Breastfeeding diary – the reality of breastfeeding a one year old

Breastfeeding diary – the reality of breastfeeding a one year old

Well, we did it! One whole year of breastfeeding. It was always my aim since I became pregnant with Alex to try my best to breastfeed him for his first year and I’ve only gone and done it. It’s not always been easy, we had latch issues and I experienced a lot of pain during those first couple of weeks but I feel so proud that we pushed through and our feeding journey is still going strong 12 months on. With the rise of the mummy blogger there seems to be a lot more honest advice and stories online about what breastfeeding a newborn is like, which makes a nice change from the very impersonal approach most nhs leaflets and antenatal classes seem to take. I’ve written all about it myself in previous breastfeeding diary posts and have even written a guest blog for The Bshirt all about how to breastfeed with confidence. When it comes to the realities of feeding an older baby though the stories from other mums on their feeding experiences start to thin out. Just as breastfeeding a newborn comes with it’s own challenges, breastfeeding an older baby is not as easy as you may think either. So, as Alex and I have smashed our feeding goals and are still going, I thought I would share with you what it’s really like breastfeeding a one year old, in case you too decide to keep feeding your little one into toddlerhood.

Breastfeeding diary – The reality of breastfeeding a one year old

1. Feeds are unpredictable – When your baby is first born you can pretty much guarantee that if they are crying they want one of three things: sleep, burping or food. It takes a little while to fall into a feeding routine with a breasted baby but you soon learn around about how often your little one is going to one a feed. For months Alex wanted to be fed every two hours, I could almost set my watch by him his hunger became so predictable. As your baby gets bigger and they start eating solids and taking more of an interest in the world around them, they start to drop feeds and your feeding schedule suddenly becomes no more. At 12 months old, I have no idea when Alex wants milk during the day until he starts crying and pulling my top down. He always has it in first thing in the morning and then last thing before bed but when he wants some milk during the day is completely random. Some days he wants it at nap time and sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he wants it after his lunch and sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he will bump his head and want a feed for comfort and sometimes he will be teething and just want be attached to me all day. This can be a bit annoying at times as I could just be about to cook tea or play a game with my eldest and all hell breaks loose because Alex randomly wants feeding again. Other mums might be able to tell you their one year old still sticks to a feeding schedule but mine definitely does not.

2. Feeding acrobatics – While Alex will still sit in my arms and let me feed him in the ‘cradle hold’ that was common place when he was younger, sometimes he likes to try and feed from all kinds of crazy angles. He might be snuggled into my shoulder one minute and decide he wants some milk and try and go upside down to get to it, or he could be feeding and then start trying to get his feet down on the floor, like he wishes it were possible for him to just crawl around while feeding at the same time! I am grateful that, for the most part, Alex is still happy to just lie in my arms and feed because it’s not exactly comfortable when he’s wriggling all over the place with my boob in his mouth.

3. You still have to wear breastfeeding friendly clothes – While I did eventually ditch the nursing bras when Alex was about 8months old, I am still unable to go back to my pre-breastfeeding wardrobe as Alex still wants to feed in the daytime. While I am confident breastfeeding in public, I find it so much easier when wearing feeding friendly clothes and, even at a year old, wearing clothes with easy boob access makes feeding so much easier. One day I will be able to wear that gorgeous jumper dress again and not have to no worry about the fact the only way I could possibly feed in it would to just go completely topless.

4. They understand ‘milk’ – If Alex is getting grumpy and whiney and I say to him ‘do you want some milk?’ , he immediately starts headbutting my chest and trying to pull my top down. It amazes me that he understands what I am saying but I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way: do not ask a toddler if they want milk unless you are able to sit and feed them immediately. Alex has lost the plot a couple of times lately because I’ve been stupid enough to mention the ‘m’ word when we’ve been in a situation that has meant I couldn’t actually feed him right away.

