How long did you breastfeed? How long did you plan to?

[Wolverine]

I thought this might be fun.

When dd1 was born, I planned to "try" it for 9-12 months. I am still breastfeeding her. She's 2 years 9 months. She is nursing when she goes to sleep (for nap and bed) and when she wakes up. She would nurse way more if I let her. Tandem nursing has been a little overwhelming, though. So, this is the compromise we came up with. Dd2 is 4 months old. I don't know how long I will nurse her.

How about you? How long did you plan to nurse dc? How long did you nurse?

[3girls2luv]

I planned to nurse a year and I just weaned her at 18mos.

[_MrsC_]

I never really had a plan. I also never thought it would be this long. DS is about 2.5 and still nurses at least once a day. Usually at bedtime. Sometimes he asks in the morning and depending on how the morning is going I'll let him. I'm kind of ready to be done but not making any moves towards anything permanent. I guess I'll let him set the pace.

[vulturemom]

Lisa- none at all. I wasn't planing on it either.

Jay- 6 months with supplementing. I wanted to BF for a year.

Becca- 9 months with supplementing. Again I wanted to BF for a year.

Tasha-2 1/2 years with supplementing until she was about 9 months. I didn't have a age in mind I just wanted to BF until one of us felt done. She weened when I was about 6 month pregnant with Kat and my milk dried up.

Kat- with supplementing is almost 3 and still bf a few times a week. again I don't have any age in mind when she stops she stops.

[maksmom]

dd1 I wanted to nurse for 6 months, but didn't make it past a few days :(
dd2 my goal was 1 year and she weaned at about 16 months.
dd3 my goal was 2 years, we made it to 21 months.

[Crabbie]

I planned to nurse till I went back to work at 6 weeks. I ended up breatfeeding for 22 months.

[xobehs]

DD planned on a year at least. She BF 22 months
DS planned on a year at least, he weened at 5 months.

[Funmommy]

I started BF with all my boys but gidn't get past about a month. Lack of information and support. This time around i started with goals .... get to 1 month .... get to 3 months ... get to 6 months. Then I found THIS SITE and all you wonderful people and ....
Well I'm now at 5 months and so far have no plans on stopping. DD is tiny but healthy and her Dr. thinks I'm doing great. I'm happy ... She's happy .... and I'm saving TONS OF MONEY!!!!

This sounds like a beautiful relationship :D

Funmommy

[MrsKitty]

I decided on 2.5 years because of what I read about that being the best. He is now past that :)

[Violet]

With my DD's I planned on breastfeeding as long as I could. I made it 4 months with both of them. I just didnt have the support that I needed at the time to continue nursing them.

With my DS, the youngest I nursed him until he was 21 months. :)

[HummingBird]

DD planned for six months, we completely stopped around nine months. Although, right around six months we started more with formula and she only nursed a few times a day.

DS - still going strong. I'm super proud that the only formula he had was in the hospital. The way he eats, it really wasn't that much! I'm hoping to make to nine months.

[kohlby]

DS: Plan - one year because I wanted to get pg then.
Result: one month shy of 5 YEARS! (I did have to cut him down to get pg, though I waited until he was 18 months to start cutting him down).

DD: No plan, I knew better this time. Though I did think a minimum of 2 years would be good. Note that the first time the plan was a max, and this time it was a min!
Result: Still nursing at 2 years and 4 months. However, she is cutting down drastically and I'm pg so I think she might self-wean, though I'd rather she not since tandem nursing make life so much easier.

[VegasLactivist]

With Thomas, I really really wanted to "make it" for 6 months. He weaned at 22 1/2 months.
Thomas nursing on the Disneyland monorail at 16 months
http://www.1138.net/albums/album15/NursingMonorail16months.sized.jpg

With Grace, my goal was 4 years, and she nursed to age 5.
Grace having her morning booboo at age 4..
http://www.1138.net/albums/album288/morningnurse2.jpg

[_Gypsy_]

With dd, I planned for a year - to avoid using formula, learned about the recommendation to nurse 2 years & set that as my new goal -- ultimately decided on self-weaning and she weaned at 4.5 years.

With ds, I planned on self-weaning from the start, he is 3.5 and down to nursing just once a day.


I have been pregnant, nursing, or both for over 8 years straight now with zero breaks.

[daniela]

I didn't have a plan. It was hard enough getting started.
But my son weaned at 19 months.

[VegasLactivist]

I have been pregnant, nursing, or both for over 8 years straight now with zero breaks.

You SO rule. :)

[Tiffers]

I planned on 6 months, then 1 year. She's 2 now and we're trying to wean. We're taking it VERY slowly though, and actually she's nursing more during the day now than she was when we started. I'm not so good at this whole weaning thing, so it might be a few more years at this rate lol.

