breastfeeding 18 months & beyond

Thought i'd post and see if there is anyone else out there breastfeeding beyond 18 months? :lol:

Beckles

Well I am almost at 17 months. well 16 months 2 weeks or something like that.. I hope to breastfeed for as long as Jacob wants to :)

Do you get any comments yet? as in don't you think you should wean? Are you still feeding?

yup just got one today... "that child does not need to be breastfed" i actually didn't have to say anything because my 8 year old jumped to his brother's defence saying "yes he does, he is thirsty" she stormed off muttering and i just PMSL. i didn't feel angry at all it was so funny. i don't think i got comments until the older boys were over 2 i'm sure.
have you got comments nic?
beckles

I breastfed dd until she weaned herself two weeks short of 18 months. I would've gone longer and if any one ever commented I would say "The World Health Organisation's recommendation in developed nations like ours is that babies are B/f for the entire first year and as far into the second year as possible". Only had to say it once or twice but it had the intended effect of shutting up the criticism really quickly!

Yes I have a few comments but from family not strangers. When I get asked if he still needs it I say the only difference is it is milk from my breast not a bottle cus if he wasn't breastfeeding he would most likely be having milk in a bottle.. Plus I throw in the health benefit thing also :)

Does Oscar have cows milk in a cup at all? Jacob only has cows milk on his cereal. He has had it twice now in a cup but he wasn't all that interested. :) He loves his Boo Boo

he only has human milk ;) and water from a cup. i don't think he needs anything else IMHO. I am still led by him when he wants a breastfeed and that can be anything from 8 - 38,000,000 feeds in 24 hours. Like today he has wanted to breastfeed every 1-2 hours but yesterday i reckon he only had about 8 feeds. i enjoy it and he certainly enjoys it so i am happy for him to let me know when he is ready to wean, we are in no hurry.

beckles

I don't think Jacob needs anything else either :) We just offered the milk vecause we were all having a drink with dinner and well he wanted some too lol...
Jacob feeds on avberage 3-5 times a day sometimes more but never less then 3. It all depends on what we are doing ect. If we are just at home he usually feeds more but if we are out and about he will only feed when he wakes and when he is going to bed,,

Thankfully the night feeds stopped after I put a stop to them. When he was 9 months he decided night waking was going to start again but a few months ago I had enough and even though I got up to him I stopped feeding him and he stopped waking and now we get a good nights sleep, although the 5:50am wake up call EVERY day is tiring

Yeah oscar wakes early too, we co-sleep so i think he still feeds during the night but don't really wake up so not sure. i know he does wake around 5-6 for a feed though, that's when DH gets up for work and says he is usually on the boob lol. how cute jacob wanting a drink with everyone else!
beckles

Oh we are nearllllllly there ....Sammy has 3 weeks to go til hes 18 months hehe...and we are going strong. Beckles our boys sound so similar lol...somedays Sammy would happily sit on me all day and feed. We range from day to day but it still is very frequent. Ive had no comments at all so far....never really had any with the girls either but when we are out I dont tend to breastfeed.....its kinda awkward with a squirming toddler doing acrobatics lol.

Jo

jo our boys do sound similar, i know what you mean about the squirming toddler when out and about but if oscar asks for booby he usually just wants to get down to business, have a quick feed then he's off and racing again, so tends to stay still and drink. although he sometimes finishes halfway through suck swallow and so milk dribbles out of his mouth whilst he comes off :biggrin: or he pushes my breast so a spray of milk comes out :eek: somehow it just doesn't bother me!
beckles

18 months here!! Kind of shocked that we are stilling going after our rocky start, my MCHN was quite pleased when I saw her today for Maggie's check up. She has no other milk, she just refuses it.

Found it hard today though, I was with some of the mums from my old mothers group and they were talking about how with their next babies that they would not breastfeed for as along and that they would comp straight away. Also how breastfeeding made them tired and forgetful and they resented having to sit down and do a feed. I felt so alone. Anyway it just firmed up my resolve to finally get to an ABA meeting.

Oh thats such a shame Astrid....i love the excuse for having to sit down!!!!

Jo

I fed DS until he was 2, we got quite a few comments after he was 1 but always pulled out the WHO comment. After he was 115-18mths he rarely had a feed during the day it was usually in the early morning or before bed. Then one day he up and stopped, I can't even remember the last day :-(

oh astrid that's terrible for you. but at least you are not alone in here :biggrin: ABA meetings are great, I don't go anymore (cos i just don't have the time) but i started going about 12 years ago just before Josh was born. I found it really supportive.

sara well done on getting to 2, great effort.

jo i'm with you it's a great excuse to just sit, although i have been known to stand and feed when the need was there ;)

When she was younger and less distracted, feeding her meant I could get a lot of stuff done on the computer, or atleast watch a good tv show. I admist some days I resented it, especially when she wanted to sleep/feed, but it was not enough reason for me to wean. I suspect though I will have very little say in the matter, she is a stubborn little thing and will do it only when she is ready.

