I get asked this at least a few times a week by different people. The comments and questions around my continued breastfeeding go something like this...
"How long are you going to continue breastfeeding?"
"You are still pumping three times a day?"
"He has 6 teeth?! Aren't you afraid he is going to bite you?"
"He'll sleep longer if you give him formula."
"You should NEVER get into the habit of nursing a baby to bed!"
It seems rather crazy to me that the fact that I am breastfeeding my baby at 7 months isn't very common even though both the AAP recommends breastfeeding until a baby is 1 year of age or more and the WHO recommends breastfeeding until 2 years of age or beyond.
I feel there is quite a bit of breastfeeding support for mothers when they first have a child. There are lactation consultants at the hospital, support groups during the day while you are on maternity leave, and a plethora of information on the web. There is very little information and support out there for mothers who continue to breastfeed past 6 months. Well, this is what I have found to be true.
For example, when I started feeding B solids a little after 6 months, I found very little information with regards to how I should go about doing that while breastfeeding.
Yeah, not a lot of info out there and what I have found is sometimes conflicting. I think the issue is that by 6 months many moms have quit breastfeeding so there isn't the need for all the information that there is when baby is first born. The information that I got from my doctor doesn't totally jive with what I believe in either. She has told us to start him with cereal, which we decided not to do. Also, she has told us to give him water and I don't really know how much he needs that, either. I thought breast milk was good enough. I feel like doctors aren't that that supportive of breastfeeding, which is surprising that I am not feeling that way from my doctor when she said she breastfed both of her kids until they were 2 when I originally interviewed her.
Recently, I have noticed that B's breastfeeding habits have been changing, and not for the better. He has always been an "in and out" kind of baby. He eats to eat and that is it. 2-3 minutes on a side MAX. Lately it is a struggle to get him to eat for more than 2 minutes on one side before he decides to start looking around or tries to squirm out of my arms. I have started pumping less at work. He has even been eating less out of a bottle when I am at work. He went from eating 4-5 ounces every 3 hours to now eating 3 ounces every 3.5-4 hours. This all seemed to correspond to the fact that we had started giving him 2 solid meals a day; fruits in the morning and veggies at night. He seems to have less and less of an interest in eating except for in the middle of the night or right before bed when he is tired.
Of course I googled this, wanting to know if it was normal 7 month old behavior, and the results that I came up with weren't exactly what I was wanting to hear. Most of the articles I found dealt with infant self-weaning. A few of the articles were centered around teething, which seemed a little easier for me to take. I found myself getting worked up over the fact that I am still breastfeeding at 7 months, enjoying the experience and wanting to continue, and not at all prepared or supported for where I am now or for the future. Honestly, I am doing what I think I should be doing, not knowing if it is the right thing to do or not.
So as I paw my way through the dimly lit forest that is breastfeeding past 6 months, alone. I can only hope that I am still doing the right thing. I really wish that there was more support guidance out there for mothers who breastfeed longer. I could really, really, use it right now.
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