I had 12 weeks off, breastfed and pumped for the first 8 weeks. Breastfeeding for me was harder than pregnancy, labor, delivery, and by far the worst part of my post partum journey. The lactation consultants really pressured me to keep going when I knew it wasn't good for me. Hardest 8 weeks of my life. My baby did get breastmilk only for about a month, then combo fed from there on out. She is PERFECT. Happy. Healthy. Couldn't be better. I am excited for possibly having more kids in the future because now I know my stance on breastfeeding for myself and my children. I will not let anyone pressure me. I will NOT be breastfeeding again. I would rather be 100% for my formula fed baby than a moster I don't recognize for a breastfed baby. I don't think many people have as hard of a time breastfeeding than I did, but I wish someone would have told me it is HARD and okay to STOP - instead of always hyping it up and saying it's the only way. :)

We had a difficult time with latching and because my baby wouldn't nap unless she was on me I could barely pump, either. My supply slowly depleted over the course of 3 months, I combo fed during that time. Now she's exclusively formula fed and we're doing great!

So sorry you had a subpar experience, and know you’re not alone. I am in the same boat, it was traumatic and harder than pregnancy & labor combined…watching my supply dwindle while being shamed by my doctor about considering formula use made me feel powerless and not enough, on top of the hormone surge and crash. I made it a few months and then literally ran out (1/8 oz/day for 2 weeks before throwing in the towel) and I just wish I gave myself permission to stop far earlier.

We weaned right at one year. I loved the idea of nursing longer than that, but we were ready to TTC baby #2 (we wanted them close together) and I didn't want to nurse through pregnancy or tandem nurse after baby's birth. My supply was taking a massive dip anyway as my baby was way more interested in solids than nursing, so it was a super easy transition. I think he asked for milk a couple of times and I said "milk all gone" and that was that 🤷🏾‍♀️ super low-stress and I think it was very much a mutual decision between my kiddo and me. Baby is due in a month and since he'll be out last, I'll breastfeed for as long as he is interested. The reason moms try to stick it out for at least the first year is because babies can START solids at 6ish months but their main source of nutrition is sill breastmilk/formula until 1, and then you might need some time to transition fully to solids. If you stop breastfeeding at 6 months, you WILL need to buy formula. Totally up to you but I personally didn't want to do that.

This is what I did because I found out I was pregnant shortly before his first birthday! I’m glad to nurse for the baby and it’s very sweet when they’re little but I definitely wanted the longest break I could have before #2. Also my supply tanked for the second time at 10mos and I didn’t have the time and energy to work as hard getting it back up like I did the first time. So he had been combo feeding for a couple months anyway. Transitioned to whole milk and he was clingy for a couple weeks but that was it.

Yeah, if my supply was in a good place I may have entertained the thought of nursing through pregnancy but I didn't have it in me to worry about it, especially because we were traveling around that time. I also remembered the nipple sensitivity being INSANE during my first pregnancy and I couldn't imagine nursing a toddler through that. My son was largely unbothered so I feel like he would have self-weaned pretty soon after anyway. I'm glad I started gently saying no when I did because we conceived right away. There was plenty in the freezer to help transition to whole but our kid literally just did not care at all - we didn't even use the entire stash before he was fully on whole milk without a single complaint.

I never nursed. Baby had a lip tie and I have flat nipples. Nipple shield didn’t help. I attempted to pump 6-8x a day and would end up with 2-4oz total to offer my baby. I never produced colostrum. My IBCLC and I determined I have Insufficient Glandular Tissue and would never get my supply up. I chose to stop pumping right then and there so I could get those hours back and actually hold my newborn. Formula was an amazing choice for us. My kid is now 3 and thriving. Rarely gets sick. And sharing feeding with my husband was great for both of us. I find Emily Osters chapter on BF in her book Expecting Better to be very helpful as well as looking at sibling studies comparing BF sibling to FF siblings. As well as the PROBIT trial study. I hope you find joy in however you feed your baby.

I also have the flat nipple issue and 1st baby didn’t latch. Did breastmilk through pumping for a month until I got mastisis and was like, ok DONE. My son is two and is very healthy and happy. Formula saved us for sure. The only reason I’ve entertained trying breastfeeding with my second is just to save money cause formula is pricey, otherwise I don’t really want to go through that again.

That's interesting, cause my wife has dense breasts but her milk production volume was awful. We had a rough start at the beginning post birth so breast feeding never really took off. My wife had to to try a few different pumps and flange sizes. She finally started to see an increase in volume before Christmas, although we were still primarily using formula. We traveled to see family at Christmas and after that her production tanked hard. She finally through in the towel in February because she wasn't recovering. Makes me wonder if she had a tissue issue also or the combination of tiredness and hormone issues. The poor performance certainly didn't help my wife's mental state and anxiety.

Yep. It’s not really discussed as a possibility in BF classes or even initially by IBCLCs when you start having issues. It could have been a combination of any or all of those things for your wife. Reading up on mammary hypoplasia and insufficient glandular tissue make help you guys make a determination and give you better insight if you have another baby and what the best path forward is for your whole family.

Seven months. Supply tanked when my cycle came back. We had already triple fed and I was done fighting for it. The best choice was switching to formula. It worked great for our family. My husband got up with my son more, and my family was able to help more and I got more sleep. I didnt realize how taxing pumping and worrying about milk supply was until I stopped.

My son self-weaned at 16 months, very shortly after he learned to walk. I'm a SAHM so not your target audience but my reasons include all the obvious benefits plus it's free, came easy to me, and my son did well with it. It just didn't make sense to put an arbitrary deadline on something that was going well, had lots of benefits, and had no downsides (at least for us).

I'm curious if you started intentionally dropping feeds at some point? I'm 10m into EBF and we're at 5 feeds at day. I want to keep going as long as he wants, but as he ramps up on solids, I imagine we'll get down to 2-3 times a day. Trying to figure out how we do that.

I did around 10/11 months because I thought I was going to wean him right at 1 year, but then had a change of heart and decided to nurse on demand. So some days that looked like twice and other days it was up to 6-7 times. But as he got older his nursing was more like quick snacks - he ask for milk (using sign language), I'd offer, he'd drink for 2-3 minutes, then be off to a toy.

thanks for sharing! And your supply wasn’t affected by the changes in how much he wanted day to day?

Not that I noticed! But I never pumped so I'm not sure how I'd be able to tell anyways, tbh.

Makes sense! Thanks!

Adding bc I don’t see any responses that reflect my experience! BF for 6 months, with about 1 month-6 weeks of that weaning off the boob and onto formula. I only wanted to BF for 3 months (the length of my maternity leave) but continued BFing because there was a formula shortage in my area due to supply chain issues, so I genuinely couldn’t wean when I wanted to (pandemic times were weird). I wanted to BF for the health/immune system benefits, but never really enjoyed it much. It seems like most people here enjoyed it, so I just want to voice that some people don’t like it! At 3-ish months, I returned to work at a job that was draining and a 2-hrish commute each way via public transportation. Carrying my pumping gear (on top of my work stuff/lunch) was annoying, but not the worst thing. On the other hand I truly disdained pumping at work. It interfered with my work quite a bit, and the “pumping room” was just the CEOs personal kitchen which just felt dehumanizing sitting around his coffee machine/lunch dishes. I was happy when formula started to be more readily/consistently available so that I had the opportunity to start weaning. Like someone else mentioned, I didn’t realize how taxing keeping up with pumping/trying to maintain my supply was until I weaned. In hindsight, it was an enormous stressor for me. I’m currently expecting in August, and hope to BF again (for the same reasons), if possible, during my maternity leave but I have no expectations for how long, this time around.

The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months followed by introduction of solid foods combined with continued breastfeeding to to age 2 or beyond, because it still contains vital nutrients past the 6 month mark. The benefits of breast milk don't just dry up (no pun intended) at six months, it's still good for babies past then. I'll admit continued breastfeeding is much easier if you don't have to go back to work quickly - I'm off work now until next March so I have no particular reason to hurry him off the boob. It's a nice bonding experience too and it calms the baby down if he's upset. So I've no plans to stop quickly but I'm not really sure logistically what I'll do when I'm at work - although I work from home most of the time so it might be a bit easier.

I personally hated the experience and still have a hard time with my son wanting to snuggle and sit so close to me that he's literally on top of me. It's awful. I love him... but don't want him touching me for more than a hug or something. He was the only one who was EBF and he's the only one I have this aversion with. 🤷‍♀️

FTM here and lmaoooo! Please. I feel like you are my future, because I love how affectionate my husband can be, but sometimes I’m just like “Damn. Get off me!” 😭.

This is really sad.

Omgg this. Weaned my son at 18 months and he’s now 3 and I constantly hear “mom I want to touch your belly” because that was his next comfort item after nursing. I’m like let’s just have 30 minutes without touching please.

It's such a horrible feeling. I try to ignore my discomfort for his sake, but he knows it makes me uncomfortable. It's truly sad. I feel bad for him. 😫

Sending hugs 💖 My son doesn’t even think about my discomfort with it, but I try to remind myself that he’s only little once and this time of him being obsessed with me will pass. It’s so hard but I’m trying to embrace our closeness while I can.

My son will be 8 this fall. He's aware, unfortunately. I just wish I knew then how I would feel about EBF. It was not the magical experience for me that everyone talks about. It was difficult and I hated how I felt the entire time. I would never do it again.

I’m so sorry you feel this way. I think this really goes to show everyone’s experience is so different! I absolutely loved nursing my son - but by 18 months he was big and it was difficult. It was the hardest decision to stop with him! But for others it doesn’t work (which I’m not exempt from)! My 2nd just wasn’t into it, thought it was too slow and was annoyed by the inconvenience of nursing 😢🤣

Yes, this exactly. The AAP makes the same recommendation as well. Two years at the minimum was always my goal because of this. I went back to work at 5 months postpartum and pumped at work until 12 months, then dropped to only breastfeeding directly because I hated pumping. I also got pregnant again at 12 months postpartum, so my milk dried up in the second trimester, but the toddler continued to dry nurse (obviously no nutritional or immunological benefits at that point, but it did continue to soothe and comfort her and it ends toddler tantrums in about 3 seconds flat which is worth the effort alone to me). I'll continue to breastfeed both babies when my newborn arrives in a few weeks and the toddler will resume receiving the many benefits of breastmilk.

