Did you/do you exclusively breastfeed?

So we have 84% that breastfed for the first 6 months exclusively. This was WITH formula samples in the hospitals. Hmmmm........ told ya mothers are smarter than we give them credit for.

 

I don't have any yet (pergnant) but I definitely plan to breastfeed (exclusively) as long as I can... especially since I won't have to start working or anything until I choose to, if so.

 

I definitely plan to, cheaper and smarter haha

 

I think you kind of have to look at the crowd here. For the most part, we tend to do things a little differently than society as a whole. The hipforums have a higher percentage of attachment parenting proponents than you would find in regular society, which I think has a lot to do with the larger BFing percentage.

For example, there are over 25 mothers with children who fall in the 6-24 month age range who come to this parenting group I belong to out in the "real world". Of that 25, I know of 4 who BFed at all (2 of them suplimented).

 

oey was fed exclusively from the breast for 18 months (which doesn't include solids, of course). kai was only for 10 months, but she was exclusive to the breast. neither would ever take an artificial nipple. on those one or two occaisions when i was able to get my mom to babysit when she came to visit, she fed them my milk from a cup.

 

this is so true....

in this area....i only know of a small, small few group of women who breastfeed/fed their children....

 

Of all the women in my age group that I know that have had babies, which is about 20-30, only myself, and 3 others breastfed at all, much less past 6 months.....

 

Wow, that is sad. I belong to a Moms group and last year there were about 10 moms in the group that gave birth. ALL of them breastfed their babies, and only two of us (myself included) have weaned their babies. One was at 1 year, and my baby started refusing at 10 months (so I was the minority). It is very clear that it lies in the education and support. We have a great community that is supportive of breastfeeding mothers, even have laws to protect us.

I should also mention that this is not a AP or natural child rearing group I belong to. I am the only one that baby wears or cloth diapers in the group, yet breastfeeding has become the norm in this town. It is really amazing.

 

it's definitely coming back around. my SIL adamantly refused to breastfeed her first child beyond a month. i have no idea why, don't ask. but she's doing very nicely with her latest addition. but i think her baby is having similar difficulties with her breastmilk that my younger daughter had with mine. i think her baby is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. but she never listens to me about anything. it's her deal.

 

My baby is almost 7 months old & still exclusively breastfeeding! I'm holding off on solids as long as I can!!!

You're right about having to look at the crowd!!! I've heard comments like wow you've stuck with breastfeeding a long time, you're still breastfeeding?!?! I guess for me its just natural to breastfeed as long as I can... its not "sticking with it"!!

 

I breastfed J exclusivelly for about 9 months when he started to get interested in solids. He is FINALLY eating solids at nearly 24 months of age. So thats more than a year and a half of almost exclusive bfeeding. There were other issuess (illness) involved though. Wings, you're right about it not being just about "sticking with it". I do it because I love it and he loves it and it makes us happy! I am lucky because I live in one of three huge apartment towers that are chock full of many different nationalitys so, I can even nurse my guy in the elevator in front of half a dozen young men and nobody bats an eyelash!

 

I've got and nursed three kids and I've not had a need for formula at all.

 

19 months and still going!!!

 

In the first week of Jamie's life, I had a hard time breastfeeding because everytime I would try to feed her she would just pass out; I would try to nurse her but she would use all her energy trying to latch so I would end up giving her formula in a dropper (not letting her suck on it) so her blood sugar wouldn't drop, and I would pump. Then one day towards the end of the week she latched on and hasn't had any formula since.

 

I'm still nursing and my son is 3 (not regular like at all tho), a couple times we had to temporarily stop nursing, when I had emergency round of antibiotic for a weird pneumonia, and then when my respiratory specialist thought the pneumonia was related to chronic reflux and put me on Tagmet xl for 2 weeks. It sucked, So I stopped the med and waited for it to clear my system and and we started to nurse again.

Sometimes I would like not to nurse anymore, but we use it like a crutch, for when things get tough and to fall asleep. When my Son was in school last year, he nursed less but rushed to the couch after arriving home.

Now we are working on "please may I nurse?" Some folks here and there thought that "it was time" to stop nursing when I had the emergency stop., But my dear Son still was asking for it and would have to be rocked to sleep by his Daddy, so when I said he could... o the delight in his face and the comfort noises he made, still makes sometimes...

 

Just an FYI, there are several antibiotics that are ok to take while breastfeeding.


And, way to go with the extended breastfeeding!!!

 

this kind you couldn't, because I had been outside of the US, I had to take some serious shit. It was an atypical pneumonia with pleurisy. And I did the research and couldn't find the answers ( I even have a med-book), even asked for help, with no response. So I did the safe thing, and we got through it. And my Son, he did okay, and hasn't been traumatized. He would talk about it for about a month after. But hasn't talked about it in about 4 months.

 

I breastfed exclusively my first child until 6 months or so, then my second baby as well, until 7 or 8 months even breastfeeding on top of my tummy when I became pregnant with the 3rd , but my babies, alas ... always weaned themselves when they started eating food and such

....although breast is best bottle fed babies are also healthy and happy and love to spend time cuddling with mom too, lets not forget that.

 

Do you plan to stop before he gets to high school? Maybe you could send a bottle in his lunch box.

^^ just making a joke cause it weirds me out a little. Of course I'm a guy with no kids so who cares what I think

 

wow, that is amazing that you stayed far away from a bottle! A lot of parents would have gave into the bottle. Great job!