NO DEBATE. Poll opinions only: Extended breastfeeding

[aliss]

C'est la vie for us, approaching 1 with no signs of stopping and no future babies in the works, so I'll just let it ride itself out and enjoy it while it lasts

 

[Dk1234]

I give my 15 month old pumped milk as I have a newborn and I wouldn't bf two. I think the milk has benefits but I wouldn't bf a baby past 2 years probably not much last a year. It just gets into an area where I am personally uncomfortable with.

 

[Tacey]

It's a difficult one to answer in a poll. There are so many factors at play. I'm currently nursing a school aged child as that's what suits us best, but I wouldn't say it's best for everyone. It might not be best for me any other children I have in years to come either. Circumstances are so varied, it's too hard to say what's 'best'.

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

BF my 14 month old with her showing no signs of giving it up. I hope she will self wean by 3 (pre school age). I don't plan on introducing cows milk and we all currently drink almond milk. But I personally feel bf should stop when mummy or baby decide. Be that 5 weeks or 5 years.

 

[armywife11]

I marked undecided.

I personally get all the benefits of nursing long term and am currently nursing an almost 13 month old. I have had to deal with the when are you weaning comments from family, friends, even doctors, and I cannot answer them. She nurses maybe 3 or 4 times everyday but she uses it as comfort. I could not imagine taking it away from her. I would like to have my body and time back but I will sacrifice my body for her as long as she needs it. I am assuming she will probably wean down to one or none by the time she is two based on how she have given it up to this point but I couldn't really say what is best.

I feel its a mom and baby decision.

 

[Amour]

I believe for as long as the mama wants to.

 

[daneuse27]

I don't see an option for: when mum wants to stop OR kid wants to wean him/herself, I think that's the best time to stop.

In that case, ask yourself: do you have any age limit? If you believe the nursing is fine to continue as long as both parties are happy regardless of age of the child, then I think you'd be looking at the 'no maximum age' option.

Many mothers are happy to continue while it makes both them and baby happy, but a lot of them have a cut-off age. Its the cut-off age I'm curious about.

 

[NoodleSnack]

I don't see an option for: when mum wants to stop OR kid wants to wean him/herself, I think that's the best time to stop.

In that case, ask yourself: do you have any age limit? If you believe the nursing is fine to continue as long as both parties are happy regardless of age of the child, then I think you'd be looking at the 'no maximum age' option.

Many mothers are happy to continue while it makes both them and baby happy, but a lot of them have a cut-off age. Its the cut-off age I'm curious about.

We might think we have a cut off age but it doesn't always pan out, I said 1 year old, not because I think that's the best age to stop for everyone but because I thought that's a good compromise between what's good for me and him.

You see your question is very tricky because the best time to stop is not a specific point in time but rather a combination of circumstances, and if you want to know what we think is the maximum time people should bf to, that's really asking: when do we think it becomes negative. My answer would not be 'no maximum', I think around 5 or 6 it may be make the child feel odd in a society that doesn't do it for so long, and definitely not into the teenage years.

 

[lily28]

When my child is ready.
I know that early weaning before 1 year is rare for breastfed babies.
My initial goal with breastfeeding was at least 6 months, and in a few days we are celebrating this milestone (woohoo!), now my new goal is 1 year.
After the 1st year he can do as he likes. I want to be able to go on a vacation with DH and leave my son with his nanny or grandparents at some point, so if he wants to completely wean after the first year I'm ok with that. If he still wants to breastfeed, I'm ok with that too, really I'm open for anything
The way I see it my son can only benefit with extended breastfeeding, so it is up to him. I'm not going to force him into anything.

 

[daneuse27]

I don't see an option for: when mum wants to stop OR kid wants to wean him/herself, I think that's the best time to stop.

In that case, ask yourself: do you have any age limit? If you believe the nursing is fine to continue as long as both parties are happy regardless of age of the child, then I think you'd be looking at the 'no maximum age' option.

Many mothers are happy to continue while it makes both them and baby happy, but a lot of them have a cut-off age. Its the cut-off age I'm curious about.

We might think we have a cut off age but it doesn't always pan out, I said 1 year old, not because I think that's the best age to stop for everyone but because I thought that's a good compromise between what's good for me and him.

You see your question is very tricky because the best time to stop is not a specific point in time but rather a combination of circumstances, and if you want to know what we think is the maximum time people should bf to, that's really asking: when do we think it becomes negative. My answer would not be 'no maximum', I think around 5 or 6 it may be make the child feel odd in a society that doesn't do it for so long, and definitely not into the teenage years.

