breastfeeding duration

M

msmslau

Registered User
my daughter just had her 1 year old checkup today. i told the nurse that i planned to wean my daughter at about 14 mths. surprisingly she told me i could breastfeed as long as i wish. some moms even breastfeed till the child is 5 years!! I know that 1 year is the norm, and 2 years is usually the max, but never heard of 5!?

so i am curious if there is any mom out there breastfeeding for more than 1.5 years. and if so, what is your experience?
 
I nursed my son for 2yrs 10mths. I wanted to nurse till he was 2 which I did. Then started the weaning process which took all of 10 months ! It was very gradual and a little tough since he was too attached to the breasts I guess ! He's 4.5 now and I can't believe so much time has passed !
 
Hi,
I breastfed my son until he self weaned at 16 months and my daughter until she self weaned at 18 months. Both children self weaned because I was pregnant with the next one and there are changes in the milk around the second trimester. I'm not sure what will happen with our third, though we are thinking of four, so maybe they'll self wean too.

Alot of cultures don't wean until their children are much older. We are unusual in many respects in weaning our children earlier (at one year). If the mother and child are happy with breastfeeding, I don't see a problem with carrying on. Brestfeeding creates such a wonderful bond with your child, I remember crying when both my eldest two weaned, it was like we had lost something.

Jools
 
The normal weaning age worldwide is between two and four years. We have many books in our library about weaning. I recommend the following titles:
How weaning Happens by Diane Bengson
Mothering Your Nursing Toddler by Norma Jane Bumgarner

To borrow these books please contact SARAH on 2548-7636 (after 7th August) or come to one of our meetings http://www.lalecheleague.org/HongKong.html

Often you find that the long-term mothers attending the meetings are still breastfeeding their babies. This is because LLL is one of the few places that gives support to mothers for as long as they wish to breastfeed, whether that be of days, weeks, months or even years.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
All four of my children weaned after they were three years old. None of them weaned unhappily. People were always telling me that I was making a rod for my own back but I didn?t find that to be the case.

Personally I don?t think that my babies became more attached to the breast, as they got older ? only more able to express their attachment. It is true that if I?d tried to wean them at two years there would have been lots of tears but because we waited until later there were none.

Each one weaned at a different age but generally they all started to skip feeds because they were playing. Then slowly would fall asleep without feeding. None of this happened overnight (although others told me it did with their babies).

With my last baby she started sleeping without a feed because she would fall asleep while I was reading the bedtime story. This would happen about once a week or so. Then I started a discussion about stopping having mummy?s milk. She could talk about the idea but not follow it through at the beginning. But slowly over the next year she could follow it through. At this stage she was only nursing if something had gone wrong in life ? a serious hurt or a elder sibling being nasty.

I don?t really remember when her last breastfeed was. She just wenT from one stage to the next without any fanfare!

If you still enjoy your breastfeeding relationship I encourage you to continue it. I?m very happy that I have happy memories of not just the breastfeeding relationship with my babies but happy memories of the end of those relationships too.

Best wishes,
Barb
 
my cousin breastfed her son till he reached 5 ad some months! i found ti strange too that the kid could be wanting more of the mom's milk rather than drinking powdered milk.she jad a tough time to get him used to the other milk
 
I BF the first for 20 months, and will wean this one at 24 months if he doesn't quit on his own by them, Wow, you have a very forward thinking nurse!
 
Hi Mocha,
Never partially breastfed. The advantages of breastfeeding are significantly reduced if you introduce a bottle. First child until they were 16 months, second children 18 months and third child still feeding.

Jools
 
I'm still breastfeeding my 15 month old, but only once or occasionally twice, a day. He gets his feed in the early hours of the morning because it's the only thing that gets him back to sleep!! He wakes at about 5, comes into our bed and has a quick feed on both sides, then falls asleep till 7.30 or so. Nice!!

He's never had formula except as a newborn in intensive care. He eats a lot of solid food now - pretty much eats anything I give him, and will drink a cup of cow's milk each day too.

I wouldn't mind giving up the breastfeeding, but actually the whole arrangement suits us as it is so I'll probably only give it up when he is sleeping all the way through to 7 in the morning.
 
My first child had one bottle of formula because I lost confidence in the hospital. Fortunately a doctor visited me before my baby woke up and told me that if I wanted to breastfeed that is what I needed to do and to forget the formula. This is what I did. She started on cows milk when she was about 18 months but still loved to breastfeed as well.

My two sons were exclusively breastfed until they were five and a half months and eight months. Either of them liked cows milk and so they only had my milk. The younger one only started putting milk on his breakfast cereal when he was about five years old ? before that he used apple juice.

My youngest had formula in hospital because she was very ill and the doctor wanted her to have some calories and at that stage I still had colostrum. I expressed and pumped and they fed her by tube. Within 24 hours I was able to produce all the milk she needed. After that she was fully breastfed until she started solids at about six and half months. Then she continued breastfeeding and eating solids until she weaned.

