How long did you/are you planning to breastfeed?

For those of you who either have breastfed, or are planning to, how long did you continue?  I mentioned to my husband yesterday that I plan on breastfeeding for the first year, and he looked at me like I was absolutely nuts. I do plan on starting him on solids once his pediatrician says to, but I'd like to breastfeed occasionally then as well.  I know a lot of kids take a bottle until they're about a year old, and I Really don't want to use formula. Just a personal preference for me.  So instead of a bottle before bedtime/naps, I planned on still breastfeeding. Am I nuts for wanting to do it so long?

[penswriter]

i planned on breastfeeding for the first year...i was able to for 3 1/2 months before the boys quite literally sucked me dry.

[Ashelen]

I planned to breastfeed for 6-9 months with my daughter, but was only able to for a little over a month due to complications with delivery....I plan to BF for about 6 months with my son if all goes well. You're absolutely NOT nuts to want to breastfeed for a year, it's good for everyone involved. and just remind your husband that he won't be getting up to wash bottles and mix formula at 345AM if you're breastfeeding, and see if he changes his tune, lol.

Stick to your guns if it's what you absolutely want, there is NO reason to feel crazy, and do whatever it takes to keep BFing (lactation consultants, pumping to get volume up). Sometimes there's no help for it and you have to stop and formula is absolutely fine to use, but you should definitely stick with your wishes and BF for as long as you possibly can!

[spade22]

Jazmine had breast milk exclusively for the first 6 months and then breast milk supplemented with solids from 6-12 months.

I worked full time from the time she turned 2 months old so nursed her when I was at home and pumped when at work.  He was hard work but worth it.

[Sunkissed19]

i plan to breast feed exclusively for about 6-9 months or whenever my little booger pops out some teeth...then im sorry to say but he is off lol! but once his teeth come in i plan to pump and supplement with solids for the first year. Meaning, i'll feed him solid foods at the tolerated age and give him bottles but with pumped breast milk instead of formula until he makes the switch over to regular milk after 12 months. This is just my preferred ideal (if everything works out) plan.

[worrieddd612]

im only planning on breastfeeding my baby in the hospital when i have colostrum. supposedly there is a shot that prevents your milk from coming in so that is what im going to do. just a personal decision but i think its great you plan to breastfeed for a long time.

[Lucey12]

Doctors say its beneficial to breast feed till 2 years. I think once they can start getting it themselves, thats enough. Id like to have mine on breast milk for a year but maybe Ill just pump.

[JoyRenee]

As one mother put it- why would I stop giving my baby the best thing for him right at one year? Why would I start giving him cow milk instead of human milk, especially when my breast milk is tailored just for his needs?

I have no idea how long I'll continue to breastfeed for but probably no longer than 2 years, if that. It's just that what this other woman said made perfect sense. Even if I don't physically breastfeed why not pump and give your toddler breast milk in a cup? We'll see what happens!

I think the US is the only country that finds it strange to breastfeed past a year, when in actuality it is the most natural thing in the world.

[ammanda]

Like Worried said, I'm only planning on breast feeding for the time that im in the hospital.  And Im doing that only cause Its the best time for the baby. other then that Im gonna bottle feed.  These days formula is just as good as breast milk.  My middle sister breast feed both her kids. and my older sister did not. but yet the kids that were breast fed have been sick WAY more then the one that didnt get breast milk. 2 years old is kinda old to be breast feeding. If I were doing it Id suggest maybe till 6 or 9 months

[penswriter]

i wish i would've been able to breast feed my boys. i was devastated when the "ta ta's" dried up. lol i actually cried when i'd pumped for quite literally 2 hours (during one of their naps) and only got 1/2 an ounce. they had to go to soy formula after that and are now drinking whole milk. *sigh* sometimes chocolate. lol.

[Ashelen]

you new mommys might really be surprised the first time you breastfeed...it's an incredible bonding experience that you might not wanna give up so soon! (plus it's not only good for baby but it helps you lose those preggo lbs!)

when i had to stop breastfeeding I cried for days I felt like such a failure...Like I said sometimes it just doesn't work out but if you CAN I would recommend 100% trying for as long as possible because it helps you feel more comfortable with your baby in my opinion....but as long as they get the colostrum, that really is an important part :).

