How long did you/have you breastfed?

[Chrissie]

My daughter is a little over two years old now and I have breastfed her every day since she was born. Even when we went through a rough teething/biting phase I did not give it up because it was something that I wanted to do for my child. I totally understand that breastfeeding is NOT for everyone and do not consider those who do not breastfed to not be attached parents, just to clarify. For those who did/do breastfeed, how long?

[Judy]

With my first son I breastfed him for about 16 months. He weaned himself, to be honest. With my second, I weaned him this past weekend (he turned 1 year on Dec. 31). I hated to do it but I recently had to begin a cycle of antidepressant medication and I wanted to limit how much found its way into his system.

[Emily HW]

I'm still breastfeeding, although Lily has practically weaned herself already (She's a year old). She only bfs twice a day now!

[Chrissie]

Angie is still going strong with the breastfeeding, demanding it the second I get home from work, frequently after that, and all throughout the night. I never really get a break from it when I'm around her :(

[Summer]

I breastfed my first son for 15 months. I felt bad about weaning so soon, now my second son is 18 months and still going strong. though I did finally night wean him just recently.

[Chrissie]

My daughter's babysitter, who is also my husband's aunt, has had her stay the night two nights in a row because of "arriving at a certain time in the morning" issues and this has put my boobs in quite a position.
They are HUGE and incredibly painful. I would have expressed some milk myself this morning (no pump, by hand I mean) but it produces very little when it comes to getting the size down - Angie (my daughter) is the pro at that, not me ;) Sighs. Back to trying not to bump my boobs!

[Amy J.]

I bf my first two children until they were each 3. I used their 3rd birthdays as kind of a "weaning party". I set it up with them way in advance, they knew that their birthday would be the last day that they would nurse. At that point they were old enough that we could discuss nursing behaviors and expectations, and when the day came they were fine with it. They liked the idea growing older and leaving parts of their babyhood behind. It is different for each child, this may not work for everyone, but it did for us. My third child is now 22 months, and I will nurse him for as long as he needs to, or until I feel that the time is right to begin weaning based on our nursing dynamic.

[Emily]

i did for 18 months- i was going to wean at 1yr, but he got sick for the 1st time, we took a vacation, we moved, and he got sick again, so there was no good time for it for months. he breastfed exclusively for 6 months, also. i'm pretty proud of my record, but did sometimes wish i had continued to age 2. i have an infant now, and i may go longer with her, but i think that after she's a year old i'll just do what comes naturally for us. i've heard of kids weaning themselves, but i'm convinced my almost-4 yr old would still be bf if i had let him, he loved it so much! i will wean this one before that, don't get me wrong- i think that sometime around 2 1/2 would be my limit.

[Molly]

I nursed my first for 18 months and only quit because I got pregnant again. I knew I would suffer terrible morning sickness and didn't think I could cope with both vomiting and nursing. So I took nine months off. Then began nursing my second child, nursed him for almost three years, in fact I attempted tandem nursing when my third child, a girl, was born. I nursed the newborn girl and the 2 year old boy for a few months but finally felt that the physical sensations were too much for me, somehow more than I could cope with for reasons that are hard to put into words. So I weaned him, which was very tough on him. Now my third child is 12 months old and I am curious to see if she will be one of those who "weans herself" (but I highly doubt it, because I don't give her either pacifiers or nipple-type bottles to suck on -- I don't like those things in principle). We'll see how long I can keep it up...........

[Amy J.]

Molly, I tandemed with my first and second and I know EXACTLY the sensation you are describing. It was rough-BUT I do feel that it helped my oldest transition into having a sibling much more easily, and I did not have to deal with any of the new baby jealousy or acting out that I experienced with my second child who was already weaned when her little brother was born. Tandeming is so, so hard. Some women seem to have no problems with it, but I had to completely distract myself and disconnect from my older child during the experience-which is the opposite of what nursing is supposed to be! I am glad I did it in hindsight, but Molly, I do know what you went through. It is hard to be the one giving, giving all the time sometimes.

[Molly]

Amy J., thanks for your very kind reply. I'll say tandeming is hard!! It is still hard to explain why -- it just is. I would be interested to know how many months you were able to keep it up!

[Amy J.]

Molly, believe it or not I tandemed for 13 months. I weaned my oldest when he was three, and my daughter had just turned 1 by then. You have to realize though that the tandeming relationship changes like any nursing relationship. By the time my oldest was nearing 3, he only nursed like once every couple of days. Right after my daughter was born he nursed a lot, and that was the rough part. I wanted to push him off of me. I'm glad I stuck it out though because it became less of a need for him as the months passed, and like I said before, I believe it lessened the sibling rivalry in those early months. I'm glad I did it, but I would not gladly do it again unless I absolutely felt that it was an essential need for the older child. I have known Moms who have no problem with it, and I just want to make sure I state that since I have said some negative things here about tandeming. It is still a good option for many, but you have to choose what is right for your own situation.

[B]

My daughter is almost 21 months old and she's breastfed from day one. I remember thinking I'd be a success if we made it 3 months and now look at us, still going strong. Looking back I can't believe I was ever stressed about making it through the first year without formula - my goal. Now it seems silly because it's just a part of what we do.

We're down to one session, first thing in the morning. I plan to let her do that as long as she wants, as long as I don't need some sort of reason to stop (like medication for me, etc.).