Please choose the answer that most closely matches your situation. Feel free to tell us why you nursed for the amount of time you did - your milk never came in, your baby weaned himself - or, like mine, refuses to wean! LOL! We want to hear your story....

well Naomi is 14 months and i am still going....!

I breastfed Owen until he was 14 months old. He slowly weaned himself. Sometimes I wish he would have nursed a little longer, especially since he still doesn't sleep through the night.

Daniel had a cleft lip and palate, so technically, I didn't breastfeed at all. But I did pump for the three months he was in the NICU, which gave me a six-month supply of milk since he ate so little.

I stopped pumping when he came home because I was spending more than 50 percent of my time on pumping/labeling and organizing milk/cleaning and boiling pump equipment/thawing milk/bottle-feeding (this was the main problem since D took about an hour for two to three ounces!)/cleaning and boiling bottles.

i seected not at all on the poll i did try but failed miserable due to mikis tongue tie and reflux i didnt know at the time and her destating Due to the laryngomalcia again didnt know at the time, when ever i tried she fell asleep and wouldnt latch on at all and wasnt stong enought to be fighting to feed KWIM she had already lost loads of weight in under a week more than she should, i knew that i wouldnt be alowd to bring her home untill she stoped loosing weight and didnt want her to leave with a feeding tube they scared me back then so i put her on a botle which she did okay on for a short amount of time untill she started puking and pooing blood and thats when she ended up on neocate

I fed Cooper till he was over just over a year when we stopped. I had low milk supply in the beginning, and if he wasn't just the best feeder it wouldn't have happenned for us, it took 6 weeks for my milk to come in, and then it wasn't till he was about 4 months, that he didn't need top ups.

Parker I fed till he was 9months, and stopped cause he wasn't feeding and wasn't gaining, so I switched to formula, but that was worse LOL. I can say this though, Parker was so hard to feed, I didn't enjoy it like with Cooper, and I doubt I would have fed for so long with him, if he was my first, having some expierience helped it. I also had the same low milk supply with Parker.

I nursed both of my children for about a week a piece my milk never came in so I had no choice. (i have a condition w/ my breast that caused it)... The ob gyn told me before my second not to be surprised If I couldn't breast feed.

I choose 2 months. Desi breastfed for that long then I stopped producing milk. KC had a really hard time latching on so I couldn't b/f him. None of the others would latch on either.

I had a very hard time breastfeeding Allison I had tons of milk but she took such small amounts I had to keep pumping to maintain my milk supply. I spent so much time pumping I finally gave up at 6 months. Another big factor was that so much of what I ate bothered her that I was dying to eat normally again. I was haeartbroken that I couldn't continue breastfeeding but it was not an enjoyable experience with her.
My first I nursed until a year. She also had many intolerances initially but not reflux. I really enjoyed the bond it gave us. I'm grateful I had a good experience with the first. It makes me sad to think I will never breastfeed again.:sad3:

I breastfed Jack non-stop for about a week, but then I couldn't take the pain anymore because no matter what I did or who I called to help, I could not get him to latch on properly. So then I started pumping and would try to breastfeed him again periodically since *everyone* swore that the pain would go away "after a week", "well, maybe it will take 2 weeks", "your nipples should DEFINITELY be 'toughened up' by three weeks", but after 3 weeks, I just couldn't take it anymore and at Jack's one-month check-up, my doctor agreed that we (me, Jack, DH) were ALL too miserable for me to continue breastfeeding and that I was right to quit.

Then I attempted to breastfeed Michael for the 3 days we were in the hospital after he was born and the first day home, but he couldn't latch properly, either, and he couldn't keep my breastmilk down. (I remember sitting in the NICU with him, both of us exhausted and crying because he couldn't latch on right so it hurt and then whatever he'd eat, he'd throw right back up.) Then the day after we took him home, he didn't pee or poop for almost 24 hours so when we took him into the Ped on Day 5, he said we'd have to give him formula. Of course, he said I could "supplement" with formula, but after what I had gone through with Jack and BFing, and the problems Michael was already having, I just decided to give up then and there. :sad5:

I also had a problem with overproduction both times (which may or may not have been a factor in why neither boy couldn't latch on) and got completely, painfully engorged and was constantly leaking and soaked which contributed to my BFing misery. I even kept leaking for a good 2-3 MONTHS after I stopped feeding/pumping for each of the boys.