[30something13]

I BF baby 1 till age 6 months becasue I was pregnant and lost a twin so I had to stop so I would not loose baby #2. Baby # 2 i BF till age 2 and she did not eat solids till age one which is when they start when BF. Well tehy need nothing else till age 1 when breastfeed. I tandam BF baby 2 and 3 and bf baby 3 till age 2 also. I plan on BF this baby till age two also and not intrducing food till around age 1. I loved it and so will you. It is the best bonding experience! Oh and if you think they will never stop BF they will:) I let them decide when they wanted to stop. You will need to drink plenty of water and drinking a bottle water or glass 20 min before will help your milk let down. If you pump or give a bottle on and off you will hae a harder time keeping your milk. Think of it no bottles to wash and get ready! It is there and ready all the time 24/7 nothing better!

[30something13]

to the one who said formula is just as good I feel youa rewrong and if that were so why are formula companies making formula to be just like breast milk then???? Breast is best but formula is next best thing when breast milk is not available and age two is not to old to breast feed. I did it! My third was born premature and I donated my extra milk because I had so much. SHe was born at 30 weeks and stayed there 14 days only. The dr said that they perscribe breast milk to premature babies! If mom won't give it they get it from the milk bank. Babies do better with breast milk then they do with formula, sepecaily babies born early or with complications. In CA there are foster moms who breast feed their foster babies. Studies show that babies born drug addicted or hav enot bonded with a mom giving them the close contact and the antibodies and the good things in breast milk makes them happier and healthier. I personally know a premature baby who was born at 25 weeks and the mother left her at the hospital. She had so many stuff going on and her body started sutting down when mom left. She was blind, deaf, on a respirator and the dr started giving her breast milk and she was no longer blind or deaf after just two days! They had told the family to say their good byes and this baby started getting better! Now the state pays for the milk at the bank!! Yep state welfare pays for her breast milk. Babies come out knowing the mothers smell and the smell of her milk. I do not think a factory could ever make that.

[Willow10]

Im still torn on whether im going to bf or not but if i do which im leaning towards im going to try to make it atleast six months..mostly pumping though bc I'll be a full time student and working some.

[faye83]

I was thinking about one year...2 MAX. Has anyone seen that video of the woman breastfeeding her 7 or 8 year old child? its on youtube and its so ""weird"" (in a bad way)

[mimilynn]

i plan on breastfeeding for the first year as well. its so good for you and your baby, as well as getting to bond with your baby. youre absolutely not nuts for wanting to do it that long! stick to whatever youre comfortable with. you and baby will decide how long youll get to breastfeed. good luck. hope this helps.

[tiredbuthappy]

I am pumping and will do so as long as i can, but at the very least 6 months. Almost there! and I have at least a month in the freezer. Preferrably til she's a year, but i don't know if i'll make it that long. If nursing had worked out, i would've gone at least a year.
It is actually advised that babies get nothing but breastmilk until 6 months, and the WHO recommends breast milk until the age of 2. Formula is an acceptable substitute, but even formula makers clearly acknowledge that their product is inferior to breastmilk.

[Ladybugbc]

I plan on breast feeding at least for the 1st year. After the first 6-9 months I plan on combining a formula if need be. I really hope and pray I can produce enough milk.

[youngmum91]

i planned on breastfeeding for the first year but ended up stopping just after he was 9 months due to the fact that i fell pregnant again and my nipples where to sore 2 continue(he had about 7 front teeth so he kept catching me making it worse) but there is nothing wrong with breast feeding for a year!good luck!

[bluegenie2003]

Thank you all so much for your comments!  Its made me feel a lot better about my decision. Breastfeeding has always been really important to me, and although I know formula is much better than it used to be, in my personal opinion, and I know everyone has their own opinion on this, that's why they're (boobs lol) there...because its the best thing he can get.  I was just starting to think that maybe I was setting myself up for failure, or being "weird" becuase I want to breastfeed so long so I wanted to hear from some women who have done it :-) I just think its such a great bonding experience (and I haven't even done it yet!) that I don't want to give it up any earlier than necessary.  I will have to pump some once I start back to work (he'll be 16 weeks) so he'll be getting a bottle during the day, but as long as everything goes well, it will be breastmilk, not formula.

[youngmum91]

it mite be a good idea to give him a bottle a day just to get him used to feeding from a bottle as although it doesnt happen with every baby my son wouldnt take from a bottle properly till he was about 8/9months!just a suggestion :)

[bluegenie2003]

I'll probably start with a bottle (with breastmilk) when he's a couple of months old, to get him used to it, since my mom is taking care of him during the school year, and she'll obviously have to bottle feed him, but I don't want to start much earlier than that. I've been told that if you want to breastfeed that its better to not introduce a bottle at all the first few weeks if possible, since the bottle is "easier" than the breast.

