How Long to Exclusively Breastfeed?

[Nelko26]

I was just wondering, those of you who breastfed/feed - How long did you exclusively breastfeed for?

[fairfarmhand]

most of mine were 8-9 months before I gave them anything but breast milk.

[Carrie12345]

Not at all

6 weeks

8 weeks

10 months

TBD

[Vanna]

I think my children were about 5mos old when I started giving them infant cereal mixed w/breast milk as a first food. They continued to breast feed until they were close to 2yrs old. They each weaned themselves.

[Farrar]

We tried to do some solids at about 6 mos, but the babes weren't interested until about 8 or 9 months so that was as much their choice as mine.

[Mejane]

I was told by our ped to start feeding my daughter when she was six months old. I just about went crazy trying to get the poor child to eat, then gave up. She just wasn't ready. With my son, I waited until he was eight months old to introduce food, and he was ready then.

[Chris in VA]

Ds21 had his first cereal when he was 4.5 months;

Ds19, around 5.

Dd was somewhere around 5, I think.

Ds' had rice, but dd had fresh banana, picked from her grandmother's tree!

[Elisabeth in IL]

I waited until the boys were 6 months old. I voted -- 5-6 months .

[Veritaserum]

#1 Refused solids until 8 mo. Continued to nurse for over two years.

#2 Refused solids until 13 mo. Continued to nurse for over two years.

#3 Was my only baby to want solids at around 6 mo. Nursed until 18 mo.

#4 Refused solids until 7-8 mo. Nursed for about two years.

#5 Refused solids until 7-8 mo. Still nursing at two years.

[lionfamily1999]

My kids were ready to tuck in early, they all had teeth early too :glare: That had a definite impact on my decision.

[LisaKinVA]

I went ahead and clicked the 11 mos. or more.

 

My first, didn't make it 3 weeks, as I was in the ER at 3 weeks having my gall bladder removed. I had issues with supply (significant), and he was pretty much formula/BF from then on.

 

My second, I began having significant milk issues at 6 weeks. Got medication, and nursed until she weaned at 9mos.

 

My third, I began having significant milk issues at 6 weeks. God medication and nursed until I couldn't handle the biting anymore at 9mos.

 

My fourth, I had no milk issues :party:She didn't like food, finally started eating around 9mos.

 

My fifth, no milk issues, didn't show any interest in food until she was nearly 1. She also had no teeth until she was nearly one. She would put things in her mouth and then spit them out.

[knit247]

My 1st was 7 mos when she started solids, but it wasn't every day - just when she reached for something or we thought about it. Breast milk was still about 90% of her nutrition by 12 mos.

 

My 2nd never showed an interest in solids. I tried at 8 mos and she gagged and threw it up. At 9 mos (she was the weight of your average 15 mo old, and there were no worries about breastmilk being enough) we tried again with the same results. And so on, month after month. She didn't actually eat (and keep down) a single bite until 4 days shy of turning 16 mos! Her very first foods? Filet mignon and sweet potato from Outback Steakhouse :D

[dirty ethel rackham]

Had to vote other because my 3 children were different. With the first one - exclusive for 4 months. Gave cereal on advice of doctor (he was a big baby and she was convinced my breastmilk wasn't good enough - bad doctor.)

With baby #2, attempted to start solids at 6 months, but he didn't want them until about 7 months. Then he stopped eating solids at a year. We discovered he had tooth decay on a malformed tooth. After that was fixed, he started eating solids again. With baby #3, she started solids at about 7 months.

[Osmosis Mom]

All my kids got solids the day they turned 4 months.... Whether they wanted to or not! Usually after a few days they get turned onto it (well, either that or immediately!). I start with rice cereal and immediately add in fruits. It has worked for us.

[Mama Geek]

My dd was off the charts low on her weight and the Dr we were seeing at the time said if she didn't start gaining serious weight in a week she was going to hospitalize her.