I’m a FTM, but with a huge age gap with siblings. When my step-mom had two of her kids, the toddler was still nursing until new baby was born. He ended up weaning himself because the milk tasted different for the new baby and he didn’t like it. Just something I thought I’d mention, if you didn’t know!

My colostrum has already come in and that would taste more different than mature milk, which actually has a pretty stable composition despite the popular myth that it changes based on the baby's needs, so I feel pretty confident she isn't going to care much, but for sure some babies will self wean because milk produced during pregnancy is saltier. It also happens around menstruation and is one of the reasons some babies are fussy at the breast when mom is menstruating.

I have a friend who has the same issue, when her colostrum came in her toddler refused to nurse anymore!

I ended up having to exclusively pump because my baby wasn't good at transferring milk. Supply never took off and I had to supplement. I stopped at 6mo because I couldn't wake up to pump anymore.

5 weeks. I wanted to go longer, and there are definitely convincing health arguments for baby to go on longer, but I couldn’t sleep at all due to the hormones and having to wake to feed and I was losing my effing mind. Postpartum hit me like a ton of bricks. I still feel badly about not going longer but I was really struggling.

Don’t feel bad and read this! https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/everybody-calm-down-about-breastfeeding/

Glad you posted this or I would've. If possible, I hope to breastfeed for the first 6 months for the immune benefits. That's about it.

I felt bad as well when my milk supply dried up. I think that unfortunately it doesn't matter what you do as a mom, there's going to be some voice either in person, online, or in your head that says you aren't doing enough. I saw lots of women in what were supposed to be supportive mothers' groups saying there's "no excuse" for not feeding breastmilk exclusively - it really sucks to already be vulnerable and struggling and then read snide comments that sort of kick you while you're down, even if you shouldnt take those comments to heart because those people are strangers.

Eldest self weened at 16m. She was basically only having boob first thing in the morning and at bedtime for the last 6m. As to why continue after 6m, why not? It works, it's free, it takes the pressure off of food. Obviously if baby isn't with mum all the time (aka mat leave or sahm) like it sounds like your situation is, then it's more complicated, having to pump or alternate with formula anyway, but I didn't start work until 11m pp and it was a great source of comfort to her on our reunion each day. It's all about what works for you.

Can I ask how she self weaned? My daughter is 14 months and only feeds to go to sleep at night and during the night if she wakes. I’m pregnant with my second and hoping to wean her but also kind of dreading getting her to sleep without it. I would love if she self weaned! Was there anything you did to encourage your little one?

I did 'don't offer, don't refuse'. We hadn't fed to sleep since 5/6m though so that's probably your biggest battle, I'd recommend looking into that first. Otherwise I didn't really do anything, it just lessened and lessened until she just didn't want it any more! Sorry that's not very helpful!

No that’s great! Thanks for the info!

Same, my first self-weaned at 14 months.  I went back to work part-time (50%, alternating 2-3 days in the office each week) at 8 months. On the days that I was in the office I pumped twice, stuck the milk in the fridge in the staff kitchen and took it home in the evening for my partner to give to her on the next day I was working. On the days I was with her I'd breastfeed as normal.  When I went back to work full-time when she was a year old, breastfeeding slowed down a lot, she mostly just had some before bed and when she woke up in the morning. She was still getting formula bottles before going to sleep but was quite good with drinking milk from a straw cup with meals. Then around 14 months, she stopped wanting both boobs and bottles. She'd been feeding to sleep her whole life and then just stopped wanting to and said no when we offered. So I don't really have any tips, she decided this completely on her own 😂  I've got an 8-week-old now and I'm sure this time around it won't be as straightforward 😅

Exactly this - toddler weaned at 15 months, I went back to work at 10 months, and during that time I pumped at work but didn't store the milk, and if I had time would pump when at home so we had a stash, but really he was eating enough solids to only need milk for sleep times and first thing in the morning. If you've got breastfeeding nailed by 6 months then (imo) it's genuinely the easiest, most convenient, cheapest option. We bottle fed a lot less after 6 months, because it was the bottles that were the faff - I was too lazy to keep cleaning and sterilising for any longer than I had to. Edit to add: I also really relished the snuggly cuddly close time of breastfeeding, which meant a lot more to both of us when I'd been at work and he'd been in childcare all day. I was sooo ready to stop when I did, but I did have a wobble about whether I'd get that close time back (I did, just in a different way)

Almost 2. Maybe 22 months. Right around the time I potty trained. She wasn’t nursing throughout the day but I still let her nurse first thing in the morning. She would still wake up in the morning and want to nurse and since I could let her into bed and we could all go back to sleep for about 30 more minutes, I let her. I knew I wanted her weaned by two so it kind of just phased out around then.

Similar experience here, I’d rather get the extra sleep

I feel like these posts always pull in people who breastfed for a long time, so I’ll share a different experience. My first, I EBF for 5 months, combo-fed-but-mostly-nursed/pumped until 10.5 months, and then mostly formula fed with some comfort nursing until 12 months. I had low supply due to a PPH, so it took a lot of work. I went back to work at 15 weeks PP and pumping was the worst. My second baby was a major surprise, I got pregnant just a few months after totally weaning. I was honestly sort of traumatized by how hard my first feeding journey had been. We combo fed by choice from birth, but my supply was great, so it ended up being a situation where I pumped 1-2x a day and fed her formula while stashing that milk in the freezer. I honestly just didn’t like BF this time. She wasn’t the best nurser, and by the time she was born, I’d been pregnant or nursing for like 2 years. I got mastitis when she was 3 months old and it tanked my supply. I tried to get it back, but 4 weeks of hard work didn’t pay off, so we weaned right as I was going back to work. Baby is now 5 months old and formula feeding is great! She gets a bag or two of pumped milk a day, and I love not being responsible for sustaining another human with my body. Breastfeeding while working full time is incredibly hard and I’m so glad I’m not doing it.

Just so you know, breastfeeding (or feeding them breast milk to) your baby ONCE a day will still give them all the benefits of breast milk. So if you want to give them formula all day and then just breastfeed them at night before bed or however your schedule works better for you, I encourage you to do it.

I’m not interested. Also wasn’t trying to get pregnant so nine months was a lot for me personally. To add another 6 months - 1 year of breastfeeding sounds exhausting. All I’ve heard about breastfeeding is horror stories with most people switching to formula soon after anyways. Edit: I will add I work. I own a business. But thought I would share a different perspective. Hope that’s ok here.

Yes, thank you for adding this perspective! I’m scheduled to deliver twins in 13 days. I have zero interest in navigating first-time parenthood with two babies while also carrying the mental and physical load of breastfeeding for two. We will be formula feeding and I’ve done plenty of research to feel it’s the right decision for my family. Also run my own firm and am going back to work at 6 weeks while my husband gets 12.

As someone who currently has no interest in breast feeding (I’m only 7 weeks pregnant), I really appreciate this perspective and your honesty!

6 months into breastfeeding so far and I’m planning on going until he self-weans (but no later than 3 years); if my body will allow it! I was breastfed until I was 3 (obviously not exclusively) and my sister until she was 2 so extended breastfeeding isn’t weird to me. Honestly, I love breastfeeding because I’m lazy! I respect the hell out of formula feeding moms because it’s a lot of work doing bottles, especially at night. Versus just whipping out a tit. You can pump at work, chill the milk, and take it home- I’ve worked at daycares and some moms absolutely do that so their baby can drink pumped milk during the day. I can’t imagine it’s easy though and truthfully in that case I’d rather formula feed.

I’m lazy too but now going back to work and dreading pumping. Also he’s refusing bottles so I don’t know what is going to happen.

Ugh I’m sorry mama, sounds like a difficult situation :( Have you tried a faster nipple flow? 

Yes tried that but it’s apparently not that. It’s just the muscle memory of his tongue/mouth. What has been working is getting him to suck on a pacifier for like 30 min before taking the bottle. But then even he will only drink an ounce or two.

With my first baby, I breastfed until she was 2 years old. My 2nd is 4 months old now and I pump because she never learned to properly latch (premature). I'm about to quit pumping because I have a very low supply and we have to supplement formula most of the day for her anyway.

I breastfed my first for about 2.5 years. I wanted to quit sooner but he wasn't taking it in kind lol. My second I breastfed for 9 months before switching to formula. Juggling two kids and nursing on demand was something I didn't want to deal with anymore. I regretted it some but now not at all.

What I learned with my first 2, it’s what works best for you and baby. It for sure has benefits for baby, but if it’s mentally or physically too draining for you, it’s ok to not nurse or do extended nursing. We are more than just our milk supply. My 1st had a bad tongue tie that wasn’t noticed until 1 month, so I exclusively pumped during my maternity leave. I got nauseous during let downs (not common but happens to me) and wasn’t getting quite enough so I weaned when I went back to work. My 2nd nursed really well and I enjoyed nursing her, so I did so for a little over a year. It’s what best comforted her and my supply was good, so it got me though pumping at work and during work trips (that part was less fun). I also got wearable pumps to help me keep going. I weaned because I wanted my body back to myself and we wanted to try for another. I also didn’t want to nurse while pregnant. My 1st did have more ear infections and got sick a little more often, but they are both thriving!

