Extended Breastfeeding

Holly_1007

If you aren't ready to kick babe off the boob just yet, are you just going to continue doing what you are doing? Are you adding in WCM as well? If you work are you going to continue pumping? How many moms are considering long term nursing?

 

kbetzner

I am going to continue BF, because we will be moving 1,700 miles around her first birthday. We will probabaly be living in a hotel until we can find a home. I want to keep BF so it will be a comfort for her when everything else is crazy.

jenndub

I breastfed the older two until about 14 or 15 months. I took away bottles at a year for them and just nursed in the morning and at night. They had WCM in their sippy cups during the day. I plan to do the same with Sawyer.

Gray99

I'm going to stop pumping at work and while I'm away he'll have WCM.  When it's him and I I'll still breastfeed (especially in the morning and at night) unless we are out and about and he'll have WCM. That's the plan anyways.   

MRoxy0628

I've been home for the summer, but when I go back in 2 weeks my plan is to pump for a bit and then quit that ASAP. I didn't want to pump at all when I return to work, but I don't want to end up with mastitis.

We will start introducing the WCM when she returns to daycare in a couple weeks and then I plan to continue nursing when I'm with her. I'm not sure how long I'll do it though. I'm not ready to be done and I don't think she is either, but sleep issues are making me question if we should wean soon.

melody921

I'm already weaning off the pump bc I have a massive freezer supply, so that's what's going to school. When she turns one, she'll get WCM in her sippy instead of BM (I'll mix the two for a few weeks before she gets a whole cup of it). We'll continue to nurse morning and night until I figure out how long we're going with that.

MrsManny

I really love the idea of him self weaning, but we'll see.  A few weeks after his Birthday, I'm planning to start sippy cups of WCM with meals.  I'm hoping to get night weaned soon (we are working on it now) and switch to just nursing in the morning and at night.  We are hoping to TTC early summer of next year and I don't want to breast feed while being pregnant so we'll see how that goes.

freeatlast2014

I BF DS1 until 14 months when my OB told me I should stop (I was pg). I'm wanting LO off the boob but have a hard time with it. I already give WCM in a sippy but he doesn't really drink it. I also still nurse MOTN and really want to see that one go but tried the other night and finally caved after an hour of crying/fussing (mostly fussing). I hope that if I keep with the WCM in the sippy he will start to drink a significant amount and I can nurse less. I definitely want to start weaning specific sessions but have no problems with him still nursing past a year if that's what works for him (and me).

Hyaline

I'm planning to let her take the lead.  I've started giving her WCM in a sippy with meals.  She drinks a little, not much, but it's really more to get her used to it.  We'll see how it goes--I anticipate her slowly losing interest in the boob and preferring "real" food, but if she doesn't, I'll likely push weaning a little more if she's still BFing four or five times a day at 15-18 months or so.

MrsKipper

I'm going to wean slowly and introduce WCM in 2 weeks (her birthday). I'll probably drop the morning feeding last. I think I'll hang onto tht one for a while.

Bookelly

I'm going back to school in two weeks, as well, so we are down to a morning and pre-dinner session most days. She gets supplemental formula in a sippy cup during the day. We are in the middle of the move from hell, bouncing between our parents' houses while we wait for the bank to approve our bid on a short sale. I won't fully wean till we are in the new place, as it's still a source of comfort, but tbh I'm not in any hurry to stop anyway.

jbBeans

I'm hoping she'll wean herself by about 2, and if she doesn't I guess I'll reevaluate at that point. I never saw myself extended BFing for a long long time--I've always been comfortable with the idea of going to about 2. So we'll see. If she's still nursing frequently (4-5 times/day at the moment) I won't bother with WCM. She gets water during meals and unless her pedi recommends something different, we'll stick with that for now. 

PortermansWifey

I plan to BF until 2. Unless he self weans. We had DH's reunion with his Marine buddies this past weekend and I almost punched one of the other wives in the throat. She told me it was disgusting to BF a child at DS's age. I was speechless. 

Holly_1007

PortermansWifey said:

I plan to BF until 2. Unless he self weans. We had DH's reunion with his Marine buddies this past weekend and I almost punched one of the other wives in the throat. She told me it was disgusting to BF a child at DS's age. I was speechless. 

My sister said something similar when we went out to lunch a few weeks ago.  My sister doesn't even have kids. It was awful

terri_doula2010

I plan on continuing to BF right now. Already when I'm away from her, she sometimes gets almond milk. That won't change for the time being.

Cooper611

I think the plan will be to stop pumping while at work after 12 months and feed LO in the AM and PM for a few months of the transition. We will most likely use WCM during the day starting at 12 months. LO is really starting to wean herself, so I am starting to feel the urge to give her some wcm and see if she likes it. 

damabo80

I nursed DD until she weaned on her own at 19.5m (she got a bad cold for about 3w and couldn't breathe through her nose). 

I plan to do the same thing with DS. 

We don't "do" WCM. I don't even drink 20oz of WCM/day, and I weigh much more than 25lb. Instead, after weaning (and before as well) I made sure she ate a balanced meal with enough fat and calcium to make up for minimal WCM. She maybe drinks 8oz/month. 

damabo80

That is sad...considering if you didn't BF, you'd need to give him formula at this age. So spending money on something that tries to emulate BM but still falls short is ideal for you, according to her. Ok. Whatever. 

bosha711

I will let her lead the way in terms of weaning, but I will definitely be introducing WCM at 12 months. I am hoping to be 100% done by 15 months, but I won't force her if she's not ready.

linzeek44

I'm not entirely sure. I'm not introducing WCM at 12 months if he is still nursing like a champ. But I may or may not be going back to work full time and then I would have to pump and figure out life and I have no idea.

