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| Parenting Club Forums > Breastfeeding > How long to breastfeed? |
| Posted by: MommyToAshley Mar 28 2003, 10:17 AM |
| How long did you or are you planning to breastfeed? I hope Ashley makes it to at least a year. She seems to be less and less interested in it now.. maybe it is just a phase. |
| Posted by: Kaitlin'smom Mar 28 2003, 10:51 AM |
| I with you I am hoping a year, but I will be happy with 6 months or more. Since she will not take a bottle I still am her main (heck her only) food source! oh she is 3 months old today if you did not know |
| Posted by: supermom Mar 28 2003, 03:46 PM |
| I fed my first until 13 months, the middle one until just at one year, and the third quit at 9 months (although I tried to encourage her to go longer). Anders is the fourth, and he will be three very soon, and is still nursing....(I am so glad, I love it!). He only really nurses a quick drink morning and night, and a longer one at nap time, and if I am not around he can live without it, but it is still very special to curl up next to him and feed! Hopefully this new one will go as long, only time will tell. |
| Posted by: madaise Mar 28 2003, 08:10 PM |
| I have no plans to quit. Teigen will be 2 this June. We are just going with the flow..... ummm... literally, I guess |
| Posted by: MommyToAshley Mar 28 2003, 08:50 PM | ||
LOL  |
| Posted by: HomeIsCool Mar 28 2003, 09:30 PM |
| All of my children have nursed past the age society would accept as normal. How is THAT for an answer?  Barbara |
| Posted by: Kaitlin'smom Mar 29 2003, 02:35 AM |
| thats a good answer......... |
| Posted by: MomToMany Mar 31 2003, 09:36 AM |
 Well, Hannah's 11 mos. old now and I don't plan on quitting any time soon! I hope to make it to 18 mos, hopefully 2 years!  Newbie member, Mollie |
| Posted by: dhoppygirl Mar 31 2003, 04:02 PM |
Wow, reading everyone's responses has encouraged me!!  I was planning on nursing Peyton at least a year, but I hit a rut in the last few weeks and was really hoping to stop ( I am a WOHM so I pump twice a day and it isn't as much fun as actually feeding) BUT now that I read all of your answers I am going to keep going until Peyton is ready to quit...even if that is past what society deems normal!!! Thanks, Dawn & Peyton 9/23 |
| Posted by: supermom Mar 31 2003, 04:14 PM |
| Dear Dawn and Peyton: YAHOO!! I love it when someone like you decides what's the "norm" and not anyone else. I even feed my 3 YO at work (we own our own store and he's came to work with us since he was 3 days old) and none of my customers seem to mind (mostly I turn my back when I am sitting at my desk, but sometimes that isn't possible!)..... Don't let anyone discourage you, and please, if you do get that way, just give us a holler and we'll help with any problems, or just give you an ego boost if that's what you need! <<hugs>> |
| Posted by: MommyToAshley Mar 31 2003, 05:39 PM |
| I find these ladies to be very encouraging too... I don't know what I would do without them! I just hope Ashley doesn't ween herself... she is so interested in everything else atm that she only nurses for a few minutes until right before bed. |
| Posted by: pen2000pal May 10 2003, 08:22 AM | ||
I am an exclusive pumper and I plan to continue pumping until he is 2, maybe longer.Susan Pumping for Spencer 15 months |
| Posted by: eiramitak May 10 2003, 11:19 AM |
| I'm with HomeIsCool... Both my girls have nursed well past the society's accepted norm |
| Posted by: kit_kats_mom May 10 2003, 07:31 PM |
| I plan on breastfeeding Katherine as long as she wants. I love the closeness we have when she is nursing to sleep, besides, she refuses a bottle or sippy and she hardly touches solids so the poor babe would starve if I wasn't here. Also, my purely selfish reason for nursing...I am dropping weight so easily! I've lost all of the preggo weight and I'm 15 lbs less than I was before I got pregnant. Since I'm on WW I can't believe how much I eat ( I often go over my points) but since she is such a champ nurser, I am still losing weight every week! This is great. |
| Posted by: KatieLeigh79 May 11 2003, 08:03 AM |
