If you plan on nursing...

lovetohike · November 2011

How long do you plan to nurse your baby?

katieboo82 · November 2011

With my daughter, I nursed until she was 6 months old. I only stopped because her first tooth broke through and she liked to use it! I plan on doing the same with this child.

Butterbrot · November 2011

I nursed my now almost three year old until she was a little over two. I had never intended to nurse that long, but she still needed it and I decided to go with the flow (har har). I'll do the same with this one.

ashleym373 · November 2011

I plan to nurse for at least six months and then go from there. This is my first so it will be a wait and see type of thing as to how long I will nurse after 6 months.

Juleslynn79 · November 2011

I made it to about 6 months with DS#1, 5 months with DS#2, and I'm not sure this time around. My workplace doesn't have a great area for pumping, which makes it really hard to continue when I go back to work. I will try to go as long as I can though!

Tippy05 · November 2011

I also nursed DS for about 6 months, but wish I had gone a little longer. I wasn't able to produce enough milk. I'd like to go at least 6 months this time around too.

JEK76 · November 2011

With DS I took the apporach of "as long as it is working for both of us I'll keep doing it." Well he was very early with cutting teeth and pretty much refused to nurse once that happend. I tried for a few more days but he refused. So we made it 4 1/2 months. I'll take the same approach with baby #2 and see how far we get. BTW, I planned to pump for awhile for my son but literally the day after he stopped nursing my milk was GONE. I pumped practically all day long and didn't even get one whole bottle

I know plenty of women who have had tons of success with pumping so don't let my experience discourange you!

sapgirl76 · November 2011

Baby will self-wean when he/she is ready. I'm still nursing DS at almost 21 months and he doesn't appear about to quit any time soon.

koolgrl512 · November 2011

At least a year. Really, as long as possible. IMO, it's the best thing you can do for your child.

bellelamb · November 2011

I am just weaning my 12 month old now, because I want him totally weaned when this baby comes so there isn't as much jealousy. But I did start supplementing formula after going back to work because I was only able to pump once a day there and it wasn't enough but I wasn't ready to give up bfing so we did both. And just so you know my son started to bite when he got teeth but the women and the breastfeeding forum had some great ideas to get him to stop and he did.

iLoveblueberries · November 2011

My mom ( I am one of 7 children so you know she's got some BF experience) gave me great advice--Trust your body and trust your baby and they will tell you when it is time. She shared that some of BF until almost 20 months and one of my brothers who was always sooooo abnormally tall (the kid was almost 6 feet at age 11) only made it until 3 months when he needed to stop and eat baby food.

I plan on following this advice but do hope to make it to around 12 months!

ljtvirkus · November 2011

I am hoping for a year but we will see how well it goes when I go back to work.

KRB8 · November 2011

My goal will be 12 months, just like that was my goal with DD. Although, I may end up BFing LO2 to close to 15 months. I plan on weaning DD within a week or so. I have this thing where I want their length of time BFing to be pretty similar (assuming I don't have any problems).

kitcat6351 · November 2011

This is my first baby, so it will be a learning experience! However, I really hope to bf at least 6 months. Ideally 12 months, but I'm going in with a goal of 6 months and then seeing what happens with my body and with baby. From talking with my mom and some mommy friends of mine, I get that it will really be up to my body and the LO.

ferdiebear · November 2011

I nursed my first for 6 months. I would have done so longer but she decided she was done. With this one I hope to nurse for at least the first year.

ephillips1981 · November 2011

I am going to push for 6 months. This means I will have to pump after about 3.5 months when I go back to work. I am concerned about pumping at work, but I know my boss will understrand, so I am going to try to BF for 6 full months or until first teeth come in.

hikingnclimbing · November 2011

koolgrl512:
At least a year. Really, as long as possible. IMO, it's the best thing you can do for your child.

This.

sandrajean09 · November 2011

This is my first baby. I plan on nursing until their first tooth pops through, because I've felt baby teeth when my nephew was teething and they aren't pleasant on fingers. I can only imagine what they'd feel like nursing..

hurricanelydiaa · November 2011

At least a year. I'm still nursing #1 at 14 months.

okayestmom12 · November 2011

As long as I can up to 1 year.

MrsW2000 · November 2011

I would ultimately like to nurse for the first year. Even if breastfeeding doesn't work out but if I'm still able to supply breast milk hopefully I'll be able to pump and feed through a bottle.

pinkmoonlight · November 2011

With my daughter I nursed until she was 7 months old. Then I got a sinus infection from you know where. I needed to be on antibiotics but the combination of being super sick, the worst one I have ever had, and the antibiotics tanked my supply. DD also started biting right around that time as well. So I stopped.

This time I am would love to make it to a year or more. We will see.

olivesmama · November 2011

I nursed my Daughter until she was 20 months. She would have liked to nurse longer, but I work full-time and couldnt take the pumping anymore. (I was seriously feeling like a cow!). Good luck to you all!

catycombs · November 2011

I nursed my DD for almost 17 months. She was ready to wean. You will know when they are. My goal is always a year plus whatever they need.

PineappleLane · November 2011

hopefully my supply will last to make it to the one year mark. i will do it for as logn as i can up to probably 20 months.

Corey Q · November 2011

I nursed my 1st son for a year but I was a stay at home mom then and it was easy to. Now that I am working 6 months is probably more realistic.

