How long do you plan to BF?

SashaDenn25 · September 2015

So many of you know I struggled for a bit breastfeeding. Its still no walk in the park, but im past the hump and we are chugging through. I got back to work at the beginning of November and plan to hopefully pump for her then. I cant decide how long to keep it up, 6 months, 1 year?? How long are you all planning on trying to make it breastfeeding??

kettlekitten · September 2015

I'm aiming for 6 months - 1 year. Will just play it by ear, not going to set my expectations too high. Managed 20 months with DD and it was great once we got going. Glad to hear you're past the toughest part now!

prpl11butterfly · September 2015

For me it depends on when LO gets teeth. I am probably going to be done when I get bit. But hoping for about 6 months. From there, I may pump and give a bottle of breast milk up to a year. Still undecided on that.

kettlekitten · September 2015

prpl11butterfly said:
For me it depends on when LO gets teeth. I am probably going to be done when I get bit. But hoping for about 6 months. From there, I may pump and give a bottle of breast milk up to a year. Still undecided on that.

Mine never bit

jgorley2015 · September 2015

I BF DS for almost 3 years. I'm planning on going for, at least, a year with DD.

Edited: because I don't know my children's gender in the middle of the night.

candicejeff2013 · September 2015

I think I'll be lucky to make it 3 months at the rate I'm going. The initial latch is still really painful and my nipples get sore. She eats so often I never get a break.

sandrabrooke · September 2015

I will pump at work to six months I hope. Then I'll probably try to stop pumping at work slowly but continue at home to a year. I enjoy bf... But work will be a pain

Boslove · September 2015

I'm hoping to make it to 6months and then see how I can keep up, since he will also be starting baby food hopefully I won't need to pump as often.

Robin910 · September 2015

Right now my goal is to hit 6 months. If I make it to that goal than I'm hoping to hit 1 year but honestly sometimes my goal is just to make it through the day.

kristendot2007 · September 2015

My maternity leave is 12 weeks. I would love to pump when I return to work but not sure if I'll be able to or not. I know it's the law but I'm a nurse in a small procedure department, and I don't see me taking breaks in the middle of our busy hours go over well with co-workers. So my goal has always been maternity leave and everyday after is a bonus!

Kwest1007 · September 2015

I'm hoping to do at least the CDC recommended 6months but as PP mentioned, every day is a struggle. I always wanted to do it up to 9-12 months but I feel like the 6 month mark would be huge for us. Then again, if we can make it 6months, hopefully it'll have got a lot easier than it is now (we're going on 4 weeks now). I return to work in 2.5 weeks :-( and I can't imagine going to work with BF still being this difficult.

deviduke412 · September 2015

1 year. If he would wean himself before one year, I am planning to pump so I can still give him breast milk.

SassetteSmurfling · September 2015

My goal is one year but we'll see how it goes. DD1 we went 7 months and I had major supply issues and I was so stressed out all the time, it was better for all of us when she switched to formula. DS went 13+ months without a single issue (I was working full time with both, my body just made more milk with him for some reason). So I guess it depends how my supply holds up once I'm back to work (which is next week! Ahh!). I'll definitely fight hard to keep it up for 6 months. After that if it's too much stress and just not working out, we'll make the switch.

jesselayne8 · September 2015

12-18 months depending on when baby fever hits again.

SassetteSmurfling · September 2015

kristendot2007 said:
My maternity leave is 12 weeks. I would love to pump when I return to work but not sure if I'll be able to or not. I know it's the law but I'm a nurse in a small procedure department, and I don't see me taking breaks in the middle of our busy hours go over well with co-workers. So my goal has always been maternity leave and everyday after is a bonus!

I'm a nurse as well and with my previous two children my coworkers were more than supportive of me pumping! As long as you don't abuse the privilege, I would think anyone in health care would completely understand you taking a little extra time for pumping. For me, I ate my dinner while pumping so I didn't take an additional break, and I also don't smoke or anything, so really at the end of the day I wasn't taking any additional time than anyone else.

We're supposed to get a 30 minute meal break and two 10 minute "personal breaks" - smoke, go get coffee, sit down for a few minutes, whatever. So that's a total of 50 minutes. Break that down into two 25 minute pump sessions and there ya go. I just always made sure to pack my lunch and take care of any other personal needs before work so I wouldn't need additional breaks.

Like I said, my coworkers have always been more than supportive. Half the time they were the ones reminding me to go pump! lol. Good luck!

SashaDenn25 · September 2015

candicejeff2013 said:
I think I'll be lucky to make it 3 months at the rate I'm going. The initial latch is still really painful and my nipples get sore. She eats so often I never get a break.

I know its tough momma. I didnt have pain and still went through a really bad time being chained to the couch so much. Do what you need to do and dont look back bc whatever you decide will be best for you and LO!

SashaDenn25 · September 2015

Robin910 said:
Right now my goal is to hit 6 months. If I make it to that goal than I'm hoping to hit 1 year but honestly sometimes my goal is just to make it through the day.

This was where I was at. Each day my goal was to make it that day...it made it easier to get through honestly, putting less pressure on myself.

emmacake08 · September 2015

12-18 months. BF really does get a lot easier (for most people) as LO's mouth gets bigger (better, deeper latch) and stronger (feeds only take 10-15 minutes). I introduced solids at 6 months with baby led weaning but they didn't start eating a good deal of solids and nursing less until 9 months. I got pregnant 11 months PP and my supply tanked and they weaned pretty naturally. Mine were early with teeth and I never had issues BF them. I could tell though when they were teething because their latch would be tighter and they'd hang out longer.

