How Long Did You Breastfeed Each of Your Kids?

I only have 1 child, BF'd till 2.5 years old; he still doesn't sleep through the night, so even if you stop BFing, doesn't mean you'll get to sleep - SIGH! Go on for as long as you like. The World Health Org recommends 2 years anyway.

Several years each, and I've never regretted a second of it!

I did find that my libido came back (gradually) and was back to normal around the two year mark each time.

22 months, 16 months and 20 months.
Don't feel guilty, whatever you decide!
It never affected my sexuality, other than my breasts being "off limits" for a while (lol, guess that affected my husband's sexuality more than mine!)

W/ my first: 34 months.
My 2nd is 13 months and still going strong.

Do not feel guilty!!! When we know better, we DO better. There are several things I have done differently w/ my 2nd. There is a 4.5 year gap between them so I have had lots of time to re-think things.

Your baby IS still a baby. Relax! Enjoy him!
My son is my sweetheart too. I love him so stinkin' much. I want him to stay a baby forever. Lol.

Follow your heart. And throw the guilt away. :)

I was one of those few babies that was nursed back in the 70s and I remember my mom nursing my brothers!

So when I had mine I knew that's what I was going to do... My daughter was 3.5yo, my first son weaned on his own 6 weeks before his third bday and my second son nursed until he weaned himself at 3.5yo. I dunno, I just had it in my head that this was what I was going to do and I did it. Both my boys though weaned on their own. My daughter probably would have nursed until she was 4+ but i had been tandem nursing her and my first son during his first year of life and just caved into the pressure of others saying that she would never stop unless I made her (honestly didn't think anything of it since it was an early morning session where we snuggled together as a family).

I wouldn't say that you are loving your youngest more, you're just able to now. Enjoy it. I don't think we love our kids the exact same way... but its always the same amount. :) Besides you're showing your older ones what breastfeeding and caring for an infant is like - something you won't be able to show the younger ones when they are that age.

I think you should go as long as you can!! DOn't worry, the baby may decide when he wants to stop. My daughter was down to nursing just twice a day (before bed and in the morning) by about 8 months as I was working so the rest of the time she got pumped milk. yes all pumped milk, no formula. I even mixed her cereal with expressed milk, not formula. ANyway, about 9 months she refused her night time feed and then about 12 or 13 months simply said "no" when I offered her the breast. I was SOOO sad, I loved nursing her. I continued to pump until she was about 2.75 years old so she could have all the benefits of breastmilk. I finally gave up when I was only getting a few ounces/day.

Good luck!!! Enjoy your angel!

I nursed my first one for 14 months. I felt lots of pressure to stop from my mom and MIL at one year so I slowly weaned her. I nursed my second for 15 months. I am 32 weeks with #3 and want to go for 18 months or so this time. I am going to try to ignore the pressure to stop.

My 3 year old daughter was BF till she was 2. She is such a healthy little girl, and has only had 1 cold for each year she has been born. It's been awesome. No health problems, and she is such a healthy eater. Loves fruits and veggies like her Mama. I believe that the "they taste what you eat" factor plays apart of that in comparision to what I see some other non-breastfed kids eat. Again, that is strickly my opinion. My newborn daughter is breastfeeding currently at 3 months, I'm not going to go as long with her, I plan to stop at 12 months.

12 months with my first (back in the stone age when they said to stop at a year and I didn't know better...)
17 months with my second, who self-weaned b/c I was pregnant
27 months with my last...who is also a super-sweet little guy and who I have done everything late with - no solids until 8 months, rear-facing until he was 3.5 etc. I'm in no hurry for him to grow up!

I wish I had gone longer with the older ones, especially my first.

6 year old only 3 weeks if that, 4 year old I tried and tried in pain for 7 weeks and after much bleeding and damaged I quit! my now 13 month old still doing it and wow I am so happy and don't plan on stopping any time soon! We have dropped the amount a bit to only 3 times a day but loving it and she is my last.

My first born, I breastfed him until he was 26 months old. (He is autistic and has sensory issues, so introducing solid foods was a nightmare. Also, I was hesitant to give up any means of comforting him.)

I am now breastfeeding twins and they are nearly nine months old. I have a lot of people trying to push me toward weening them sooner rather than later. I don't like the idea of forcing a ween, especially when I allowed their brother to nurse for so long. I do remind myself that my daughters are taking to solid food much better and are just different personalities than my son.