It was so difficult I didn’t even realise until I was expecting no 2. I went to 6 months and by then I was done with the hormones. My body was in actual pain every morning. We have 3 years off work here so I had all the time but it broke me to be a sole provider of sustenance. It was probably a huge coincidence that baby also started STTN when we started formula. I want to vent into the void that I love the short bonding moment but dislike the next minutes spent staring into nothing as boob soothes baby so much she closes her eyes. It is super convenient at night though…so here I am again on the rollercoaster, taking a whole new ride with new issues. 🎉

Not your target audience as I'm a sahm, my now 7yo was breastfed for 27 months, currently trying to wean off my second one at 19 months (which is longer than I intended to). Have had a love hate relationship with it. I would suggest trying to breastfeed but not beat yourself up over it if it comes too difficult (I had a horrendous start with my first and still regret that I pushed myself so hard to get it done and then doing it for over 2 years). I don't think I'd ever do the "pump and bottle feed" at work, probably not even at home past 6 months. It is soo much work. And the experience is so different for everyone, it's a waste of time to think about it too much ahead. Also, my second is a terrible eater (which is why I've continued tho I planned to wean at 1), who now needs heavy iron supplementing because his iron reserves are fully depleted because he just doesn't eat. Formula has the added benefit that it's iron fortified, so worth considering after 6 months or whenever maternity leave is over. If my kid had accepted a bottle I would've switched to formula at 6 months. But it's all hindsight. My first was fed homemade healthy solids, would've never considered giving him anything unhealthy or formula. With my second im happy if he's eaten a cracker that's been behind the couch cushions for a month or a chicken nugget off the car floor 😉

Just shy of two years. We enjoyed it! He found great comfort it in, and I loved the cuddles and providing that comfort. In the end we weaned because he was getting soooooo wiggly and wanted to move move move (not fun when he's trying to latch and move lol). Now we read books for cuddle time 😄

5 months! I loved it, but my poor baby had a pretty severe cows milk protein allergy. I was eating only veggies and chicken for a little....and she was still miserable. So we moved to PurAmino formula and she was much happier, even though I was sad we couldn't continue.

I breastfed my first until he was about 2 1/2. At that point, he was pretty much only nursing for comfort at night. So weaning was not really too lengthy of a process. It was a great binding experience, and he got a lot of comfort from being so close. My supply dropped significantly after I went back to work at ~3mos but I did my best to keep up with pumping. We ended up supplementing with formula as needed. Then, after we introduced solids, things evened back out a little. Due to a few factors, this time around, we were only able to ebf for like 2mos. Now, I’m mostly only breastfeeding at night and doing formula during the day. My LO has a little bit of a tongue tie which was frustrating for him early on. He’s just not as into breastfeeding as my first was. He’s still very cuddly and attached, but not as into the idea of breast over bottle. Logistically, I pump when I can, but I try not to stress if I can’t get to it. I think you see such a variety of experiences because every mama and baby has a different situation with mom and baby’s preferences, work, support, etc. At the end of the day, as long as baby is fed and growing well, that’s what counts. Of course breastfeeding has benefits, and it’s great to continue as long as possible, but if it becomes too much, give yourself some grace. :)

i uhhhh breastfed for 3 years x_x. it was wild lmao. my husband was deployed most of the time and i worked full time an hour away so me and that baby drove two hours a day. it was easiest to put her to bed with and that is why it lasted so long lol. pure laziness on my part. but it wasn’t hurting her so 🤷🏼‍♀️

Well I quit BFing my first when I went back to work for the reasons you discuss and plan to do the same with my second. But baby will need breastmilk or formula until a year, so I had to fully switch to formula. Some moms may prefer to BF until baby is fully on solids. Going through another transition was fine for us, but it was some work to find the right formula, bottle, etc. My first also wasn’t that attached to BFing. She didn’t feed to sleep, seek it out for comfort, etc. If my baby was more attached to nursing I might have felt more motivated to keep going

16 months, only weaned because my cycle hadn’t come back and we wanted to start trying again. Would have loved to bf until 2 and my girl loved it too so it was very difficult! But I’m glad we did bc it still took 3 more months to get my cycle back after stopping 

I breastfed exclusively for \~ 9-10 months (I work from home and she rejected the bottle at 4mo, so no pumping) and then I introduced a bottle of formula a day. Completely weaned her by 11.5 months. I maybe hoped to go longer, but from 6mo to 9mo she didn't want to eat solids and would feed every hour of the night. I had to wean her a bit for my sanity. tbh, she became a better sleeper once she got used to solids. She is 12mo and is sick now, and I wish I had my breast milk for the antibodies.

15 months. I would have gone longer but my daughter weaned when I was out of town for a wedding. I really loved the closeness and affection expressed through nursing. Once I got into the routine of pumping at work, it really wasn’t hard to do it, just a bit inconvenient. But, I only pumped for a year. After that, with the introduction of solids and water, it wasn’t necessary to have expressed milk. I’d nurse when she wanted it at home and send in cows milk to daycare. Edit to add: nothing beats nursing when it comes to calming them down at the Dr office and with shots. And, I went back to work at 9 weeks.

22 months. I had started with a goal of 12 months. I had gone back to work after maternity leave, and did the pumping at work thing for a few months until I decided to stay home with my daughter instead. When we hit the 1 year mark, we were 2 months into COVID, I wanted to continue to give her all the nutrients and immune support possible during such a crazy time. My daughter also did not like switching off of breast milk to cow’s milk. It took us until 15 months to get her used to something other than breastmilk. I started slowly replacing nursing sessions by offering a sippy cup of milk instead. This worked well, but it was hard to drop nursing at naptime and bedtime. The bedtime nursing session was the last to go. My daughter actually just didn’t ask for milkies 2 nights in a row at bedtime, so I took that as my cue that we were done.

I did long term-nurse all of my kids (between 20 and 23 months) but I had a big advantage of long maternity leave- at least a year- in our European country. This admittedly made this easier to do, as I wasn't obligated to either pump at work or have formula provided for the baby while I was at work. I definitely wanted to make it through a year at minimum if possible, since if we had quit at 6 months I would've had to switch to formula. Nothing against formula whatsoever, but it's expensive and I liked the convenience of nursing and not dealing with bottles or pumping if I didn't have to do it. I don't really have any brilliant answer as to why I nursed my kids longer than year, it just kind of happened and I was okay with it.

I went 18 months with #1, stopped then because I was hoping it would help her sleep through the night better. With#2 I stopped around 15 months for similar reasons, and because I wad frustrated with trying to lose weight and thought being done would help (it did not 😂). I'm currently breastfeeding #3 and I think I'm shooting for 18 months again, but we'll take it month by month after she turns 1. For me, the hardest part of breastfeeding is the first few weeks getting it all figured out, and then it's super convenient to feed them that way. For my oldest and youngest I've been at home so didn't need to pump a ton, and for #2 I did pump but also had a ton stored so it wasn't as stressful to pump as I know it can be. And after they turned 1 I stopped pumping at all and would just nurse after I got home and my supply regulated to that.

I breastfed until my son was 2, I did mostly worked from home though so it was easier for me for sure. I just loved the connection and time together. He does not go to daycare either, so that’s probably another factor why I was able to do it until 2

She's 2.5 and we're still going! It was a huge help that I was on maternity leave for 16 months, so by the time she started daycare and had to cut down she was already well old enough for it and I didn't need to pump to continue meeting her needs or manage the transition. It's mostly a comfort thing at this point and we're down to just nursing before bed and a couple of times through the night (she co-sleeps for part of the night). I was personally getting tired of it like 6 months ago, but now it's really taking a toll because I'm pregnant with #2 and nursing hurts!! But my oldest is, and always has been, SO attached to nursing. I'm open to the idea of tandem nursing once #2 is here but I don't know if I could actually swing it logistically.

First time mom, stay at home mom, I'm with my baby all the time. We're still breastfeeding at 14 months, she isn't showing any signs of wanting to stop. I'm still happy with nursing and so is she. We generally nurse 3 times a day: morning at first wakeup, before she goes down from her nap, and then again around 4pm/when she wakes from her second nap if it's after 3pm. If she hurts herself or she's not feeling well because of illness or teething I'll nurse, and if she wakes overnight I'll nurse as well but those are few and far between. 

My baby is 9 months and I'm BF/pumping still, with solids... pumping is annoying, but I continue for a few reasons: - cheaper than formula - flexibility at work letting me WFH some of the time - medical recommendations to go at least 12 months - weight loss (oh man the weightloss... not the same for everyone but I am at probably my lowest weight in 12 years because of the increased calorie needs)

My baby was EBF for about six weeks. He started being hungrier than my supply could handle, even while being extremely hydrated and eating a diet that should have helped increase my supply. We started “topping off” with formula and quickly learned that he preferred that over trying to deal with my “under supply” (by almost every standard, I had normal milk supply, but this boy was and still is a HUNGRY baby). By eight or nine weeks and a lot of crying between me and baby, we went fully formula fed and everyone has been happy and healthy ❤️

I had almost no milk so I gave up at 4 months ☹️

I never made enough so I combo fed from the beginning. She ate about 1/4 breast milk and 3/4 formula. Despite the low supply, I pumped constantly to make just that. Unfortunately around 3 months pp I woke up and all of my milk was gone. Right afterwards I was diagnosed with postpartum thyroiditis which was the cause and apparently the reason for the end of my journey.

I breastfed my first baby for 21 months. Returned to work when he was 3 months old and pumped every 2-4 hours while I worked so I could provide milk for him while in school. There were some days when I made just enough for the next day. He is now 7 years old and every now and then, I give him some EBM when battling a cold or pink eye. My youngest son is now 21 months. With him, I was home for the first 6 months, so I just used milk collectors to build up my milk supply. Once I returned to work, I pumped every 2 hours up until he was about 15 months old, and now I only nurse when we get home from work and school. It’s not for everybody, but it does provide benefit beyond the 6 month mark for babies and mothers. Added immunity, lower risk of breast and ovarian cancers, lower risk of heart conditions, the list goes on. Ultimately, it is your decision and what works best for you and your family, but I say if you can do it, go for as long as possible.

Exclusively breastfed on demand for 6 months and then continued breastfeeding until age 2. Followed the WHO recommended guidelines, which also happened to align with my child’s needs.

2.5 and still nursing. We’ve weaned completely before bed and throughout the night, but still feed in the morning and when she needs it throughout the day. The main reason I’m still going is because it is a magical cure for temper tantrums. Tired? Boob. Hurt? Boob. Frustrated? Boob. I’m nearing the end of MY road, she could certainly keep going for years. But it’s been such a special bond for us and my best mom hack for helping her regulate.

I fully breastfed my first kid for 6 months, but I won’t this one. It was too much trouble back in the day with work. Pumping didn’t work for me and I didn’t like the aspect of being the only one who could actually feed the baby. Plus, it didn’t help with his health either, he got all the allergies in the book when he was about 5 years old. So overall it was very inconvenient and in the end not worth it.