5. A new type of mum guilt – I know many mums suffer with guilt when it comes to the subject of breastfeeding. Some feel guilty that they stopped when they did and some feel guilty for not doing it at all or that they think they didn’t try hard enough to make it work. Mum guilt is a bitch and all of us (breast or bottle feeders) need to try our best to ignore it as it can really knock your confidence as a mum. Saying that, I need to practice what I preach! I feel so many good things about mine and Alex’s breastfeeding journey so far but, and it’s a big but, I do still feel a shed load of mum guilt. I am so worried that I am going to want to stop feeding Alex before he is ready. While I love the idea of self weaning, I can’t honestly say I want to be breastfeeding him when he’s 3 or even older. This might be for you and I totally respect you’re decision, but I personally can’t see me wanting to do it much longer than for about 18 months. This acceptance that breastfeeding is very likely to finish because I want it to makes me feel incredibly guilty. Alex friggin loves the boob, it would be like just taking his dummy away before he’s ready, something he needs to soothe and comfort him. In his own little way (shrieking and chest headbutting), Alex lets me know when he wants feeding and I can’t imagine ever saying no to him. If I were to refuse him a feed, it is very likely he would scream the place down and is there anything worse as a parent than causing your baby upset when, really, it could all just be avoided? I need to stop worrying about what will or won’t happen I think and instead just focus on the now and if I decide I want to stop before Alex is ready then I will have to deal with all these feelings then. If you are feeling this particular form of mum guilt too, I know exactly how you feel mama.

6. They rarely get ‘milk drunk’ – The days of being able to breastfeed your baby to the point they fall asleep in your arms for hours, hammered on the good stuff, are gone. It is so hard to feed Alex to sleep now he is older, some evenings he has both sides and there’s not so much as a slow blink and a yawn to indicate he’s on his way into a milk coma. Sometimes I find myself missing the days where I could feed him for hours and he would flop his head away, a little milk on his cheek and he would just sleep in my arms all warm and snuggly with rosy cheeks. 12 months of breastfeeding has hardened Alex to the sleepy power of breastmilk and very rarely do I look down during a feed and he’s asleep.

7. It can still hurt – Don’t worry, it’s not agony like it was in those newborn days but the above mentioned feeding acrobatics with a mouthful of little teeth can hurt a little bit sometimes. I love Alex has only ever bitten me once and that was when he was in teething hell and I am so glad it has not happened since! Sometimes though, even though he doesn’t bite I can still feel his teeth if he’s being lazy and not quite latched on properly.

8. Bonding time – Alex is always on the go now, crawling and climbing everywhere and when he crawls over for a feed it is nice to just have a cuddle with him and a moment of calm before he starts demolishing the house again. If he is upset then a quick feed will soothe him and sometimes he just wants a feed because he loves being close to mummy. I find breastfeeding now so easy and I think it really helps Alex and I to reconnect, especially on days when Leo is home and everything is just a bit crazy.

Do you breastfeed? How are you finding the experience so far, are you intending on feeding your baby past their first birthday? Maybe you are feeding a toddler, how do you find it feeding an older baby? I would love to hear all about your breastfeeding experiences.

Pin Me!

breastfeeding a one year old

 

facebookinstatwitterIf you enjoyed this post I would love for you to share it 🙂

Follow:
Share:

Leave a Reply to Mrs Mummy Harris Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge

15 Comments

  1. December 1, 2017 / 8:17 pm

    Wendy I need to read this today, I’ve a crazy acrobatic 8month old who’s feeding pattern is all over the place, she won’t feed to sleep anymore and has started biting! (cutting her front teeth so her latch is changing) session my second baby but I only fed her sister to 4 1/2 months. All the mum guilt, but glad to read about feeding an older baby. Emma won’t take a bottle or dummy so I expect our journey to continue for a while yet, never expected to feed past a year but looks like we will be and I’m so glad I’ve been able to.

