Baby Blogging - Breastfeeding (an almost) 10 Month Old - The Truth!

If you ever attended a prenatal NCT or NHS (or equivalent in your part of the world) you were probably told 'breast is best' and that you should breastfeed as long as possible. We were told in our class that the worldwide average was 3 years!

In reality breastfeeding isn't possible or practical for many people. I have been fortunate that Annabelle latched instantly and hasn't stopped, and thankfully neither has my milk. I think thankfully!

I shared this post back when Annabelle was first born on what I wished I'd known about breastfeeding, click here.

And this post on my continued journey - the positives and negatives, click here.

Anyway that brings us to now. Annabelle is about to turn 10 months and somehow we are still breastfeeding. I say we as it is a joint effort. Unless I am on a train first thing I always breastfeed Annabelle before she heads to nursery or my Mums. I will do whatever it takes to be home for bed time so I can do the last feed and in between, well good olde expressed milk does the job.

These hugs are the best

One interesting discovery is that Annabelle is not a fan of drinking her milk at nursery, they struggle to get her to have 2oz's. We think it's that she's not 100% comfortable there yet as she drinks it when my Mum is feeding her. Thankfully she LOVES food and eats the meals and snacks they provide so isn't going hungry. Laura then feeds her a bottle when she gets home, and she drinks the whole thing!

Mama the hero

I was thinking the other night, during one particularly long evening feed, that there are definite pros and cons to breastfeeding this long and here's my thoughts:

Pro's:

• It's convenient
• It allows Annabelle and I to have some time, just us
• It's comforting for her and a relief for me
• It nutritious
• It's free
• It's a great time to relax and be present

Con's:

• When I am away from Annabelle I have to set up a production to be able to pump every 4 hours (think sterilizer, bottle parts, pump, container for milk, cool bag and to carry that stuff requires it own bag - it's a lot)

The wellness room/cupboard at work where I go to pump

• Not pumping is not an option (see previous posts but it is AGONY)
• Less feeds mean longer feeds, where we used to be done in 15 minutes it can now be 30 mins and no position is comfortable for that long, especially with a wriggly baby - plus relaxation turns to creating to-do lists and thinking about all the stuff you could be doing
• Annabelle is now big enough, and capable enough, of wriggling free, sitting up, grabbing my arm, hair, belly and it hurts, her trying to get my boob from all angles hurts!
• Teeth - nuff said - Annabelle has 8 and knows how to use them!

She may look charming!

• It can get lonely, that's weird to say but sometimes when things are going on elsewhere - like friends are over and chatting downstairs, or a family gathering is happening where you can hear laughter. I am sat in a quiet room with Annabelle, who in most cases is dozy so I don't want to chat to her and wake her up, on my own with nothing to do but listen to what I am not a part of

Although I can list out cons, easily I'm afraid to admit, I wouldn't change the fact that we have made it this far, I'm proud of us! I thought we would quit it at 6 months, definitely be over it by 9 months, and going back to work while breastfeeding seemed absurd - and it is! - but we are pushing through and making it work. So as I write this I am thinking we might stop at 12 months - that's my thought for now anyway :D

We got this!