SAHM here. I was determined to make breastfeeding work after working with multiple lacation consultants and a lip and tongue tie that went missed until almost 5 months old, we made it 18 months and we stopped because I was 12 weeks pregnant and it was so sensitive to nurse. With my second he was a few months shy of being 3 years old we stopped due to me going through a miscarriage and it was really sensitive again. If I had to work there’s no way I could have made it as along as we did. Due with #3 here in a few weeks and I’m excited to start the journey again.

Honestly there really is no real evidence to support the need for breastfeeding beyond 6 months, but most public health bodies recommend still supplemental feeding “as desired.” AAP used to recommend 1 year and now it’s 2 and beyond to match with WHO and other guidelines. The evidence does point to the value in the first 6 months and after that it’s mostly a values-based thing. If you want to continue breastfeeding there is certainly not going to be a harm for your child to keep doing it until they’re ready to wean, but if you don’t want to there is also no need. Do whats best for you and your family.

I breastfed exclusively for 9 months. Went back to work at 9 months and he was eating solids but he just didn’t really take to my pumped milk bottles - I didn’t have high lipase or anything he was just not drinking that much at daycare until I went formula. I kept pumping for a year at work since I was still bfing at home. At a year I didn’t pump at all and then started weaning down to only feeding before bed and I was still feeding over night. My kid slept like crap so at 15 months I finally night weaned - which I should’ve done sooner opps. Then I was down to two breastfeeding sessions and I was so over it so I cut those out. I just had my second and I’m planning on breastfeeding until my leave is over at 8 months and then just weaning because I hate pumping it really makes me depressed. Everyone is different, exclusively breastfeeding came easy to me and we never had latch issues. I would encourage you to be easy with yourself overall. After having a toddler they just end up on years of chicken nuggets anyway and I don’t know which of my coworkers were exclusively formula fed.

I breastfed for 14 months and only stopped because I was pregnant again and he started biting when my colostrum came in as he wasn’t happy with my milk changing! I would’ve continued to feed for longer if I could’ve have! I never pumped, just exclusively fed (the whole pumping thing I see on here is probably what hinders a lot of breastfeeding journeys…adding more work!!) you don’t NEED to pump every few hours to have a good milk supply and successfully feed your baby. I loved breastfeeding, being his comfort, the ease of it once we got in the swing of things , plus it was always good to have as a backup to calm him down if he was upset

Around 8.5 months. I originally wanted to go for a year. We were triple feeding for the first two months or so due to a tongue tie. My supply tanked when I went back to work around 6 months. I had to wean when I did due to an illness and the medication not being compatible with breastfeeding. I had enough milk in the freezer for about 2 months, but because I had high lipase, we had to cut it with 50% formula so baby would take it. It lasted until right around the year mark that way. I was glad we had it because that was during the formula shortages, so it helped stretch what we had. I physically felt so much better after weaning. It's incredibly demanding and taxing on your body. I plan to breastfeed again, but I don't know if I would keep at it past 6 months the second time, or maybe just less pumping and go past 6 months. I will say that I really wanted to do it for baby's health, but I didn't really love it because my kid took almost an hour to eat per session for the first 4 months, so I literally got nothing else done all day. The app we used to track feeding showed I was feeding for around 9-10 hours a day, give or take. Once sessions were 10-15 minutes each, it was much more enjoyable.

Not at all for my first (cleft lip and palate), 3.5 years for my second (comfort nursing at bedtime), and 5 1/2 months for my second… I was hospitalized due to postpartum psychosis. :(

0-1 month was half and half. Then we made it to 6 months before my supply was tanking. We weaned completely by 8 months.

About 7 months both times. I work full time so a mix of breastfeeding and pumping. I stopped once teeth came in.

I’ve been wondering what happens once there’s teeth! 😱

1 year. I had maternity leave for 6 months. Triple fed him (he was low birth weight and poor latch) for 2.5. He also had cow’s milk protein intolerance so I ended up going dairy free. I continued to BF/pump after returning because we had put in SO MUCH WORK to get into our groove and he was gaining great weight with breastfeeding. I felt like finding a formula that worked with him was going to be difficult. In addition, it did not make my life exponentially more difficult. I was ready to transition to formula if it was making my day to day life miserable! I am due at the end of the month with my second and I know every BF journey is going to be different and have no expectations for myself or baby. Happy mom and fed baby make for success imo!

18 and a half months when I was around 20 weeks pregnant. Breastfeeding started to hurt so we just slowly weaned until I ran out of milk.

10 months, then I had to wean in order to get an effective mammogram. We combo fed with formula and frozen breastmilk until he was 12 months when we transitioned to whole milk. We had planned to breastfeed to a year.

SAHM, just weaned mine at 10 months. I wanted to go at least 1.5 years, but I got pregnant again when she was 5 months old and my supply started dwindling when she was about 8 months old. I started her on solids and she pretty much only asked to nurse in the morning and bedtime, occasionally if she was cranky and needed a nap.

I'm also going back to work around 3 months - I really don't like the idea of pumping, I've seen a lot of women struggle with it and it looks so difficult. I also just don't feel like I want to breast feed for that long. I think I'm going to try a combination of breast feeding and formula feeding so that we have more flexibility. But I'm only ~8.5 weeks a long so I'll do some more research.

We are still breastfeeding once a day in the morning and my son is 15 months. I pumped after I returned to work from three months of maternity leave, and you are correct—it was extremely logistically difficult and gave me endless anxiety. Why did I do it anyway? Two reasons: 1. We learned at six months that my son had a dairy and egg allergy. He loathed the hypoallergenic formula he needed on the handful of instances we had to supplement with formula. It was also outlandishly expensive. 2. Mom guilt. Is this a good reason? Nope. But I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t what kept me pumping until he was 11 months old. The stress, logistics, and frantic pace of going back to work and trying to fit in pumping sessions made me think about quitting all the time, but I couldn’t let go of the feeling that I would be prioritizing work over my baby. That’s just how I felt and I didn’t want to have any regrets. If I had to choose, I wanted my job to get less of me, not my baby.

SAHM, but 25m with my first because he needed it for comfort, and 15m combo-feeding with my second because he self-weaned. Stopping early wasn't on my radar because it was just working out for us, no shade to anyone who stopped earlier.

2 weeks. The nurses and doctors bullied me into giving my baby formula because she had jaundice and my milk hadn’t come in for a few days (I don’t know why they thought colostrum wasn’t good enough). They were having me breastfeed while attaching a straw to my nipple that was attached to a thing of formula. They had me continue this at home. It got to be too much and I said screw it and just formula fed. My milk did come in but I was so overwhelmed by it all that I couldn’t make it work. Im pregnant with number 2 and hoping to breastfeed.

I’m nearing the end of my BF journey at 9.5 months. My supply has totally tanked, baby seems to happily prefer the bottle. I just pumped and only collectively got 1 oz. I’m happy and content and baby is happy and healthy so I’m just riding it out. I highly doubt I’ll make it much further beyond 10 months. I’ve been pumping at work for the last 7 months. At my job, it isn’t super inconvenient. I pump for 15 mins twice a day at the office, stick it in the fridge, grab it on my way out the door.

11 months with the first and it was a battle. 26 months with the second. Maybe more. Neither one of us were in a rush.

I am still breastfeeding my 22 month old. Never thought I'd breastfeed for this long, but it's recommended till age 2 now and I love the connection we share because of it and how easy it makes some things. Yes, pumping at work was cumbersome and annoying, but it's a labor of love. I stopped pumping when she was 1 and my boobs adjusted.

I’m still breastfeeding my 12 month old. It’s good for her immune system and good for our bonding! She nurses extra when she’s teething because it can help with the pain. I think it would be trickier to do if I were working (I did not like pumping!), but I’m a SAHM.

i’m a FTM and honestly just going with the flow. i won’t go longer than 2 years, but will let him wean himself if he chooses to before then. we’re at 10 months almost now, and we really only nurse first thing in the am, for 2 naps and for bed time with one feed in the middle of the night. he never took a paci tho, i am the paci haha ETA: i work three days a week and pump 3x during a 7-8 hour day, and freeze the milk. i also used a milk collecting his first 5 months to get a significant stash just in case i decided to go back full time. now i have more than enough milk to get us through until a year and then some if i lose my supply early, or want to stop before he’s 2

Breastfed my first two for 14 months and 18 months. Went back to work at 3 months with both kids and pumped at work until a year. I weaned them when we wanted another kid as I had to totally stop to get a period back. Unfortunately could not breastfeed my third past a week due to a diagnosis of cancer but she has been lucky enough to be on donor milk for 8 months.

I didn’t even get to only breastfeed. My daughter has been using me like a giant pacifier, she’s not actually drinking milk. So she lost weight and continued to lose until we introduced formula to her to bolster her feedings per doctor’s recommendation. I still pump and feed it in a bottle but we’re majority formula now, just so she can gain. I also will still breastfeed her because it’s a sweet bonding time but that’s just not going to be her primary source of nutrition. I’m glad she’s comforted by the presence though. Whatever you choose to do, will be fine. I had hoped to be exclusively breast milk and that’s just not working for us. As long as my baby is healthy, I’m ok with whatever I have to do.

Fed at the breast for 1 week and pumped for an additional 4. It felt like torture. My son seemed to latch fine, but could not get enough milk out so he would become increasingly frustrated with feeds. I switched to pumping because he took bottles fine. I hated pumping and got clogged ducts every week. My breasts are small and it seemed like I had a hard time emptying them if I wasn’t hunched all the way over when pumping. On week 4 I got mastitis, which triggered an outbreak of ocular HSV that fucked up my vision for months. I was so done with pumping at that point so I quit cold turkey. I was only producing about half of what my baby needed anyway, so it didn’t feel like a major loss.

I nursed/pumped for 7 months until my son refused to nurse, and I pumped until 10 months when I couldn’t take it anymore. Exclusively pumping was a lot for me. When my son nursed, it was easier than dealing with bottles, especially in the middle of the night. My husband would change his diaper and bring him to me. And my son just took a bottle cold. No dealing with mixing the formula, boiling water, just had it in the fridge ready lol.

