Age three seems reasonalbe.

With my first, I tried to BF. My milk came in, but nothing would come out. It was horrible--the worst pain I had/have ever experienced. The continued stimulation of trying kept me engorged for weeks. (Not even a drop of leakage that most moms--BFing or not--experience.) Every slight move is painful when you are engorged... OUCH! Then, every time I would hold him, I would feel them getting bigger and hurting more. With #2, my milk never came in. With #3, I didn't even try. I was surprised when it felt like my milk did come in--day 3 or 4--but I didn't want to relive my experience from #1.

I could even see someone BFing until age 3, although I am not sure that I would be comfortable with that. I kind of got robbed on the whole Bfing thing. My LO was put in the NICU when he was 36 hours old. He had fluid left on his lungs, and was breathing really fast. We had been doing really well BF until then, but after they had given him a bottle for a week in the NICU, it was all over. They had to tube feed him for a couple of days, then feed by bottle because they were afraid he would asperate (spelling?) and make the fluid on his lungs worse. So he never would latch on again. I pumped and fed him by bottles (which is a pain in the rear to be stuck to a pump). Then when he was about 5 1/2 months old, I got a bad stomach virus and my milk dried up completly. I didn't get to Bf the year or longer that I wanted to, and had to switch to formula. I even tried that heartburn medicine to make my milk come back. It only worked until I quit taking it. I hope with my next one I can BF the way I want to.

I certainly wouldn't BF until my child was 8, but I am not opposed to extended breastfeeding either. It's the norm in most parts of the world.

I think the stats about breastfeeding rates in Alabama are just appalling. I bf'd both of my girls for 13 months (and was back to work at 3 months, so that was lots of pumping).

I know several people who BFed until their children were 2 or 3. My best friend and her sister were actually BFed until they were 4 (their mother is from Guatamala, and that is quite normal there).

So, I say whatever works for each family is great.

I would have gone on longer (but not til 8! LOL) but my kids were done and weaned themselves at that age.

Oh, btw, go ahead and have your appletini - as long as your little one is sleeping through the night, it will be out of your blood stream by morning. Otherwise, just pump and dump. No need to deprive yourself just b/c you're BFing.

And you only need to avoid peanuts if you have a family history of peanut allergies.

At least this is what my doctors have told me.

LawMommy- I know what you mean about there being a lack of support. If you have trouble breastfeeding friends and family usually just tell you that you should put the baby on formula. Most women around here don't really have anyone in their lives to support them in breastfeeding.

My LO one was born as St. Vincent's in Birmingham. The nurses and lactation consultants in the maternity department there really weren't much help. I mentioned how bad the breastfeeding hurt and was basically just told that I needed to get over it.

Will weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces at birth. The day after he was discharged we took him to our pediatrician here in Tuscaloosa. He was already down to only 5 pounds 14 ounces. The pediatrician told us to supplement him with ½ to 1 ounce of formula after each feeding, till my milk came in. We only did that for a little over a day. A few days later we took him back to have his weight checked again and he was already back up to 6 ponds 4 ounces. Trying to nurse was terrible I couldn't get Will to latch on at all anymore and had started pumping to feed him. My nipples were bleeding and cracking open. I'd cry every time I'd try to feed him and couldn't get him to latch on. When he would latch on I'd have to bite my lips to keep from screaming because of the pain (much worse than contractions). I told the ped that I couldn't get Will to latch at all anymore and had been pumping to feed him. He stuck his finger in Will's mouth and said their was nothing wrong with his ability to suck / latch on. But, he said I should go see the lactation consultants at DCH and that it wasn't too late for me to get him to relatch.