 

From all that I have read and all the research I have done, she was over reacting. DD was normal in all the other areas.

 

I refused to do cereal, but started DD on Sweet potatoes, potatoes, avacado, banana, and applesauce. I have had horrible times with Dr's for my dd. If I have a second child, I am really tempted to wait until said child is 6 mo before ever taking her to see a Dr. I postpone vaccines so that wouldn't be a big deal.

[kokotg]

Mine were all different. The first two were both screaming in protest every time we ate in front of them by the time they were 5 months old, so they started solids earlier. My third couldn't have cared less. He had the occasional few bites of banana or whatever starting around 6 or 6 1/2 months, but he didn't really start eating regular meals until more like 9 or 10 months.

[tabrizia]

I put 5-6 months for both of mine. That being said, DS was offered food at 6 months but showed no interest in it till around 8 months, so he wasn't offered food often, he started with well cooked broccoli stalks. DD started eating at 6 months and loved it, her first food was artichoke, still one of her favorite foods, she loved sucking the meat off the leaf. Newbie won't be offered any food until 6 months either, unless his siblings feed him something when I am not looking, but I don't really expect interest until 8+ months with any of mine, I was shocked at how interested DD was at 6 months.

 

DS nursed till 3 1/2. DD is still nursing at 21 months and I don't expect her to wean anytime soon.

[Princess Peach]

I only bf'ed my last. I started giving him solids around 6 months or so. I bf'ed him until 13 months total.

 

Weird thing about him, he did not give up any feedings when I introduced solids. At the point of 1 year old, he was eating 3 meals at the table, a couple snacks, and still bf'ed 5-6 times a day. Let me tell you, that boy can still pack it away. He eats a lot! He is thin, though. He never stops moving! :willy_nilly:

[littlebug42]

All my kids got solids the day they turned 4 months.... Whether they wanted to or not! Usually after a few days they get turned onto it (well, either that or immediately!). I start with rice cereal and immediately add in fruits. It has worked for us.

 

:iagree:

 

My oldest had reflux and I was desperate to get something in her that wasn't constantly coming back up. They were very good eaters. Both of them wanted nothing else to do with breastfeeding completely by 9 months. At 10 months, I tried to give Boo-Boo her bottle and she refused it and threw it at my head. We were sippy cup all the way after that.

[Amira]

All three were exclusive for at least a year. My first would choke on anything solid till he was almost one. Since breastfeeding worked well and was easy, I just stuck with breast milk for all three for the first year. Habit, mostly.

[Joanne]

I'm one of the 7-8 month votes.

 

I don't believe in baby food (store bought, home made, cereal). I started offering mine chunks of "adult" food when they were developmentally ready and interested.

 

I went on to nurse for ....... um.......... a long time.;)

[hsmamainva]

Mine didn't really start eating table food until around 9 months. We didn't do baby food, but just pureed / mashed whatever we were eating.

[texasmama]

#1 - 5 months because that was what I was told to do by pediatrician

#2 - 6 months

#3 - 7-8 months

#4 - 7-8 months but didn't really eat much until 9 months

 

They grew well, were fat as anything on only breastmilk and took to solids fine once they got them.

[secular_mom]

I voted 11 or more months- but I felt the need to say down here that I didn't prevent them from trying some table foods if they were interested- mostly they weren't or they might try something but spit it out. But that wasn't until 9 months or later, depending on the child and their interest. We never did 'baby food'. And when they did try table food it wasn't really a 'meal' at all, more like a sample so I still consider them exclusively breastfed at that time because that's where they were getting their nourishment, KWIM?

[WarriorMama]

I'm one of the 7-8 month votes.

 

I don't believe in baby food (store bought, home made, cereal). I started offering mine chunks of "adult" food when they were developmentally ready and interested.

 

I went on to nurse for ....... um.......... a long time.;)

 

This is me also, but I came to it because my son WOULD NOT touch baby food or accept being fed off a spoon. He wanted what everybody else was having. I started giving him chunks of safe foods from my plate, and now I wouldn't do it any other way. Simple and easy.