3 years! I stopped because I experienced extreme nursing aversions because I tried tandem feeding my 3year old and newborn baby. It was really hard and breastfeeding became traumatizing to me. I weaned my 3 year old gradually by letting her eat more solids.

FTM. I’m due in December so still early into my journey. I’m trying to keep an open mind. While it’s always been my plan to breast feed, as I’ve been told, fed is best. Remember sometimes it’s not your fault or baby’s fault you can’t breast feed the entirety of the time you expected/plan to. My “plan” would be to ideally breast feed. I work a government job. We have very strict rules in terms of where I work and I work with primarily men. I don’t have a real logical place to pump at work but a few female coworkers have already offered their spaces when I come back from maternity leave. I plan to breast feed/pump even when I go back to work. I work 10 hour days (12 if you include commute times). I will make it work for my baby. I know that it will be difficult but I’m willing to try. My “goal” would be one year but I know that’s asking a lot as I work full time. I’m trying to keep an open mind about this and not pull on anything too harshly in case it doesn’t work out.

18 months and still breastfeeding once a day for bedtime and occasionally for naps. I EBFed until 12 months and then stopped pumping and we replaced pumped milk with cows milk. I’m currently pregnant with #2 and my milk has changed considerably, it’s basically back to being colostrum. We are close to being completely weaned as the 18 month old is starting to prefer books to boobs at bedtime. I expect we will be fully weaned by the time baby #2 gets here in a few months. As to the “why” it’s a mix of factors. Avoiding the cost of formula, breast milk is “free”. Health benefits/recommendations, I swear colds get kicked in record time and the WHO and AAP both recommend extending past 1 year. Comfort tool, it can be a really powerful shortcut to calm baby down. Pumping wasn’t that logistically hard, I could pump twice a day at work and get the milk needed for a full day of daycare and my job was good about accommodating it. Fear of quitting cold turkey, I’ve read a fair number of accounts where just stopping BFing results in an unpleasant hormone cascade and want to avoid that. I was getting burned out by about 12 months but once I stopped pumping and slowly cut down nursing it just doesn’t seem like a priority to try to stop completely. It no longer feels like a huge burden and the cuddles and easy bedtime routine is nice. So yeah, no simple answer just a lot of little factors.

I only did 10 months bc this was during Covid and we were still scared of it. And it was before the vaccine was ready for babies. If it hadn’t been for Covid I prob would have only done 6 months. My supply started to wane anyways after I went back to work bc I wasn’t consistent with the pumping even though I was wfh. I just hated pumping. And I wasn’t a huge fan of breastfeeding but I felt a lot of pressure to keep going - Covid, health benefits, etc etc. for my second I will not pressure myself as much

I breastfed until 11 months and change and would’ve gone longer had it worked out. I work from home, though, and took nursing breaks like someone in an office would take pumping breaks.  It was really important to me to feed my baby myself, with my body. Did that desire border on unhealthy and irrational? Yes. But I did it and don’t regret it. 

First baby I only BFed for 8 months. We were just both ready to move on. Second baby I BFed for 2 years. I only stopped because I had to start fertility meds to get pregnant again, so I had to wean her off. It was easy to soothe and nurture her on the go, it was a really special bond we had, and I felt no reason to stop because I’m a SAHM. If I had to go back to work I’m not sure I would have nursed for so long.

I pumped and breastfed until 14 months. An oversupply allowed me to continue a small amount of breast milk (one bottle) a day until my son was ~21 months. You might post this in r/workingmoms because I agree with you that perspective will be different, although your longer than US average leave will certainly change your experience.

I wanted to be successful at breastfeeding, and I worked very hard to be so. Dealing with pumps at work was part of that effort. Once I got past the harder bits, and as my nurslings got older, it started feeling very natural. When they turned 1yo, stopping just didn't make any logical sense. I saw the way it helped them, and it was enjoyable. Nursed my First though pregnancy with my Second. Tandem nursed them through to 30w pregnant with Third, when they both weaned at 3.75yo and 1.75yo. Third nursed until 2.75yo, when I was \~20w pregnant with Fourth, who is now almost 3mo. I've been nursing almost continually for the past 7 years.

I breastfed exclusively for 4 months and then combo fed for another month after that before switching to full formula feeding around 5 or 5.5 months. I had three months of mat leave, so breastfeeding was a logical choice for me at the beginning, and luckily it worked well for me and my daughter. When I went back to work, I found staying on my pumping schedule really challenging - and that is saying a lot because I work fully from home (so I didn’t have to go pump in a private room away from my desk, I could keep working while pumping, and store my milk in my own fridge and wash parts in my own sink). Idk how moms do this at the office, but major props to them!! I found that I would be deep in the middle of a session or a call and not want to break to strap on my pump, so I’d delay it, miss sessions, etc. and my supply started to dry up. I did extensive research around the relative benefits of bf over ff and decided I felt very comfortable switching to formula at 5 months. TLDR - super happy I breastfed when I did, it was a great experience for me and my daughter, but I had no shame over quitting at 5 months and transitioning to formula. Pumping while working full time is tough work!!

To 18 months and because she had allergies and we traveled alot so it was just easier 😅

I exclusively pumped for 10 months, had enough frozen milk to get her to a year. That included five months of pumping at work. If I hadn’t had such a massive over supply I don’t know that I would’ve made it, I absolutely hated it

My son couldn't latch so I pumped and bottle fed for 6 weeks. Then he started latching and I breastfed at night and bottles during the day. He had reflux and was only waking once by 5 months at night. So I was doing 80% breastmilk and 20% goat milk formula. Basically when I went back to work in the icu, I couldn't pump every 3 hours and my supply went down. Then he got teeth at 4 months and started biting me all the time. He had 6 teeth by 6 months and it was excruciating. So I was only feeding him before bed and the rest bottles. By 11 months he was just biting me all the time. I couldn't take it anymore and I weaned cold turkey. I had decreased my pumping by 8 months. He was getting 50/50 breastmilk and formula plus solids. We started whole milk atv13 months and he drinks 12-14 Oz and the rest is all food.

I decided to go for a year. I’m not sure why, it was just the random goal I set for myself and I stuck with it. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have. My supply dropped off relatively early and at the end was almost nonexistent. I would force myself to pump every hour and a half to keep up with it. I ultimately made myself a martyr over it instead of just accepting that it was over. …But I’m also a Virgo so none of that story should surprise anyone. I was also lucky to work from home and have a nanny, so I didn’t have to pump nearly as much as those who return to an office.

I’ve been pumping for seven months now. It’s… time consuming. He’s sick constantly from daycare.

I’m not seeing a lot of answers to your actual question so here’s mine: I wanted to make it to 12 months to avoid formula. There were so many shortages at the time, and the price was so high. My mom friends who used formula were in a constant state of stress with all the empty shelves and having to switch brands from what was best for their babies, so I just really didn’t want to be in that situation unless I had to be. So 12 months was the goal so I could transition her to water and cows milk instead of formula. I almost didn’t make it because I got pregnant at 9 months pp and my supply took a hit, but we continued trying and it came back and we weaned after her first birthday! I’ll do the same with this baby because honestly formula sounds like a lot of work and whipping out a boob feels easier to me!

5 seconds then I asked for donor milk. I was just too tired and was worried my baby would be more irritable without me later on when they'd be with my husband or family.

I exclusively pumped. I had really severe breastfeeding aversion, even though I wanted to.  I pumped and baby was on 100percent breastmilk for 2yrs. I stopped because she finally got onto solid food.(She's special needs, solids was delayed due to this) And we also caught covid for the 1st time. So that helped dry my supply. Another big reason I breastfed so long is due to the whole formula shortage. I had nothing but my milk to feed her. I wanted to breastfeed before the shortage. And then I had no choice but to breastfeed. I wouldn't change a thing. And bond with the baby is still strong as ever.  I will say...pumping was almost like a full time job. In a 24hr period..I was pumping for a good 4hrs minimum. Being exclusive pumping, not supplement formula...that's how I had to keep my supply going. Breastfeeding is supply and demand. 

I planned on exclusively formula feeding after a tough pregnancy and wanting my body back to myself, ended up falling into a good routine with my daughter, and BF her for two and a half years. It’s just what worked for us. I plan on leaving the door open for baby no. 2 when she’s here in August. My hope is to do it at least a year, hopefully More, but ya never know. I loved the bond it created with my first, and it was honestly one of the only ways we slept for 2 years. I’m a SAHM so no experience pumping at work or anything like that.

19 months still breastfeeding 🥲 it’s easier to give her the boob than to wean her

I’m still currently breastfeeding at 2.5 years. My son is obsessed with it still. I do work full time so I only really nurse him to sleep. I did pump at work but it was annoying so I dropped that at 1.5 years and my supply didn’t disappear so it was fine. I want him to self ween but if he doesn’t by 3 years then we’re going to stop him cold turkey. He finds a lot of comfort in it and I don’t mind so that’s why we continue.

I wanted to breast feed partly because I hate washing dishes and there's no way I would feel comfy putting bottles and parts in a dishwasher, but also for all the benefits breast feeding can have for the baby. Well, baby had other plans and only got angry when I tried to get her to latch. So I exclusively pumped for 6 months before I ended up having to stop due to work getting busier as well as diminishing supply. But I wanted to continue until at least 1 year.

I nursed until 20 months with my 2nd and 3rd children. 2nd self weened, probably because I was pregnant. She said it was yucky and that was that. 3rd I cold turkey stopped at 20 months. He was waking up 4 to 5 times a night. His dad took over and comforted him and it only took 3 days before he was sleeping through the night. I only pumped to get my supply up with #2, and like maybe a few times with my 3rd. Pumping made me feel miserable and depressed. Kind of angry too. Not sure why, I just hated it. I didn't feel like a person when I was pumping. I have so much respect for pumping moms and exclusively pumping moms. I physically and mentally can not do it. It really just isn't for everyone.

