How long do you plan on bf?

[naomip]

How long do you plan on bf? I'm enjoying bf much much more than I though I would and ideally would like to carry on until Leo is 1. However we will want to start ttc around his first birthday so not sure if I should finish a couple of months before this. X

 

[Maud]

I previously said I wanted to bf at least 6 months, but now I'm aiming for a year.

You can get pregnant while breastfeeding, so I'd feed as long as you want to and just see what happens.

 

[CamFi]

At eight months lo has now stopped feeding during work hours most days, so I'll just let her drop the rest of the feeds when she's ready, and change any remaining feeds to cows milk sometime between 12 and 18 months.

 

[BunnyN]

I plan to let LO to decide when to stop. LO is 14 months and still feeding several times a day. It can be hard for some women to get pregnant while BFing but I got my periods back when LO was 8 months old and got pregnant on my 4th cycle. I think I do have less milk now from being pregnant but it doesn't seem to bother LO. If she carries on through pregnancy I will be tandem feeding.

 

[SuffolkMum]

I breastfed my oldest until he was 3 years and 3 months old. We only stopped because I was pregnant with William and I didn't fancy nursing through my pregnancy.

I'm more than happy for William to nurse just as long, in fact I'll be rather sad if he decides to wean before he's 2 lol!

 

[Jajis]

My son will be two years old on Sunday and we're still going, although these days it's mostly just bedtime and when he wakes in the morning. Occasionally he'll come and sit on my lap during the day and pat my boobs to ask for a feed

Before I started I assumed that I'd stop when I went back to work, then after he was born I really wasn't sure we'd even make it to the end of the first month it was so horrific. In the end I pushed my return to work back until he was almost 13 months so that I didn't have to faff with pumping at work as he could have cows milk at nursery on the days he goes.

Now I'm happy for him to continue for as long as he wants, and as long as I have milk

We do want to have another child at some point, but as far as I understand it is perfectly possible to get pregnant while breastfeeding.

 

[Pixel]

I think 18 months to 2? Not sure! I would like another baby and I'm not sure about nursing through a pregnancy/tandem so I'll see what happens. I really love BF so far for loads of reasons and I'd rather give her human milk than cows milk.

 

[willow76]

We are at 6 months but I was thinking a year but will just see how it goes.

 

[Rednursie]

I initially aimed to feed for 6 months but I'm now hoping for a year. Would be delighted if I can go for even longer but I am also going to be thinking of number 2 so I'll have to see how my period pans out. Xx

 

[Mrs M]

I couldn't bf dd. I tried for 3 days, but she was ill, I was ill and I had nothing for her, so when I was pg with ds I decided I wasn't going through that again and ff from day 1. When I have my next baby though I am going to make more of an effort to bf - even if it is only while I'm in hospital, it's better than nothing at all.

 

[JemmaB]

So refreshing to see how many of you mamas are planning to or already feeding your babies passed a year.

My baby girl is 9 months and still breastfeeding morning, naps and bedtime.

It totally works for us and I've had to resign from work simply because it wouldn't work financially with child care costs being so high, so I don't have the added pressure of worrying what to do when I go back. From what I've heard from others they do adapt to not feeding so much if you have to go back to work.

Im hoping to continue with bf until around a year although teeth are already making it sore at times.

I do finally feel like I'm just not bothered about what people think to do with still bf her which is great because nearly everyone including my partner seem to think its already going on too long. What do they know

 

[Maud]

Why would anyone question still breastfeeding at 9 months??? It's a sad state of affairs when people think it's more natural/normal to feed a baby cow milk than breast milk!

 

[Jajis]

It's daft, but I've even heard of health professionals telling people that there was no benefit to feeding after six months etc. - which is complete rubbish of course! There are so many benefits to breastfeeding, however long you decide to go on for - and the World Health Organisation recommend breast feeding until at least two years old, and beyond if you can.

I went back to work part-time when my son was about 13 months old and have carried on breast feeding him, he still has two feeds a day now and he'll be 27 months tomorrow

This is my reaction if anybody says anything about it: and , and if they carry on about it I get a bit more like this: and then until they regret saying anything in the first place

One last thing though, teeth shouldn't be making it sore to feed (apart from the occasional, accidental nip) - when teeth start to come through you sometimes find you need to adjust your positioning / latch in order to get comfy again

 

[naomip]

I also find that people can sometimes be judgemental when you choose to feed past 6 months x

 

[angel6901]

I still breastfeed my LO he is 3 in April. He has morning and evening feeds and when he gets upset ..I may stop soon but we have such a strong bond and he loves it so much I will continue for a little while longer.. my advice is to feed as long as you both want to xxx