[Jennifer in MI]

I'm one of the 7-8 month votes.

 

I don't believe in baby food (store bought, home made, cereal). I started offering mine chunks of "adult" food when they were developmentally ready and interested.

 

I went on to nurse for ....... um.......... a long time.;)

 

:iagree:

 

And, we also nursed for a long time. A long, long time!!:lol: In fact, I've been pregnant or nursing for 15 years now. There was one two month time period where 3 weaned and I got pregnant with 4.

[Soror]

I put other. I wait until they show the developmental milestones for solids readiness- able to sit up independently, pincher grip AND interest. That was 6 months for #1. I don't do babyfoods either, I feed small bits of of our foods of course well-cooked at first. I start with things like avocado, banana, sweet potato, well cooked meat. Dd#2 was around 7-9 months before she reached the milestones. They were both receiving 90-95% of the nutrition from bm until 2 yrs though(the total amount of solids they would eat in a day was around 1-2 T). With #1 I had to go back to exclusively nursing at 13months-17months as he had so many intolerances, thank goodness we were nursing. #1 nursed for 3.5 yrs or so total. #2 was weaned a bit after 2 as I got pregnant and my supply dipped and I had a LOT of pain.

 

#3 now reached developmental readiness about 7-9 months as well. She started with the same basic foods as the others. I don't do grains for little kids, we don't do dairy,gluten or soy at all. She eats most everything we eat at this point- she is a bit over 12 months. She is my biggest eater. She loves eating and wants to eat everytime we eat. She does still nurse a lot though, she can go 3-4 hrs between nursing now, but she also still has cluster nursing in the afternoon and will nurse for an hr straight.

 

I purposely avoid things that encourage early weaning- no bottles, no paci-s, no bm substitutes, no schedules, I offer bm before solids-not vice versa etc.

[stansclan89]

I always let the child decide when to start eating table food. They were usually interested in tasting the food on the table somewhere between 4 and 6 months. They never wanted a bottle though.

[Dinsfamily]

#1 - 5 months because that was what I was told to do by pediatrician

#2 - 6 months

#3 - 7-8 months

#4 - 7-8 months but didn't really eat much until 9 months

 

They grew well, were fat as anything on only breastmilk and took to solids fine once they got them.

 

This is about how it worked out for me for the first three and I plan on the same for the 4th. I caved to grandparent pressure to feed ds#1 at 4 mos so he would sleep better (didn't work, but sounded good at the time). Fed #2 at 6 mos for no other reason than my ped said it was time. Ds#3 was 8 mos starting and really got going at 9 mos. He was the biggest boy of the three and maintained it fine without solids. It was so much easier to introduce solids to my youngest that I plan to do the same with ds#4.

[Mommyfaithe]

I was just wondering, those of you who breastfed/feed - How long did you exclusively breastfeed for?

 

I voted 5-6 mos. because that was the average for my kids. One child nursed exclusively for only 3 mos. and one for 11 mos because she absolutely refused to eat anything else until she could hold a spoon and do it herself. The other ones were approx 5-6 mos when I introduced veggies, fruit and cereal.

 

Faithe

[kalanamak]

No food allergies in our families, and kiddo was starving. He started on rice cereal thinned with expressed milk at 3 months and was chowing on many fruits etc at 6. I was born with non-witches teeth, and he got his young. He also weaned himself at 9 months. He was active and wanted to hold his own bottle while gazing actively about the room, swinging a toy in his other hand, or even rolling around on the floor while feeding. My armpit was too boring.

[Dawn in OH]

I voted "other".

 

The first two kids got rice cereal at 4 months. That's when the Ped recommended starting cereal, and back then, being a new mom, I just did what they recommended.

 

My third child got rice cereal at 6 months.

 

My forth just started on cereal last month, at 7 months.