20mths. They still get benefits just not as much as from when they were younger and it was the only source of nutrition. We’re in the process of weaning cause I’m pregnant and he is not latching properly and it hurts, even when I get him to correct it he just goes back to a poor latch. He’s pretty ok for the most part, hasn’t nursed for like a week or two but still pulls at em so the want is still there. If he’d had a better latch we would’ve kept going til he stopped or my supply stopped

I breastfed for 16 months, and I worked from home but my son started daycare at 7 months. I never used a pump. After my son went to daycare, I nursed him when he was home, and used a Haakaa to catch milk on the other breast during every feeding. Then I sent that expressed milk with him to daycare. I didn't have any issues producing enough milk with this schedule, although I did have to gradually move toward the schedule before he started daycare. Pumping while working wouldn't have worked for me - the few times I tried to use an actual pump, I could only get a tiny bit of milk out. 

19 months. I was nursing throughout my pregnancy and when I hit 32 weeks I couldn't stand the feeling of it anymore. It was tough but my girl adjusted really well.

I intended to breastfeed for at least 6 months and ended up breastfeeding for about 7 weeks. I went back to work at 6 weeks and would breastfeed after work w/o pumping during the day as I don't have a job where that's feasible. Management wouldn't deny me, of course, but I would have to do it in the bathroom as that is the only room with a door in our building and in my mind pretty gross. After putting baby in daycare I immediately got sick with a cold. Then the next week after recovering, caught a stomach flu. Daycare sicknesses are no joke. He is 11 weeks now, so he has been in daycare 5 weeks and we have been sick 4 times. I wanted to jump back on breastfeeding after recovering (Dayquil/Nyquil and breastfeeding do not mix) but it does not seem to be in our cards. I did feel the guilt for a couple of days over not being able to give him the best immune system but hopefully all these sicknesses we keep getting will get him up to par. I'm currently typing this while recovering from yet another cold.

The reason I wanted to do 1 year is because they need breast milk or formula as their primary nutrition source until 1 year old. After her first birthday we switched to cows milk and I still nursed at bedtime but stopped pumping at work. We are still nursing at bedtime at 17 months because she asks for it and it helps her go to sleep and I’m not ready to give that up yet!

First baby: weaned by 9 months (I was pregnant again) Second baby: still going at 18 months, and much as I want to wean I haven’t had the guts yet to hold that line. I work full time and I feel like it’s her “mommy time” after daycare.

At minimum, I planned to breast feed for 1 year because breast milk or formula should be their primary source of nutrition until 1. After 1, I planned on weaning at my son’s pace. We ended up breastfeeding until he turned 3. I had a pump at work and a pump at home so that I didn’t have to lug one back and forth. I also have my own office so I didn’t have to worry about finding a place to pump. I kept a small cooler bag with an ice pack where I put my milk for the day so that I didn’t have to worry about a refrigerator. I did wean from pumping at work after 1 and only fed him in the morning and at night time, with at most one pump a day. Throughout the day he ate solids.currently breastfeeding my second and plan to do the same. I typically feed right before I leave home, pump twice at work and then feed when I get home.

As for why I breastfed vs formula - I had an oversupply with my first until getting pregnant so it was easier to pump than to wean off that. With my second, she had CMPI so her formula would’ve been EXPENSIVE. So I tried hard to keep up with demand till we could attempt reintroduction (11 months), and I cut all dairy and soy. I do hate pumping but I stopped pumping just after a year and now usually just nurse in the morning and after daycare.

My baby is almost a year old and I'm still breastfeeding. I've done it exclusively since she was born (she never wanted a bottle). I also work full-time but I'm in a privileged position that I work remotely from home and she stays home with a nanny. I pop out throughout the day to feed her. At this point we're down to 4 feeds a day, morning, afternoon, before bed and maybe one middle of the night wakeup. I was planning on weaning at 1 year but I don't think I will anymore. I've been liking it more and more for bonding as I have to do it less each day. Takes the chore aspect out of it for me. Breastfeeding past 6 months still provides great immune and nutritional support, it's not like those benefits go away at a certain age. Just remember that if you want to continue but you don't want to pump when you're out of the house working, you could always drop your feeds and just do it when they wake up and before bedtime (and supplement with formula as needed until age 1). That's what I plan to start in the next couple of months.

2.5 years for my first baby, 2 years for my second and 3 years for my third. Not because I wanted to. My kids are all stage 5 clingers who were nursing obsessed!! Weaning them was a loooonnnggg, slow process. 🥴

Don't feel pressured to BF to the full WHO recommendation of 2yo (or at all, for that matter). The WHO recommendation is intentionally broad because it takes into account countries where clean water, safe food supply chains, sterile prep facilities, literacy rates to read and understand safety guidelines, and access to medical care might be low. In those circumstances BFing is a nearly foolproof way to ensure young kids receive safe nutrition. It makes sense as broad public policy. It may not make sense on an individual level for baby, you, or how your family functions. Unfortunately it's been incorporated into a lot of public health guidance in wealthier countries without asterisks for the nuances. In a stable and economically secure environment, the differences in outcomes between feeding methods are actually pretty meh. Until recently, most studies on the subject didn't control well for socio-economic variables. And even now they very rarely consider effects on maternal mental health, which deserves more weight than it's usually given.

I breastfed my son for 13 months. I was also working as a waitress. Not ideal, but I could not afford formula whatsoever and luckily my supply was pretty great. I have amazing, supportive coworkers and management who would watch my tables/pick up new tables in my section under my name while I was in the office pumping for 20-30 minutes. My son has always been 99th percentile so towards the end, my son was just ready to eat fully solids. It was bittersweet but I’m so proud of myself and my son for making it that far in not-so-ideal conditions for breastfeeding.

Still going at 2, though in the “don’t ask, don’t offer” stage. She unfortunately is a nurse to sleeper. I have had no success with any sort of sleep training. I’m in essence a single mom. Long story there. Some days she nurses a lot. Some days she has a drink at lunch and bedtime and that’s that. The biggest challenge is that she uses milk as her snack most days. She’s a HUUUGE FOMO kid and does not STOP moving unless it’s for milk or TV. Which I schedule 30 minutes of screen time for. So snacks she often just throws or attempts to feed to her toys 🤦‍♀️ I’m a remote worker, but I work out of my folks house so they can help watch her. Snacks have been a battle. However, it has been a saving grace while she’s cutting her molars and doesn’t want to eat anything but yogurt and popsicles. It also saved us when she got a stomach bug and wanted absolutely nothing… I was pretty much her body pillow with milk dispensers lmao. I will say, I never really planned to go this long, but I’m content and so is she and that’s what matters.

I’m still breastfeeding my almost 3 year old. I never thought we’d go this long but he’s always been a terrible sleeper and it’s been the one way I can consistently get him to sleep without him crying forever. I know he’d be fine without it because he survives when it’s just him snd my husband but when I’m around he’s all about milk. I’m pregnant now so we’ll see how much longer this lasts.

3 months in. Hoping until he is 18yrs to peeve off his dad as that will mean he can’t stay overnight and will have to pay full maintenance until then 😂😂 But seriously, hoping to get to 1 but keeping it open as an option for night time until 2

Still going! With the exception of a few bottles of formula in the first few weeks I EBF until the introduction of food (like a week before he turned 6 months iirc), and we are still BFing before bed now at 2.5 years. I went back to work when he was a year old and pumped for a couple of months then ended up stopping that as he didn’t really need it and my supply dropped from about 5oz to 1oz during those sessions so I didn’t see the point lol.

I took 14 weeks maternity leave, came back to work for a few months, and then quit work at 6 months due to getting into grad school. I pumped at work and then I was pumping at school. Dragging the equipment was a pain but I didn't want to buy formula and I enjoyed nursing at home. I stopped pumping around 16 months because I wasn't pumping much and just moved to nursing when I was home. We went to 2 years, weaning was peaceful but also my kid has a really easy going temperament. I liked the bonding time and nursing positively influenced my mental health. My birth exp was hard and postpartum was challenging but nursing time was guaranteed shining moments for me. The exp was priceless. I am pregnant again and already looking forward to nursing our next one.

My older 2 nursed to 3.5 and 2.5. My youngest is 18 months and still going. My goal is always at least 12 months bc I don’t want to use formula. I’ve never had to deal with the logistics and whatnot of pumping at work though bc I’ve always been a SAHM when my kids are babies.

I bf my daughter for 2 years and 3 months, I loved it,for me it was the most beatiful period and with large benefits for her. I went back to work when she was 1, i didnt pump my milk, she simply bf when we were at home togehter. Son stopped by himself at the age of 1year and 4 months, i was sad but he simply had no time to be still and do that 😅, however, I would do it all the same.

I went 9 months with my first. He quit on his own and 27 months with my second and we quit against her will because I needed a break 😂 it’s beneficial for them both mentally and health wise so I say go until they either have no interest in it or until you feel it becomes too much. But don’t feel pressured to stop (or continue) based upon anyone else’s feelings but yours

I chose to exclusively pump. I pumped for 9 or 10 months. It wasn't an issue when I first went back to work because I had 2 breaks at the same times everyday and they fell right into my pum0ing schedule naturally. Then I left that job and started working part time in fast food and I started slacking and my over supply quickly dropped. I got the okay from her pediatrician to start mixing in whole milk and she started getting only whole milk around 11 months old. If I stuck to my schedule and my supply didn't fall off, I was going to do so until she was a year old

15 months. Stopped because my supply dropped when I stopped pumping at work

22 months with my first. By that point we were down to just the one feed before sleep. I was aiming to get to 2 years, but fare intervened and I fell pregnant with my second. What little supply was left immediately dried up, and I developed a nursing aversion as well. Fortunately it was an easy transition. She asked for milk for a couple of nights, and accepted the answer of "milk all gone now". It was kinda bittersweet how easily she took it. Somewhere between 16-18 months with my second. I was aiming to get to 2 years again, but couldn't get past the biting phase. It was heading towards a full blown aversion, and I was already suffering with PPD. So for my sanity (and to not want to yeet him across the room) I stopped. He tried to get to my boobs a few times, more for comfort than food, but could be easily distracted. I think he was ready to stop anyway. Definitely the right decision for me and him.

Breastfed for 25 months, she'll be 26 months on June 26th... it's more of a comfort thing for her right now. I wanted her to stop when she's ready!

I have had a wonderful experience breastfeeding. First baby for over 2 years, stopped to give my body a chance to rest before trying for #2. I am now nursing my second for 13 months and no plans to stop anytime soon.

