> The Beesley Buzz: To feed or not to feed

To feed or not to feed


When T was born 19 and a half months ago, both boys were being home-schooled (and that was pretty much a full time job) so we knew it may well be a bit of a juggling act fitting a new baby into that.

For that reason, I didn't have high hopes about breastfeeding for very long. I didn't have any kind of timeframe in mind beyond the first few weeks. I was prepared to switch to bottle at any point that we needed to in order to keep the household ticking over and making sure J and D's routines were not disrupted.

I had breastfed J and D until around 10 months, but imagined stopping a lot sooner with Miss T. But once again I found it proved easier to be able to just have the milk supply at the ready rather than having to be super organised and prepared with formula and bottles. So a few weeks turned into a few months and we carried on. I didn't take the ability to breastfeed for granted at any point as I've mentioned before. Even with Miss T, because I had gestational diabetes during pregnancy, when she was born, they needed to top up her feeds with formula for the first 24 hours and so again, I realised that it was a privilege to be able to breastfeed her and not to be taken for granted.

Before we knew it we got to a year. At around a year, lots of biting meant I questioned whether to carry on. But being able to read blogs with other peoples experiences and being encouraged by sources of support like Boobiemilk's Breastfeeding in England blog, we managed to get through that phase of biting and carry on.

Now T is over 19 months old. For the past 4 days she's missed her morning feed. (She had cut down to just a morning and evening feed since around a year). It happened by accident the first day as she woke up late and we had to rush out to get D to school in time. Then we missed the second day as she didn't ask for 'milk' and then I wondered if we could miss another day.

So I think we have dropped the morning feed. But she is still feeding in the evening. Now I'm questioning whether it is time to stop? Is there any benefit to either of us carrying on just the evening feed?

It may be coincidence or it may be down to breastfeeding that she has not had nearly as many bugs or illnesses as the boys had by this age and that makes me want to carry on. But at the same time, I am beginning to want to get back to being totally myself too. So I'm left with this: To feed or not to feed, that is the question.

4 comments:

  1. Hey it's Laura !

    If it were me ( I'm biased still feeding Opeie at 32months, 6-12 times a day ... and more LOL!) I feel as a woman it's good to feed as long as you can due to the breast cancer reducing factors. It's a really interesting fact that the longer you feed for, the less chance you have of getting breast and cervical cancer.

    ALso, the antibodies in breastmilk are the best thing ever :) If you guys get a cold or bug they immediately go into your milk, and pass into T which fight anything off trying to enter her body, while building a strong immune system.

    That's just me though, :)

    If you want to stop feeding completely because you kinda just want your body back, and i do understand some people can feel like that, it's alot when you're feeding another person ! xxx

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    1. thanks Laura. I am not feel the desperation to get my body back like I did with the other two and in some ways it is so easy to just carry on. But at the same time it is starting to feel like a natural time to stop as she has dropped the morning milk mainly by herself. I'll stick to the one feed a bit longer and see how we feel in a couple of weeks. thanks for popping by. xxx

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  2. First of all congrats on feeding that long! We got to the 2 year point. C had the habit of always wanting a feed when least suitable for me, so becoming 2 and being a big girl was for us the right move, she tried with cheeky smile 'Beebie', but was reassured as soon as we said she was 2 and was a big girl now. We thought weaning her would be hell, but it was surprisingly easy. This was the first time she was sleeping through the night! :0 I think it is so personal for each parent. If it is only an evening feed, not interrupting your life to much? Why not keep going?

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    1. thanks Niki. I've stuck with the evening feed so far. We're just going to see how it goes a bit longer rather than rush into stopping. I really appreciate your encouragement. thank you xxx

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