ETA~ silly me, I forgot about Deven lol

I nursed Deven until about 6 weeks. We used regular bottle nipples instead of the playtex nursing ones and he got nipple confusion. He refused to take my breast. I was young and had little support IRT breastfeeding so I didn't know that I could possibly get him back on the breast so I gave up.

[cream_city]

I *hoped* I'd nurse for 3 months -- but honestly didn't think we'd even make it that far.

I nursed my son until he self-weaned when he was 3 years old.

[1cheshirecat]

I planned to bf for a year but was prepared to "go with the flow" and see how it went.
Ds stopped at 11.5 months so that was fine by me.

[pawprint]

I planned to nurse ds1 for a year since I thought that was just what you did. He weaned when I was pregnant at 19 months and it broke my heart.

I planned to nurse ds2 till at least 2-3 ish because I knew that was your typical natural weaning in America. He is 4.5 and still nursing.

[BoobySnacks]

I planned to nurse DD for 6 months and I ended up nursing her for 3 years.

I have no plans yet to wean DS yet and he is almost 14 months old. I think I will wait and see what HIS plans are :)

[MommytoLuke]

With Luke I planned on a year. Since he was a preemie and I had zero support, he wouldn't latch after liking the bottle so much. So, I pumped for 13 months. I supplemented for a few months before he was ready for solids, but as soon as he started them, I was able to keep up again.

With Chloe, I plan to let her lead the way. We had a very trying first few weeks, terribly bloody nipples and a tough decision to stop nursing (and keep pumping) while they healed. I was so scared that she wouldn't take back to the breast (like Luke) but after a two week hiatus, she took right back to it! Plus, I had the LLL and bf.com and we did it. Now she hears the "click" of my bra and she perks up from a dead sleep!

[Elffriend]

With my first I committed to sticking with it for 6 weeks. When 6 weeks arrived, things were going smoothly, so I thought we would continue to 6 months. At 6 months I decided to try for a year and by the time we got to a year I was willing to do child-led weaning. She continued to nurse until she was 4.5.

With my second I thought we would nurse until he was ready to wean on his own. He nursed longer than his sister did, but I can't really say it was child-led weaning since I started cutting him back after he turned five. He nursed for the last time the day before his 6th birthday. I think he would have gone longer, but I was at the end of my comfort zone.

[Babyhellfire]

I was determined to make it to a year...I really thought I would wean her by then, and thought ENing was kind of odd,until she was almost a year lol.

Then,I figured WE would work on gentle nudges towards weaning-or at least nursing less, and I wouldn't push it until she was 2,
somewhere in there I realized the obvious- nursing being more about her needs than my own.
After 2,it was sheer laziness,and not wanting to battle her that kept me nursing her until she self weaned just before her 3rd birthday.

It not something I planned,but I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it over again.

[cc1003]

I originally planned on between six and nine months, we're at eight months now and no plans to stop any time soon. Hopefully we'll at least make eighteen months.

[mtmomma]

DD1 was FF
DD2 I planned to let her self wean & she did at age 3.5 yrs old (do to hormones messing up I was drying up so it nudged her sooner than I think she wanted to wean)

[Macabe]

I planned to nurse for a year, because that's how long kids use formula so I figured that was the goal.

Actually, I haven't changed my mind. I did nurse until DS was 2.5, and I hope to use child-led weaning again. But my goal is still a year.

[peytonsmommie]

My goal with Ds1 was a year, since that's the length that was recommended to me. We got to a year and he was no where near ready, so we continued. He weaned at 22 months with a gentle push by me. I was pregnant at the time and the feeling of him nursing made me want to jump out of my skin!

With Ds2, I don't know how long I'll nurse. He can't talk yet to tell me! lol (I don't plan on getting pregnant again ANY time soon)

This thread reminds me- the other day when DS2 was nursing, Peyton made a comment about him (DS2) getting my milk. I was like "yeah you used to get it too when you were a baby" To which he replies, "I know- it tastes like vanilla icecream!"

[Kristen]

I didn't plan on nursing my DD at all. Just the thought of breastfeeding turned me off. DH asked to just try it a few minutes after DD was born and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I am so glad DH asked me to give it a try! After DD and I got going I set simple goals for myself: first was 3 months, 6, 9 and then 12. I made it to 12 months and past!! DD weaned at 18 months.
DS is 15 months old and is still nursing. I set a minimum goal of 12 months with DS, anything past that is an extra pat on the back for us!

[Meredith]

With Jett, I had no intentions of weaning at a specific time, and I feel the same for Dax. I did, however, want to nurse Jett for *at least* 12 months. We made it to 11 months, with supplementing off and on. Given our constant supply and weight gain issues, a pregnancy and miscarriage, severe nipple pain, masitis, thrush, and horrid latch issues, I feel good about how long he nursed.

