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How long did you plan to breastfeed?

  • poll: How long did you plan to breastfeed?
    I never planned to breastfeed : (2 votes)
    1 %
    I figured I would try but never had a time frame in mind : (16 votes)
    10 %
    First few days to a couple of weeks : (3 votes)
    2 %
    2-3 months : (2 votes)
    1 %
    4-6 months : (25 votes)
    16 %
    7-9 months : (5 votes)
    3 %
    10 months - 1 year : (45 votes)
    28 %
    12-18 months : (43 votes)
    27 %
    18-24 months : (8 votes)
    5 %
    2-3 years : (5 votes)
    3 %
    Beyond 3 years : (2 votes)
    1 %
    Until my maternity leave was over : (2 votes)
    1 %
  1. Kemma

    grapefruit / 4291 posts

    I'm not sure I really had a goal in mind while I was pregnant but we're still nursing 6-8 times a day at sixteen months!

  2. MrsKoala

    cantaloupe / 6869 posts

    At least 6 months but hopefully will make it to one year.

  3. imbali

    apricot / 347 posts

    @Smurfette: +1. I'm planning to start weaning at 6 months (LO just turned 4 months). going to definitely be asking for your advice on how!

  4. yin

    honeydew / 7917 posts

    With DS1 my breastfeeding journey never took off. I EP'ed for a year, but my goals were smaller. Make it to a month, two months, three months, six and beyond. I took it one day at a time and really surprised I made it to a year

    With DS2 I had no expectation for it to work out but it has and we're at 4 months now. My goal is to breastfeed him for as long as he wants. It would be nice to reach a year because I want to provide him with the same amount of breast milk as his brother.

  5. Smurfette

    GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts

    @bunnymommy: Ok! I had zero issues with my body or R adjusting. Much smoother then I thought it would be

  6. Smurfette

    GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts

    @rahlyrah: DO NOT be ashamed of formula!!! You are providing your baby with food, nothing to be ashamed about. You did all you could do to make BF work.

  7. Beyond2

    pear / 1517 posts

    My goal was to breastfeed one year. We're now at 17 months with no indication of slowing down. I no longer have a timeframe for breastfeeding, since I never thought I'd even go this long.

  8. yellowbird

    honeydew / 7303 posts

    I thought I would bf until 6 ish months, but I ended up going longer. We made it to 14.5 months.

  9. blackbird

    wonderful grape / 20453 posts

    Initially I had thought a year, but changed it to six months. Then 3 months. Then e was in the hospital for a week and there were issues and then I just decided to do what I could on maternity leave and weaned from the pump at 13 weeks.

    @ralyrah, don't you dare feel like that formula is not bad! And the women who judge you are ignorant

  10. delight

    pomelo / 5326 posts

    I planned for one year and I'm almost at 7 months. Now I'm thinking I'll continue past a year for morning and night as long as my body can keep up and she wants to.

  11. Adira

    wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts

    I had a goal of 6 months, but in my head, I figured I'd probably stop when my maternity leave was over (12 weeks).

    Here we are at 12 months and I'm just starting to pump wean now! I can't believe we made it this far! Now I'm planning on continuing to nurse once a day until Xander's ready to be done.

  12. MamaMoose

    GOLD / squash / 13464 posts

    My goal was to never give LO formula. I wanted her to be EBF until we transitioned to whole cow's milk. I met that goal and the continued to nurse morning and night until 14 months.

  13. JerricaBenton

    pomegranate / 3872 posts

    I voted 2-3 years but if she wasn't ready to wean completely I'd probably go a little longer. In real life, people are shocked (not necessarily in a negative way) that I'm still breastfeeding and she's over a year.

  14. prettylizy

    GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts

    My goal was a year then play it by ear. She self weaned within a few months of my return to work, somewhere between 14-15 months.

  15. hilsy85

    squash / 13764 posts

    My goal was 12 months...and yet here we are at 16 months! It was SO HARD in the beginning that I feel like I can't quit as long as it's still working for both of us, since it took so long to get to a good place. He's only nursing 2x a day now, and I had initally said I'd be willing to go to 18 months, but now I think I'd be willing to go til age 2, OR til I get pregnant, whichever comes first.

  16. Foodnerd81

    wonderful cherry / 21504 posts

    @JerricaBenton: I feel like if we make it past a year it will be our little secret it something, and people will think it's really weird. Even as I've sort of vaguely said things like in open to going past a year I get comments like, that's fine, but you don't want her to be 2 or 3 and still nursing... Right?? I don't, but nothing wrong with it.

  17. LulaBee

    pear / 1837 posts

    I originally thought just a year, now DD is 19 months and I want to make it to at least 2. I kind of think I'll just let her wean herself... but like @JerricaBenton: and @Foodnerd81: people are often surprised (and a little judgemental) that I'm still breastfeeding after 1.... and I do get the "as long as you don't do it when she's older" comments. No, I probably won't be breastfeeding when she's 5 (I want my boobs back!), but if I do- not your business!

  18. JerricaBenton

    pomegranate / 3872 posts

    @Foodnerd81: right! Or I get the old 'if she's asking for it, she's too old! ' it's funny because my brother and I were both breastfed past 2 so I always thought it was very common but I definitely see now that it's not. I honestly get less judgment than genuine shock and the assumption is that I can't wait to stop. I try to be as honest as I can but most people don't get it, lol.

  19. JerricaBenton

    pomegranate / 3872 posts

    @LulaBee: Yeah that's what I generally say when people prod...'but when will you stop?' I just say 'when she wants' or whenever she's ready. ' well except to an older male relative of my husband who asks every time we see him 'you still nursing that kid? When are you going to stop nursing her?' The last time I said I'll do it until she's 27. Lol. That made him stop for at least the rest of the day!