[ammanda]

I'm glad your deciding to breast feed.  Its really something I wish I could do, but I just cant get myself to do it.  I don't know why. but I do praise the mothers that can do it.  Like I'm not gonna say I wont try it. But I don't see it working out  for me. Ive always had really sensitive nipples, and I hate them being touched.  I don't even like to touch them.  But yea like I said before my Niece who is 17 months old, was on formula and she is healthy as can be, never even had one sip of breast milk.  She was in the hospital for over a week after delivery.  And she pulled through just fine without breast milk.  And Just seeing her how big she is and how much she talks and walks on her  own, I couldn't imagine If I were to see my sister pick her up and start breast feeding. I have an aunt whose really weird and religious, she has like7 kids, and still trying for more, lol. She breast fed all of them until they were over two, and the whole time growing up watching that I was so weird ed out.  I don't but Good luck and I really hope you can breast feed as long as you planned.  

[Estee_Marie]

I plan on breastfeeding while I am home with the baby, which will be about 6 weeks.  After that, I'll be pumping.  And my baby will get breast milk for as long as possible.  Why waste money on milk when God gave me the free milk!  =)

[kmcghan]

I planned to breast feed for at least 3-6 months. I breastfed my first for about 1 month but that's because my milk really didn't come in and she wouldn't latch on, my second I did for about 2 months, it appears that my milk is really scarce so I will do it until I can't no more ;)

[Michele, Katy, TX]

I will not breastfeed past a year at the most.  I know many women do it longer but after that, it just doesn't feel right to me.  Heck my great grand mother did it for the first 2 years with all of her kids but that's just not for me.  I actually haven't made it that far with any of my kids.  The longest was 9 months.  Once they get teeth, I start weening them.  But I will give breastmilk by some form or fashion as close to a year as I can.

Oh Joy, I know you said something about the US being one of the only countries where women don't bf longer than a year or something along those lines.  But my mom actually told me that she recently read an article.  I believe it was on France but don't quote me on that.  Anyway, the popular thing there is to get a wet nurse to nurse their babies so they don't "mess up" the appearance of their breasts.  My MIL is from Colombia and she never bfed her 4 children.  I certainly don't know a lot about the numbers or statistics for BFing in other countries, but I just thought I would throw that in there :)

[Sunkissed19]

Since we've got such a long post going on breastfeeding here and bluegenies question has been answered in 10 folds lol i was wondering something about breastfeeding myself.

like ive stated above already, i deffinitly want to breastfeed but i was thinking about pumping one bottle a day so his dad can feed him once a day so they can have that "bonding" time. but upon reading some of the comments im worried that this might mess up my own breastfeeding schedual with him? is it going to make him want to take the breast less or get confused? should i wait a couple weeks after birth to make the bottle a day transition or should i not do it at all? i just want DF to be able to feed his son and to be able to feel like he's helping.

[cocacolapanda]

You are not nuts at all!  And you'll save a lot of money if you can breastfeed for that long.   With my first pregnancy I only breastfeed for 4 months, and stopped at 6 (Was supplementing with formula).  Be careful what you do for birth control, my dr put me on the wrong kind and it nearly killed my supply, it got back where It should have been after switching to the mini pill, then I got sick and was dried up at about 6 months.  I was very sad I couldn't feed longer.

This time I plan to provide breast milk for at least 1 year, and hope to continue till our next is 2 even.  Also, if I'm sick, I plan on drinking a little as well (If I have enough at the time), it helped me once last time.  (Although a warning, if you ever think of drinking your own milk, the freshly pumped stuff is the way to go, it starts to taste funny once it's in the fridge or frozen).  *(I hope I didn't gorse anyone out!)*

Also, we do plan on still introducing food when our children are ready.  Our son started at about 3 months on rice cereal as he was drinking about 50 oz of milk a day!

[bluegenie2003]

A parent of one of my students actually teaches the BF class at our local hospital. She told me that she recommends not introducing a bottle for at least 3 weeks so that the baby doesn't get confused. I know a lot of women do both earlier and are fine, but I think the issue is that since the little one doesn't have to work as much to get the milk out of a bottle that they get "lazy" and start to prefer the bottle to the breast. I'm not sure how much impact only one bottle a day would have though.

[JoyRenee]

Michele- that is crazy! Well maybe not for them but to me I couldn't imagine allowing another woman to breastfeed and nurture my baby.

I think the only thing anyone can ever do is TRY. You can't really plan when you'll stop. Sometimes the baby dictates how that will happen. So just go with the flow, that's my suggestion! If you want to breastfeed longer than a year, go for it.

[Sunkissed19]

Thanks, i plan on taking a breastfeeding class at my hospital in march so i can always ask the question there as well...even if we waited the 3 weeks to let daddy feed that wouldnt be too bad. i'll just let him burp the baby until then lol so he can get the feeling that we're a team. im really conserned with DF feeling left out. (although im sure he wouldnt admit having these feelings or even thinking that he's going to get these feelings) but i know if it were me i would be bummed if he got to do all the feedings everytime. i just want us to be in this together!

