth is hard but breastfeeding can be harder.

Newborns need to feed about every 3hrs round the clock, some go for a slightly longer stretch of 4-5 hours once a day. That means that for 6 weeks after giving birth the best you can hope for is about 2 consecutive hrs of sleep if you exclusively breastfeed. If you are expressing this too takes time and you need to clean the pump afterwards - this gives you the chance to sleep for longer but is extra work for someone.

We have EBF for 11 months now but the first few weeks were unbelievably hard. DD didn't latch straight away, pumping along with giving bottles, daily healthcare appointments for 'support' with feeding, it was exhausting. Worth it in the end but I'm glad we also gave a few bottles here and there as DD had no problem taking a bottle down the line - everyone we know who waited to give a bottle till 6 weeks had problems which put yet more pressure on the mums.

Fed is essential, breast is best, baby needs a sane mum too Good luck

DC1 18mo - I think if I hadn't gone back to work which naturally cut down how much he fed and therefore reduced my supply, I'd still be feeding him now.
DC2 is 10 weeks old and ebf. Much easier the second time round although a lot of that is from confidence that I know I can do it after DC1.
I actually found the mechanics of bf very easy both times (no issues with tongue tie or latch luckily) and have an abundant supply for my chunky boys. The worst bit for me is the cluster feeding in the early days (although DC2 didn't cluster feed nearly as much as DC1) and the fact DC1 was a bottle refuser which meant I didn't get a break until he weaned.
Take it day by day and see how you go. Don't put pressure on yourself and don't have a set target in mind (e.g. no point in struggling to get to 6 months with bf-ing if you are hating every minute of it or deciding you need to stop by 12 months if it's all going well and you and your baby are enjoying it). Good luck!

Don’t compare yourself to others as you can see each mum has got a different story to another one.

I agree with the pp that recommended you to go to breastfeeding groups but also ask for lactation consultants. I found midwives were really unhelpful about breastfeeding in the hospital (who would have thought) and only local groups as well as a consultant helped my journey.

Good luck ! It’s difficult at the beginning but then it gets easier and easier and it’s really worth it !

2 years , bedtime only feed for the last 9 months of that

Exactly a year for DC1, 13 months for DC2

I did EBF to 6 months then mix fed after that slowly winding down to one bf a day by about 9 months and finishing at 10 months. We introduced a bottle (with expressed milk) at 9 days old and DP did one feed a day on bottle so that he got used to it.

I followed his ques. He loved boob and formula but slept better on formula so did boob in morning and formula at night. In the day just did whatever, boob if we were out, saved faffing.

Mix feeding to me was best of both worlds.
Follow your needs first.

Twin 1 for 2yrs 6mo (self weaned)
Twin 2 for 2yrs 9mo (self weaned)
3rd child 4yrs 4mo (pregnancy dried up milk and he was sad about it but didn't want to dry nurse)

5 days

7 days

I was terrible at it.