23 Years of Breastfeeding

A customer's story about breastfeeding.
"Actually, I don't like to call myself a long-term breastfeeder. I'm just breastfeeding!"

I am 45 years old, married to my husband. We have 8 children and I have been breastfeeding for more than 23 years, and still going.

When I was pregnant with my first child in 1999, I was asked how long I expected to breastfeed. It wasn't something I had really considered. I quickly replied, 'until the baby gets teeth'. It turns out that my kids get teeth early, and fortunately, it just felt very natural for us to continue breastfeeding even after the first 3-4 months when a toothbrush became necessary. 

My first 5 children were all born approximately 2 years apart. The first few times, breastfeeding stopped just before the new baby was born, without us actively doing anything; it just gradually faded out, and then a new baby arrived and took over. The more conscious we became in our parenting, the better we also became at expressing ourselves when people asked about how we did things at home. Especially with the oldest, we did a lot of what we thought one 'should' - for example, we had an old health visitor who said we should give a bottle of gruel before bedtime so he could sleep better at night, so we did that without questioning (and he didn't sleep better because of the bottle), and children belong in their own room so we also tried to make that work, without success (we probably didn't approach that task wholeheartedly, I think)

After a couple of years, when we had 3 small children and I was pregnant again, we had become quite good at explaining (probably both when people asked and to ourselves if doubts arose) that the reason we carried our children in slings, co-slept in a large bed, and not least breastfed them until they were a couple of years old, was because it worked FOR US. The more times we said it, the more convincing it became, and the more true it actually became. It works FOR US. I have had to tell many people that the reason I didn't stop breastfeeding number 3 before number 4 was born was because we didn't want to, and because she hadn't asked for a little brother, so of course, I wouldn't take the breasts away from her just because mom and dad had chosen to have another baby!

When I list my many years of breastfeeding as I have just done, it seems as if it has proceeded completely without problems. Of course, it hasn't, but the fact that I have seen natural and relatively problem-free breastfeeding as a child has undoubtedly helped. I have had initial difficulties like so many others: bleeding nipples, thrush, mastitis, clogged milk ducts, etc., and it was never planned that I should breastfeed for as long as it has ended up being. Every time I have encountered problems, I have told myself, 'I am breastfeeding right now, what I do tomorrow, we will see then.'

Every time, it has made it very manageable that my agreement with myself has been one feeding at a time. The fact that I have had support all the way from my husband has also been crucial. I am the one who is up at night, I am the one who breastfeeds, but we are united in seeing our children thrive. And to hear him tell family members, friends, and colleagues that of course I breastfeed, because look at the child, it is clearly thriving with it, that makes me happy and in love. And it's easy! Always being able to pull out food or a snack, depending on the child's age. Actually, I don't like to call myself a long-term breastfeeder. I'm just breastfeeding!