WTG Zak for telling that busy body where to go! Indeed, his brother was thirsty, so why shouldn't he drink! Good for you Bec!

Yup, me too! Kynan's 19m and still going :D In fact, he's recently increased from 2 to at least 3 feeds per day (morning, nap, & night, plus occasionally he'll come up to me and sign for booby when we're playing). The poor boy's hardly getting anything anymore though, what with me being PG but he's persistent and still loves it.

I haven't gotten any comments recently, he hasn't needed a feed whilst we've been out, but my mother was commenting on the fact that he was still BF before he'd even turned 1! I told her about the WHO recommendations and she pretty much told me I must be wrong!

Well mothers know best LOL. I just look at it as it is just the generation they are from. I am surprised my MIL has not said anything

Marisa I fed until a bit over 2, I fell pregnant and my milk was zapped... Elijah is 2 (Oct) and still loves his booby, but trying to wean a little, he seems to want more and not eat - so I don't want to encourage that at the moment. But loving the relationship still, had some ups and downs, but very proud to say I got to two with both :)

Luckily my family got over it quick and dont bat an eyelid when Elijah wants boobs and they joke about him being a booby boy with me :) So thats one nice thing! Luckily nothing confrontational from strangers though, one asked me a question out of interest but no nastiness :)

nice to see you in here angel. well done. my MIL did all the tut tuting with josh 11 years ago and hasn't bothered again with the other two, she just rolls her eyes as if i am spoiling them. she was always busting to mind them and give them a bottle. never happened much to her disappointment. oh well my kids aren't here to please nana and nor am I!
beckles

Hi there

I am at 10 mths now and plan to keep going until Lucy doesn't want it anymore (think that'll be a sad day for her Mummy...). I have been to some ABA meetings and have a friend who is studying to be a counsellor and still bf her 2 1/2 yr old. Which is great encouragement 'cause I'm starting to feel like I'm the only woman around in my Mothers' Group, etc that is intending to go beyond 12 mths (of the one or two who even get that far...). So your stories are really encouraging to me - keep them coming!! My DP is a particularly strong supporter of extended bf and I find that wonderful.

Beckles, good on Zak, I can't wait to tell DP that story! I get qns about how long I intend to bf now, especially since Lucy is toddling, so I think some ppl assume she's already 12 mths or more. I pull out the WHO line that babies continue to get health benefits until they're at least 2 1/2, so until she wants to stop is fine by me. I'm not sure what I'll say when ppl start telling me I should stop (whenever that is). I think I'll ask them why, 'cause I can't think of any good reason!

bree is about 23 months:)
recently found i im pregnant, and told my parents. apparently they believed that if i didnt stop BF it would kill the baby.
i set em straight:lol:
but seriously it is amazing how many people know so little about breastfeeding. all the elder people i chat too who see bree bf are amazed that i still 'have milk' and that i got preg at all. they thought you cant get preg when breastfeeding - i had to explain that that was true for me for 18 months, then i got AF and was just as fertile as anyone else LOL

congrats on your pregnancy and for breastfeeding for so long., Well done!

I am so glad I took the time to read through this thread today!

DS has been attached to the boobie all night it seems for the past couple of nights and I've found it a tad frustrating and very tiring and was considering weaning when he hits the one year mark next month! :frown:

However, since reading all the wonderful things you girls have said about the joys of breastfeeding into the second year, I'm feeling energized and happy to continue b/f DS until age 2 if we can get there.

He is just a boobie loving boy and I just need to take one day (and night) at a time. I go through periods where the frequent night feeding doesn't bother me, and then there are other times (like this week) where I just want a night to myself to be able to sleep in a position I want to (I'm a die hard tummy sleeper) and not have someone attached to my nipple all night long! ;)

I don't know whether DS is hungry or thirsty in the night or just needing comfort, or both but I know he needs me and I should be there to meet his needs. Having said that, tonight I took his sippy cup of water into the bedroom and the first time he woke (an hour after going down) I offered him his sippy cup and he had a BIG long drink and then settled in my arms as I walked the room and patted his back for 15 minutes or so. Perhaps this will help us wean off some of the night feeds.

