February 2016 Moms

Breastfeeding goals

For breastfeeding moms, how long will you try to keep it up? And STM+, when did you wean your first/others?

After a really rough start to the whole thing, I am so proud we made it to 6 months. I was also freaked out at the thought of breastfeeding a baby with teeth, but now he has a couple...and it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I love it. My LO isn't a super snuggly type, so breastfeeding is my chance to squish him and mess with his hair, etc.

By law I get 2 hours every work day for pumping until baby is 8 months, so that's my new goal, since I think I'll be able to keep my supply up enough until then. I actually don't pump enough for him to drink 100% breastmilk at daycare. I pump anywhere from 10 oz on a low day to 16 oz on a good day, but he usually gets an extra bottle of formula while he's there too. Anyway, we'll just keep going like this as long as we can! It will be interesting to see how long we make it. According to my mom, I weaned myself at around 10 months...quite early, but apparently I started refusing the breast and was only interested in solids at that point.

Re: Breastfeeding goals

  • mrsc12414mrsc12414 member
    edited September 2016
    This is baby #2 for me. With dd1 I only made it about 2 weeks. This time I've made it 7 months so far! We are doing great. The beginning was rough. I even got hospitalized and had surgery but we are still making it. She only had formula a few times the first day home. Other then that I am able to keep up. But I am home during the day with her and only work part time 2 nights a week (overnight so she's sleeping)my goal was 6 months but now it's a year ! 


  • This is my first breastfed baby, (my other son I was 16 when I had him and didn't know any different, he's 15 now and now I'm 32 and know a little bit more) but my goal is a year. It was very challenging at first but I Love it and knew I was going to make it work. I too only pump about 16 oz but am able to keep enough freezer stash built up that I haven't had to supplement yet. If we can keep it up more than a year then I definitely will. It's so rewarding!!! 
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  • Carmine is my fourth baby. 7 months tomorrow and it's going amazing! My goal is a year but I will like to stop when he's ready and weans himself. He also has never had a bottle. I was young when I had my first child but I breastfed him until 6 months. After that I pumped and had a stash until he was a year old. Going to work/college full time and pumping was just a pain. With my second and third baby I only did 4 months. I was in school with both and I couldn't stash my milk anywhere. So pumping and dumping, or being engorged for hours was so painful. I had a lot of milk. But being able to stay home with my fourth and exclusively BF is honestly just wonderful. Especially since he's my last babe. 
  • This is my first and we have managed 6 months so far and I aim to continue til 1 or until she weans off. It was so hard for the first 8/9 weeks but so so happy I continued! I think I will miss nursing her, it's such a close bond and snuggle time that doesn't happen so much at other times! 
  • I am a STM, I breastfed my first son until he was a year, and so far with baby boy number 2 it's going well, but when I go back to work in February he will switch to cows milk. 

    Owen is my last baby, and realizing that I am never going to sit and nurse another cuddly baby after him is making me sad.
  • I have 3boys. My first nursed till a year we had ALOT of complications w my milk supply I was only 21 ,my mom and the Dr kept telling me to just give him a bottle but I'm a pretty stubborn person (which worked in my favor for this time") so we fought through 3months getting my supply up and lasted a year. My second son nursed till 2 1/2 all the time ,then we dropped to just a night feeding till later part of his 3rd year. He refused to fall asleep without a night nursing(  did I try to stop?YES I was so over it at that point but apparently he needed that. )This time my goal is a year but not rushing it.I enjoy nursing more this time.it's "our time".so leaving it up to him.♡good luck mommys!!!
  • My goal with DD1 was a year minimum, but to go as long as we could until I got pregnant. She self-weaned at 22mo when I was about 8w pregnant (I had no intention of BFing through my pregnancy, so I was glad she weaned herself.. Although it was still emotionally hard just being done all of the sudden). 

    With this LO, I'll let her lead the way and wean herself... but if we get past 2 years, I might try to wean her, we'll see. 

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  • Congrats on BF as long as you have! 
    With my DS I breastfed until a year. He pretty much self weaned right about his birthday. Now with my DD we are going strong at 7 months even though she LOVES solids. I hope to go to at least a year again, and am open to occassional nursing til 18/24 months depending on what she needs. 

