breastfeeding duration

M

msmslau

Registered User
my daughter just had her 1 year old checkup today. i told the nurse that i planned to wean my daughter at about 14 mths. surprisingly she told me i could breastfeed as long as i wish. some moms even breastfeed till the child is 5 years!! I know that 1 year is the norm, and 2 years is usually the max, but never heard of 5!?

so i am curious if there is any mom out there breastfeeding for more than 1.5 years. and if so, what is your experience?
 
I nursed my son for 2yrs 10mths. I wanted to nurse till he was 2 which I did. Then started the weaning process which took all of 10 months ! It was very gradual and a little tough since he was too attached to the breasts I guess ! He's 4.5 now and I can't believe so much time has passed !
 
Hi,
I breastfed my son until he self weaned at 16 months and my daughter until she self weaned at 18 months. Both children self weaned because I was pregnant with the next one and there are changes in the milk around the second trimester. I'm not sure what will happen with our third, though we are thinking of four, so maybe they'll self wean too.

Alot of cultures don't wean until their children are much older. We are unusual in many respects in weaning our children earlier (at one year). If the mother and child are happy with breastfeeding, I don't see a problem with carrying on. Brestfeeding creates such a wonderful bond with your child, I remember crying when both my eldest two weaned, it was like we had lost something.

Jools
 
The normal weaning age worldwide is between two and four years. We have many books in our library about weaning. I recommend the following titles:
How weaning Happens by Diane Bengson
Mothering Your Nursing Toddler by Norma Jane Bumgarner

To borrow these books please contact SARAH on 2548-7636 (after 7th August) or come to one of our meetings http://www.lalecheleague.org/HongKong.html

Often you find that the long-term mothers attending the meetings are still breastfeeding their babies. This is because LLL is one of the few places that gives support to mothers for as long as they wish to breastfeed, whether that be of days, weeks, months or even years.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
All four of my children weaned after they were three years old. None of them weaned unhappily. People were always telling me that I was making a rod for my own back but I didn?t find that to be the case.

Personally I don?t think that my babies became more attached to the breast, as they got older ? only more able to express their attachment. It is true that if I?d tried to wean them at two years there would have been lots of tears but because we waited until later there were none.

Each one weaned at a different age but generally they all started to skip feeds because they were playing. Then slowly would fall asleep without feeding. None of this happened overnight (although others told me it did with their babies).

With my last baby she started sleeping without a feed because she would fall asleep while I was reading the bedtime story. This would happen about once a week or so. Then I started a discussion about stopping having mummy?s milk. She could talk about the idea but not follow it through at the beginning. But slowly over the next year she could follow it through. At this stage she was only nursing if something had gone wrong in life ? a serious hurt or a elder sibling being nasty.

I don?t really remember when her last breastfeed was. She just wenT from one stage to the next without any fanfare!

If you still enjoy your breastfeeding relationship I encourage you to continue it. I?m very happy that I have happy memories of not just the breastfeeding relationship with my babies but happy memories of the end of those relationships too.

Best wishes,
Barb
 
my cousin breastfed her son till he reached 5 ad some months! i found ti strange too that the kid could be wanting more of the mom's milk rather than drinking powdered milk.she jad a tough time to get him used to the other milk
 
I BF the first for 20 months, and will wean this one at 24 months if he doesn't quit on his own by them, Wow, you have a very forward thinking nurse!
 
Hi Mocha,
Never partially breastfed. The advantages of breastfeeding are significantly reduced if you introduce a bottle. First child until they were 16 months, second children 18 months and third child still feeding.

Jools
 
I'm still breastfeeding my 15 month old, but only once or occasionally twice, a day. He gets his feed in the early hours of the morning because it's the only thing that gets him back to sleep!! He wakes at about 5, comes into our bed and has a quick feed on both sides, then falls asleep till 7.30 or so. Nice!!

He's never had formula except as a newborn in intensive care. He eats a lot of solid food now - pretty much eats anything I give him, and will drink a cup of cow's milk each day too.

I wouldn't mind giving up the breastfeeding, but actually the whole arrangement suits us as it is so I'll probably only give it up when he is sleeping all the way through to 7 in the morning.
 
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