He is sometimes waking and feeding every 2 hours or so. We co-sleep to try to maximize my sleep but I'm just wondering if any of the rest of you have gone through a similar phase at around the one year mark?

Any thoughts, comments, stories would be appreciated as I will welcome any further encouragement to keep going until DS is two!

Congrats on almost 12 months.
I went thrpugh something similar around the same age. Jacob went from sleeping through to waking every few hours overnight and I was plain exhausted. It took me till he was aound 13 months to go right enough. I simply refused to feed him.. DH got up to him when he wasn't working the next day or we just ignored him (mean I know but boy was it worth it) it took a few nights but he stopped waking. As you co sleep Just offering a cuddle might be fine. They all develop habits and his is as soon as he starts to wake is to go in search of comfort.

Good Luck. I hope you start getting some tummy sleep soon lol..

Yay for all you girls! I hope I can join in here in 8 months time! hehe.

Yep - generational..and I bet if the WHO turn around and say that you only need to feed for 12 months - WE'LL be the ones saying - no - that's wrong.. it's 2yrs! LOL. We'll probably be just as painful to the up and coming generations :) My mum threw me the "after 12 months its for the mother not the baby that they keep breastfeeding" - ugh.

I've had some friends surprised that I'm still feeding at 10 months. They don't seem to know whether it's a good thing or not. They just end up saying 'oh.. haven't you done well'. I don't actually think so.. it's just been so natural.. I don't really give a thought to it anymore. In fact it'll be a shock to the system when he weans.. it's such a major part of our lives right now!

Congrats again girls! And well done Angel on b/f while pg :) Hoping to join you soon! hehe.

ETA: We often co-sleep - but he's never gone in search of boob int he night. He wakes, and I have to sit up and feed him, but he's never been one to roll over and attach. hehe.

heidi one of mine breastfed frequently overnight although for him it wasn't a stage it was just him. he basically breastfed 2 hourly for 24 hours a day until he was about 3 ... very tiring but now he is 8 i am so glad i did it cos he really needed that and could have become a very anxious kid but thanks to me listening to his needs he is a happy well adjusted child. my other 2 had periods of frequent feeding over night but usually just when they were/are teething. honestly, i find co-sleeping a life saver, i really don't think i would survive if i had to wake up to feed. i just sort of roll over in my sleep and thats it. i have no idea how much oscar feeds at night cos i just don't wake up for it. keep up the good work it really is worth it. i have found that by allowing my older 2 to self wean when they were ready Josh at 2 1/2 and zak at nearly 4 they are very confident, happy well adjust kids that are compassionate and caring. i really love breastfeeding but i don't think that i do it for me, if oscar was weaned he would have to have cows milk still so i just give him human milk ;) happy feeding
beckles

Beckles - I can't be bothered doing the math hehe. Did you feed through pg? or tandem feed any of your kids?

i didn't tandem feed but i did feed for a little while when i was pregnant but josh had pretty much weaned and there is 7 years between zak and oscar i'm into extended breastfeeding but not that extended LOL ;)
beckles

*looks at your kids ages* LOL - hmm.. I guess not! LOL.

Hi girls
So glad I found this other forum as I thought the ABA one was the only pro breastfeeidng one around. I loooove my ABA meetings (couldn't stand the mothers group in my area- too many rich snobby farmers wives living in a small town with nothing to do but gosspip!) I am even training to be a counellor Yeah!!!
Anyway I fed my first until he was 23mths and I'm still feeding my 18mth old son. I intend to wean him until he stops himself or he turns 3 whichever comes first.
Have had a few comments one form a friend who said I had to do something about my breastfeeding so I could get drunk at her NYE party- no thankyou and I can still have a drink or 2 (I stayed home and had a few glasses of wine instead!)
DS2 has just stopped the frequent night feeds and has slept through 6 mights in a row (730-4am) YEAH

Phonenix -
You mean there is hope that my son will stop waking me up 2-3 hourly during the night bashing his head into my arm, chest, or whatever body part is closest looking for boobie??? I would LOVE the thought of him sleeping 7:30pm - 4am as that would be absolute heaven for me!

Yeah there is hope. I just went with the flow and now he's sleeping through. Lets hope it stays like that as I've learn't with the boys not to become too use to anything or hey presto CHANGE!

I am still feeding Jordan but only a night feed before bed. He weaned himself of all the other feeds.
I am happy to continue the night feed for aslong as he wants it.
he will be 15 months at the end of January

I am still feeding Maria, we cosleep and I don't always know if she had fed through the night or not as she justs lift the tshirt and self service unless I am in the wrong position.