How long did you breastfeed?

Congratulations! I also had a hard time nursing my eldest. I made it to almost 6 months with him, but even those 6 months include formula supplements. I really felt bad when I weaned him, but at the time I just couldn't continue. When I had my next child I was determined to make it to the 1 year mark and I ended up quite exceeding that. My daughter nursed until she was just a week shy of turning 5. Assuming you are in the US too, you know that extended nursing is pretty uncommon here but I made a decision to do what was best for my daughter not what was popular or common. My son also self-weaned at just past 5 and my youngest (just 2 weeks old :)) will also be allowed to nurse until she's ready to wean.

When my first son was born I made it my personal goal to nurse him for at least one year. My mom only nursed me for a few days due to it being too painful and I made a promise to myself and my baby that I would nurse longer than that. Who knew that I would exceed my goal. I'm a little weary to say that I nursed him for 3 1/2 years as I know it's not commonplace to nurse this long in the US. I never planned to nurse this long, I even wanted to give up at times, but I just took it one day at a time and before I knew it it was over 3 years later. But one day I just had enough of it and weaned my son. Same goes for my other son. Though I didn't nurse him as long as my first. I quit shortly after his 3rd birthday.

well my friend i only had the chance to do it for 2 weeks because i ended up drying up very quickly but as long as i did it that long was all that matter.my babies got what i was suppose to give them with all the colloastriam so it worked out well.congrats to you on a year thats so great and man you saved alot of money by not having to get formula,i dont miss those days lol.pattie

I brest fed my son for about 5 months. I had to give up as I had no milk the poor thing was starving untill I realised that. I was under a lot of stress, not eating properly and many times had to pump milk for him because I had to do things outside the house (my husband was in the army I was on my own only had my 82 year old grandmother to help me) I had to go pay the bills go to the market go to the shops. I do regret not doing it for longer but there was nothing I could have done. My son was never sick the only thing that could count as sick is having very large tonsils but that is the way he was born

With my first who is 10 now, I was 18 and had no idea what I was doing. I nursed him for 5 days and decided it hurt too much and quit, but I pumped for him for months. When I dried up he was put on formula. My second son nursed for 15 months. My daughter who is now 6 years old, nursed for 16 months. My youngest daughter is almost 19 months and is showing no signs of wanting to wean. I am getting to the point that I really wish she would though! lol

First of all, congratulations on meeting your goal! That's a great feeling in itself! I nursed all my babies as well, but like you, didn't do as well with the first one...she liked to "chew" on the tip and I got sore nipples so badly, they bled, plus I had medical issues and was back in the hospital within a week of her birth---she was fine and I was sick, so I had to quit nursing cause of all the antibiotics they put through my IV. The second born, a boy, took to nursing like a pro, and I did much better with him, all the way to four months, until I had lost almost all my pre-pregnancy weight and was beginning to feel the strain of still eating for two. The third, another girl, also nursed easily, and I fully believe she was sent to me as a blessing, since her father left me while I was pregnant with her. Nursing her for the first time in the hospital helped me to bond with her, and that possibly saved my life, as I was extremely depressed at that time. She nursed for about four months, as well. I remarried and had a set of twins the last time, and while I wish I could have nursed them longer, I did make it two whole months before it was too much strain to try to eat and drink enough to make the enormous amount of milk it takes to feed two growing babies! LOL Again, congratulations, and keep up the good work, Mom! And thanks for starting this conversation! Very nice post!

Congrats to you. Its really good that you brestfeed your child for sucha long time. Its really good for children to be brest feed. its healthy too.