    Hope your supply stays up so you can keep bonding with your babe :)



  • We're still going strong at 6.5 months but I'm back to work and pumping so hopefully I can keep my supply up. When I was pregnant, my goal was a year but that was before I knew how much I'd enjoy it. I love the bonding it brings so my plan is to keep going until LO shows signs of weaning himself.

    For those working, pumping moms how often do you pump at work? I nurse my LO when he wakes up, then pump after 4 hours, 2 hours, then nurse him 4 hours later when I get home, then again before bed. I'm a teacher so I have zero flexibility in when I can pump, unfortunately. I've consistently been pumping around 12-14 ounces during those two sessions and so far it's been enough. How much do you babies eat at daycare? I've only been back to work for 2 weeks so still trying to figure it all out.
  • Cherylaf83 said:
    For those working, pumping moms how often do you pump at work? I nurse my LO when he wakes up, then pump after 4 hours, 2 hours, then nurse him 4 hours later when I get home, then again before bed. I'm a teacher so I have zero flexibility in when I can pump, unfortunately. I've consistently been pumping around 12-14 ounces during those two sessions and so far it's been enough. How much do you babies eat at daycare? I've only been back to work for 2 weeks so still trying to figure it all out.
    I pump three times a day at work (8.5ish hour day). I nurse my baby, pump the other side (usually get 5-8 oz). Then I pump at work about 3-3.5 hours later and every 3 hours after that (the last time is often only 2.5 hours later because I don't want to be tapped out right before I go home since she's usually hungry). I get home and usually feed her twice before she goes to bed at 8:30 (she still cluster feeds a bit in the evening). She eats 20 oz at daycare but is now cutting back a bit since she's eating solids twice a day. One of those is cereal so it still has breastmilk in it. I usually pump 20-25 oz per day 
  • @ashton2190 wow! That's impressive!
  • Almost 7 months and still going strong. I get to stay home with him so my plan is to let him wean when he's ready. 
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  • @Cherylaf83: 12 to 14 oz sounds like a great amount of milk for 2 pumping sessions. I pump a similar amount in three sessions!

    @ashton2190: Dang! That's a good milk supply! 
  • =caenis= said:
    @Cherylaf83: 12 to 14 oz sounds like a great amount of milk for 2 pumping sessions. I pump a similar amount in three sessions!

    @ashton2190: Dang! That's a good milk supply! 
    Thanks for the reassurance! I was feeling like it was on the lower side!

  • @Cherylaf83 I am gone from 5:30am-8:15pm. This is my pumping schedule: 

    4:30am: nurse baby 
    6:30am: pump at work 
    9:00am: pump
    12:00: pump
    3:00pm: pump
    6:00pm: pump
    8:30pm: nurse baby to sleep (usually nurses for 45 min, eats on both sides). 

    Sadly, I've been plagued with low pumping output with both my kids. I only pump around 3oz at a time (total, from both sides). She takes four 4oz bottles while I'm away. I work 2 days a week, so I pump in the morning on my days off to make up for being short milk most days. 

    I dont remember if I said it above, but I stopped pumping at work at 14 months (and LO didn't wean until 22mo). I started dropping sessions at work when she was 12m. 

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  • We are still going strong and he is almost 7 months. My goal has always been a year but now I may go a little longer. I guess we will just see when he starts to wean himself. 