SashaDenn25 · September 2015

10 to 15 min feeding sessions sound glorious!!

Starynightsky24 · September 2015

18 months would be my goal. We'll see how it goes though. I BF DS 15/16 months and he really still needed milk. He was sensitive to whole milk so that wasn't an option. We ended up buying goat milk for him. It was SO expensive! I'd really like to avoid that. Or else I'd be done at 12. I really want my body to myself again. I've been pregnant or breastfeeding for 3 years lol

abmommy15 · September 2015

6 months is my goal but if it is going well then I will probably go for a year.

nakoppel · September 2015

6 months or when LO gets teeth whichever comes first. But I'm hoping to go back to work in Feb after I finish school and I'm hoping to pump and bottle feed after teething/6 months but obviously we'll see if that works based on work. Right now we can't afford formula and don't qualify for wic so I don't have a choice.

visualcircus · September 2015

I'd like to do at least 3-4 months of EBF, then swap to pumping when I rejoin the workforce which would probably make it to 6 months.

jlsweets · September 2015

abmommy15 said:
6 months is my goal but if it is going well then I will probably go for a year.

Same here

mamaromeo · September 2015

I plan to keep nursing and pumping until she gets teeth or I get bit, and hope to continue pumping to 1 year. I'd be open to pumping to 18 months if she's still taking a bottle. Of course it will all depend on how often I'll get to pump the three days I work (12 he shifts). I've read that you should try to pump 3 times during an 8 hour shift, but I definitely won't be able to do more than 3 times in a 12, I hope I can get that many!

CaliforniaDream87 · September 2015

I exclusively pump and I plan to do so until 1 year Maybe longer we shall see. My first goal is just no formula for the first year.

SidraJedi · September 2015

I'm still nursing DD1 (2.5yr) for about 10 minutes at nap and bedtime and maybe for a minute or two once every other day or so. I'm mostly just going with the flow and compromising with DD1 and I hope to do the same with DD2.

KateDerek · September 2015

I will be returning to work at 12 weeks and hope to pump and keep everything going. My initial goal is 6 months but I really want to make it to a year.

amk013 · September 2015

My short term goal is 2 months. (DS will be 6 weeks on Tuesday). My long term goal is 1 year. I really want to make it to a year, but I don't want so much pressure on myself that I'm heartbroken if it doesn't work. So I'm setting a goal of a month at a time. The first month was very painful with DS being tongue tied. His latch it better now that his mouth is bigger. Things are going well now, so hopefully we can keep it up! He cluster feeds allllllll the time, but I'm a SAHM, so I feel like I can deal with that since I do have time. I didn't think I'd like breastfeeding, but I love it, despite all the pain in the beginning and how time consuming it is. It's our special bonding time! He's had a few bottles because I want him to be able to take one if I want to go out to eat with DH, or whatever else. Watching him eat a bottle actually made me very sad! I really don't like it but I know I need to let him have one every couple of days.

carleym93 · September 2015

I plan to EBF for 1 year, but we'll see what happens.

OSULisa · September 2015

I plan to BF for at least a year, but since I BF my first for 27 months I expect I'll BF till my LO weans naturally (he's our last). I'll be pumping at work from 10 weeks to one year, then I'll pump wean and just nurse on demand when we are together.

tarheelgirl8 · September 2015

My goal is a year with a minimum of 6 months. I go back to work in 2 weeks so a lot of it will depend on my ability to keep myself on a pumping schedule at work. Luckily I have a private office and a supportive boss, so it's really just up to me to make it a priority and not get distracted and work through it instead.

raelynch87 · September 2015

I'd like to BF 12-18 months. I really want to BF for at least a year but I don't think I'd go longer than 2 years. I didn't think I'd make it BFing during the 3 week growth spurt but now that we're through that I think I can.

EmEeGee · September 2015

I would love to make it a year with BF and pumping (once back at work) but I'm only 7 weeks in and I think my supply is tanking. So disheartening.

(

mrsb30 · September 2015

I pump every 2-3 hours and have just built it back up so on a good day I can get 4-5 ounces for the whole day. A lot of times I think it's even ridiculous in pumping for such a small amount, but I'm just going every little bit of breast milk is still good for LO. I probably won't keep if up when I go back to work, it's very time consuming for such a small amount of milk.

heath3er · September 2015

i think 6 months or a year. Happy it's 3weeks and I feel confident and the hard parts over

mariafordon · September 2015

I'm thinking at least a year. I'd like to let her wean on her own.

SashaDenn25 · September 2015

At first I thought I would only do 6 months, but now am really hoping for a year and just wondering if its going to be doable with pumping once I go back to work. People do it all the time so FX!!!

WSatisfiedP · September 2015

6 mo is our short term goal. Made it 4 with my first.

kjandericka · September 2015

I'm already supplement because my supply hasn't been great but I plan on BFing as much as I can for the first year. If I don't make it to my goal, I won't be disappointed. If this past month has taught me anything, it's that plans are great but life (esp with LO) has a way of surprising you.

rjanice · September 2015

My goal pre-birth was until his first birthday. After I started and realized how hard it was, my goal became making it from one feed to the next. Then it changed to day to day. Little man is currently 3 weeks 3 days and my goal is til hes 4 weeks. I reevaluate it each time I accomplish my previous goal.

As for what the plan is when I go back to work (3 13hr shifts/week), I honestly don't know. I'm just trying to make it through now!

How long do you plan to BF?

Re: How long do you plan to BF?

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