  20. Alivoo01

    wonderful olive / 19353 posts

    I'm the first to BF in my family so I wasn't even sure what to expect or if I was even going to be successful! Especially when you hear stories of how hard it is initially and all the pain that comes with it!

    I'm so thankful that it worked out for us so well in the beginning. We're at 7 months and going strong! I'm amazed! I'd like to wean by 1 year though. Be nice to wear clothes without thinking "is this breastfeeding friendly". LOL!

  21. Bao

    GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts

    My hopes were to BF a year. I made it to 13 months then I weaned.

  22. mrs. 64

    nectarine / 2936 posts

    I'd like to go for a year, but I have huge concerns that breastfeeding as a teacher will be next to impossible and I will have to end early.

  23. pui

    bananas / 9899 posts

    I'd like to breastfeed for at least a year, maybe even up to 2 years if I can.

  24. Pirouette

    pomegranate / 3331 posts

    my goal is 6 months EBF and then some BF up to a year. I'm almost at 3 months (halfway WOOHOO!!) but i just started working so we'll see how long i make it with pumping. I'm hoping after 6 months i can start to nurse morning and night but not have to pump at work (or only once). 3 more months of pumping at work seems like a lot still

  25. jetsa

    grapefruit / 4663 posts

    My goal was a year, and we are at 5.5 months going strong. I plan to nurse to a year+ now. I want to pump wean at a year and hopefully keep my nursing sessions at home but we'll see what happens.

    @hilsy85: yes, this. It was soo hard at first why would I quit now

  26. coopsmama

    cantaloupe / 6059 posts

    My goal was to BF for a year and we were doing well until 5 months when I found out I was pregnant again and my supply tanked. I combo-fed and was able to provide some breast milk to DS every day until he was 8 months and finally just fully weaned last week.

    I'm sad about it, because I know that breast milk has so much to offer babies, but I know that it was the right time and the best thing for my health as a pregnant mama and for DS at this point in our lives. He is as healthy as he ever was and developing new skills each day. For LO #2 the goal will be to not get pregnant so that I can breast feed that entire first year.

  27. avivoca

    watermelon / 14467 posts

    My original goal was to BF until one year. With being sick these past two weeks, my supply has tanked, but hopefully drinking tons of water and getting well will bring it back up. Right now, I'd like to make it to six months and then see from there.

  28. mrsjyw

    GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts

    I had smaller goals, because I wasn't sure how my BFing journey would be (as I have very little family history/success with BF with women in my family; not that it's related, but I didn't have a great expectation for it).... 3 months, then 6 months... after that it was one year.

    We made it to one year and 3 days of nursing/bottle feeding. DS had my freezer stash for a few weeks after that--now he's on almond milk.

  29. Maysprout

    grapefruit / 4800 posts

    My goal was less than a year, I figured 9-10 months. Then as it got closer to baby time I thought, well what's the point in buying formula if we'd made it that far so my goal became a year.
    Little girl though didn't care for weaning so I nursed till she was 26 months or so.

  30. ShootingStar

    coconut / 8472 posts

    My goal was to still be breastfeeding for a trip we planned to take when DS was 4 months. I figured it would make plane travel easier to not have to deal with bottles and formula, and the timing of the trip would get us through the worst of the winter so he'd get the benefit of the antibodies. Well our trip is in less than 2 weeks and we're currently EBF :-).

    I have no idea what I'm going to do afterwards. Pumping at my job is HARD. I schedule myself in for pumping, but people trample over it all the time, or I'm just too busy. As an example, yesterday the only time between 9am and 3pm I had free was 12:30-1. Today I'm booked almost the entire day until 2 as well. My boss is totally supportive (she's still nursing her 2 year old) but I still struggle to decline things in favor of pumping.

    ETA: I'm happy to nurse him for quite a while if I could get my supply to regulate so that I don't need to pump at work and I supplement with formula. Maybe I'll give myself until 6 months to do that and part time BF for a year.

  31. kiddosc

    grapefruit / 4278 posts

    My goal was to make it to a year. I went back to work a 8 weeks pp and it was a struggle to pump enough to meet his demand. But we limped along and made it to a year exclusively with breast milk. Then we transitioned to WCM during the day and he continued to nurse before bed until he self weaned at 15 months. I was ready to be done at that point.

  32. bushelandapeck

    pomelo / 5720 posts

    My goal was a year but I was always open to extended BF. We went 16.5mos and LO weaned himself at that point. I hope to be able to nurse until the next one self weans as well.

  33. junebugmama

    nectarine / 2019 posts

    I went in with a goal of 2 years. After the first few weeks of struggling and needing to supplement, I realized that any drop of breast milk was a gift to my LO. I quickly then changed my goals to smaller ones, due to all of the extra work I needed to do in order to keep up my supply. I went to 6 weeks, then 12 weeks, then 6 months, and so on. DS weaned himself during my pregnancy at around 19 months.

  34. NovBaby1112

    grapefruit / 4066 posts

    My goal was 1 year (although in the beginning my goal was just to make it another day!) but my once nursaholic decided to self wean at 10.5 months, despite my efforts.

  35. rattles

    grapefruit / 4903 posts

    My goal was a year, and it felt so far away in the early days! I set a goal to make it to 6 weeks and then 8 weeks. By then, I knew I'd be able to do it. Now at 15 months, DD is still nursing 3-5 times a day. I have mixed feelings about it. I want to wean on her terms, but I don't want to be attached to her by such a short leash for years either (she won't take pumped milk). I think I'll wean by 2.

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