I was really hesitant to go see the LC because I didn't think they could help much (after all, they sure didn't help at St. Vincent's) and I also didn't really think they could tell me anything I didn't already know or hadn't already tried. A few days later I decided I didn't want to give up and made an appointment at the Northport DCH breast care center. Immediately after looking at Will's mouth, the LC said he had a very tight frenulum (also called tongue-tied) and there was no point in even trying to breastfeed until that was corrected. So, the next day I took Will to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor to have it clipped. Then I went back to the LC and she helped me get him to latch on. I'm not sure why the doctors or nurses at St. Vincents or our pediatrician didn't see that this was the problem. It should have been very obvious to a professional. His tongue-tie was so tight that it pulled his tongue into a heart shape. We shouldn't have had to go nearly 2 weeks without this being corrected. After getting Will's tongue-tie clipped and getting the LC to help me get him to latch on, I still had trouble again once I got home. I think he'd gotten used to bottles and didn't know how to use his tongue correctly to nurse. He would just clamp on like snapping turtle...causing me extreme pain again. So, I went back to pumping and giving him bottles again. After several more days or a week, I went back to the LC again for more help and decided I was going to give it one more try and not give up so easily this time. We finally got he hang of it!! The LC's at DCH were a big help. I'd recommend them to anyone out here needing breastfeeding assistance. They were very patient with me and my endless questions, concerns, and phone calls and my very emotional new mom state.

In the first 3 or so weeks of Will's life he got more bottles than nursing. I'm surprised and thankful that after all those bottles, he was still able to learn to nurse and didn't keep refusing to latch. I think that if I'd had more support from friends and family the whole process wouldn't have been so hard. Maybe I wouldn't have burst into tears so quickly after several attempts to get him to latch and would have kept trying instead of pulling out the breast pump and bottle.

If you aren't familiar with tongue-tie (I obviously wasn't), here are a couple of links:
http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/tonguetied.htm
http://www.medela.com/NewFiles/faq/Tonguetied.html

Sorry, this post is long and way off topic form the original YouTube post!

Wow, SarahMay. All I have to say is bravo to you for sticking to it. I think that's fantastic.
I know of another baby who had tongue-tie and the mom had a similar experience. She couldn't figure out why he wasn't latching on. Once the professionals figured it out and clipped it he did great.
I think however long a family wants to go is up to them and it's great. Maybe age 8 is a little much, though. LOL.
I didn't have a lot of support when I decided I wanted to BF. My DH was a huge support. And one of my closest friends who was doing it helped me a lot. I took a class at my hospital which really helped. But no one in either of our families had done it. One family member didn't see the point and asked me why I wanted to put myself through such a thing.
Well, it was AMAZING and I can't wait to put myself through it again!

Wow SarahMay - GOOD FOR YOU for sticking with that.

I really worry that I would have given up with my first if I had not had such an easy time of it. Like Kristi, Dh was my only support. Neither my mom nor my MIL had breastfed, and neither really understood why I wanted to bother (they are now both big proponents though).

Anyway, it went really smoothly with Anabelle.

With Amelia, I was a little frustrated with one of the nurses at Northport DCH (the rest were FABULOUS though). Amelia was 7 lbs 14 ounces, so not tiny or anything. And being my second child, this time I was already aware that it was normal to lose some weight before leaving the hospital, ESPECIALLY if BFing (baby - not mom LOL). In fact, Anabelle didn't get back to her birth weight for 2 weeks - it was no biggie.

Anyway, my first night in the hospital I thought everything was going really well. She was latching on, nursing, the lactation consultant had stopped by and told us she was doing great.

Well, at 3am or so they came to take her for a weight check (why they do that so early in the morning is beyond me). The nurse came back carting a case of formula. I told her we were BFing. She told me that Amelia had lost more weight than they were comfortable with (it was only a few ounces) and if I didn't supplement then the probably would not release her the next day.

I cried, told them I didn't want to give her formula, that it was normal for her to lose some, and to just give us time. She wasn't mean, but just said that if I did not give her the formula she would not weigh enough to be discharged when I was in the morning. So I did.

In the morning my OB came to check on me and I was telling him about it and he made a face and said that was "absurd", and they would never have made her stay for having dropped a few ounces.

Anyway, looong story. I'm sorry. I just remembered that though, and it still makes me angry. We went right back to BFing, but I was mad at how quickly formula was pushed on me. Had I not already BFed one child successfully, I could totally have seen myself feeling like a failure and giving up.