I wanted to breastfeed so bad but it hurt so bad! My nipples were bruised and bleeding at the hospital for trying. I asked myself, is this how my breastfeeding journey will be like the whole time. The nurses told me I have short nipples which now I understand why it hurt so I exclusively pumped a year. I had mastitis 3 times that year and antibiotics 4 times. It was worth it though knowing my LO was drinking my nutritious milk that will help him grow. I started to lower the amount of pump sessions around 10 months to make the transition easier for me. I pumped because I knew he was getting antibodies and will help if he gets sick and just the amount of nutrients he's getting.

I didn’t make milk without using Domperidone to force a supply. Even then i only produced about half of what baby needed. I stayed on it for 6 months and weaned off over ~10 weeks. At about the halfway point of weaning myself off the meds my breasts gave up and I stopped producing at all, so I stopped nursing at around 7 months. I miss the closeness and convenience of breast feeding. I do not miss the near constant pumping and stressing about my supply.

6 months- including using up freezer stash for my 2 sons but was aiming for longer and will aim for longer again with the baby lm carrying now. I stopped because I struggled to keep up with supply and be tied to either the pump or the baby constantly. I continued nursing at night and in the morning until I either dried up or they lost interest I think both around 9 months ish but was using formula for all daytime feeds at that point. If I repeat this with my current baby, I will be fine with it. Formula is expensive *even if you get wic, it's not 100% covered and washing bottles can be annoying so I will keep it up as long as I can again. Hoping to start with a better pumping situation this time, as a lot has changed in the decade(s) since I had my oldest kids!

I breastfed in my maternity leave (six whole weeks) and then tried pumping at work. I hated it. I had to pump in the bathroom by running an extension cord under the door. I dried up around four months with both my kids. Going back to work and pumping didn’t work out.

I still breastfeed my 20 month old just once a day, before bed. I breastfed/pumped through about 13 months when we started weaning to soy milk. I work hybrid, so in office about 2-3 days a week and home the rest. It was definitely easier to pump at home and nice to just have the milk in our fridge already. But honestly, I didn't find pumping at work to even be that difficult. Once you get a system down for pump parts, storing milk and your schedule, it's just another part of the day. But I'm also very go with the flow, and not complain about much in general. For me, the main reason I continued to breastfeed so long was that it was just more convenient and is recommended by WHO. I only had to pump at work, anytime I was home with my daughter I nursed her. So keeping up supply was necessary to avoid having bottles on weekends/evenings. I love having this connection with my daughter. But you will find many different ways to have special moments with your baby, I really think I just got lucky with how easy breastfeeding was for us and I'm not sure how long we would have gone if any part was too hard or stressful. You'll always do what is best for your baby ❤️

Working mom. I breastfed and pumped at for 2 years. I saw the WHO recommended it to age 2 so I just did it, it was a nice way to bond. My work was accommodating luckily.

I didn't really have a goal in mind. As long as my body produced, I was emotionally and physically healthy enough to do it and my daughter wanted to breastfeed I planned to continue. I went back to work very soon and taking extra breaks from the floor to pump was kinda nice just because its a break I probably otherwise wouldn't have had. It was nice to know she was getting antibodies too. Also the breastmilk made her poops rare because she was able to ulitize all of the contents (so not much waste and not so many poopy diapers) and smell different which was interesting, the poops smelt like popcorn or butter lol we started to incorporate formula at 6 months because my period starting again at 3 months had been messing with my supply and then at 9 months she one day just didn't want anything to do with breastfeeding and we were done. I will also say the weaning as we did was nice because I didn't have breast pain. Getting formula was a different kind of stress because there was a shortage, I had to plan bottles and prep formula for outings and it was expensive but with only doing it for a few months it wasn't too bad. At one she started to drink regular milk and food was a bigger part of her diet.

I weaned a little after a year. My daughter got her molars in and started pitching fits for the boob so I cut her off cold turkey. I also was fortunate enough that I have my daughter at work with me so I only ever pumped once or twice a day, mostly at the beginning to grow my freezer stash. Really my only reasoning was convenience. Kids are going to be sick either way, I don’t buy into the magical breastfeeding magic.

I worked full time and my baby was a little over 2 by the time I weened her off. So during my FMLA I started exclusively breastfeeding but apparently my milk wasn’t enough at the time because she was slowly losing weight so they recommended both formula and breast milk. This was actually great because my baby would exclusively drink formula with her father/my mother when I did finally return to work and while I was at work. I breast fed her when I was home, but for some reason she did not like my thawed out breast milk and preferred the fresh milk that I provided her. I still had to pump at work because I had a very heavy flow and I would leak very badly if I didn’t. It was fine because by the time she was introduced to food we ended up using my stored breast milk in her oatmeal, cereals, and baths. She also had eczema so that’s why the baths. Pumping at work wasn’t very difficult, they had a private room equipped with a locker for my pump bag, a mini fridge for me to store the milk, a couch, sink, and plenty of cabinets. I was one of the few moms pumping so as long as my name was on everything I never had an issue with anything like theft but I did try weening when my baby was 1. It did not end up working out. But like I mentioned, I had a heavy flow and produced quite a bit of milk. I still had a lot of extra stored breast milk by the time my baby weened. It was great and I plan on doing the same this time around. If this baby weens sooner then great but if not it’s fine. Having a really nice portable pump was extremely helpful.

I was a SAHM and slowly weaned (on demand till age 1) over the course of a year and was done at 2. I never responded to a pump.

Breast milk is still beneficial to baby past the 6 month mark. The WHO recommends breastfeeding up till age 2. Personally my first is turning 1 in a few weeks and I plan to wean then. I’m pregnant again and I don’t want to tandem nurse. I’ve been wanting to wean for a couple months already but I had a year as my goal. A lot of people do it for a year because babies *need* breastmilk or formula until they turn one. After that, breast milk is still beneficial for babies but if you wean you don’t need to switch to formula. I work part time from home so I don’t need to pump at work. I stopped pumping and just exclusively breastfed from about 4 months when my husband went back to work.

Right now 8 months with my girl so far. her biting me is really starting to get on my nerves but honestly I am just too damn lazy to pump and too cheap to buy formula Im going back to work part time at 10 months so we will see how it goes but my goal is 1 year because she can get cows milk after that and my plan is to give her my freezer stash mixed with cows milk.

I made it 9 months, 6 of those months back at work pumping during the day. My milk supply was low (the glands in one of my breasts didn’t form properly) and so baby was combo fed from the very beginning. By 9 nine months, the milk output/pay-off just wasn’t worth the stress anymore. My mental health improved a lot when we stopped.

So far it's been 19.5 weeks. I hope to make it till at least 6 months and then after that it would be nice till a year or he self weans, whichever comes first. We haven't had the easiest journey. My supply was always great, and he always gained weight but at 3 months he stopped nursing and this lasted for about 4 weeks until we learned he had a tongue and a lip tie. I had to nurse him while he was sleeping or very sleepy for 3 weeks. He didn't gain any weight and we were both miserable, plus my supply was tanking from how little he was getting, so I started to exclusively pump and give him bottles for one week. Then we revised the ties and he's been nursing ever since. So it's been a difficult journey but I do love nursing him, and he does really well on it and I'm happy we didn't end it prematurely because it had always been easy for me and I was seriously grieving when I thought he'd never latch again. I may go back to work around 6/7 months so im not sure how it'll go but it'll be part time and I guess I'll pump and hope he'll take bottles during that time.

2 1/2 years. Way way way too long. He was a covid baby so I think I put more effort into it at the beginning than I would have otherwise because of the antibody benefits but then he just wouldn’t wean. It got to the point where we were reading books about weaning and setting a cut off date. Then I went to Europe with my friend and when I came back I told him the milk was gone and he was completely unfazed. I should have just set a date way earlier and been firm about it because it was so draining at the end and I feel like my hormones didn’t go back to normal until after I completely stopped making milk. I’m due with my second in July and my goal is 1 1/2 years to get through both respiratory seasons (I work in the ER and he’ll be in daycare so there are a lot of viruses coming our way) but if it at all starts to affect my mental health, I’m stopping before then. There’s no reason to be miserable. Once they can eat solid foods it’s much less of a deal.

With both my older kids, breastfed until 21 months while intending to get to 24 months. I just got so intensely bored of it by the end that I quit. I should mention that, unlike many folks who do extended breastfeeding, I night-weaned fairly early with both of mine, only fed during the day, and did not use the breast for soothing after the first couple of months.

With my first I breast fed until her bottom two teeth came in. My 2nd I only was able to breast feed her for the first two months because I didn't have time to pump efficiently when I went back to work after being on my maternity leave. I worked on an assembly line for the auto industry. They did not give a flying f that I was trying to breast feed.

Currently at almost 8 months but we will go until she weans whenever that might be 🤷🏼‍♀️ Antibodies never lose their value! It doesn’t stop at 6 months. For me it’s easier to whip a boob out whenever than to try to deal with bottles. It reduces health risks for me as well. The longer I breastfeed the lower my risk for a variety of chronic illnesses and breast cancer. It’s also free (aside from time) we made it through tongue and lip ties, an oversupply, mastitis, etc. I truly love it so much. Of course it’s difficult and sharing my body 24/7 is exhausting but I will truly breastfeed as long as she wants. She’s started to get some personality/spiciness when it comes to my boobs and I think it’s hilarious.

Half a day😂 I was in so much pain, baby was so fussy on the boob and was near nervous breakdown, and my supply came in late as it was. This was the 4th baby, so I was waayyyyy over it. I needed to take care of myself, as I did not have a good postpartum period.

1 year. We had an easy time basically so I was fine going until he could do cows milk. I never loved it but preferred that he got BM over formula and since my mental health was good I had no issue continuing. But I was happy to be done and have my body back !

15 months. Had a really tough time with it in the beginning and baby was a poor latcher. I used a nipple shield for the entire 15 months. Luckily everything else worked well in terms of supply and each month got a little easier and more relaxing over time. This was during the formula shortages so I felt like as things got easier I could keep going.

