Extended-BF ?
I thought about posting this on the bf board, but noticed most of the posts are about more early problems and have been lurking here enough to know many of you nurse past a year. My daughter is 11 months, so we're getting close. I was just wondering if you still take prenatal vitamins after the year mark. I'll definitely finish the bottle I have, but wasn't sure if I should keep buying them. I have no idea when I/she will wean. I originally planned on stopping at a year, but have decided not to put an end date on it.
Also how do you deal w/ nursing in public? When she was little it was no problem, but now she refuses to have anything even near her head while she nurses. She's also easily distracted, and I don't really feel comfortable having my boob just "out there". I'm not really sure how to wean her from nursing in public, or whether I should. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Re: Extended-BF ?
I can't speak for the prenatal vitamins, I was really bad at remembering so I haven't taken them in months. I have noticed that as DS gets older, he doesn't ask to nurse during the day as much so when we're out of the house I don't usually nurse often. When he does want to, I just nurse as normal, without a cover. I just make sure my shirt sort of covers any extra boob. I haven't used a cover since he was about 3 months old because it was more of a hassle than anything.
Also, I always have snacks and a sippy cup with water in it when we're out and offer that to him first if he wants to nurse. Most of the time he's content with that. That might be one way to wean her from wanting to nurse in public if that's something you want to do. If DS really keeps asking to nurse, of course I do, but that is rare these days when we're out and about and busy.
Congrats on making it so long so far. Toddler nursing has been a lot of fun so far!
I still take prenatal vitamins and I weaned DD a year ago. There's nothing wrong with continuing to take them in general, but especially when I was still nursing, I made sure I took my pre-natal daily. Even being really conscientious about my food choices and calorie intake, my body was giving more to DD than it was keeping for itself. I could feel it in my energy levels and I noticed it in my physical shape.
As for nursing in public, I just made sure I had good nursing clothes that afforded some kind of coverage. I didn't have to nurse very much in public after a certain age, but it still happened. Usually DD just wanted a "quick fix" and the whole thing was over in less than 5 minutes. It was hard to discourage the public nursing because the only times she ever really asked to do so were when we were out of the house for long periods of time (like an entire day) or when something happened, like she hurt herself. You could try talking to your child about waiting until later and offering some snacks instead, but there might end up being a situation where the only thing that will avert a total meltdown is nursing.
I plan to keep taking prenatal vitamins throughout my "childbearing years", but especially when I'm breastfeeding (or pregnant obviously).
As far as nursing in public, I don't really do that with my older daughter anymore. Sometimes I'll nurse her in the car if we're leaving somewhere and I want her to sleep in the car on the way home, because nursing relaxes her. I also don't mind nursing her at my parent's or in-law's house. Otherwise, we just do it at home. If DD really needed to nurse when we were out somewhere, though, I'm sure we would. That situation just hasn't come up yet. I do nurse my younger daughter in public.
My OB actually recommends PNVs for all women of child-bearing age regardless of whether they are TTC/pg/BF or not. I'd stay on them.
My DD is also 11mos, and she's easily distracted too. I still use my Hooter Hider primarily b/c DD pops on and off so much to see what's going on around her and totally exposes me. Because of the stiff neckline the top is held off of her head, and I can use my free hand to hold the bottom off of her while still keeping myself covered.
I do plan to drop the first daytime session at some point between 12-15mos (probably closer to 15mos once she's more established on solids). When DS started dropping daytime sessions, it helped with NIP quite a bit b/c when it was time to NIP he was more ready to focus and b/c we had to do it that much less.
I was terrible and didn't keep taking my pre-natals at all. In fact I finally finished the bottle from being pregnant with my son just a few days ago because I'm pregnant again. I agree with everyone else though that you should probably keep taking them.
In terms of nursing in public, I'm a working mom so it might be different. My son has been weaned from daytime (working hours) nursing for a while now. He moved to a sippy of milk (breastmilk and now whole milk) before turning one. So if I'm home and out with him he's completely happy with a sippy and doesn't ask to nurse. Every once in a while he'll ask (technically try to take my shirt off) but it just means he's thirsty and I give him the sippy and he's fine. Sometimes it means he's tired so we head home and he falls asleep in the car. I would nurse him if it was absolutely necessary but with only 2 days/week and stuff to do at home we're not out and about much and when we are he's focused on what we're doing. Anyway, since you may not be in my exact situation my suggestion would be that if you want to easily avoid nursing in public you could start by weaning off the daytime nursing or only nursing during the day if it's naptime.
I'm staying on prenatals even after I stop nursing - mine are just the Target ones so it's not like it's an extra expense. The March of Dimes recommends every woman of childbearing years take a vitamin with 400mg of folic acid.
With DD, the last time I NIP she was 13mo. She was easily distracted by seeing stuff while we were out and about or by a snack and sippy cup.
With DS, I still NIP at 18mo (and he's huge for his age and a great walker/runner/climber, so people often assume he's 2yo). He is NOT distracted by anything else and it is a full blown tantrum if I don't nurse him. We don't do it all the time, he is capable of going all day without nursing... but if he's hurt or if he's really tired, we attract a lot more attention by me denying him than by me nursing him. I keep my shirt down to his face and he's usually ok with that. I will hold my shirt there if he tries to mess with it and I keep my hand there to cover myself if he pops off unexpectedly. And more often, we're nursing with him in the Ergo with the hood up, so it's more hidden.
Thanks for all your suggestions! I'll keep taking the prenatals, and try to get her a snack before she starts pulling on my shirt. Using an ergo w/ a hood sounds like a good idea too, w/ the babyseals deal I'll be getting one soon