For some people, the best time may be a specific point in time. Many people plan to stop at 1 year, and follow through with it (even if its give or take a few months.) A mother who really wants to stop at 1 year, is not likely to carry it on until the child is 5 if she's very reluctant about it. (I'm not saying that mind-changing doesn't happen, I'm saying that an unwilling mother probably won't last as long breastfeeding as the mother who wants to breastfeed for a long time, or who at least doesn't mind it.)

There are many moms that feel uncomfortable nursing past a certain age, and I think thats what Im curious to know - when is that point? You're not answering for other people on what you think they should do, only for yourself and what your comfort level and ideal situation is.

 

[Rachel_C]

I voted 2-5 in the poll but there wasn't really my answer there. I would go for "After 2 years old". It was important for me to get to 2 as per WHO guidelines (although if LO had self-weaned after 18 months I probably wouldn't have gone all out to get her back to the boob like I would with a younger baby), but I didn't like the last answer because I don't think 1 is long enough. I wouldn't say it had to stop at 5 though. I don't like the term 'extended breastfeeding' either, because it's not extended if it's what's natural. Extended would be BF till adulthood

 

[Dahlia2007]

I believe that feeding at least 2 years is best, but I also think that when child reaches the age 4-5, that breastfeeding would serve more as a comfort for the child, and less value nutrition-wise, since the child eats 3 meals a day + snacks.

And even though I think the above is ideal, I will be stopping breastfeeding before the age of 2, hopefully around 18-20 months, because all this feeding is getting to be quite much. LO is almost 12 months and still eating every 2-3 hours at night, as well as during the day. And I love that I am nourishing my baby with her mummamilk, but I do look forward to the time when I can leave the house for more than an hour at a time. As well as the day when I can go on a date with my husband.

 

[Pearls18]

For me personally, with a combination of personal and factual reasons with a compromise between them both the best for us will be 6-12 months as it was for my son, although I know the benefits technically extend longer than that time but I think as they get older the benefits are not as substantial to continue if I am not enjoying it, whereas in the beginning even though I don't particularly enjoy BF I know that it's tough and it is better for my baby to tough it out. But we will see, I may choose to go on longer this time, although last time it was definitely a "joint" decision to stop at 9 months I feel. My no compromise minimum for myself is 6 months.

Anyone else shocked that 2 people thought there were no benefits....really?! Heads in the sand I think!

 

[bananaz]

I believe that feeding at least 2 years is best, but I also think that when child reaches the age 4-5, that breastfeeding would serve more as a comfort for the child, and less value nutrition-wise, since the child eats 3 meals a day + snacks.

I think breastfeeding becomes more of a comfort way before 4-5 years for many kids. My daughter is only 16 months old and she usually only has 1-2 brief nursing sessions a day unless she's sick or teething so I don't think she's getting much nutritional benefit at all. There's still some immune benefits I'm sure, but she's definitely not depending on breastfeeding for calories or vitamins at this point.

 

[Dragonfly]

Anyone else shocked that 2 people thought there were no benefits....really?! Heads in the sand I think!

I was not shocked but interested to see if they answered.

 

[optimistic1]

Anyone else shocked that 2 people thought there were no benefits....really?! Heads in the sand I think!

I was not shocked but interested to see if they answered.

I was also interested. Hoping they would comment I'm curious why they feel this way.

 

[dizzy65]

I picked between 1-2 i personally am hoping to get to 18 months but than i will stop after that

 

[fieryphoenix]

Anyone else shocked that 2 people thought there were no benefits....really?! Heads in the sand I think!

I was wondering why two people who think bf has no benefits were in the bf forum? Probably just ff trying to make themselves feel better!

 

[FAB mama]

My age expectations have changed drastically from when LO was born to now, so I picked 2-5 because I can't see stopping anytime soon, but I don't know that I would just continue on forever. Who knows, that could change when we get there. I wasn't expecting to be breastfeeding this long, but I enjoy it (except the biting) and I think it's wonderful for LO.

 

[Larkspur]

I initially planned to get to one year and see how I felt, with the idea that I would like to go to two years. I'm now at almost 14 months, and pregnant. I'm aware that LO may self-wean, but if not, I plan to tandem feed till he's two and the new baby is 3 months. Then I'll wean the older one, and feed the baby till he or she is two.

At that stage I plan to wean the second baby, for the purely selfish reason that at that point I will have been pregnant or breastfeeding continuously for almost four and a half years, and I'd like my independence and bodily autonomy back then. I say it's a 'selfish' reason, and I picked 2-5 years because I do believe there are physical and emotional benefits for the child in continuing to breastfeed until the child self-weans (up to school age, where I personally draw the line) so I accept that my decision to wean at two is made for my benefit, not theirs.