Moozle and SarahMay, I had the same sort of thing happen to me. I had absolutely no support except my DH. He ws soo wonderful-he even went to all of the classes with me. My entire family thought I was crazy for even trying.

I too had a nurse at DCH push formula very hard on me when they put my son in the NICU. Actually, I have a very long story about how she scared me and my DH to death by telling us our son could die if I didn't let them give him formula to try and slow his breathing down, but I will save that long one for another day. I was so doped on morphine from my c-section I couldn't reason any better and began sobbing hysterically. Let's just say she was reprimanded for making me cry and telling first time parents something like that (BTW this woman had no children-I think it should be a requirement that you have a child-or at least have been around children to work in the maternity ward). I pushed for my BF, and told them I would pump if they wouldn't let him BF naturally. I even tried to donate the extra milk I was producing to the other preemies in the NICU (with Ronald not being there to regulate how much I was producing, I was pumping like 50 ounces a day!), but they said they couldn't use it.

I agree the LC with DCH are so wonderful. They were patient with me and tried several times to help Ronald latch back on, but he just couldn't seem to figure out how to suck differently to BF after the bottle. I tried over and over, but he wasn't getting any milk, and my nipples were bleeding, and I was crying in pain because he wasn't latching right, so I finally had to cave in and feed him by bottle when he began losing weight. It broke my heart, but I refused to put him on formula as long as I could still pump.

Good for you though SarahMay for sticking to it!
There really should be a better support system for women trying to BF who don't have their families support. Sorry for such a long post, I still get emotional whenever I think about that nurse telling me my son could die if he didn't get formula to slow his breathing.

SarahMay,
That is an incredible story - it's great that you were so persistent. I'm happy to hear that the LC's at N'port were so helpful too. My problem with them back when my first was born is that, at that time and I don't know if it's changed now, there were only two of them and each worked half-time, equalling one full-time LC for the whole hospital. They had to make all the rounds plus handle things at the breast care center. And they only worked M-F. I had a clogged duct once and called, very upset and in pain, and I didn't get a call back until the next morning (had called about 4 one afternoon). Well, by then I had called around to other folks and had solved the problem on my own, but if I hadn't had the support system I did, I don't know what would have happened - mastitis probably. My mother did breastfeed and so did my aunt and my two close friends who had children before I did, so I had a great support system and don't think I could have done it without them.
The other problem I have with local b-feeding support, or lack thereof, is what Moozle described. While the LC's are very supportive when they're available, the other nurses at N'port (and I hear big DCH as well) may or may not be. They give pacifiers and bottles in the nursery and tell women they're a certain kind that won't cause nipple confusion, but then I can't tell you how many people I've heard say that after that they didn't latch right or the baby wasn't satisfied with the breast flow after experiencing th bottle flow so early. many of their practices are contrary to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiave (link posted below), which is unfortunate. I'd love to see the local hospitals adopt better policies.
I too once had a ped suggest formula - when my first was a few days old and had a little jaundice, she told me to give him a little formula in between feedings. I said I really don't want to do that and she said, ok give a little water in a dropper. I did that maybe twice and that's it, but doctors aren't always giving advice that is likely to be the most supportive of breastfeeding either.
http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/eng/index.html

SarahMay, you are a trooper. I had no one to turn to (not even the internet in those days). I'm glad you had the willppower!

I was disappointed in the lack of BFing support when we moved here. In Tallahassee, there were 2 breastfeeding support groups, both met 3 times weekly and had at least 1 LC at each meeting--usually more. We could weigh our babies before and after nursing. They were so helpful for me when I started pumping. We also had a local boutique (similar to BabyTalk here) that had a variety of BFIng resources and materials. They had a scale there, and you could go in and weight your baby any time. The LC who owned the store was always there, and would answer any ??s I had. The store also had a wonderful website with forums for BFing questions and chats, research and resources, etc., and held prenatal BFing classes and even BFing classes for dads to be!!

Maybe there are local support groups and I just couldn't find them.

I do think BFing is a personal choice. But it saddens me when moms choose to nurse, but are unable to gain the guidance and support they need.