I nursed both my other two until 16 months by which time I was pregnant and feeling sick so stopped :lol

I hope to nurse Dominic for as long as he will as it's the only food he'll happily have!

Less than a month here. I tried and tried but my milk never came in. I tried to bf Herny and pump every 2 hours around the clock. Still nothing. I could pump for a whole day and maybe get 4-6 oz a day. Herny was drinking close to 4 oz a feeding by the time he was a month old. So he was getting one bottle of breast milk and the rest formula. With all the time I spent pumping, cleaning the bottles, etc.....I had to give it up. I met with the lactation consultant twice - just nothing anyone could do.

My mom had the same problem.

We had a really great breastfeeding experience. Ava never really took to the bottle, but for the longest time, she was a comfort nurser. I don't think I wore a shirt for like the first 6 mos of her life. I loved our snuggle time! She weaned herself at 20 mos.

Each one of my kids was a vastly different experience for me in terms of breastfeeding.

Walker was my first and I was 100% determined that breast was best. I waited for my milk to come in and could not figure out what all the fuss was about as it did not bother me. It took 5 days, by the way. It seemed fine in the begining even though he really had a hard time latching on and kept pulling off. (Little did I know...) As he kept on losing weight I kept on going to bf clinics. We got to the point at 3 weeks where I had to take my kidlet in for daily weight checks as he was losing so much. He began sleeping all the time, could not be roused to eat, began sleeping through the night and provided us with a poop the size of a dime every 3 days or so. :hairpull: I then started spending entire days at the clinics and my time at home was spent drinking beer (NOT a fan of beer, by the way) in the bubblebath with soothing music playing and Walker asleep in the tub with me. lol It is funny to think about it now but it was pure :censored: back then.

Finally, after double pumping for 3 hours straight at a clinic the nurse I had been working with had a talk with me and told me to give it up for now and gave us a formula bottle. I had produces 3ml in that time. For whatever reason, my milk just was not there and Walker was starving. I went home determined not to give up and when Bill walked in the door and cheerfully asked me how my day went I whipped the breastpump at him (it was the only time I have ever thrown anything at him, by the way! lol) He went to a cupboard where he hid the formula he had bought a few days before, we had a long talk and changed over. It still took about a week for Walker to wake up, but he began to gain (and puke!). All told, it was just a few days short of 5 weeks overall.

As Walker was a nightmare I was not going to bf Curran at all and had the formula in the house from the get go. In the hospital my 9lb 9oz critter was voracious and automatically latched onto me everytime I held him! Seriously, no dilly dallying around required. The nurses joked that we could put him on the floor and we would likely find a way to climb up to my boob. He puked buckets from day one and just kept on eating. I was working and decided to play it by ear. My milk came crashing in and now I knew what the big deal was.:hairpull: For the first time, I had experienced leaking and let down. I had enough milk to supply a small country and decided to do both formula and bfing. It worked for 6 months until I finally decided to give it up and it was hard to dry up! I leaked forever. It was so easy, so natural and I loved being able to go back and forth and still have the bond with my baby. It was exhilarating and helped me to understand why I failed with Walker. It just simply was not meant to be.

So, of course I thought I was going to be able to bf Iain with no problem. WRONG. Iain was 10 days overdue, induced and ended up in a very traumatic crash c-section. Again, my milk did not come crashing in, rather it trickled. I kept on going and on day 5 I realized it was not working too well but we had Iain hit the hospital on day 11 for RSV and he was in for 8 days. It was during this time what little milk I did have left. I pumped and pumped and pumped, only to get 1ml. I gave up. He also was just not interested in eating and from day one we realized this son did not have the zest for eating our other two did. Again, little did we know our kid who did not puke was going to be our biggest challenge.

I have the upmost admiration to those who are able to bf and who keep with it. It is one of the most difficult things to do and not as easy as one would think it would be. I have been on both sides of the fence and it is tough on either side.

I would have BF longer but Stephanie wrecked that....she is the only one I could BF due to complications and meds I couldn't BF the other 2. When Steph was about 6 months old I fell asleep with her latched to my right breast around 11:00 pm and woke at about 6:00 am with her still latched on and one very deflated breast....she completely drained it and it never came back so until I dried up I had one flat mushy boob and one hard as a rock engorged boob...I was one sexy mama...LOL

A matter of fact when I went in to see my Dr...who I loved and had a great relationship (delivered 2 of my kids and saved my life once) with I showed him and he just laughed, and said I could keep feeding off one breast...uummmm NO!