Mrs.Deputy · November 2011

I hope to be able to do it for a year, but I won't be devastated if it doesn't work out. Ideally I would like to pump and breast feed when I'm home with LO, because I have to work (12 hour shifts). If anyone has any advice about pumping and storing please let me know!

JG362009 · November 2011

I nursed my son for 13 months and 5 days (not that I was counting or anything ). I'll most likely do the exact same for this baby. Breaking it down, my son never had any formula and we:

EBF: 6 months

Introduced solids at 6 months, but I kept pumping and nursing (I work full time and pumped 3xs a day for his day care bottles until he was 1)

at 12 months: started weaning; 2 feedings a day and ended with the last am feeding.

mamaduck222 · November 2011

I nursed DS until 10 months and I plan on nursing as long as I can with this one.

Deltadawn8 · November 2011

I nursed DD for 11mo. DS got EBM(I worked and pumped) for 6mo, and I hope to be able to nurse for at least 6+mo with #3.

ECUGirl2004 · November 2011

I plan to nurse for at least a year. DS weaned around 15 months. We'll see what happens with baby #2.

chusum · November 2011

Hopefully 6 months. If I can continue I will go longer. But do not plan on going over a year.

Lizzyie325 · November 2011

I made it to 4 months with DS. I wanted to do it longer, until at least a year, but my supply dried up after my gallbladder failed (I was severely dehydrated and ended up in the hospital) I tried unsuccessfully to bring it back, but it never came. DS used formula from then on, and while I have no problem with moms who choose to use formula, I was very upset with our experience with it. The only one DS took to was similac, and his stomach was affected ( a lot of loose bms) when their formula began to have ground up beetle larvae in it. We got reimbursed for the packages we had bought, but it was so frustrating. I can't trust that again.

Laxbugg1410 · November 2011

I regularly nursed DS until I went back to work at 4 months. After that it was mostly at night until about 9 month when he weaned. I pumped 4 times a day until he was over a year. I believe in the benefits of breastmilk.

I'll breastfeed this LO as long as possible and then pump until he/she is a year.

ECUGirl2004 · November 2011

By the way, teeth don't normally interefere with nursing. Some babies will do some biting, but it's usually easy to discourage the behavior. My son had a full mouth of teeth at a year old, and he never did any damage to my breasts while nursing. He did try biting when he was teething at one point, but I'd stop nursing and he learned quickly not to do it.

https://www.babycenter.com/404_will-my-babys-teething-interfere-with-breastfeeding_12475.bc

JG362009 · November 2011

ECUGirl2004:

By the way, teeth don't normally interefere with nursing. Some babies will do some biting, but it's usually easy to discourage the behavior. My son had a full mouth of teeth at a year old, and he never did any damage to my breasts while nursing. He did try biting when he was teething at one point, but I'd stop nursing and he learned quickly not to do it.

https://www.babycenter.com/404_will-my-babys-teething-interfere-with-breastfeeding_12475.bc

Yep, I agree. My son sprouted teeth very early and had 6 at one year. Sure, I was bit a few times and it hurt like h$ll, but you muddle through! A lot of people asked me about that and to me that was the least of my concerns about nursing. When he was actually actively nursing he couldn't use his teeth.

lovetohike · November 2011

OK.. I'll be the freak... LOL With DS my goal was a year but i was open to 2 years since that is the WHO minimum.. well I believed Dr. Sears with the child led weaning.. yeah, that didn't work.. My DS nursed until he was 3. He did have some feeding issues and was VERY small for his age, so it worked for us. He was EBF for 7 months. I was going to start him on solids at 6 months but we were traveling. The Dr. said starting at 7 was OK.

With this baby.. I am hoping to EBF for 6 months and then start solids. I hope to nurse for 2 years.

Teething.. you can train them not to bite.

soapymk · November 2011

as long as I can, with my first it was about 5 months before she started biting, and with my second she wasnt totally satisfied so I nursed for about 2 months supplementing formula in between so I could pump and produce more

jmgcoggins · November 2011

For as long as possible.

Because DS had a tongue-tie he wasn't able to latch. I pumped, but didn't have the best pump (playtex double pump) and I dried out at 6 weeks because of it, but I had enough it the freezer to last until 8 weeks.

There wasn't an issue with milk supply so much as it was the suckiness of the pump causing me to go from 9 ounces out of each breast each pump (every 3 hours) to 1 oz out of both in 24 hours.

SunflowerJC · November 2011

ashleym373:
I plan to nurse for at least six months and then go from there. This is my first so it will be a wait and see type of thing as to how long I will nurse after 6 months.

Same for me... It depends on how well it goes and how much it stressed me out with going back to work and having to pump constantly. It's a first baby, so I'm just going to follow my heart and instincts.

JG362009 · November 2011

jmgcoggins:

For as long as possible.

Because DS had a tongue-tie he wasn't able to latch. I pumped, but didn't have the best pump (playtex double pump) and I dried out at 6 weeks because of it, but I had enough it the freezer to last until 8 weeks.

There wasn't an issue with milk supply so much as it was the suckiness of the pump causing me to go from 9 ounces out of each breast each pump (every 3 hours) to 1 oz out of both in 24 hours.

Sorry you had a bad pump -- here's a totally unsolicited recommendation: I had the Medela Freestyle and loved it SO much. I seriously would not have breastfed longer than a few weeks without it.

Want a personalized experience?

If you plan on nursing...

Re: If you plan on nursing...

Choose Another Board

Search Boards