I think it is very much an individual relationship between them mother and the nurser and the two of you will figure out when and how the weening will happen. Don't agonize too much comparing it to your other children. We can all drive ourselves crazy if we indulge in too many comparisons.

First goal was 6 months. Reached that and all was well so kept going to a year. Got there and read that the World Health Organization recommends 2 years so that was my next goal. But by 21 months, I was done. We were down to 1-2 times a day anyway so it was pretty easy to stop. I'd do it all over again. In 6 years our daughter has only been on antibiotics once in her life and is rarely sick.

Two years, five days. His peditrician cut us off and we were done right then and there.

Gotta say, he's NEVER been sick or even had any ear issues.

My first child I breastfed until she was 2 years old! She didn't like baby food + was a picky eater so I wanted her to have the extra nutrition. My 2nd child I breastfed until she was about 13 months old. Things were different...she wasn't a picky eater + she loved baby food, table food, etc. so I saw no reason to continue. I did get them sleeping through the night way before I stopped breastfeeding though so that's an option for you. Just do what feels right to you.

Update: the daughter I breastfed for 2 years is the daughter that gets sick all the time. She has been on antibiotics several times. At age 13 she still gets ear infections. My yooungest daughter that I breastfed for 13 months is never sick. Never had an ear infection or any other infection. So don't feel you have to go until age 2 to reap all the benefits of breastfeeding.

#1 18 months
#2 15 months and
#3 26 months :) I wanted to hang on to his "babyhood" too. Sometimes I felt guilty about it but don't. He is happily everyones baby in our family :)

I breastfed my twins for 15 months. The middle of the night feedings stopped at three months unless they were going through growth spurts. Don't worry about those going forever. Your eight month old should be ready to stop middle of the night feedings soon if he hasn't already.

My first about a year (give or take a few weeks). This one will be 21 months on Friday and still nursing at night (before bed a time or 3 during the night). I've tried weaning her and it's ugly! We did real good over the weekend - 8 hours w/o all 3 nights - and now she's got croup so back to lots of up time and comfort nursing. My oldest took bottles so I just gave her water bottles at night. This one only took .5-2 oz a feeding (usually .5-1) and when her teacher went on maternity leave at 8 months she refused bottles all together. And I still try some nights. Really this is the only place I admit to still nursing. there's just so much negative comments to take about it! When I'd only been back to work about a month I had ppl asking "how long are you going to do THAT?" - and I work with all but one women in a daycare!
I don't think it's silly. Every baby is different with their nursing. If you're willing to and the baby wants to it will come naturally!

My first one, 6 mos because I got pregant and ran out of milk. The second weaned on his own right before his 2nd bday. The last 6 mos of nursing him was just morning wake up and night time comfort nursing for the most part.

First son I nursed and bottle fed for about 12 months. He was in the PICU when he was three weeks old and stayed for 2 months, so I pumped those two months. I lost a lot of my milk supply, hence the formula and breastmilk.
For my second we nursed for about 18 months.
I am currently breastfeeding my daughter and she is 5 months. We will nurse until she is ready to stop.
I totally understandwhat you mean about the sexy feeling though....I do NOT feel sexy when my boob is leaking on my husband. But, I don't mind getting up once a night to feed.
L.

I nursed all 3 of my kids for the first 1-3 months but then switched to pumping and they got breast milk bottles, then introduced formula slowly at around 6-8 months and all 3 of my kids were done with all of it... breast milk/formula/bottles at 1 year!

I disliked BF'ing...it just wasn't for me. I didn't feel the 'bonding' thing like a lot of you other ladies, I mean I get it, they are so sweet and snuggling you...but I just felt like an animal and I did NOT like it! And the amount of time that you have to be sitting and feeding, it is almost impossible to get anything else done and no one else can help with the feeding?! It is especially hard when you have other kids to take care of.

For me, I would say that my first got the most time on the boob...my 2nd was WAY colicky and we had to eventually switch him to soy formula, he had serious tummy issues to boot, my 3rd probably got the 2nd most time on the boob but that was only b/c she was the only girl on both sides of the family so I had TONS of family rotating in and out to help with my other 2 boys during that time...if I hadn't had help she probably would have had the least amount of time b/c it is very difficult to sit and feed every hour or two when you have two other kids ages 4 & 2 to feed, play with and spend time with!