    Thanks for sharing your story

    Laura x

  2. December 3, 2017 / 6:15 pm

    I didn’t breastfeed my little girl so I don’t have an experience to share about it. I would have liked to but my boobs just refused to work! Thank god for formula otherwise I’m not sure what we would have done. haha. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity if we have another. X #thesatsesh

  3. December 4, 2017 / 11:10 am

    Awww so nice that it still helps you connect with Alex but booooo to a new type of mum guilt! Well done though Wendy you’ve done so well with your breastfeeding journey xx #thesatsesh xx
    Hayley @ Mission: Mindfulness recently posted…The Saturday Sesh #15My Profile

  4. December 5, 2017 / 1:37 pm

    Well done on continuing your breastfeeding journey. Im on the end of my journey now but its lovely to see mums doing it passed a year. #dreamteam

  5. December 6, 2017 / 4:50 am

    Hats on to you for sticking to it, breastfeeding is solid! X #triumphanttales

  6. December 8, 2017 / 12:44 pm

    Congrats for reaching a milestone! I only lasted about three or four months and even if I could have produced more milk, the thought of breastfeeding with teeth scared and still scares me!
    Thank you for sharing this with me at #TriumphantTales. I hope to see you back next week!

  7. December 8, 2017 / 11:12 pm

    I found this really interesting to read as mine both got a bit bitey around the 9 months mark and I decided to wean them off (which was so hard so I hear you on the mum guilt!) Neither of them were particularly acrobatic at that stage though so I can only imagine how much fun that must be! I love that you’ve both got so much from your breastfeeding journey so far. Thanks for linking up lovely x #DreamTeam

  8. December 8, 2017 / 11:27 pm

    Well done for reaching 1 year, that’s amazing! I still feed D and she’ll be 3 in Feb, I cut her down to just morning and bedtime feed at 2.5 because I (shamefully?!) wanted to wear all my non BF friendly clothes again! Lol! It was also becoming a chore and I didn’t want it to be like that. It’s nice the way it is now. Xx

  9. December 14, 2017 / 10:02 am

    Love this my darling. I can’t wait to breastfeed again but also now know it’s no walk in the park and as you say there is a lot to consider! Such a great post – far more informative and personal than a lot of the generic leaflets thrust our way xx #coolmumclub

  10. December 14, 2017 / 12:44 pm

    Congratulations on reaching a year! Your descriptions are really accurate and bought back a lot of memories of my son feeding at that age. He’s 2.5 now and we’re still feeding (never, ever planned to do it for this long!) I totally get what you’re saying about the guilt of stopping when he’s not ready… it’s what’s bought us this far. I’m coming to realise though that my boy probably won’t self wean until 4-5 years old and I know I don’t want to carry on until then so at some point, I’ll have to force it. There’s never an easy time though is there! Wishing you the best of luck whatever you decide to do #coolmumclub

  11. December 14, 2017 / 4:13 pm

    I breastfed our daughter to 15 months and was nodding along to so much of this. I used to miss that lovely milk-drunkness as the feeding changes as she got older. Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub xx
    Talya recently posted…Reasons to love Caillou + a #giveawayMy Profile

  12. December 14, 2017 / 9:41 pm

    Well done! One whole year is amazing. I really really struggled with breastfeeding to begin with. Cygnet lost a lot of weight. I was really stubborn though and we stuck with it. I finally gave up breastfeeding 6 weeks before his second birthday. The hardest bits are definitely at the beginning when you are learning to feed and so is your baby. Even if you have breastfeed before, the two of you have to learn how to breastfeed together. Thanks for your tips though. I won’t have another child now, but your tips are really useful for new mums. Pen x #coolmumclub
    Pen recently posted…Pre-menstrual self loathing and a red wine hangoverMy Profile

  13. December 29, 2017 / 2:43 pm

    I’m 10 months in with number three now & still going strong – the woman at her 9-12 month check told me she should be on 2 feeds a day now, one in the morning & one at night…she’s on more like 8!! #coolmumclub
    Crummy Mummy recently posted…Things I’ve learnt in 2017My Profile