I BF Brice for about 3 weeks. When he got sick & went to the hospital they told me I could continue BFing but it was too stressful for me not knowing how much he was getting. He had lost almost 1 lb in his first two weeks. It killed me & I felt so guilty, but once I actually saw him putting on weight, I didn't feel as bad. There are times when I still feel really bad & feel like I missed out on a big part of motherhood, but when it came down to it, the health of my baby was too important!!

As Walker was a nightmare I was not going to bf Curran at all and had the formula in the house from the get go. In the hospital my 9lb 9oz critter was voracious and automatically latched onto me everytime I held him! Seriously, no dilly dallying around required. The nurses joked that we could put him on the floor and we would likely find a way to climb up to my boob. He puked buckets from day one and just kept on eating. I was working and decided to play it by ear. My milk came crashing in and now I knew what the big deal was.:hairpull: For the first time, I had experienced leaking and let down. I had enough milk to supply a small country and decided to do both formula and bfing. It worked for 6 months until I finally decided to give it up and it was hard to dry up! I leaked forever. It was so easy, so natural and I loved being able to go back and forth and still have the bond with my baby. It was exhilarating and helped me to understand why I failed with Walker. It just simply was not meant to be.


Leigh - this was so helpful. I always thought that because my milk did not come in with Henry I would not be able to bf any more kids we have. I was glad to read your post. Thanks!

ROFL One flat boobie Debbie!

I only breast fed Eric for 3 weeks. I tried pumping for about a week or 2, but my supply just wasn't up to par (I'm thinking because of the way he ate), so he only ended up with maybe 2oz of my milk a day by the end of week 4.
It still hurts me that I didn't keep trying, but I honestly felt like there was something wrong with me or my milk. (there can't be anything wrong with my baby) When I tried a bottle for the first time, he ate so well...sigh... Doctor's, nurses, etc kinda convinced me to quit with their comments, along with my head and heart not thinking clearly.

My plan was to listen to no one about how long I should breast feed (my family has a hard time with it for some reason), and go as long as I could, as long as he wanted to. Who know he would never want to ;)...sigh...

With Emilia I breast fed and occasionally supplemented for 6 months, after 6 months more formula than breast, and she was weaned by 10 months or so.

I supplied breastmilk to Cady for about 2.5 months. She constantly nursed, I had issues, such as yeast, cracked nipples, then nipple eczema, and low supply. I always had to top her off with formula from about 2 weeks old. It was certainly not an enjoyable experience whatsoever, right from the start. She was a comfort feeder, so was constantly at the breast, yet my milk was always low and she needed formula, too. I finally stopped letting her feed at the breast at 4 weeks old, because I couldn't handle the pain any more and started pumping. I pumped 8-10 times a day 20 minutes per session, and still only pumped an average of 16-18 ozs. Cady, being a comfort feeder, at 24-32 ozs a day, so I still had to supplement with formula despite the amount of time I spent pumping. I finally gave up pumping when Cady was 10 weeks old, as it really did take up so much time, pumping, cleaning equipment, making formula, washing bottles, etc, etc, etc...what a pain! Honestly, she did NO worse exclusively with formula than she did when she got both breastmilk and formula, so that helped the guilt.

With Kaylin it was only a month. We did great, I truly enjoyed nursing her, she latched on well, ate regularly, it was a wonderful experience, however, within two weeks, I noticed the low milk supply, tried do do what I could to increase it, but to no avail, and finally had to supplement as Kaylin was a big eater...approximately 30 to 38 ozs. a day starting at about 2 weeks old! I stopped producing milk when she was 4 weeks old, as she started to prefer the bottle and would refuse the breast. I gave her what I could.

I don't really feel bad as the girls got what they needed in the first few days. The memories of nursing them both will always be there. And...I know I tried my hardest with both of them.

I breastfed my first daughter for about six weeks. When she was six weeks, I ended up in the ER with kidney stones and a severe bladder infection. I had to stop nursing because the medicine I needed, and the high dosage, was excreted in breast milk and caused bone growth problems in babies. I felt guilty, but we stuck her on formula at the ER and she drank so much I figured out I was never giving her enough anyways! My milk didn't come in very well because of dehydration (hence, kidney stones!)

My second daughter I breastfed for about four weeks - it started out GREAT but I noticed my milk was diminishing, etc. and I didn't realize she had reflux. So we went to formula as she was diagnosed with reflux!