I like my children to eat food as close to its natural state as possible so I try to avoid too much processed food. Formula is just about the most processed food in the world (even more processing than McDonalds)!

Best wishes,
Barb
 
my baby was only had BM for the 1st 6 mths. then solid + BM (cereal also w/ BM), then when i started planning to wean her, i added formula at 12 mths for her midnight feed. then she self weaned at 16 mths.
 
I weaned my daughter gradually from 18 months old from BF on demand to at home only to night time only. 2 weeks ago, when she was 25 months old, I decided to wean her totally. I was quite surprised as she was ok without BF. She can sleep without BF but of course, it takes longer time to put her to sleep and I have to sing to her for a while. Now, she sometimes will pretend that she is having Breastmilk, which is very funny.

She was exclusively BF till 6 months old until I introduced solid. After 1 year old, she started to take fresh cow milk which she likes very much until now. When she was newborn, my doctor gave me wrong info saying that I had to give her formula as she has jaundice, blahblah.. so I did give her a few times formula until I read about the "truth"!!! I stopped giving her formula immediately just before she turned 1 month old.

Jool, did you continue to BF after you were pregnant? The reason I weaned my daughter is because I would like to plan for another child next year. According to my doctor, if I keep BF, my body will not be able to "cope" as I am quite "small size" and skinny.

Is that true? Thanks!
 
is it the same doctor who told you your baby had to take formula cos she's jaundice?

as far as i know, if you live a healthy lifestyle, size doesn't matter nursing pregnant moms.
 
Hi Wee Kean,
I'd love to know where these doctors get their information from. I have three children currently (though plan to have fourth a little later on).

My first child self weaned at sixteen months as I was pregnant with my second child. It was totally his decision; in the second trimester your milk changes taste and this can often cause the baby/toddler who is nursing to wean. My second child self-weaned at eighteen months because I was pregnant with my third. So actually I don't know how to wean a child aside from getting pregnant which will eventually have to stop-lord knows what I'll do with the last one.

That aside, there are no side effects to either you, your child or the baby you are carrying if you breastfeed whilst pregnant. Often women tandem feed once the baby is born, so feed their toddler and their baby, again with no ill effects, aside form needing to sit down alot and hey when you've just had a baby who is going to complain about that.

You might want to direct your doctor to their local La Leche League leader for an update on their breastfeeding knowledge as they obviously need it.

I hope that helps.

Jools
 
Often when mothers get pregnant while still breastfeeding they are worried that the breastfeeding may in someway affect the unborn child. But, in fact, the bigger danger comes to the baby who is still breastfeeding.

There can be a drop in the milk supply, especially during the second trimester. If the baby is older, say already a toddler, and getting most of his nutrition from other sources this doesn't impact the older baby much. If this older baby likes to breastfeed for the comfort and security the mother may see no change in the feeding pattern. But if the baby likes to nurse more to get the milk she may find that the older baby weans.

If, however, the older baby is still quite young and getting most or all of his nutrition from the mother's milk it is important to monitor this older baby's growth to make sure everything is fine. It is also a good idea to monitor the weight gain of the mother as being pregnant and fully breastfeeding too can put a strain on her system.

This subject is not covered comprehensively in most books for mothers because they assume that the older baby is already a toddler and getting most of his nutrition from other foods. This is the most common case when breastfeeding while pregnant as one side effect of breastfeeding is usually a delay in the mother's fertility. The delay often results in babies spaced around two years apart.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
Thanks Joan, Jool and Sarah for the info.

The first one was my Gynae doctor and the second one is our current GP. Both are Chinese female doctors. Is it a culture thing?

I would love to BF my daughter longer but like what Sarah said, I do need to monitor my weight gain and take care of myself. Hopefully I can BF my second child more than 2 years.
 
i never used formula, but when my first was one I went back to work, so he did have whole milk at the day home, and BF when with me. He weaned at 20 months, I was 4 months pregnant at the time. My milk supply dropped a lot when I got pregnant and BF became increasinglky painful. I was ready for him to quit as I could hardly stand the pain! With my scond, I plan to start whole milk agian at age one, and BF when I am not at work, and I will encourage him to wean at age 2 if he doesn't on his own by then. I'm interested in going much past age 2.

There is absolutly no problem to BF while pregnant. The only time it is not advised is for people who have a serious risk of preterm labor, and that is quite rare. There is no problem to BF if you are small. Your body will just encourage you to eat more, because you will need lots of nutrients, so expect to be hungry. The milk will still be nutritious and the unborn baby will grow.

The only people who gave me any grief over BF past a year where my husband, he was fine with it as long as no one saw, and was disturbed if I BF the toddler in a restaurant, but although very annoying to me, I didn't let his attitude stop me. My grandma was horrified, and I know my mom thought it strange too, although she only made indirect comments to it. I recognize that they are only uncomfortable because they are not used to it, if more people BF toddlers in public, then people would be used to it and not think it strange.
 
I am a bit confuse about what do all you mean wean?
quit BM/formula but keep on with ordinary fresh cow's milk from the supermarket?
or milk is no long a meal, just a snack?
 
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