[SilverMoon]

#1 was about 5 months old. It was our idea, not his.

#2 adamantly refused all food until she was 15 months old, and then it was just a few bites off our plate, per day.

#3 was 9 months old. He finally got brave enough to try a bite of the older kids dry cereal and was hooked. Within a month he was demanding bites of his dad's cheeseburger.

#4 was 6 months old when she started experimenting from my plate.

#5 was 5 months old when she grabbed hub's hand, which was holding a french fry, and shoved it into her own mouth. She ate several fries that day and fussed for bites at every meal past that.

#6 hasn't had any food yet. The way he acts when he watches someone eat leads us to think he won't be content without it for very long.

 

I voted for 7-8 months, the average of their ages since I could only vote once. Except for the oldest, my kids started with soft food from my plate. The only "baby food" they had was at siblings' kid events where it would have been difficult to find something suitable for them.

[jg_puppy]

nm

[Kim in Appalachia]

I nursed my oldest till she was 21 months. The other 4 were all nursed till somewhere between 13 and 15 months. My second had to be weaned because I was pregnant and it hurt to nurse her. The rest all just seemed to stop on their own.

 

I loved nursing my babies.

 

I read your question wrong! Just breastfed was usually between 6 and 7 months, though my 2nd was closer to 9 months. She hated solid food.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Kim in Appalachia
wrong info

[missesd]

With my 1st I was 19, it was 1994 and things were different back then. I was encouraged to do at least 3 months, and I did. I would have gone longer, because I truly enjoyed BFing him, but we moved from Vegas to Northern California, and I had to drive, so he had to take a bottle :( By the time we got to our destination, he was pretty happy with that.

 

With my 2nd, I wasn't as keen on it, I don't know why... everything seemed off with that pregnancy, and the bonding wasn't going as well as I hoped :( When I did nurse him (for 6 wks), he actually pulled blood from my nipple...

 

With my 3rd, she was born with Kidney reflux, which before she was diagnosed and on the proper meds affected her appetite. She wasn't getting enough to gain weight, so we had to supplement with a bottle. Also 2 weeks after she was born, brother #2 had to go into the hospital for pneumonia :( I tried to pump, but I could NEVER get it to work...

 

With my 4th, he was a BIG boy- 8lbs even. By 4 months he was 20lbs and had TEETH! He has remained big for his age throughout. He is 8, but looks 10. At 7, he was already starting to get 10 yr molars. Anyway... I combo nursed him, following with a bottle EVERYTIME for 7 months.

 

With my 5th, I nursed her exclusively for 13 months :)

 

With my last I nursed her pretty much exclusively, with an occasional bottle for 13 months.

[NanceXToo]

I voted 9 to 10 months. But with that said, I did start TRYING to introduce some baby foods at 6 months (I don't believe in offering solids before then). But my son was not at all interested, so I gave up. I tried again at 9 months with table scraps (rather than baby food) and he started eating those. Breastmilk was still his main diet though.

[vonfirmath]

2 weeks

Then I had to supplement with formula because my son was losing weight trying to get milk out of me.

 

6 months when we started solids.

[scrappyhappymama]

All my babies have been different.

 

My first nursed exclusively until 6 months, when we started some solids. Most of them made him gag though, so he didn't eat solids regularly until closer to 9 months. He weaned at 15 months, but only because I was working crazy hours and couldn't consistently be home at bedtime to nurse him.

 

My second was on breastmilk exclusively until 5 months, but most was from bottles since I was working full time. He was interested in solids earliest by far. I planned to wait until 6 months, but by 5 he kept grabbing food off our plates and shoving it into his mouth. :lol: So I went ahead and started him on some solids (avocado, sweet potatoes, banana) and he never looked back. He is still my heartiest eater, and the one that thinks about food all the time. He weaned at 19 months.

 

My third baby started solids at 6 months and liked them fine. He weaned at 20 months, but only because he and I were on a strict elimination diet due to food allergies, and I was pregnant again.