I would like to go for *at least* 2 years this time, and we're off to a great start - so much better than last time, so I feel pretty confident that we'll get there.

[Pamire]

I originally planned to bf until my children had teeth. When they got their teeth at 5 months, I changed decided to try until a year since the teeth didn't really hurt.

I actually nursed them:

DC #1- 25 months
DC #2- 19 months
DC#3- 24 months
DC #4 is still nursing strong at 6 months.

I ended up letting them self wean. I was the first in both my family and my husbands family to exclusively nurse, let alone for that long. It was interesting to say the least. :)

[Babyblue]

My goal with ds was a year. Dh made me stop at 11 months because it was so hard and so stressfull for me. Looking back I should have stoped long before that. I had the most horrible nursing relationship I could imagine and at 11 months it was still excrucatingly painfull. No matter what I did ds's latch was painfull, even after several lactation consultants and three LLL leaders told me his latch was good. I only kept nursing because I felt I was failing ds if I stopped.

If I have more children my goal will also be a year, but my gut churns at even the thought of that much pain again. Though I will breastfeed again, I am harboring a lot of fear over it.

[Elizabethdaisy]

DD I didnt nurse her.
DS1 I breastfed for a year.
DS2 is still nursing at 15 months.
I didnt really have a plan I just wanted to get them to a year. Kyler just needs to nurse to sleep and thats all he wants to nurse now. I would love for him to wean before the new baby comes.

[Nipple_nectar]

With DS, my goal was 6 weeks, I really didn't want to do it and my midwife convinced me that six weeks was all babies really needed:) We made it six months. I went back to work full time and thought I had to quit, quit cold turkey and ended up with a terrible case of mastitis. I was really uneducated about it:(

Almost twenty years later, I never gave it a second thought, my goal was a year. Then I came here and learned that it was best to let the child lead and that is what we chose.

DD1 reluctantly weaned at 18 months when I was 18 weeks pregnant and my supply disappeared:(

DD2 is 17 months and nurses 2-3 times a day. I will let her choose when to wean.

[Nursh]

DS1- 14 months, I planned on a year.
DS2- 23 months, I planned on 2 years, but he weaned 5 months into my pregnancy due to decreased supply.
DS3- 23 months as well. I also planned on 2 years with him, but he had other plans.

[Nipple_nectar]

My goal with ds was a year. Dh made me stop at 11 months because it was so hard and so stressfull for me. Looking back I should have stoped long before that. I had the most horrible nursing relationship I could imagine and at 11 months it was still excrucatingly painfull. No matter what I did ds's latch was painfull, even after several lactation consultants and three LLL leaders told me his latch was good. I only kept nursing because I felt I was failing ds if I stopped.

If I have more children my goal will also be a year, but my gut churns at even the thought of that much pain again. Though I will breastfeed again, I am harboring a lot of fear over it.

I wanted to put this out there for you and anyone else. Please check out this web site: www.breastfeedingheaven.com and make the investment in a pair of silverette, they literally saved my nursing relationship and are amazing!

I highly recommend them for anyone suffering from nipple pain.I still use them and my DD2 is 17 months old. She bit me a couple weeks ago and I was bleeding. I put the silverette on overnight and in the morning, I didn't even have any pain~ wow!

[ControlFreak]

With DD, I planned on 6 weeks until I had to go back to work. It lasted 4 days. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

With DS, my plan was 1 year. After I hit a year, I was going to try for 18 months. He nursed for 13 months and weaned because I got pregnant and m/c and my milk dried up. He didn't seem to miss it at all.

Wtih this one, I'm going to try again for at least a year to 18 months.

[Carolina]

I planned on breastfeeding until she turned 2 years old but we continued until past 3 years old.

[Darcy_]

Parker I planned 6 months we Bf for 14

Serra I am planning for 14 she is almost 9 now and doing great!

[KerryS]

I didn't go into it with a weaning plan with either of my older kids. #1 weaned at 4 1/2 years and #2 weaned around 4. With my current baby, I would like to nurse until 3 if he wants to, then I will probably gently encourage weaning at that time.

[Prisca]

With DD1 my original goal was to nurse at least 2 weeks no matter what, and hopefully up to 6 months. After a while my goal was two. Then I got pregnant and figured she'd wean on her own during the pregnancy, but our nursing relationship stayed exactly the same.

I guided her to wean at 4.5 with it being ultimately her decision, but I did push it.

With DD2 I had figured I'd nurse as long as I did with DD1. But I just weaned her (the same way I did with DD1 pushing her, but letting her decide when exactly) this summer at 3.5. I'm not sure why so much earlier, but it just felt right. I was afraid I'd regret it, but I don't. I do hope she'll have some memory of nursing though.

