A decade of breastfeeding

[ladyaudley]

Alice (of Alice's baby, compulsive TTCer, but "leaving her family size up to God") has a post up on her main blog (arthursmummy.blogspot.de) where she details how proud she is to have reached her goal of breastfeeding ten. years. continuously. She spent most of the time tandem or triandum-breastfeeding while pregnant. o.O

She's also both worried about having ovarian cancer and super excited about having ovulated again, because MOAR BABIES! never mind the fact she is still utterly failing to homeschool her children because she has too many and is too anxious, but it's okay because they're still learning stuff.

[polecat]

Extended breastfeeding is a normal human experience. Children naturally nurse throughout toddlerhood (one reason several formula companies have created "next step" formulas is to replicate the extended breastfeeding process).

The failed home schooling and quiverfull attitudes are a whole other issue.

[ladyaudley]

Absolutely. But setting yourself a deliberate goal to want to breastfeed continuously for a decade is not a normal human experience.

[Jana814]

Absolutely. But setting yourself a deliberate goal to want to breastfeed continuously for a decade is not a normal human experience.

Agree!

[August]

I breastfed continuously for six years and I only have two children. I beat her!

[SunnyAndrsn]

My sister did this too. She didn't plan to breastfed for ten years, but felt it was best to let all three of her children self-wean, which they did about the time she had the next one. Kids are now 13, 10, and 7

[polecat]

I breastfed continuously for six years and I only have two children. I beat her!

lol!

Yeah, seven years here, give or take a few months, and three kids -- all of whom tandem (triandum?) nursed for a while. I was proud of myself, but I didn't set a goal to do it nor did I consider it mompetition-worthy.

ETA: It actually would never have occurred to me to make it a goal. My goal with my first was to make it to six months. Once I got there, I couldn't imagine weaning him, so we just kept going. And going. He didn't self-wean, but by the time he was a bit over three, I was nursing all three of them, and it was honestly just too much for me, so he got weaned.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I only breastfed for 8 years straight with three kids, during two pregnancies, and tandeming twice. She beat me :(

[chaotic life]

Breastfed non-stop for 14 years. I consider it the ultimate sacrifice I made for the needs of my children. I do not see it as a badge of honor that I commonly tell people and definitely not a goal I set for myself. I do not miss breastfeeding now that the final baby weaned but I would absolutely do it over again for the sake of my children. But, it was an exhausting and sacrificial lifestyle I only undertook because I believed in the right of each baby to nurse and to self wean from nursing.

[August]

lol!

Yeah, seven years here, give or take a few months, and three kids -- all of whom tandem (triandum?) nursed for a while. I was proud of myself, but I didn't set a goal to do it nor did I consider it mompetition-worthy.

ETA: It actually would never have occurred to me to make it a goal. My goal with my first was to make it to six months. Once I got there, I couldn't imagine weaning him, so we just kept going. And going. He didn't self-wean, but by the time he was a bit over three, I was nursing all three of them, and it was honestly just too much for me, so he got weaned.

LOL, the day I got pregnant with the second I was like fuuuuuuck, this sucks, what have I done? And of course my older one was utterly unweanable.

But my mothering trophy cabinet is really shiny, even if it is a little too large for our living room. If only there were a way I could make it mobile, so I wouldn't have to keep trying to find a way to weasel my triumphs into casual conversations about middle school.

[Knight of Ni]

From these posts I assume that some women nurse while pregnant. I must ask a question about it. A few months ago a friend posted on a blog about a pregnant woman who found an infant who was starving. (I think the infant was abandoned). Not having anything else to do about it the woman started to nurse the infant as she was far enough along in her pregnancy to be lactating. Several comments on the article said that the woman was lucky because nursing while pregnant releases hormones that may cause miscarriage. Is this idea true? Or is it not a concern? Just wondering.

[chaotic life]

Nursing releases oxytocin. In a normal healthy pregnancy, the oxytocin receptors on the uterus are not mature until the third trimester and consequently nursing will not in any way impact the pregnancy (though you will get LOTS of practice with relaxation and breathing techniques as nursing on pregnancy sensitive nipples can feel like the skin is being scraped off of them with every suck). The general rule is in at risk pregnancies where the doctors order no orgasms, then you also cannot breastfeed, as they release a similar oxytocin surge. This is different from pelvic rest so a nursing mother would need to clarify with her doctor if she is put on restrictions then which type.