 

My fourth baby was offered solids at six months, but had absolutely no interest. He is a funny baby- he refused to eat anything that was wet, slimy, or mushy. He'd give his food the "Titus touch test" by touching it with his pointer finger and if it didn't pass, he'd refuse to even try it. So he wouldn't eat any foods at all at first, because they would have had to be mashed and soft for him. He even refused to drink from a sippy cup... because it was wet. So he was truly my longest exclusively breastfed baby. At almost a year, he would eat little bits of bread or little chunks of shredded meat, or rice chex. He's now 17 months and still nurses frequently and is still very, very picky about which solids he will eat.

[joannqn]

I don't remember the exact ages for each child, but it was when they were watching the rest of us eat like vultures, with eyes moving up, down, up, down to the rhyme of our forks. When I felt like I was being rude by eating in front of them because they so very obviously wanted some, too. For my kids, that happened somewhere around 4-6 months.

[Abigail4476]

I voted 5-6, because that's when I started introducing solid foods, but they still really stayed on breast milk exclusively until 7-8 months.

 

My middle daughter was weaned at 3 months because she had bronchitis for a couple of weeks and had difficulty nursing. Once we went to a bottle, I couldn't get her to go back. :( It was still quite awhile before she had solid foods as a significant part of her diet.

[LittleIzumi]

Oh, EXCLUSIVELY breastfeed. I marked the poll wrong then. I waited until 6 months for solids with dd1, but she had no interest until 9 months. She was FFed though.

 

Dd2, she was a week shy of 6 months when she tasted her first solid food, and then again one week later.

 

Neither of my girls were much for solid food until 8 or 9 months. It was more of a taste or two.

 

Ds will be 6 months before I let him have solids as well.

[HRAAB]

I started introducing solids somewhere between 6 to 8 mos., but I continued to breastfeed for at least 2 yrs (least amount) up to 3.5 yrs.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I'm one of the 7-8 month votes.

 

I don't believe in baby food (store bought, home made, cereal). I started offering mine chunks of "adult" food when they were developmentally ready and interested.

 

I went on to nurse for ....... um.......... a long time.;)

:iagree: I only did the rice cereal (at 4 months) with my first because I believed his stupid doctor who didn't think it was possible for a 17 lb baby to exist on breastmilk alone. After that, I made my own baby food. With my others - delayed solids until they showed interest. My oldest is the only one with food allergies.

[LuvToRead]

My oldest was only 10 pounds at 4 months (she was 8 lbs at birth), so I started her on solids then. My youngest gained weight much quicker, so I exclusively breast fed her until 6 months.

[LizzyBee]

By exclusively breastfeed, do you mean no formula, or also no cereal or baby food?

[Momling]

I breastfed for 2 years for both my girls, but I was always offering them little bits of food to try - from about a month or two on... You know... a taste of oatmeal when I had breakfast... some mashed up banana, a taste of curry, of scrambled egg, of chicken... whatever I was eating, I'd let them have a little taste. But I didn't really expect them to *eat* it.

 

I think it was probably around 5-6 months or so when I gave them actual food that I expected them to eat. Probably rice or oat cereal or fruit. What a fun time!

[Veritaserum]

By exclusively breastfeed, do you mean no formula, or also no cereal or baby food?

 

The definition I've always used is breastfeeding only (no formula or other forms of nutrition).

[Mrs Mungo]

Mine were exclusively breastfed for at least 6 months. My middle dd wasn't really interested in solids until she was around 9 months. None of them ever had a bottle, they weaned at around 2 1/2.

 

Generally, when moms ask me when to introduce solids I tell them when you are too tired to wrestle food out of the baby's hand.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Mrs Mungo

[silliness7]

Oops! I think I messed up my answer after looking at the results. I took exclusively to mean, no formula. It probably means nothing else. period.

I breastfed most of mine anywhere between 11-15 months. But I introduced solids around 6-7 months.