Parenting Forums

Posted: 01 September 2007 at 2:56pm | IP Logged

I think the choice of when the wean your little one from the breast is completely up to you and when you feel both you and him are ready to stop!
Some mother's carry on bf until there children are 2 or 3 years old.. but others feel that they prefer to stop earlier.
By the age of 1, children can drink cows milk (if not intolerant of it) so if you carried on after that age, then formula milk wont be neccesary.

If your still comfortable feeding him yourself, and you have no need to wean him off the breast yet for nursery or other impractical reasons, then i'd carry on doing it hun.
x-x-x

Posted: 01 September 2007 at 6:03pm | IP Logged

hi,i agree it is totally upto you when you think both yourself and your son are ready to stop,sounds like hes eating well and getting what he needs,if you want to stop then do but dont be afraid to carry on,a lot of children wean themselves off the breast when the time is right,they dont have time for it anymore sorta thing,they want to be off exploring and stuff.

hth xxx

Posted: 01 September 2007 at 8:08pm | IP Logged

It's brilliant that you've been feeding your little boy for five months. Your milk continues to be absolutely the best drink for him to have, and so it is a very personal choice as to when to stop. If he and you are happy with breastfeeding, then there is no reason to wean him from the breast for quite some time. Like mum of 4 said, they cannot have ordinary (cows) milk until they are over a year old, so if you did want to stop, then you would need to use formula for quite a while yet. So if you've nothing that means you have to stop feeding him yourself, then keep doing it for as long as it's what you both want.  

At this age, he will still need quite a lot of milk. Does he have milk feeds as well as his meals? As he gets older (after 6 months) you could offer him some cooled boiled water with his meals so that he gets used to a trainer cup, and then give him milk in the morning and between meals to make sure that he's getting enough of that.

Posted: 05 September 2007 at 8:19pm | IP Logged

Thanks for all your thoughts, much appreciated!

3smallboys: I follow up every meal with bm. He seems very happy so I guess I'll continue with that until he tells me otherwise! Don't think I'll continue for long long as I want another baby!!!

I have started to get him to suck on a t tippee cup so he gets used to water so that if he is thirsty he can suppliment the bm.

Thanks NN XX

Posted: 06 September 2007 at 4:59am | IP Logged

i think its awesome you have breast fed up til now. kaitlyn is 7 months old now but stop latching on at 2 months. i wished i can. i think i would have kept her on the breast up until she was able to take a cup at a year of age..but as all the mums says, its up to you and more power to you if you can continue to breast feed but i dont see much benefit other than your antibodies. its excellent hes eating his meals and getting his iron source otherwise.

Posted: 19 September 2007 at 6:27pm | IP Logged

Ella has weaned herself really .....she was less interested in breast feeding than jess once she started soilds and loves water and now cows milk. Ella is much more independent than jess was and prefers a straw or open cup.

Jess was still feedign at 14 mths when i stopped and that was only because i was working full time and she would not drink a thing all day and feed for hours at night and during the night.

2 nights of demandign a feed and being offered notign but a bottles soon sorted it as by the thrid night she gave up and drink from the bottle.