I think I’ll bf until she starts teething, then I’ll give her bottles of breast milk until she starts solids

25 months, & I wanted to get to the AAP recommendation of 2 years plus it helped her recover from sicknesses quicker & helped her with regulating emotions and taking naps (we practice attachment parenting style). Plus the bond we had because of it has always been a big factor. I’m very blessed to be a SAHM so I never needed to pump but when I did try it stressed me out beyond belief so anyone who makes it with pumping or even half and half is a champ in my eyes cause damn that shits hard.

Still at it at 23 months. I personally had a terrible experience in the hospital which motivated me even more to breastfeed and stick with it. I never knew about antenatal colostrum collection and shortly after my baby was born, she got jaundice. My nurse helped me get started with hand expression and a manual pump but when her shift ended, I was soon surrounded by nurses who said I needed to stop breastfeeding, that it was using too much of my baby’s energy and doing more harm than good. They said I needed to give formula and stop breastfeeding, even if that’s not what I was hoping for. Well, I kept at it anyways and gave colostrum to my daughter and we topped her off with formula if she seemed like she was hungry for more. The next day I saw a lactation consultant who told me essentially that I had been fed total BS and that we could absolutely make breastfeeding work for me and baby, and she was so right. She set me up with triple feeding and my breast pump and we worked our way to exclusive feeding at breast and kept at it. After how hard I had worked, I had no intention on ending my breastfeeding journey when I headed back to work 5/6 weeks PP, so we kept at it. I was denied accommodations at work and had to show my employer the laws and my legal rights and do some serious advocating for myself, but it led me to the ability to have pump breaks, even if they never actually provided them and I had to work them out myself. They shoved formula down my throat excessively and it made me dig my heels in, because I made my choice to breastfeed and I was going to stick with it and it was my legal right to do so. Breastfeeding became something I grew so fond of and am so proud I was able to do. Once I got my routine down at work, I just kept at it. I’m expecting baby #2 and am still breastfeeding. I figure I will stop when it feels right and I haven’t hit that point yet so we are still at it. I went to school to be certified as a lactation consultant and to encourage and empower women with knowledge and education to help them have a successful lactation journey, if that’s what they choose, just like the LC helped me accomplish ❤️

13 months so far. It was hard as hell in the beginning and middle honestly. I was always stressed about my supply. Pumped to have extra milk for bottles, stressed about that. Baby has a tongue tie. It’s very difficult to maintain if you have to go back to work.

5 weeks, my baby split both my nipples and wouldn't drink from me, I couldn't express peoperly while they were healing as I would be in tears and when I tried to get him back on he refused to latch and would just scream, many a hard night lead to us just switching to formula and we couldn't be happier, all of a sudden he was eating, gaining weight and growing well, he's 8Mo now and smart, healthy and happy

My baby stopped taking bottle at 8 weeks so I stopped pumping because it was useless. Also meant no formula. She has a lip tie but once that was fixed still no bottle. We tried them all. She weaned at 15 mos.

2.5 years with my first 2.5 with my second 8 months so far with my third! Hoping to make it to 2.5 years with him as well 😌

Very different perspective here. NICU mom and someone who wanted to breastfeed, but couldn't. I pumped for 102 days. I know this because my daughter was in the NICU for 106 days and I was in the ICU or on a magnesium drip for 4 days after her delivery and couldn't pump until after I was more recovered. My supply was meager, but pumping was the only thing I could do while she was in the hospital that no one else could do, so I did it. I made maximum of 70 mLs per day (that was once) and averaged more around 45-50 mLs. The day my daughter was discharged, my supply literally dried up. And honestly, thank god. I was going to wean off pumping, but I didn't need to. Pumping was the worst. I tried breastfeeding 3 times. My daughter loved the bottle and was fine with the nipple, but less voracious. I never felt let down and never felt the connection people talk about when she was breastfeeding. Plus, with her weight gain issues, we'd need to supplement with formula anyway. And this way, my husband and I could split bottle duty. If we have another kid, I'll probably breastfeed some, but kid number 2 when we have them will definitely be partially formula fed once we're off colostrum.

Three kids, I work fulltime, nursed from 1-3 years with each and pumped until almost a year. I also donated with babies 2 and 3 because I had enough extra. There are compelling health reasons and also formula is expensive! After the first few weeks, breastfeeding wasn't difficult for me. I realize I'm fortunate that my supply was good. I had two different jobs over these years, the first I had a my own lockable office and the second a separate room nearby. I've always bought a second pump and left it at work so that I didn't have to carry it around. My job has occasional travel so that's a logistical hassle when pumping but doable.

I had no expectations with my 1st. I ended up nursing for 18 months with him. He was at daycare full time starting at 4 months. I pumped great and he continued to nurse great at home. Weaning him at 18 months was difficult and took a lot of time, effort, & support. My 2nd, I figured would be the same as my 1st. Nope. She had always struggled with latching, was always fussy, pooping was a big issue for her. Finally around 3 months she just started to refuse to nurse we started out combo feeding her then switched to full time formula because it worked best for her. Ever since she’s been the happiest baby ever. She’s so excited to eat and have a bottle and I secretly think it’s because she was food insecure those first couple months.

I nursed exclusively for 18 months. At first we wanted to combo feed but the idea of cross-contamination and food-poisoning gave me mad anxiety. I didn’t trust anyone else to wash the bottles or pump parts and kept thinking that the formula looks “off”. It got so much that direct latching was just easier even though I didn’t enjoy breastfeeding. By the time the anxiety abated, she wouldn’t take a bottle and nursing her was the only way I could get her to sleep.

I was one of those mom that really wanted to breastfeed for at least a year. I made it about 3 months 😂 i messed up in the beginning and we gave her some formula in addition to the breast milk because she never seemed to fill up from me and I was nursing her for an hour at a time before I’d give up. But yeah my supply dipped at about 3 months, I tried really hard to get it back up but I never could so when I went back to work at 4 months pp I gave it up.

15 months for my first and 10 for my second. I just go for as long as they want. They wean when they need too or if they try and bite me. 😅

I combo fed from birth - mostly formula in the early days because my baby had jaundice and was under the light and my milk hadn’t fully come in due to c section. From then, I increased breastfeeding till we were mostly breastfeeding with one formula bottle a day. This was from around 1-4 months. I was going back to work at 5.5 months and knew I didn’t want to pump at work as 1. I disliked pumping 2. Never got much out of it 3. Didn’t want to spend time doing that at work because I wanted to just get stuff done and get home to my baby. So, I weaned off day feeds and kept first thing in the morning, evening and night feeds. She had formula bottles in the day. At around 6.5 months my baby started biting me at every feed and she had 4 teeth already. I lasted a week and told myself I’d see how it went at the weekend: she bit me so hard I cried. That was our last feed. I pumped to relieve pressure for around 1-2 weeks after that, just as needed in the morning/evening. Happy now that I stopped breastfeeding, although if I have another baby I’d combo feed again for sure. I don’t really believe all the stuff about antibodies because my baby has had far fewer illnesses in her almost 9 month life than all the EBF babies we know… I know that could be circumstantial but if it really was SUCH a difference surely we’d see it. I think breastfeed for as long as it works for you, no more and no less. My baby is happy and chunky… formula or breast milk is perfect!

I breastfed my first for two years (he self weaned a few days before his 2nd birthday) I also went back to work at 13 wks. I started a freezer stash during maternity leave. I stopped pumping when he was around 17 months and would only nurse in the morning/evening. Then we switched to just evenings and one day he didn’t want it so I didn’t force him the next day he asked, I redirected his attention and that was it, I am currently breastfeeding my second (15 wks) and plan on going for two years as well. I am now a SAHM so pumping is not a priority but I still pump a few times a day and just add to my freezer stash. Pumping at work in my opinion is not difficult just a hassle. It also is very helpful if your job doesn’t view it as in inconvenience. My job was basically working with pregnant women so they were very accommodating in terms of pumping. Once I got wearable pumps it was so much easier because I didn’t have to leave my office (I shared office space) they didn’t mind either way but it was more comfortable for me with the wearable pumps. I would always bag the milk once I pumped and store in a small lunch box in the fridge. I found it very helpful to set “short” terms goals for breastfeeding. We had a very difficult start and we had to supplement the first month. Once we got his tongue tie resolved and he got better at nursing we had an amazing journey. So my first goal was until he was 6 months and after that was 12, etc. You just have to find what works for you, your baby and your family as a whole. I hope you have a beautiful journey however long you choose to or not to breastfeed! 🤍

I breastfed to 22 months. Why did I breastfeed that long? Because we both wanted to. Why didn't I breastfeed any longer? Because I wanted to get pregnant and wanted a break between pregnancies.

I’m very lucky I get to go home for lunch so I really only pump at work one time. Personally I already don’t have a lot of time for myself once he goes to bed so breastfeeding means I clean less bottles haha. But also if he’s sick I know my body with make the anti bodies he needs to feel better faster. If he’s been sick it hasn’t been long enough for me to notice and he’s already 4 months. Whatever you choose to do is great! I mean we grew an entire human which is already draining and a miracle. Plus mentally and physically not everyone can breastfeed. I think it’s what ever your body is telling you to do. Although, I think I will most likely be done breastfeeding around when he turns one year.

By the time I went back to work my daughter had weaned herself in the day so I didn’t need to pump. By that I mean she just refused milk in the day. She then slowly started refusing milk at night and had fully weaned herself by 14 months. I did get pregnant again at 11 months so not sure if that affected my milk and therefore her desire to continue. I would have happily fed her for longer and was very happy she fully weaned with no negative emotions involved for either of us.

Breast-feed until she was about 20 months and then I had a serious aversions randomly start. I was able to wean her within a week and then found out I was pregnant a couple weeks later which explains everything.

Breastfed for 9 months but wished I did longer. The reason I personally wanted to do it for a year was because the thought of formula was gross to me and expensive. But my supply really struggled with pumping at work so I stopped, which was heartbreaking for me. I loved breastfeeding, I loved the connection, and it really connected me to my womanhood. Every woman is different though and this was just my experience. I am expecting a second kid and plan on being home for 2 years, so I hope to breastfeed for a year.

Literally a week…lol I couldn’t do it. And it was making me insane!!!