Anyone else have "older" members of your family who make you feel that BFing is distasteful?? That was the choice descriptive word I heard from an aunt.

I watched the video and I couldn't imagine my 8yr. old BFing. I didn't BF with my 1st baby, but I tried with my 2nd and 3rd and both times I ended up with mastitis. This is the sickest that I have ever been in my life, the pain was worse than labor pain. I did try to keep nursing both times when I got the infection, but it hurt sooooo bad that I ended up giving up and turned to formula.

MyMcDreamysMama- Distasteful to do in front of other people or distasteful in general? Most people in my family don't seem to mind as long as I don't do it in front of them. However, some of them seem uncomfortable if I'm even talking to them over the phone while nursing. (Why do they call and ask what I'm doing if they don't want to know the answer??) My parents are originally from California and I have a lot of family out there. Those family members are much more accepting of breastfeeding (even though many of them never BF their own children)than my family members in MS and AL.

It was nice to meet you at the story time!

LawMommy- I don't know if that is still the situation at DCH or not. I think their office hours are only 7 to 3, but I don't know what their schedule is like or how many LC's they have now. I didn't have trouble getting appointments on fairly short notice, but I do remember a couple of times I called with questions it took a little while for me to get a call back.


About the support from family- My mother did breastfeed my brother and I. But she moved back to CA when she and my father divorced when I was a teenager. So, it wasn't the same as having someone nearby. Plus, when she did give me advice, it was not very helpful. She came to visit when Will was 5 weeks old. She thought I was feeding him too often and for too long. She thought I should only nurse 5 mins on each side and give him a pacifier if he still wanted to suck more. I think she breastfed me for about 8 or 9 months and my brother for 6 or 7 months. She thinks babies naturally wean themselves from the breast around that age and then you switch to formula. I disagree. If that's the case, what did women do before formula was invented?

My DH has an aunt that BF and she passed some "advice" to me via my MIL. She had my MIL convinced that I should give our LO bottles of sugar water till my milk came in to keep him from losing weight.

My DH tried to be supportive, but I think he was more supportive of whatever choice I made regarding feeding, not specifically breastfeeding. He really just wanted me to stop at one point. He didn't like to see me cry every time I tried to feed Will or to watch Will scream and scream from hunger till he either finally got latched or I gave him a bottle. Either way, I was going to cry some more...either from the guilt of giving Will another bottle or from the pain of my nipples being turned into ground beef. All the crying really started to get to him...

It doesn't look like this post has been talked on for a while but I just had to put my two cents in. My son is 16 months old and I still BF him. My husband and I moved last year from Utah because of school and I just have to say that I have been nothing but disapointed in the comments I have received from Dr's and the lack of support for BF. I dont agree with BF till their 8 years old, but having a mother who was the head of le leche league for breastfeeding, i was raised that BF is best and don't let anyone ever tell you that formula is better then BF. If anything, someone should be saying to put the formula down and start using what god gave you. That's what Breasts are for. Yeah its a hassle but it's part of human nature, that's why god made our bodies the way they are. there's many reasons to breastfeed at least up to 2 years old. For one example, I have Celiac disease so my son is prone to getting it (being allergic to wheat/gluten) it's a proven fact that if you BF a child at least up to 2 years old and keep them from eating certain foods, they are less likely to have food allergies from that product.

I went to a surgeon for a lump I found in my breast and had a biopsy, a few hours later milk started leaking out of the hole they punctured (To much info maybe?) Well i called the on-call surgeon who I had never met before, his first comment after I told him my son was 16 months old was "ha, we'll you should of stopped breastfeeding 6 months ago!...." i was so bothered that a DR would say something like that, when it's not only very unprofessional and rude, but I began to tell him that the AARP actually says to BF for 2 years. I later filed a complaint with my surgeon who tried to be nice but none of them seemed to understand how important BF is to a child. No offense to those that are from alabama, but I for one can not wait to get out of this state simply because of the idiot doctors i've run into who need to go back to school and actually pay attention.

I can completly understand that, and I grew up here!!!! I haven't lived here in 6 years but we just moved back a year ago.