My answer is mostly a big question mark.

jbBeans

Whenever someone questions the fact that I still BF, I tell them that the WHO recommends BFing until 2 or beyond.

Holly_1007

damabo80 said:

I nursed DD until she weaned on her own at 19.5m (she got a bad cold for about 3w and couldn't breathe through her nose). 

I plan to do the same thing with DS. 

We don't "do" WCM. I don't even drink 20oz of WCM/day, and I weigh much more than 25lb. Instead, after weaning (and before as well) I made sure she ate a balanced meal with enough fat and calcium to make up for minimal WCM. She maybe drinks 8oz/month. 

we don't reall do WCM either, just work on balanced meals. I EP'ed with Keagan until 16 months while working on his diet. He has it in cereal and a glass with dinner but its definitely not a meal replacement. I don't think I will be introducing WCM for a few more months here.

fireflygirl12

I was planning to continue until 2, but my supply has really taken a dive the past few weeks. It's starting to go up a little so I'm at least able to produce what he needs and not use my freezer stash. I'm guessing that we'll wean around 1 now. Our pedi said it's fine to switch to WCM at 11 months since he already eats a ton of solids.

Par13

I don't really have a plan. I'll just let G take the lead. I'm not opposed to BFing until 2, but I can't imagine really going beyond that. I'm hoping that he will just slowly wean off of some feedings. 

@portermanswifey & @holly_1007 I've been starting to get comments from people too about why I'm still BFing. I have a couple friends who are doing extended BFing though, so it's nice to have some support in that area. Otherwise, I start to feel like maybe I am weird for nursing a baby who has teeth (people have made comments that I should have stopped nursing when he got teeth).

jbBeans

jonesaj said:

Par13 said:

I don't really have a plan. I'll just let G take the lead. I'm not opposed to BFing until 2, but I can't imagine really going beyond that. I'm hoping that he will just slowly wean off of some feedings. 

@portermanswifey & @holly_1007 I've been starting to get comments from people too about why I'm still BFing. I have a couple friends who are doing extended BFing though, so it's nice to have some support in that area. Otherwise, I start to feel like maybe I am weird for nursing a baby who has teeth (people have made comments that I should have stopped nursing when he got teeth).

If I stopped when Reese got teeth I would have had to stop a loooong time ago. I hear ya about the dumb comments. I just smile and say 'are you finished?' Gets them every time lol.

My MIL would never criticize me directly, but the other day she was like, "oh you know, a lot of women stop BFing once the babies get teeth." So I told her about my friend whose kid got teeth at 3 months but whom she's still BFing at a year and a half.

melody921

PortermansWifey said:

I plan to BF until 2. Unless he self weans. We had DH's reunion with his Marine buddies this past weekend and I almost punched one of the other wives in the throat. She told me it was disgusting to BF a child at DS's age. I was speechless. 

People are so rude and uninformed. I would have rattled off the AAP recs and thrown in mention of the WHO while I was at it. A-holes.

melody921

Holly_1007 said:

I nursed DD until she weaned on her own at 19.5m (she got a bad cold for about 3w and couldn't breathe through her nose). 

I plan to do the same thing with DS. 

We don't "do" WCM. I don't even drink 20oz of WCM/day, and I weigh much more than 25lb. Instead, after weaning (and before as well) I made sure she ate a balanced meal with enough fat and calcium to make up for minimal WCM. She maybe drinks 8oz/month. 

we don't reall do WCM either, just work on balanced meals. I EP'ed with Keagan until 16 months while working on his diet. He has it in cereal and a glass with dinner but its definitely not a meal replacement. I don't think I will be introducing WCM for a few more months here.

Once DS was on WCM, I definitely treated it as a drink, not a meal replacement. He got milk (and still does) with bfast, lunch and dinner. I think once they're 1, they're getting most of what they need from food so milk isn't replacing BM or formula, IMO.

melody921

Par13 said:

I don't really have a plan. I'll just let G take the lead. I'm not opposed to BFing until 2, but I can't imagine really going beyond that. I'm hoping that he will just slowly wean off of some feedings. 

@portermanswifey & @holly_1007 I've been starting to get comments from people too about why I'm still BFing. I have a couple friends who are doing extended BFing though, so it's nice to have some support in that area. Otherwise, I start to feel like maybe I am weird for nursing a baby who has teeth (people have made comments that I should have stopped nursing when he got teeth).

I have friends with kids who got teeth at 3 months, so I guess, by these outsiders' opinions, they should have been weaned then? My God, people annoy me. I'm lucky DD just got her first tooth, but seriously, why do other people worry so much about how we feed our kids?

eshee8198

My plan right now is to stop pumping at 1 year, and continue nursing morning and evening for as long as we can, up to the two year mark. Up until recently, DD wasn't drinking much at daycare anyway, but she's suddenly started chugging bottles and sleeping through the night...so we'll see how that goes!

freeatlast2014

I realized last night that I don't have it in me to wean. This is so hard. LO fussed for 1 hr 45 mins last night - starting at 2:30am. I finally went in about 4:15am and nursed him and then felt like a horrible mother for letting him stay awake for that long in the MOTN when I know the boob would have put him right back to sleep. I went in because his fussing escalated to crying by that time. Guess I'll be doing a MOTN until kindergarten? first grade? college?

I realize this is an extended BF thread and not a weaning one but it sort of applies, I think.