[polecat]

From these posts I assume that some women nurse while pregnant. I must ask a question about it. A few months ago a friend posted on a blog about a pregnant woman who found an infant who was starving. (I think the infant was abandoned). Not having anything else to do about it the woman started to nurse the infant as she was far enough along in her pregnancy to be lactating. Several comments on the article said that the woman was lucky because nursing while pregnant releases hormones that may cause miscarriage. Is this idea true? Or is it not a concern? Just wondering.

I'll second Chaotic Life's post.

I had a history of recurrent miscarriage but was successfully able to breastfeed and tandem nurse throughout subsequent pregnancies without any mishaps. It really depends on the pregnant woman and her own health needs, but generally speaking, if she's not on complete pelvic rest, breastfeeding will usually be fine (but again -- women should always, always talk to their doctors about their needs).

[ladyaudley]

I consider it the ultimate sacrifice I made for the needs of my children. I do not see it as a badge of honor that I commonly tell people and definitely not a goal I set for myself. .

FJers: showing fundies what modesty really means.

Just to clarify, my OP was in no way denouncing people who breastfeed for ages - that's each woman's decision. Alice had set herself a goal of breastfeeding that long not with the three children she already had, but just in general. I quote: "Also, a ten-year goal means at least a couple more kids, and that might not happen. But again, a girl can dream, hey?" just... :|

[DGayle]

My older is 5, and still nurses sometimes. What do I win in this one-upboobship? :D

Now that it's established I'm very pro-nursing, I can say this easily: There's something off about a goal of nursing a decade solid not because of letting kids wean, but because of saying you did it. What's so off is that this isn't about nourishing babies. It's all, 100%, about what the mom is getting out of it.

[samurai_sarah]

My older is 5, and still nurses sometimes. What do I win in this one-upboobship? :D

Now that it's established I'm very pro-nursing, I can say this easily: There's something off about a goal of nursing a decade solid not because of letting kids wean, but because of saying you did it. What's so off is that this isn't about nourishing babies. It's all, 100%, about what the mom is getting out of it.

As others have said, it isn't a badge of honour. Great for all who can do it! My mother couldn't nurse. So we got formula. It just made her a person who used whatever resources she had.

[polecat]

My older is 5, and still nurses sometimes. What do I win in this one-upboobship? :D

I would like to take this opportunity to present you with ...

{L_MESSAGE_HIDDEN}:

The golden boob trophy!

(possibly NSFW)

[ExCatholic]

Oh, my favorite fundie! With her youngest son, Elijah, she was nursing three boys and he wasn't gaining enough. The doctor told her she should supplement and she waffled about it for a while before deciding it wasnt right for her. Not Elijah, her. Not looking to start a debate about supplementing, just sharing an Alice fact!

I'm surprised she's gone this long without going all hypochondriac again, honestly. Guess the kids have kept her too busy to wonder what horrible disease she has now.

Another fun fact - in her old sheep dip blog she often wrote of her struggles with same-sex attraction. Hasn't mentioned that again for a long time, but again, eleventy kids will distract you I guess.

At least the poor kids aren't crammed into one room anymore since they moved :(

[August]

I would like to take this opportunity to present you with ...

{L_MESSAGE_HIDDEN}:

The golden boob trophy!

(possibly NSFW)

Goddamn it! Now I'm going to have to relactate.

[church_of_dog]

Goddamn it! Now I'm going to have to relactate.

lol!

Has anyone else noticed that the company logo in that image looks an awful lot like the prize itself? Just missing a few nipples...

You're welcome. :dance:

[Tesseract]

My one and only went 6.5 years. He stopped about 6 months after some major surgery and stabilization of one of his medical conditions. He checked in once close to 7, but was done. When he was 9, he saw something nursing related, we talked about whatever it was and out of curiosity I asked him if he remembered nursing. He said, "Nope". :shrug:

[rezski44]

My second son was 4 when he stopped nursing and says he can't remember even though he remembers other things from before that time. Probably a good thing that this sort of selective memory occurs.

[Tesseract]

My second son was 4 when he stopped nursing and says he can't remember even though he remembers other things from before that time. Probably a good thing that this sort of selective memory occurs.

My son, too. He remembers loads of other things from that same time period. Memory sure is interesting!

[August]

Isn't it odd that they don't remember? I thought it would be interesting and kind of cool for them, but no, mine don't remember either.

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

Interesting. Mine nursed until two years ago, and definitely still remembers. I wonder if he will start to forget as he gets older.