How long did you breastfeed? I am going on 7 months and plan on going for a year, or until he decides first.?

Question

What was your experience like?

Answer 1

I breastfed my daughter untl 11 months when she decided she's rather have table food and quit.

My son is currently 16 months and still breastfeeding several times a day (in addition to all meals/snacks at the table!).  The way he breastfeeds, I am pretty sure we'll be past his second birthday breastfeeding  :)

Answer 2

I fed both my daughters until they were 12 months old.  It was the best thing i ever did.  I had no worries about heating up or washing bottles or fussing with formula's and when the time came I just weaned them onto sippy cups of whole milk.

When they first cut their teeth it was a little difficult, but really when they are actually nursing they can not bite you their tongue is in the way.  It's when they're just suckling or fooling around that nipples get bitten and you just see the cue that they're finished and take them off the breast before anythign like that happens.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I'm nursing a 9 month old and a 29 month old.  I suggest you go over to the gradeschool category and ask there.

No baby under a year chooses not to breastfeed.  Babies NEED mom's milk until at least age 2.

Extended Breastfeeding Fact Sheet

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/eb...

    *   Nursing toddlers benefit NUTRITIONALLY

    * Nursing toddlers are SICK LESS OFTEN

    * Nursing toddlers have FEWER ALLERGIES

    * Nursing toddlers are SMART

    * Nursing toddlers are WELL ADJUSTED SOCIALLY

    * Nursing a toddler is NORMAL

    * MOTHERS also benefit from nursing past infancy

    * Additional Resources

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/eb...

Nursing a toddler is NORMAL

    * The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that "Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child... Increased duration of breastfeeding confers significant health and developmental benefits for the child and the mother... There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer." (AAP 2005)

    * The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that breastfeeding continue throughout the first year of life and that "Breastfeeding beyond the first year offers considerable benefits to both mother and child, and should continue as long as mutually desired." They also note that "If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned." (AAFP 2001)

    * A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello 1990)

    * The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO 1992, WHO 2002).

    * Scientific research by Katherine A. Dettwyler, PhD shows that 2.5 to 7.0 years of nursing is what our children have been designed to expect (Dettwyler 1995).

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.ht...

One often hears that the worldwide average age of weaning is 4.2 years, but this figure is neither accurate nor meaningful. A survey of 64 "traditional" studies done prior to the 1940s showed a median duration of breastfeeding of about 2.8 years, but with some societies breastfeeding for much shorter, and some for much longer. It is meaningless, statistically, to speak of an average age of weaning worldwide, as so many children never nurse at all, or their mothers give up in the first few days, or at six weeks when they go back to work. It is true that there are still many societies in the world where children are routinely breastfed until the age of four or five years or older, and even in the United States, some children are nursed for this long and longer. In societies where children are allowed to nurse "as long as they want" they usually self-wean, with no arguments or emotional trauma, between 3 and 4 years of age. This interest also stemmed from the realization that other animals have "natural" ages of weaning, around 8 weeks for dogs, 8-12 months for horses, etc. Presumably these animals don't have cultural beliefs about when it would be appropriate.

http://www.naturalchild.org/tine_theveni...

When our children develop a "good" habit, one that suits us, we are afraid it is not going to last. But when our children develop a "bad" habit, one that does not suit us, we are afraid it is going to last forever. So many people are afraid that their children will not grow up. We are told to feed them solids with a spoon at three weeks of age, lest babies will never learn to eat solids, let alone with a spoon. We are told to toilet train them when they are one year old or they will never quit wearing diapers. We are told to begin to discipline them at one month, otherwise they will never listen to us. We are told that children must always sleep in their own bed or they will always want to sleep with us. It is commonly believed that babies need to be weaned by the mother. And yet when weaning is left totally up to the child, it happens in a natural, healthy, and relaxed way. At the time the child no longer needs direct physical contact with his mother, then he weans himself from the breast. Likewise, parents' experiences indicate that the healthy child will wean himself in time from the parental bed.

Answer 4

i could only do it for 2 months, but mine was a medical reason i could not continue. i loved it! my sister-in-law tryes to do her for the first year or when they get teeth and start biting her, LOL

Answer 5

8 months and counting, she can stop when she's ready.

My experience has been wonderful, no problems at all, I feel blessed :)

Answer 6

My wife did our daughter for about four months...I loved it. Those b*****s stay so firm and hard it was great.

She had to go back to work so it was a pain with the pump all the time trying to load up bottles for the day. That was why she quit early.

Answer 7

1 year

We went through nipple confusion and I have to pump exclusively.  I would consider nursing longer than 1 year and let him self wean but since that's not an option, I'm anxiously waiting to retire the pump.

Answer 8

My daughter is 15.5 months and still nurses at least 8 times a day. I plan on letting her self wean, and I'm betting it will be near her 3rd birthday at least before she gives it up!

Answer 9

I breastfed for about 14 months.  If I was to do i again, I would probably go longer.

(Know that babies almost never self wean much before 12-18 months, so it's VERY unlikely that your baby will decide to stop before a year.)

Answer 10

my wife spot breastfeeding when our lil girl's teeth came in. she would bit her real hard and she would start bleeding. but we still give her breast milk. my wife believe it is the best best milk for a growing baby.

Answer 11

2 years-ish.  DD self weaned, and because it was so gradual, I can't remember the exact last time, but I think it was at about 25 mos.

Answer 12

My son is almost 9 months and we are still going strong. No plans on weaning any time soon.

Answer 13

Due to a medical reason with my first son, he wasn't able to breastfeed and therefore the nurses gave him formula. I tried pumping but with all the commotion of what was happening to my son, I couldn't focus on that and I dried up. With my daughter however I had a much better experience and I breastfed from birth until she grew teeth at 7 months and bit me..OUCHIE! My next one I plan on going to one year.  

Answer 14

I have a 16 month old who still breastfeeds before bed and naps.  I just recently cut out her morning and afternoon nursing sessions and we are working on cutting out the other sessions.  I am not in a rush though.  I never thought I would nurse her this long but I am so glad I did.  It has been the best thing for both of us.  

Answer 15

I am going on 5 months currently and will wean him between 9-12 months from the breast.  The AAP recommends weaning a baby from a bottle by 12 months, so the same concept applies to nursing a baby in my opinion as a health care provider.  I feed him expressed milk as well as nursing him currently.  I will continue to give him breast milk as long as I can, though it will be pumped, via a sippy cup.