Breastfeeding

[michelle_in_scotland]

Just a quick question about breastfeeding.
I was just wondering when you stopped or are planning to stop?

Kady is now 7 1/2 months and i'm still breastfeeding her, she gets a big feed first thing and before bed and a few little ones throughout the day. I'm thinking about carrying on until she turns 1 then she can drink cows milk but now that she has 2 teeth i'm not sure, she bit me hard the other day and it really hurt, i just took her off the breast and said "no, that's not nice, don't bite mummy" she had a bit of a shocked then a sorry look on her face and hasn't done it again ... so fingers crossed, think i'll just carry on as long as she doesn't make a habit of biting.

Take care,
Lotsa love

Michelle
xxx

[JayfromQld]

Hi Michelle

I am breastfeeding my twins and they are 9 monthos old. I plan too do it until around 19 months. You are lucky your daughter looked contrite after she bit you, mine giggle with delight at my yelp of pain!

When my first daughter was 1 and I was BFing her and she bit me I told her off and told her it wasnt funny and she stopped. Kady and my twins are just at a bad age because they dont know right from wrong.

best wishes
Jay

[julesg]

Hi

Caitlin is 7 months tomorrow at the moment the plan is until she is 1 but so far although they are def coming she doesn't have any teeth

Jay - can I just add well done for feeding twins that is amazing one is hard enough

[michelle_in_scotland]

Hiya Jay and Julie,
Thanks for your replies, it's good to know i'm not the only one planning on breastfeeding this long.
I only know 2 people here at home who have breastfed and they both stopped around 3 or 4 months because they didn't want to carry on when they returned to work.

I love brestfeeding, i think it's as much of a comfort for me as it is for Kady and i know i will miss it when we stop but i do find it quite restricting. Kady still refuses any expressed milk from a bottle or cup so she can't have an overnight stay at her granny's to let me and Michael have a proper night out instead of just a couple hours. I'm not too fussed about it but Michael would like us to have a full night out together, that's men for you though, lol.
Take care all,
Lotsa love

Michelle
xxx

[Maci05]

Hi Michelle. I was browsing the boards after a long long time of being absent and came to your message first after logging in. Congratulations on your arrivals everyone, by the way.

My girls have just had their first birthday. I breastfed them both until they were 8 months old and one weekend they both just stopped within a few feeds of each other (mega sore boobs - 4 feeds daily for 2 babies to nothing in the space of 36 hours - not to be recommended!). Although originally I had hoped to BF for a year because I prefered to tandem feed and was finding it increasingly more difficult as they grew bigger, I had been wondering about starting to stop gradually but couldn't bring myself to withdraw it from them. I would probably have still been breastfeeding if they hadn't decided for themselves. I don't know if it is easier knowing that they decided to stop as I felt really emotional about it all "my babies don't want me anymore" rather than feeling guilty if I had been the one to stop them. I have to say my two have been very good at leading me through the stages which is a good job really!

I think that as long as you both enjoy the experience then keep going. Just tell your DH that even if you did get the chance for a night on your own, if you're anything like me, you'd only be wondering how Kady was the whole time.

Good luck.

Maci x

[cmoscar]

I know you have plenty of info by now, but I just wanted to let you know my experiences.

My first son, 10 years ago, loved nursing and nursed until 13 months old. At that point I was getting involved with my husband, so I stopped him slowly.

Seven years ago, I had my second son and I loved nursing again. I nursed him for the first three months until he got meningitis. I pumped for the entire one month stay at the hospital. He ate next to nothing during that time. Once they started letting him eat again, I nursed him. He continued to nurse for 3 more months. At 7 months old, he decided cups were faster and refused to nurse. I pumped for a while just to keep his immune system up, but he chose to stop.

I am now pregnant with my first little girl and I plan to nurse her as well. The babies make their own decisions in the end.

Good luck!

[julesg]

Hi
Since writing that message Caitlin decided she did not want to feed off me any more - so at 8months we gave up couldn't express enough so for the first time she is now on formula but she is such an angel and drinks it from a cup not a bottle (although I do have trouble getting her to drink water )
It is kind of nice when they give up less guilt - I do miss it sometimes but it was time for us to move on
Love
Julie