| ..So what does society consider "acceptable" for nursing? I have heard a few different ideas and most my in laws are saying nothing over 3 months or else the baby will be dependant on you "forever" as they don't learn things for themselves.. or am i just getting more bad advice? ..the idea of dropping all this weight and then some though is _really_ sounding appealing! |
| Posted by: supermom May 11 2003, 08:50 AM | ||
ROFLMAO!!! Whatever!! (not to you, to your inlaws and everyone else!!) I would say that society expects us to wean (from breast or bottle) at around a year. Now for me up on my  The benefits of BF are great, and sustain them even past that age.......it's just like custom made milk for them. It's still nutrition, although by a year may not be their sole source, it is STILL milk!! Your baby WILL be dependent on you forever anyways <yes, even after they are 18, trust me!!!  > You are their mother, whether you are BF or not, and they are supposed to depend on you. Actually, studies support just the opposite. If you let your little one lead the way with weaning, and BF to at least 1 year of age, then they will reap the benefits (both physical and psychological) of you and your closeness!!!! It's a very special relationship, and it is well worth educating those around you so that they will support your decision, whether it's for a year, or even longer.....(we're going on year number 4 - he just turned three, and still going strong!). I BF at work, at our store, and have had more encouragement from our customers (especially the older ladies, they are pleasantly suprised and procede to tell me that they nursed their babies well past one year!!). It is just recently that BF for that long was no longer considered "normal". In most other countries, it continues well into the second and third years of life! OK, sorry to go on like that - giggle - now I will come down off my !!! Really, though, do consider at least a year, if not longer!! |
| Posted by: eiramitak May 11 2003, 05:23 PM |
| To me the society norm is around 12 months... for some its much younger- when they have teeth or can ask for it or can walk... its a lot of things. For us... its when they wean themselves. I am still nursing both of my children... 4 and 2... YEARS. |
| Posted by: kit_kats_mom May 12 2003, 04:13 PM |
Ok, I'll admit being a little bit taken aback when a lady at my LLL meeting nursed her 5yo.  He just walked right up to her, pulled up her shirt, climbed on her lap & started snacking. But then I figured, to each his own! Now that I have my own little moo, I can see how it might be hard to give nursing up. I will let Katherine nurse as long as she wants but probably not in public. I'm pretty easy going and hard to shock so I can't imagine what some others thought.  I'm just not ready to take on anyone who had something to say about it. Just my 2cents....please don't flame me for being a little freaked out. Cary |
| Posted by: supermom May 12 2003, 04:29 PM |
| Nah, no problem, no flames - I am like you, to each his own. It's definately not my style to tell anyone else how/why/when/whatfor/whatever when it comes to raising their child. I will certainly give advice when asked, but I figure everyone has got to do what is right in their heart. But if you chose to BF until they are 10 YO I'll be there cheering you on!!! |
| Posted by: msjennbug May 14 2003, 07:31 PM |
| I nurse my babies until I'm pregnant again. Something in the milk changes, taste or amount something and they show a disinterest. That countered with it being right at 12mo and being so drained just from pg it's been a conveint time for all involved. I was ready to nurse my now 18mo son until he was ready to stop, even through pregnancy. Then at 13mo he got a stomach bug. Every time he nursed he puked, but if he drank from the cup he kept it down. Theory we have is that he got a larger amount to drink in a shorter amount of time and that's why it came back up. Neither he, nor I were really ready to wean, but with all the circumstances stacked up they way they were, we did. He still remembers, I KNOW he does. He climbs on my lap and sticks his hand down my shirt, says, "ball" to go to sleep!!! poor guy. poor mama. |
| Posted by: MamaMartie May 19 2003, 11:54 AM |
| I think about a year, but it is really up to Hannah. I will probably let her decide what she wants to do. |