BFing goals, weaning & advantages?

I am just curious how long you ladies are planning to BF?
If you have weaned already, how long did you BF and why did you stop?
Is there a huge health advantage of nursing beyond one year?

My goal was 6 months, but it has gotten so easy...I am now shooting for a year (boys are 4 months old). Anything beyond that would be a bonus.

 

Original goal was a year. DH thought 2 until he saw a 2 year old nursing and thought he looked huge. Now we are at 14 months and both nurse 2xs a day. It is super easy and probably one of the easiest things I do for them all day, but I do look forward to getting away with DH when they wean. I'd like to have them self-wean but think maybe that's not going to happen anytime soon...

 

I nursed until 2 years. My goal was to nurse until we both felt like stopping. I enjoyed nursing my toddler and don't regret the length of our nursing at all. The only regret I have is that when I did wean, it was to a lot of pressure from others including my DH. I wish I had just kept going. Weaning spiraled me down into one of the worst hormonal imbalances and depressions that I've ever experienced. I'm still struggling to climb out of it. I know that it's possible it would have happened whenever I weaned, but I'm upset that I didn't wean on my terms.

 

My goal with my twins was 18 months, but going back to work made that harder to reach and I weaned at 15 months. My twins recieved formula feeds as well from day one.
My goal with my singleton is also 18 months. I'm also back at work now but since he doesn't like formula, I think it's more likely I will make it.

In both experiences I have lost more weight in the second six months of nursing than in the first (apart from the initial two weeks post partum.). My girls were also exposed to chicken pox while nursing at 13 months and DID NOT get sick.

 

My initial goal was 1 year but once I hit that age it was so easy and enjoyable that I just kept going. At 16 months we nurse in the AM and at bedtime. My DD is starting to lose interest and only nurses for a few minutes but DS is still going strong. My two are very healthy and have very rarely been sick evn though I work with sick kids every day. I also love the fact that even if my toddlers are so picky that day that all they ate were fishsticks and goldfish crackers, I know they are getting nutrients through my breastmilk. I'm not sure when we'll stop but for now I'm happy to keep going.

 

I don't know all the health benefits, but I know there are some. Your body produces milk based on the needs of your child/ren. Plus, extended breastfeeding lowers your chance of breast cancer.

But beyond that, there are great emotional benefits. Nursing has been a great blessing with all of my toddlers. I think it actually helps them feel secure, so they're less apt to have separation issues. Mama milk fixes all kinds of owies, physical and emotional. I nursed my twins longer than any of my previous kids. Almost 3 years, actually. My baby is 18 month old and still nursing. Gradually, he nurses a little less often, but it's still a number of times/day and often when he has a big bump or bruise.

 

i nursed until just before the girls 2nd birthday. my original goal was to nurse till a year & then see how things went. i really enjoyed it. when we weaned we were down to 1 nursing session a day, most days - i'd take the odd morning off to sleep in while DH got up with the girls. then they started fighting over my left boob - neither wanted to nurse on the right, and neither wanted to wait, so every day was beginning in melt down mode. ardon: that was just stressful & i was feeling kind of ready to be done too, so i just stopped offering. they asked to nurse a few times & i did nurse them and then that was pretty much it. although, they still ask randomly to nurse once in a blue moon - but now they usually pop off & tell me i'm empty or that my num-nums are broken. :laughing:

there are definitely health benefits to nursing past a year. they're the exact same health benefits your babies have been enjoying since birth.

 

I had a minimum goal of one year, and was hoping for two. We had lots of problems, and they began to refuse to nurse at 7ish months (reflux, feeding issues, undiagnosed ear infections, etc) and so I pumped until they were a year. It was not what I had hoped for, but we made the best of it.

I have a few friends who are nursing their toddlers, and I am often sad mine don't still nurse. As one PP said, mama milk can fix tantrums, fears, ochies, and so much more. It can also help them emotionally reconnect. I see that happening with my friends' kids, for sure.