I did not bf my 1st, i was very young(22)/immature whatever you wanna call it and just didn't know much about it.

When we had our 2nd, we were living in Madison, al. I never needed any support or anything like that with him, it was the most perfect bf experience ever. He latched on perfectly, milk came in great, nipples got really really sore after the 1st week for like 2 weeks, but that was it, it was amazing. I couldn't beleive how much easier it was than bottle feeding. Alex bf until 15 mts. 2 yrs would prolly be my limit. Alex has been bf everywhere!! lol Parks, malls, airplanes, you name it!! LOL Very discreatly of course.

My 3rd we had a nport dch. that was an interesting experience, people bringing in coolers with beer, preggo people outside smoking!!!
but anyway, bf her was a very diff. story from my 2nd.
1st she wouldn't latch on well, hubby noticed she was tounge tied, so we had that fixed and she latched on fine. We have been ver blessed with finding an amazing ped here. We were going to use tusc peds we consulted yhem in the hospital and all only to find out when we tried to make her 1st apt that they were not taking new patients. We ended up at Bama peds. They are great peds, just him and his wife, Drs Bennuri. They are from India. The 1st time we went in I remember him being so impressed I was bf and my gosh at the look on his face when he found out i bf alex till 15mts. i was like wow and then he started telling me about bf stats here and i was amazed that basically nobody bfs after 6 mts.
anyway, here wieght and all was still going great at her 2 mts visit and sometime after that is when it all went down hill. i think sometime around 3 mts is when it really happened. at night when she was going to sleep is when it would usually happen, she would nurse a little bit and fuss and fuss. we were thinking ok she's full but still wants to that sucking comfort to go to sleep with only she wouldn't take a paci. she wasn't having any poop diapers either. her dr had put her on apple-prune juice, and when we would get to that one week mark with no dirty diapers we would have to give her something to help her go. well about a week before her 4 mts check up i started pumping, trying to save up some milk for our trip to san fransico we were taking in feb. i could only pump like one ounce!!! It all made sense in a second and I was appauled I hadn't realized it earlier. I realized she wasn't getting enough to eat. Sure enough when she went for her 4 mts visit to the peds, they checked her weight and i knew thats what it was. She was a little over 10lbs, she had only gained 4lbs since birth!! My poor baby had been hungry for like a month, maybe more and I had no idea!! It was the worst feeling, i felt like I had been starving my child, and i guess i basically had been. i wasn't making anywhere close to enough milk. so we did the nexium(med for gastro reflux) that seemed to work fine, i had to take it for 3 weeks, the 1st week taking 3, the 2nd week taking 2, and the 3rd week taking only 1. by the time we got to the 3rd week it stopped working. we had to supplement her with formula while we tried to get my milk back. since that stopped working i called the lactation ladies, they were very nice, answered all my ?'s, although sometimes they didn't seem so sure of their answers. they said to try the nexium again, sometimes a 2nd round of it works. so we did that. didn't work at all after the 1st week. oh and i was pumpimg aorund the clock, behind her everytime she ate for 10 min on each side, to try and stimulate something, anything. kept pumping, had quit drinking anything but water at this point. last resort was adding an herbal remedy to the equation, fenugreek. terrible smelling clear see through pill, looking like it full of sand. LOl didn't work again. so at 7 months we had to give it up, I soooo did not want to, but we had tried everything that anybody told us might work.

Nixon's Mama, I am sorry to hear you have had run ins with not-so-great doctor's. But I would hope that you wouldn't let that make you want to leave here. There are crappy-don't-know anything doctor's everywhere. It sounds like you just found a couple of them here. I had several mean or crappy peds for my son until recently, and now I am very happy. I just kept looking until I found someone who would listen to me, and someone that I liked. If you are interested in doing so, I would suggest meeting up and talking with several docs until you find one that shares your views and will help you in your goals. You could even ask the LC who they liked that would help you and not look down on you for still BF.

And congrats on BFing so long! I only wish my milk hadn't dried up when Ronald was 6 months old. If it hadn't I may still be BFing my LO who is 15 months old.