[Babyboy]

I had such a ruff start that i thought i would only make it to 6 months and stop. Here we are at 6 months and going strong!

[HammBugga]

DS1 I planned on nursing for 12 weeks, until I went back to work. He nursed for 21months until he self weaned. No supplements.

DS2 I plan to nurse until at least 2 or until he self weans. No supplements for him either.

[busy_i_am2007]

With my kids I nursed for...

Tyler, I didn't get to nurse him. I wanted to, but his sucking reflux wasn't fully developed and I didn't have anyone to help me out as what I could do.

Britney, for 7 months.

Ashley, for 6 weeks, I went through terrible ppd and thought I was losing my mind.

Crystal, for almost 7 months.

Jessica, for 13 months, I love that I made it that far.

Joshua, 4 months, he was still nursing every 2 hours and never seemed to be getting much.

Aaron, for 23 months.

This baby I plan to nurse as long as she wants.

[dewoman81]

It has been over 8 months. I wanted to for 6 months, now I am thinking 18 months.

[CatSoup]

Nursed ds1 about 1 month,planned on 1 yr.
Nursed ds2 6+ months with supplementing at the end, planned on 1 yr.
With this coming baby I'm planning on 1 yr again, I hope we make it. :)

[mommyof2sons]

I nursed my first for 13 months. I am still nursing my baby boy. He will be one this weekend. I plan to nurse as long as he wants to.

[FrznPolarAngel]

I thought I'd at least give it a try. I'm the only one on my side of the family for generations to breastfeed. Gave myself a goal of 3 months, then 6...then 9...maybe a year.

By 18 months, Brian was done. He wanted no more. I was a bit surprised but glad I did try. Discovering bf.com upon returning work (3.5 weeks after an emergency csection) was my lifesaver. I don't think I would have pushed myself through the challenging beginning without the support and education I received here. :)

[pbear13]

I planned to nurse dd at least a yr. My family kept "rant" for me to stop at 6 months. I almost listened to them until I found this website and the wonderful, helpful ladies:hugegrin: She self weaned 2 weeks before she turned 2.

With ds, I wanted to make it atleast a yr. and my plan was for him to self wean. Here we are at almost 26 months and still going!! Some days he nurses often and others it less. I'm thinking he is starting to wean.

I get a lot of grief from my family that he is too old etc. But I just ignore them or say we don't think so;)

[tabatha]

I only nursed dd for about 1 mth, i was very uneducated about it back then.
Ds i planned to nurse for 2 yrs, he's 4.3 yrs now and still nursing once in the AM and once in the PM. Were planing on self weaning.

[camille97]

I started BF with all my boys but gidn't get past about a month. Lack of information and support. This time around i started with goals .... get to 1 month .... get to 3 months ... get to 6 months. Then I found THIS SITE and all you wonderful people and ....
Well I'm now at 5 months and so far have no plans on stopping. DD is tiny but healthy and her Dr. thinks I'm doing great. I'm happy ... She's happy .... and I'm saving TONS OF MONEY!!!!

This sounds like a beautiful relationship :D

Funmommy


I love reading posts like this. :hugegrin:



To answer the OP:

with dd1 (now 11), we breastfed exclusively until she was five months old and I went to work. I wish I knew then what I know now. I really would have gotten a pump from WIC instead of formula. I had no time frame in mind, but just knew I would breastfeed all of my children.

with ds, I planned on nursing him twice as long as his sister. We made it to 11 months and a few days. He had a few bottles of formula in the end, but he didn't really like it much so I started him on Vit. D milk in a sippy cup a few weeks early. (When I ran out of EBM freezer stash, since I stopped pumping at work when he was 9 months).

DD is 4.5 months now. She has never had a bottle, refuses to take a paci (I am her paci). I plan on nursing her for at least two years, but likely longer. We'll see. I want to at least double ds's nursing time.

[nicurn]

DS1
Plan: 1 year
Reality: 2 1/2 months

DS2
Plan: At least one year and then as long as is mutually desireable
Reality: 13 months

DD
Plan: At least 2 years
Reality: 19 months

[still_me]

I never had a plan going into breastfeeding for anything really.

I nursed DS1 until he was 18 months. He weaned himself gradually.
I am currently nursing DS2 and he is 21 months. I went to wean him a month or so ago and he wasn't ready to give it up. I nurse him 2-3 times a night lately due to teeth and growing pains.

[TuetonicWillow]

I planned to "try" breastfeeding and see if it was something I wanted to do. I never had a plan but I didn't think about it beyond a few weeks.

All my children ended up nursing for several years each. My youngest stopped a few months ago, on his own. I guess I am finished forever now.