[cocacolapanda]

bluegenie2003 - Adding onto that, If you don't want your little one to get "lazy" limit the number of bottles you give in a row.  For us one bottle was fine, but once our son got two in a row he refused the boob, leading me to exclusively pump until I finally got him to feed at night when he was sleepy.  So on top of the 3 weeks, also try to limit!

[Michele, Katy, TX]

Well said Joy!  And I couldn't let anyone bf my baby either!

[DoulaSummer]

I just wanted to say that there are MANY other ways for dad to bond with baby.  After you feed have dad take off his shirt and lay the baby naked on his chest.  Of course cover baby with a blanket.  This will help baby gather his scent and connect a scent to a comforting voice baby has been hearing for months.

Baby massage is a VERY awesome bonding experience and encourage it.  Massage has been shown to help increase development, help babies sleep better, reduce colic, and much more.  Babies respond SO well to intimate touch.

[Limonada]

6 months. Supplementing with formula beginning at 3 months. I also pumped so DH could participate. I'm planning on doing the same this time (DS is just a week old and has already taken a bottle from DH).

[niki_beth]

I planned on bfing my DS for 1 year + as long as we were both still enjoying it. I exclusively bf to 6 months, then bf supplimenting with solids until 11 months at which point I developed a condition where I could no longer put off taking meds that were incompatable with bfing... it was really hard for me cause I was not ready to stop and I didnt feel that he was either, but he needed me there for him more than he needed bm.
I had pumped alot though, so he was able to continue to get bm from a bottle until he was almost a year.

[KeyD]

When DD was born I never planned how long I would nurse her, end up being about 13 months at which time both DD and I decided to wean, it was nice cause as she lost interest my milk supply diminished. Of course your not nuts! if I ever have #2 I plan to BF for the first year again.

[LauraB78]

I didn't read ALL the responses, nor did I catch if you were a first time Mom. I just wanted to add that I had planned on breastfeeding my son until he was 6-9 months. I did not produce ANY milk, not a drop. I had the director of LeLeche at my house 5 days post delivery, and the head maternity nurse the following day. I just wanted to tell you (b/c I had NEVER heard of it and was an emotional wreck for well over a week) some women just do NOT produce milk, at ALL.. I pumped for over a week and a half and NOT A SINGLE SOLITARY drop... I just wanted to let you know this can happen.. I had NO idea, and was devastated.

In terms of how long, that is entirely up to you. Now that I have a child, I don't think I would breastfeed if I had another once the baby had teeth, and DEFINITELY not when they are old enough to ASK or verbalize.. (14-20+ months) I find that disturbing, but that is just my personal opinion. Best of luck in your decision and I hope your breastfeeding is a success for you and you do what you are comfortable with!

[rebekah385]

I am planning on breast feeding my baby until about a year maybe slightly longer we will see this is my 4th, my first was born at 28 weeks and was unable to suck at the point and had a feeding tube the first little bit. I pumped the milk for him, our bodies are, so amazing if you have a baby born early your body knows and it makes special milk just for the gestation of your baby no formula can do that since i was unable to actually BF him directly my milk did start to go away after about a month and a half and my doctor put my on medication to help the milk come in it worked and my milk came back (although the meds make you very drowsy) I ended up discontinuing at almost 4 months, because I still had to pump all of it and then feed it to him in a bottle, because if he ate to much he would stop breathing, but i am glad he was able to breastfeed as long as he was! baby number 2 I wanted to breast feed for a year, but she had trouble latching , so I ended up BF and supplementing with formula and then changed BC and my milk went away when she was 7 months, with baby #3 i planned on breastfeeding a year he had trouble latching on too, which is when they told me about the nipple shield (worked awesome for me) its a little clear rubber shield that goes over your nipple (you can get them for like $9 at targetand they are reusable) and if you have trouble getting your baby to latch they are the way to go! It made BF so much easier for me and i did'nt need to supplement him (with the shield they take bigger swallows and milk comes out easier) I was only able to stay home with him for 2 months and then started pumping and Bf at home, I was working, going to school and then we moved when he was about 7 or 8 months and i stopped Bf at that point it got to be to much! I am currently 11 weeks pregnant and plannig to Bf for a year this time again and I am now staying home, so i home it goes well this time. I do not think it is wierd at all to BF your baby to a year, also I usually intorduce solid foods at the normal age 6 or 7 months and Bf. I am glad you are going to BF your baby and help him get a healthy start!