    I work 3 days a week and am gone from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. I feed him before I leave in the morning and pump on the other side. I only have to pump twice at work, usually around 10:00 and then again around 4:00. Then I feed him when I get home and put him to bed. I usually get between 20-25 ounces a day
  • Almost 9 months an still going strong but he has no teeth yet lol I'm thinking that may change the game 
  • middy411middy411 member
    edited October 2016
    I'm 8 months going strong with 8 teeth. It usually hurts and is sore when she has a tooth coming in. Maybe she positions her mouth differently from the pain. But after a couple days it's back to mostly normal. A few accidental bites here and there but nothing that's a real deterrent. I plan to go at least a year. My question is why men think you need to stop right at a year (at least the men I'm around, even my husband). If there's good nutritional value in continuing to breastfeed I don't see what the problem is
  • I know @middy411 I keep getting questions like 'why are you still breastfeeding, she is having food' or 'it's gross to carry on til they are one, that's too old'. What would they prefer, I pointlessly introduce a bottle and formula for only a couple of months and confuse the poor child?! Or starve her!!!!! It is only men who comment like this, too!
  • @middy411: 8 teeth! Which ones does she have? My LO has 4 on the bottom and it hasn't really been a problem at all yet. He has bitten me a couple of times by accident, but just minor bites. It's been surprisingly manageable, and I'm wondering what happens when his first top teeth come in...
  • And @middy411 and @smn14 - I'm surprised to hear you're getting snide comments about breastfeeding up to a year. Isn't a year still on the lower side according to WHO recommendations?! You'd think dads would at least be able to appreciate the convenience of it. Quick, good-quality calories at an age and stage where kids play with solid food as much as they actually eat it.
  • I'm aiming for two years, as recommended by the WHO. So you can tell that to people who are grossed out by one year. Lol. There's also a lot of benefit to the mother, like reduced chances of breast cancer. 
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  • jarob747jarob747 member
    edited October 2016
    I hear people all the time ask me "are you going to breastfeed clear up till  a year?" and when my reply is "at least and hopefully longer" I dont really even get a look. My DH is supportive, but we have a friend who is still breastfeeding her 35lb 25 month old and it does look a bit awkward. I will wean when we are both ready which is no where close to right now at almost 9 months. Society has made such an image of it being weird after a year and it shouldn't be that way. why transition them to cows milk when our milk is so much better?! I will say that there is a point when it's necessary. Even animals have to wean, it's part of the natural progression, but as far as when, that's a mother's choice. My DH don't really like when I breastfeed in public, but when baby is hungry I don't care! I try to be modest and turn away and I always have a tank on under my shirt and simply pull the shirt up and tank don't to feed,  he wants me to cover up... ain't happening anymore lol, not sure why it makes DH uncomfortable? And I have never been looked at weird or spoken to about it. I feel for the first person who ever does! My LO has just got his first tooth on the bottom and I have been bitten a couple times, but nothing major and not intentional. 
    ETA  not sure why some of this is in bold
  • @jarob747 Exactly. Cow's milk is for baby cows. 

    The international *average* age for weaning is 4 years old. Of course, the breastfeeding relationship changes. It may just be something you do before bed at some point. But as a rule, we wean very early in North America. 
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  • My first nursed until a couple weeks after her 2nd birthday. I was 6 months pregnant and I think my milk changed, she weaned herself when she didn't like it anymore. Honestly, i was even preparing myself for tandem nursing for when my son came. I worked full time for the first year and pumped, then stayed home once she turned 14 months.

    My lil guy has never learned how to drink from a bottle but i stay home with the kids so no big deal. Although i miss normal bras, I'll nurse him as long as he wants to. He's a healthy, big boy who loves nursing with lots of baby fat rolls (9 months, 25 lbs & wears 24 month clothes).

    Me and some of my friends who have nursed past 18 months use nursing for more than nutrition. We all use it to put our babies to sleep but they are big believers in comfort nursing. Since I only use it for sleeping, I haven't really nursed in public after they turn 6 months and can eat cheerios if we're out and about, so no one gives me grief about extended nursing. My friends will nurse to calm their baby down, wherever and whenever, so they've had more questions and comments made towards them.

  • @=caenis= She has 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. I was tender with each tooth she got but now I think she's holding at 8. It's like she chews a little while nursing when a tooth is coming in and ouccch! I'm working on my husband. He (and I) were not fond of the idea of breastfeeding in public before she came either. But thankfully that was totally embraced once we saw how often she had to eat lol. I'm thinking if I can show him why it's beneficial and really NOT weird to continue beyond a year, he will not bother me about stopping. He thinks it's weird if they know what they're doing or "can ask for it". Both of those things are already true so he needs to realize the health benefits are good and it is not weird (though I am guilty for thinking it was weird when kids "seemed" so old at 1 year too, before I became a mother). We are both thinking we will be ready for another soon after her first birthday so that will likely determine when I wean. I know I can breastfeed while pregnant but that sounds like it would wreck me physically and if my next pregnancy is anything like my first one I'm going to need all the sustenance I can get! 
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