How long have you breastfed for?

Question

Just out of curiosity to all you breastfeeding moms.

I did baby led weaning with both kids.

My first stopped on his own at 27 months. My second is 14 months and still feeding.

world health organization says at least 2 years is recommended and that the world over all stats say babys b/f till 6 years of age when they lose there "milk" teeth.

How long have you breastfed?

Answer 1

My 30 month old is still nursing.... constantly.  As is his 10 month old brother.

You might have better luck asking this in the grade-schooler category  

Answer 2

so far only 5 months, but i will let him as long as he likes. i am all for self-weaning.

Answer 3

6 months and I'm planning on going to a year, I really didn't know that so many people really breastfed their children that long. I'm wondering if the 6 year old thing (which, in my opinion is very creepy)  is probably in third world countries, the ameican academy of pediatrics states only 1 year

Answer 4

I breastfed my older children until I got pregnant again and the nipple pain became too intense to continue.  My oldest was 14 months and she lost interest on her own when I lost my milk.  My middle child was well over two years old.  Actually, she has hinted that she wants to nurse again after the new baby gets well established on the breast.

Answer 5

i could only breastfeed for two weeks because my milk never came in and loved every minute of it. i  was very sad when i had to stop.  we tried everything to get it to come in but nothing helped. but i would have breastfeed her until 12-18 months, maybe longer if she wanted to. if i have another baby i will breastfeed again and hope my milk comes in.  

Answer 6

6.5 months

Answer 7

I nursed my first until he was 14 months old and I became pregnant with my second; at that time the milk supply suddenly dried up thanks to pregnancy hormones.  I nursed my second only until she was about 9 months old; she initiated this and had been getting a bottle a couple times a day.  She like the portability of the bottle better.  My third one just stopped nursing a couple months ago, just shy of 2 1/2 years old.  As for nursing in other cultures, most "Western" cultures don't nurse as long for a multitude of reasons; first of all so many mothers in first world nations have to leave the home to work--making nursing much more difficult.  What's appropriate for a nursing mother in, say, the Amazon rain forest or the mountains of Cambodia, isn't necessarily what will work for us.  If you're getting grief for still nursing your 14 month old, then tell those folks it's your choice and not hurting baby at all.  I still haven't figured out what exactly people are expecting when they hound a mom about nursing after a few months.  I don't think ultimately that they even care, they're just making a comment that doesn't need to be made.  You keep doing what you're doing and if you want to nurse your kids until their 4 or 5 or 6 even, it's no one's business but yours.  What matters most is this: do you love doing it?  Are you enjoying it?  For me, I reached a point at which I was irritated by all the pinching and playing with the food source, the pulling up of my shirt in public, and the nursing (and sometimes nursing and nursing and nursing) baby to sleep, when I could have instead just put her to bed and gone and done some other stuff (or just had some quiet down time).  

Answer 8

I weaned my oldest at 17 months. i just couldn't do it anymore. I felt so bad about it. My second I still nurse sometimes, he's 21 months. He'd nurse more but being 5 months pregnant I don't think I'm lactating anymore. If all goes as planned I will try to let my third self wean also.

Answer 9

I couldn't breastfeed my first son. But did try pumping but didn't work for me. With my second son. I breastfeed him but also he was getting formula since my breast milk didn't fill him up. When he was 9 months old he weaned himself off my breast. I am planning to breastfeed this baby that growing inside me but I trying to breastfeed it long has I can.

Answer 10

Wow. I only did it for 8.5 months. It was just becoming to stressful to try to pump all the time. And I had to go on blood pressure meds and everything. I give you credit. I just don't think I could go that long.