The World Health Organization recommends nursing until at least two. The health benefits are immense, plus it's free and you don't have to buy cow's milk which isn't made for human babies anyway.
Here is a fact sheet on extended bfing from the kellymom site. It has a lot of great info:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html

If we have any more kids I will probably nurse until at least 18 months-2 years old, possibly longer. Now that I have educated myself about bfing it seems natural to me to nurse past infancy.

Good luck!

 

I didn't (want to) have a goal, so as not to beat myself up for not making it. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to BF twins. The first time I fed my babies I knew we would stick to it. Although we did and still do get a lot of weird looks and stupid comments we are now reaching the one year mark and sooooo not willing to give up on it. My girls are easily distracted during day time feeds, but the night time nursing sessions (a dreamfeed and an early morning feed) are heavenly.

It has become super easy nursing them. Bottles are such a hassle, I think. To me, BFing is all in one: nutrition, comfort, love, safety...

 

We're going strong at 9 months. I don't plan to stop breastfeeding until the twins wean themselves. They get bottles when I'm gone during the day, but nurse when we're together. They nurse 4x's a day on the weekends.

 

Thank you for all the feedback! I appreciate the insight...the kellymom link was great too!

 

We're at 2.5 yrs! woohoo! My initial goal was 1 year I guess. I remember going to a LLL meeting with the twins when they were maybe 4 mo. old? and I was horrified at the older children that were there that ran over to momma to nurse during the playtime... haha! that would be my children now. though I do mostly limit the nursing to 2 times a day morning, and night and then the occasional boo boo time.

I was almost ready to wean them at 23 mo. and my dh said we "had to make it to 2 yrs"! haha! anyway, they were distracted and fussing over it etc. they go beyond that I ended up assigning sides. so my dd gets the left and my ds the right. they know which side is there's and that's funny too! sometimes they try to "steal" the other one!

anyway, who knows how long we'll go... I would suppose it would be useful for us to get through this next winter/cold season. as for health benefits. we've had a few colds, but that's it. no other infections or sicknesses, so I'm sure the BFing has quite a bit to do with it.

I love how the more you BF the lower your breastcancer risk is, so that's another plus!

One reason I'd like to wean now is to see if the 5-7 "extra" pounds I gained will just melt off... but if I were really worried about it I would just start exercising. I initally lost almost 5 below my prepregnancy weight between 9-14 mo. but then now I'm up 5 pounds... some days I feel like have this huge appetite, but I know I'm not making as much milk as when I made almost 1/2 gallon a day!

oh, and my twins seem to have some type of dairy and soy allergy - nothing big, but nasty loose stools... when they eat/drink cow's milk or soy milk. so BFing is an easy option there too... though I give them a bit of Almond milk too.

sorry for going on and on! but I just really love this whole BFing thing! we'll probably make it to 3 yrs unless they decide sooner.

 

I purposely didn't set any breastfeeding goals. I did when I had my first baby and when it didn't go well, I felt like a complete failure. I struggled a lot at the beginning when my twins were born. Every day was a goal and a milestone. I thought it would be great if I made it to a week, then a month, then two months etc. It didn't get "easy" until 4 months. I'm still breastfeeding them at nearly 2 years. Just one of them actually as the other self-weaned a couple of months ago. I think I'm going to wean after their 2nd birthday next month. Sometimes I'm okay with that decision, and other times I feel a bit guilty.

 

double post

 

triple post

 

I never set a specific goal, but assumed 2-2.5 years was typical*. I weaned my eldest around the birth of his sister at 2.5 years. I weaned kids #2 while pregnant again at about 2.5 years. I thought with the twins I might let them self-wean but that isn't going to happen. I am hoping to have them weaned by 3.5 years. If not totally weaned at least not nursing from 8pm until 7am. The constant nursing from 3-6am is making me batty.

I do think the physcial benefits decrease after two or three years but the emotional benefits (soothing, etc) do continue.

Someone mentioned chicken pox. My kids all had cp at the same time and even though the nurslings had far more exposure (last kids to get it) they didn't have as bad of a case as my then 5 year old who had a decent case of it.

*I now realize that 'typical' is simply what you see going on around you. Before I had kids my experience was that everyone bfs into toddlerhood unless the child was not a bio kid.