hi, i plan to breast feed as long as i can so i dont have to bottle feed at all. do you breast feed as well as when baby starts solids,and slowly reduce milk till they drink water? how does it work

Yup, when you start weaning you just continue as normal with feeding same as if you formula fed. Best to get a pump so you can use your own milk in your baby's cooking (like baby's first food, baby rice needs to be mixed with milk). A lot of people miss out the bottle altogether and go straight to beaker with no problems later on. I would suggest tho that you start using the beaker as soon as your lo is old enough (4-6 months) so that they are used to getting a drink from something other than you so its not as strange for them. I regularly expressed from 3 weeks so baby was used to a bottle just incase I needed to leave him with anyone so that he didnt find it upseting and that seemed to work well.

so there is never any need to bottle feed as such you just faze out the breast milk at a year or so?

Yup, you need never give your baby a bottle if you plan to breastfeed exclusively to a year but I would suggest getting them used to a beaker or cup at some point.

yes i would like to do this for a year utill baby drinks juice/water and has food. thanks for your help

nope, you never have to use formula if you dont want to.
I bf ollie till he was a year old and could drink cows milk- and from 6 months you can use cows milk in their food so no need to express for that reason.

I would say too to introduce a beaker around 5/6 months as it helps them when theyre older to realise they can drink out of something other than mummy....
xxx

yeah thats a good idea, i just cant deal with the thought of making up bottles,certain heat,blah blah blah.
dont get me wrong each to own but i think this is what i want.
are there any limits on where you can breastfeed as i hear so many storys?

Hi Isaac is 14 months old and he never had a bottle, I did try giving him expressed milk in a bottle but he was having none of it. When I started weaning he didnt cut his milk down straight away but did after a few weeks.

I dont have any problems bfing anywhere but i livein scotland where the law is on my side so im prob not the best person to ask. I have never had anyone look at me or tut or anyrhing tho. Its so discrete people just dont notice!

yeah i just dont no if there are any places off bounds in london where i am,i will take something out with me to cover anyway.

Hi I did all the above with my last girl, she went straight to cows milk when i stopped bfding at 1 yr. She never had formula and i introduced a beaker early which worked really well. All my kids still drink loads of milk, everyday they have a cup with breakfast and after dinner before bed, and the eldest has just gone 12! I think it's really important they still get milk and hopefully they will stay in the habit (tho my mum thinks i'm weird doing this).
I've always bf anywhere in public and had no probs- after all people can always look at something else if it bothers them.
Nik xx

hi! how longs best to breast feed for?? 1yr 2yr??

Mrs Kc, I live in Harrow, greater London and although the law isn't strictly on our side (you can be asked to leave a premises but you can then quote the sex discrimination act to them as long as your lo is under 6 months old apparently - what a load of sh!t!)

I have never been asked to leave anywhere and have only been stared at once by an old lady. I try to be as discreet as I can (easier said than done - it's an acquired art!) and I throw a muslin cloth over my shoulder until lo is latched on properly. If I ever get any adverse comments/asked to leave I know for a fact that the person will come off worse than me and I would refuse to budge until lo had finished his feed!

I express for him to have one bottle a day, given by daddy last thing at night. He switches happily between this and breast. I personally think it's important for those times when you just cannot be there - I would never give him formula though.

Good luck hon - it is the best thing ever!xx

i think i will just breast feed when i need too and if someone causes a issue me or my hubbie will give them what for! its such a shame we live in such a society that has forgtten what breasts are for,im sure if we were just flashing alot of people would be more than happy yet breast feeding is considered inappropriate! crazy

hi,
i'm still breast feeding my son and hes 6 months now and i've been weaning from 15weeks. although i love breastfeeding i made the mistake of not letting him have a bottle at all for the first 3 month. and now the problem i have is getting him to have anything at all other then breast. when i have my next baby i will BF although i will give them BM or a little water in a bottle just so they know how, because my son can't even suck on a bottle, he just doesn't know how. good on you for wanting to BF though, it's the best bonding experience you can get. x