Hi Ladies,
Just wondering how many time do you breastfeed your toddler? My son is 14 months and I was just wondering how many times other moms nurse at this age. My breast seem to be shrinking and appear to have less and less milk. I woould like to nurse my son until approx. 2, but I'm getting worried that my body may not allow me to do so. Also, just wondering if any other moms out there have such limp and saggy breast from breast feeding? If so, is there anything that can be done aside from surgery?
Thanks in advance!
Hi, my little girl is 20 months and I still breastfeed. I work full time so we do it at bed time, in the morning before childcare and on the weekends - she can do it more often then. Sometimes it does seem like there is a little less milk, but it builds back up over the weekends. Good luck on continuing to breastfeed, I am going to do it till she's ready to quit.
Tiffany,
I nursed all of my children way past what most folks consider normal. David was 22 months, Grace was 24 months and Benjamin had to be weaned by me at 36 months otherwise I bet he'd still nursing now at 3.5! Yes, after about a year I did decrease in size but trust me, there was still milk in there. Even when I nursed the three year old! If both of you want to go longer than 14 months than do it!
K.
I b/f all of my children past age one; the longest was my last until age 2. By age 18 mos. they were usually only nursing at naptime and bed time. Also, by age 1 my breasts no longer "looked" like I was nursing; they didn't get too full if we missed a "session".
About the limp and saggy breasts - I guess it is just one of my many "mom scars" :-) If you get any good advice on perking them back up, let me know :-)!!
The limp and saggy breasts are there to stay, sorry to break it to you. Surgery is the only thing that will correct them. Have you thought about investing in a wonder bra? Your body produces the right amount of milk for your son. He should be eating mainly table food now, with 2 to 4 servings of milk a day. This can be breast milk. Your breasts will slow down since he's eating more food, but they will not stop producing milk. Good luck!
Hi Tiffany!
Good for you for being so commited to nursing! I am currently nursing my 3rd son. He just turned 3. I will gladly be done when he is. I actually went 9 days in July when we were apart without nursing him. But as soon as we were both home he wanted his "milkies" and there was still some there. He usually nurses first thing in the am and last thing at night. And I am sorry to tell you, but the saggy empty boobies and probably here to stay. :( Keep up the good work!
D.
OK, first of all I will say that I fed for 3years. By the time my son was 2 I was only feeding him at night before bed. He filled up on regular food all day but would still nurse to go to bed at night. He did this for another year. Second of all yes my brasts were totally ruined by the time he was done at 3. I did have implants after that. I don't know if there is any way around sagging breasts. I was an A cup all my life but while feeding I was a D then a C so there was quite a bit of stretching involved and no where for the skin to go when I was all through breast feeding. Sorry if this is no help, it is just my story. The good thing is that my son was never sick growing up. He is 24 now and doing fine.
i had to have implants after i was finished nursing..i only nursed until 9 months because my little boy was done with it after that. My little girl never would nurse. :(
Other than surgery i don't know of anything to fix your problem.
I nursed my oldest until 15 months because she was done with nursing. I think we were nursing 3 times a day (wake-up, nap, bed time). But I did notice that after 13 months that all of a sudden my breast became deflated. And when I weaned her I didn't have any problem at all with engorgement or leaking. It seemed like once I was completely done nursing, the sagging got a little better. But it took a few months. I haven't read or heard or anything besides surgery to fix saggy, droopy breast.
At that age I think I was feeding about 3 times a day - AM snuggle, nap time, and bed time. Personally my supply seemed to stay up for that # of feedings. In fact supply stayed on for weeks when I was trying to quit!
Your skin is stretched out right now. The skin in your breasts will eventually shrink mostly back into the size of previous. It does look bad for awhile, esp when you are use to see round, full breasts.
my son is 11 months and i nurse him twice a day.
he has lost interest in it during the day and will only nurse before bed and when he wakes up. i was sad but i know he is still getting some breastmilk
Hi,
You might have to nurse him in a boring room to get him to focus on filling his belly rather than exploring and playing. I get two really solid nursing sessions in with my 14-month old at naptime and at bedtime, and maybe one or two good ones throughout the day, just whenever I can get her to sit still for a bit. I rock/nurse her to sleep for her nap and bedtime, and we're in the darkened bathroom with just the fan on (it helps her fall asleep :) and the nightlight, so she has few distractions. Same with bedtime. I've also found that when she's strapped in the carseat while we're out running errands is another good place. We'll stop in a parking lot when she tells me she's hungry and she usually gets a pretty good bellyful that way. It really isn't too much of a trick to just lean over and rest one arm on the far side of her carseat and nurse my daughter using either side. Try it!
If your supply seems to be not keeping up, you can try pumping a little.
Yes, the breasts will *temporarily* droop a little (or a lot, depending on breast size and so on) when weaning is upon us, but let me assure you, it *is* just temporary. They'll bounce right back after a few months or maybe as long as a year or so?? At the outside?) once weaning is done. Just make sure to support them well with good-quality bras.
I breastfed my first daughter until 17 months. My 2nd daughter I breastfed until 22 months. I didn't nurse them all the time because they were both drinking from cups by then. But at naptime or bedtime they still nursed or maybe a time or two inbetween
Wow I really admire that you are planning to breastfeeding that long! Did u do that with your first too? Sounds like a good question for La Leche League, I've gotten helpful bf advice from a local member and plan to go to a mtg 2nite. Wish I could help you more but I am a first time mother of a 4-mo boy just hoping to bf ateast a year. Although now I'm really inspiered and would love to hear more about how it goes for you.
I nursed my daughter until she was two. I did notice that after a year, my breasts did the same thing. After one year, I nursed about three times a day. I never got engorged when I stopped nursing. I think my body was also done with nursing after two years. As far as for sagging, I am not sure what to do except buy a good bra.
