Breastfeeding Beyond 12 Months

[Rowellen]

I don't talk about it unless someone specifically asks. I think the main people who ask are my mother & MIL. Both are negative.

I had another fight with DH over it. He thinks I should just wean cold turkey. Not that easy I say. Eff em all.

[Jennifer13]

I bf my DD1 until almost four years old, so I'm pretty sure my friends and family are no longer surprised by anything I do wrt bfing.

I have had the odd question about how it goes if they know I bf DD2 while I'm baking no 3, but nothing negative. But as I said, everyone that knows me is beyond being shocked by my birth and bfing decisions. I actually find most people are more interested in the facts rather than the emotive aspect ITMS.

[Rosey]

So today while shopping for clothes for my DH the assistant and I got talking. She mentioned she still BF's her DD who is 18months old, then it turned into a ten minute convo about why we & our DD's love BFing. It was just a lovely conversation to have, one I've never had with someone IRL. She even shared that her DD is looked after by her sister when she's at work and if her DD wants a feed while she's away she feeds from her sister, as she's not long had a baby. I really loved hearing such positivity.

[Ladylove]

That's beautiful.

[Ladylove]

Arg. Woe my boobs vent here. I've already been feeling a bit hormonal about DD BF striking since I fell pregnant. I planned to offer at least a bedtime feed for as long as possible and I think she's weaning right on the 17-18 month mark because of my pregnancy. She's just not into it at all. I fed a tiny tiny bit at 4:30 am this morning as she has a cold and woke up miserable in the night but aside from that she's not BF in days. And I'm feeling particularly bad because today a child immunologist confirmed with a strong skin ***** test reaction that DD has quite a strong peanut and egg allergy. She had a moderate reaction to her first taste of peanut butter shortly after she turned 1 and since 7-8 months won't eat egg, or any egg products - cake etc. so now we've got the epipen and I feel like now more than ever I should be BF my baby. I thought BF helped with tolerances and immunity? I've BF her on demand, exclusively since birth. It wasn't until she was 13-14 months that I weaned her off one feed, then she weaned herself off another and then it got down to 1-2 feeds a day. I feel like I've failed her, that my milk isn't good enough.

[Chrispe]

Lady love think of it this way:
if she has bad allergies & has been bf, just think how much worst they would have been if you hadn't fully bf her for so long!

My DD has mild asthma, I swear if I hadn't bf her she would have been severe (it runs in the family). She had "bronchiolitis" for her first 12months, which turned out to be infantile asthma. So glad I feed her to 12-13 months (which isn't that long compared to others here, but it was as long as I could go at the time).

You've done your best love!

[HotI]

Breastmilk is not a magic cure for everything, it just has less risks than alternatives. My son also has diet intolerances and these were evident from very early on, i don't know how long i will continue breastfeeding him but i know that what we have done has given him a good start. Go easy on yourself LL

[Jennifer13]

LL, not sure if my story is helpful, but I had bad eczema as a child and a whole raft of intolerances (as opposed to allergies - I was tested and they rated as low on the allergy scale, but I did have a reaction so it's more of an intolerance). I was bf for almost 18 mths. Both of my sisters, also bf, but not as long (12 mths and just under) had no allergies/intolerances at all.

But I grew out of most of my issues and now I don't have any notable food intolerances. I also grew out of the eczema, asthma and annual bronchitis. I do think personally that bfing would have helped by minimising my reactions when I was little and giving my immune system the best possible start. As my immune system matured, it was better able to 'fix' itself than it might otherwise had been. Probably also helped by a healthy diet and lifestyle throughout my childhood and now my adulthood.

Don't think bfing your DD hasn't helped her. It's all a part of the mix. Some of us just get sucky genes. My DD1 has absolutely no issues, but poor old DD2 already clearly has my sensitive skin. Just makes me more glad that bfing is a part of her diet, because she would have really suffered if her gut had to process artificial milk from birth or babyhood.

[Ladylove]

Thank you so much ladies that is all very helpful. I just wish she was still wanting to BF.

[~TT40~]

Hi! so we have reached 15months! Last night iwoke and Spock had helped herself. She has also started dictating which side she wants. And been specifically asking for the second side, so fir the first time is having both sides in a session.