I honestly do not know how other Moms do it with other little kids to attend to? It really does suck up most of your time.

I have 3 boys. Our first who is 5, weened around 3 to 4 mo. We weren't quite understanding why, but we later found out I got pregnant around that time. Our second wouldn't breastfeed so I pumped for the first 3 monthes (he's 4 now). Our now 11 mo. old is still feeding during naps and bed time, but we are weening him now too b/c I am currently 4.5 mo pregnant w/ our last. And my doc. recommends weening him so my body doesn't have to work overtime. I wouldn't personally breastfeed over a year, but to each their own. :)

1st was for 9 months,he did well but after 4 months I decided to add formula especially when he left with grandparents/auntie to make it all easier on them.
2nd 3 months had to give it up due to several illnesses I had after post partum,she never went back to breast I tried but failed
3rd was 15 months without any bottles I was her human milk machine & human pacifier.
As a sahm of 3 i'm happy to have choosen the bfing route automatically.They are all happy healthy children even when formual was introduced at such a young age.

I had to go back to work after my first child, so my son decided the bottle was easier to suck down than from the breast at 8 months, and self-weaned. I became a SAH mom when my daughter was born, and nursed her until she was 16 mos old. By then, we were down to only night-time nursing and my supply kind of dried up on its own, so we both sort of gave up. I would have been happy to go for longer, though. A friend of mine nursed her twins (!) until they were 5, which I think is just a *little* extreme. She stopped when she realized they were using nursing to manipulate her and compete with each other, LoL!

So, these 4 kids are now 22, 21, and 18. They're all wonderful bright, well-adjusted young adults and don't even remember being nursed. There are plenty of other things to worry about -- I don't think this should be one of them! Enjoy your sweet baby as long as you can. It won't be long before he's losing lizards and bugs in the house! Oh, now that makes me think of the book "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. If you haven't read it, you've GOT to get it. Even just thinking about it makes me (and every other mom I know who's read it) cry!

My first had latching issues, most likely because they were 6 weeks early so actual bf didn;t work out too well but I pumped until they were 9 months. I also had to supplement since I did not make enough. My little one was almost 2 when she finally weaned off--but would sometimes want to continue. Momma said that's it. This next one, we will see. But I honestly figure a yr is long enough. I know what ya mean by killing the extras. :)

I know I am late, but it's a really nice question :D I nursed my first for 13 months, my second for 11.5 months and now I am pregs with my third and I believe my last. I think about it too, will I want to go longer bc I know it is my last one...we'll see ;) I am planning on a year, like the others. I have it a little easier though bc so far I have had kids that sleep through around 2 months or so, so I do get my rest, but I have known lots of people who's kids don't sleep through and yikes!! I would be a zombie!! Best of luck whatever you decide, I don't think it will matter to your other children of course and your baby will love it if you do decide to continue on :D

Mine were 21 and 26 months old. And I was sad to quit every time after that final feeding. They both weaned themselves for the most part. We probably only had one nighttime or one morning feeding at the end. I'd hang in there!

Both my kids self-weaned. My choice by going this route.

My daughter self-weaned at about 2.5 years old.
My son at about 1 year old.

I am still currently still breastfeeding my daughter yet and plan to until she is two or wants to be done before that/I dry up/gets too painful for me. I am currently pregnant so I will also be breastfeeding this baby also. I really don't have a age limit and not out to make you feel bad. It's not working for you then don't do it...You have made it further than most women do anymore. Good luck on whatever you decide though! :)

11 months because she stopped and there was no going back. I would've gone longer, but this saved me having to wean her.

Well so far I only have one but I breastfed her for almost 13 months. At first I thought that it totally wasnt for me but that I would do it because it was best for her and then it turned into this awesome feeling where I was getting the awesome bonding time and the closeness and the fact that it really is the best for her and I was losing weight like crazy (another story altogether) and I never had to get up to fix a bottle at 3am. I ended up loving it but am happy to say that I was done just before she turned 13 months. I started weaning her at 12 months and it took less than 30 days to be completely done with it with no issues
Good Luck

#1, 1 week, he had major surgery & it just didn't work out after surgery. Unfortunately, I don't think I was given enough support but he was very sick, so may not have been their 1st priority.#2, 9 months, after he started walking , he wouldn't settle to nurse. #3, weaned him @ 13 months.

