Are there any mothers here that nursed their baby for longer than a year?

Question

If so, I would like to know how you made it through eight months and beyond. My daughter is eight months old now and I have had a very hard time getting her to nurse in the day. She eats good during the night and before her nap. The rest of the day I am fighting her to get her to nurse; shes such a busy-body that shes not interested. Please Help!!!

Answer 1

Hi! Yes, I am currently nursing my baby who is 16 mo. How did I make it beyond 8 mo? Honestly, I didn't find 8 mo to be very difficult for me; it was 9 mo that was difficult because he bit me sometimes and I had a cracked nipple which really hurt when he bit it. But giving up was never an option for me at that point, because just from nursing a little less due to the pain I ended up with mastitus which stopping altogether would have only made much worse! It was a very difficult few days, but we got through it and I am so glad I am still able to provide the very best nutrition for my son.

It sounds like your little one having a bit of a nursing strike. It is very normal for babies 7-9 mo to become quite distractable during the day, but this does not mean they are ready to wean. It is extremely rare for a baby under 18-24 mo to actually wean on thier own without encouragement. A baby who self-weans will be eating a ballanced diet of solids and drinking well from a cup (a real cup, not a bottle or sippy). Since my son is actually doing both of these things since last month, I realize he could wean now if he wanted to, but he still loves to nurse. :)

One thing that really helped me was support from my local LLL leaders. Sometimes it's just good to talk to someone who knows what you're going through since she's been there herself. Also, there are many great message boards online such as breastfeeding.com where a very large and diverse group of women post regularly and will be more than happy to help you in any way they can. To find an LLL leader near you, go to http://www.lalecheleague.org/leaderinfo.html To check out the message board at breastfeeding.com (it is free and very easy to sign up) go to http://www.breastfeeding.com/forum/ubbthreads.php

So long as your daughter is still nursing a minimum of 4-6 times in 24 hours, you are safe and don't need to worry about suplementing.

Some things you can do to encourage her to nurse more often is to try nursing her in a quiet dark room or take a bath together (skin to skin contact is great to encourage babies to nurse).

I hope you will check out breastfeeding.com! The very best to you and your baby; I am confident you can get through this.

Answer 2

Hey hon, I nursed mine until 13 months when I was forced to stop due to medications. I started having trouble getting my daughter to concentrate around 8-9 months, and towards the 13 month point she seemed content to stop or only do it for comfort, so I didnt feel too bad stopping when I did, though I would have liked to continue. I would just say that, even though I know its hard, it just takes patience. At one year you can start her on cows milk, so I would say, try to make it there. Trust me when I say you will miss it. Its hard, and kinda like being on probation, lol...cant do a whole lot, but its very worth it. And congrats on making it this long! If you decide you just dont want to do it anymore, then switch her over, without feeling guilty. Its every persons choice and if one or both of you arent happy with it, it becomes miserable, instead of enhancing the bond and health of the baby and you. Good luck either way.

Answer 3

it relatively is a private question it incredibly is superb left to each and each mom/baby pair to ascertain. it relatively is often recommended to nurse for the 1st 3 hundred and sixty 5 days, or maybe previous. yet there are functional problems that make this annoying for some mothers - small grant of milk, working complete time without centers to pump, unavailability of the mum by way of different motives. Breast milk is like giving your infants an immunization for each ailment you have ever had - it incredibly is the healthiest component that they are able to be ingesting completely for the 1st 4-6 months and on the side of table food/infant food by using the 1st 3 hundred and sixty 5 days and previous. yet don't sense to blame in case you have a competent reason you won't be ready to breast feed for that long - do what you could (it incredibly is all good), and comprehend that formulation is nutritionally nevertheless an ok determination to your infant. yet breast milk is greater effectual.

Answer 4

It is normal at 8 months for a baby to start losing interest. My daughter at that age only wanted it first thing in the morning then at night before she went to bed. I pumped and put it in a bottle for the middle of the day, and continued with this until she turned one.

Answer 5

She is trying to tell you something. Sometimes, despite your desire to nurse past a year, your child has other plans. Try pumping and giving her a bottle of breastmilkduring the day. After eight months, you don't have to work about it affecting her latch-on. Many babies give up the breast during the day, but continue to nurse at night for years. Every baby is different.

Answer 6

I breastfed my baby exclusively for 4 months. After that, I started supplementing her with formula. Now, at 7 months, she nurses once or twice a day and shes quite content the rest of the time with formula. I recently met a lady who was still nursing her 15 month old (!!) but she was supplementing him too.

Answer 7

I nurdes my oldest 2 children for 2 years each.if you think that she is still enjoying being breastfed, by all means continue.Why not buy a battery operated pump or borrow one from the health unit,that way your breasts will not get engorged but you will be able to keep up your breast milk supply.nothing wrong with giving her breast milk in a bottle.My youngest 2 were premature babies who spent alot of time in a neonatal unit and I was unable to skin on skin breastfeed at the begining.Pump, Pump, pump,its work but its worth it1 Good Luck

Answer 8

my son is 6 months and was exclusively bf until 4 mo. when i introduced food. then my husband and i thought i might need to get a part time job at night so we introduced formula in a bottle at 6mo. and now he only wants formula in a bottle accept at night. i believe he is just ready to move on from the breast. i was upset about it, but i would rather him self wean than for me to have to "take it away" later on. i wish i could be more help here. maybe you could pump and offer a bottle, it works better for a baby on the go. good luck.