[briggsy's girl]

I always found it funny (and cute - and often annoying) when dd dictated which boob. She started it very early on - i had inverted nipples and one was far more cooperative than the other, so if dd didnt want to work for her food, she would refuse that side and just scream til I gave her the other! Very frustrating when I was feeling engorged lol. Now she will opt for the right (the easier one) all the time if I give her a choice. When I asked her why, she didn't say it was easier, she said it was because it tasted better. Right tastes like milk, left tasted like cows milk more recently she has said right tastes like strawberries and watermelon and apple all together. And left tastes like onion and garlic (said with a giggle so I have no idea what's she's on about lol)

We are now down to maybe three feeds a week. She would have it nightly if I didn't encourage other options. But I do encourage other things to see if she really wants boob or whether its just habit. I feel like its time (for me) for full weaning to happen so we are doing it slowly. Must admit I'm not 100% sure if I should be weaning though. She started kinder next year and I'm thinking breast milk would be helpful if she gets sick (not necessarily to stop her getting sick, more as an option of she is unwell. She had tonsilitis in January and went on a food and drink stroke to the point the only thing she had was boob for three days - and was in emergency due to severe dehydration before she would even take that!)

[HotI]

Right tastes like milk, left tasted like cows milk

My DD said similar! Right was 'mummy milk', left was 'cow milk'.

DD weaned a few months ago, but didn't talk about it or acknowledge it for a couple of months. Then she started talking about how she used to have mummy milk, but now she likes cow milk. It was almost like she had to take a bit of time to process it, and maybe decide if she was done, before she could speak about it.

DS hasn't had a feed for over a week now. He will put his hand on my chest, or play with my tummy skin, but is not interested in actually feeding. It seems wierd, he seems so young. I know many kids don't get to feed til 19 months, but i'm still sad that it looks like he has stopped.

[briggsy's girl]

yeah now that we've hit a "big" age, i can't imagine not feeding til at least 3 if we had another. so 19 months would feel very young to me too!

[Ladylove]

Yay TT40!

[phebee]

My DD (18mo) has been gradually lessening and lessening the amount of boobie milk taken (at least it feels like it). She is still very happy to have it when offered, but doesn't drink much. She has also started asking for and drinking more cows' milk. She usually feeds just before nap time, about 11:20am, just before bed at night (aim for 6:50) and if she wakes during the night. As of today I've decided to drop the 11:20 boobie and give her cows' milk, since she drinks more of it. I'll still do the bedtime and night time feeds as long as she wants though

[HotI]

thanks BG.

I hsd a long soak in the bath this afternoon, and then DD and DS jumped in with me. DD is still way more interested in my breasts than DS is or ever was. maybe ds was always going to wean earlier, and the hormone changes just pushed it forward.

I could speculate that although DDs birth was difficult, breastfeeding was ssuch an easy, beautiful, healing act right from the start. however, DS ' birth was more peaceful but breastfeeding not as relaxing due to reflux and tummy issues, plus it wasn't needed as a conduit for healing or bonding. so for both mother and child, breastfeeding had a different meaning or significance in the relationship.

[briggsy's girl]

Its nice to be able to see different reasoning based on the situation HotI. I know I have kept feeding as long as I have because its almost set in stone that she will be our only kidlet, and having gone through so much to get pregnant, horrible pregnancy, less than ideal birth (not traumatic, just not the "surgery free" option) I was determine to bf. it felt like the ONLY thing I was able to do for dd that was JUST me! I fought hard to establish bf (milk took forever to come in, inverted nipples that ended up shredded using pump in hospital etc). I just really felt like I had to do this for her. And for me. To heal all the other stuff. And it frustrates me that she is still feeding now when I just don't want to feed her sometimes (like being woken as she climbed into bed yesterday and attached herself) but it is what it is. And it has healed so much of the pain from the other stuff to be able to say I did it. I still do it. I get frustrated but I so it for her because its what we both need kwim?

After posting yesterday about maybe three times a week we feed she decided she needed milk morning and night yesterday. Crazy little broad likes proving me wrong!!

[Ladylove]

Lol BG - 'crazy little broad'!

Hotl that's true, I was just speaking with a friend about how you cannot predict your BF journey, including duration, obstacles or lack thereof, for each child. She didn't really BF beyond her hospital stay and blamed it on her fear of BF and aversion to BF in public but I said I had the most positive fearless attitude before DD was born but it as still hard and painful with latch issues and emotional for me at first. But I guess the difference there is I continued to BF and I do believe I was better educated than she- re things like milk slow to come in, let down issues and the myths around so-called lack of supply.

But girls, I'm so sad to say I think I have to say goodbye to this thread! DD really dislikes my up the duff milk and she won't even feed at night. We haven't BF for about two full weeks! And when I hand expressed some milk yesterday it was a really creamy rich yellow colour. Could that be weaning milk or colostrum already? I'm only 9 and a half weeks pregnant though.

Anyway, I plan to be back in this thread in around 18-19 months time fingers crossed!