Each child is different. I nursed my 1st for 18 months before she weaned herself (I was pregnant with #2). #2 nursed for 2 years before I weaned her before going on a weekend trip (she was only nursing at night and I did not want to make my Mom crazy trying to get her to bed when I was away), # 3 weaned himself at around 15 months.

#1 and #3 spent time in the NICU, so the first 3-5 months (respectively) they were bottle-fed breast milk only – it was a lot of work to actually get them to nurse comfortably, but worth ALL the effort. I’ve always wondered if that had something to do with their weaning before the age of 2…

Take your clues from your baby and whatever you decide will be what is right for you & him!!
Good Luck ~ B.

My first child self weened at 4 months, much to my dismay. My second child was cold turkeyed at 15 months when I had to go into the hospital.
I had planned on 18 months each time.
I almost got there with my second baby, but both of my children are happy, healthy and affectionate so it worked out the way it did and all is well.

Best wishes.

2 years, 3 months... My boobs look terrible. Haha! But SO worth it. :)

I have 3 children, 2 boys and 1 girl. The oldest never got bf (he had problems with keeping my milk down so we had to put him on a soy formula), the middle weaned himself at 4 months, and my youngest weaned herself at 16 months. Good Luck and don't feel guilty or think you are giving your youngest more attention.

With my first, 10 months and he self weaned. With my second, 13 months. I felt really good about how much both of them nursed. They are now 1 1/2 and 3 and neither have ever been sick other than a minor cold.

When my son was a year old I stopped pumping for bottles during the day because it was getting too hard at work and I just transitioned him to snacks for those feedings. So we were down to nursing in the morning and evening before bed (he slept through the night at that point-so we went from 4 feedings down to 2 in about two weeks). At around 14 months he stopped asking to nurse before bed and then a month or two later he refused to nurse in the morning and asked for pancakes instead. So then we were done, I think he was about 15 1/2 months at the time.

stopped on her 2nd birthday....too long! the govt reccomended 2 years and i took that litterally...1st time mom to the extreme foolowing rules...lol...no i break them all with her

Not at all, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 11 months, and 2.5 months. Personally, I've never found sleeping to be an issue past the second month with the last two. Sexuality, either. You CAN work on those things while still breastfeeding.

FWIW, my goal was to get past 1 year with #5. Allergy issues threw us for a big loop.

Both of my kids stopped on their own right around 4 months. At that point I was only doing night-time & early morning feedings with them, but it's also right around when they each cut their first tooth. They were refusing & I wasn't into forcing them when they were getting formula during the day anyway. I'm glad I got the chance with both of them to breastfeed even though it wasn't for too terribly long. I don't know if it's the reason why neither one of them have ever been sick much, but it would be nice if it was (they're 10 & almost 12 years old now)!

My first I nursed until he was 3 years old, through my pregnancy with my second and for 2 months I nursed both.
My second nursed until 3 months before his 5th birthday. Through a pregnancy that miscarried at 8 weeks. The last time he nursed was days before we got the positive pregnancy test announcing my third.
My third just turned 2. She's nursing and I can guarantee she's not giving it up any time soon.
I am proud that I have been able to nurse my children as long as they needed and wanted to.
It's going to be really weird when my third does finally stop nursing. Don't think we're having any more children. I have pretty much been nursing constantly for more than 10 years. I only got a "break" during the few months I was pregnant with my third after my second stopped.

I weaned my first somewhere around two and a half. I had become the default entertainment device, and decided he could get entertained equally well by train tracks. He was annoyed, but it was not a huge big deal.

My second weaned herself around two and a half. She had only ever been interested in nursing for food, not comfort or connection. She had her thumb for comfort and hugs for connection. When she decided she was getting enough food that she didn't need breastmilk, she stopped on her own.

16 and 20 months respectively. My first slept 10-13 hours a night from about age 7 months on (after I taught him how to sleep and got him napping) but my second wasn't the sleeper he was but it was a short time in my life to do the best for each of them.

I never had a problem feeling sexual or wanting to be intimate with my hubby while nursing but I have heard that it can affect some women. Just a thought but I find when I'm in that zone of "just not feeling it" that if I make an effort and get things going with my hubby it makes a big difference in my feelings toward wanting to be intimate more often.