how long can you exclusively breast feed for?

Its the Moo boys big day - 6 months old today and the carrot is on to
steam!

I just wondered if anyone knew how long you can EBF for without the
baby missing out on anything.

teapot

teapot wrote:

Its the Moo boys big day - 6 months old today and the carrot is on to
steam!

I just wondered if anyone knew how long you can EBF for without the
baby missing out on anything.

I went for a year with no problems...and no supplementing with vitamins
(probably the wrong thing to do, but I didn't know until he was starting
food that I should have).

Happy Half Birthday Moo Boy!!!
--
'Tis Herself

"Herself" wrote in message
...

I went for a year with no problems...and no supplementing with vitamins
(probably the wrong thing to do, but I didn't know until he was starting
food that I should have).

You should be able to get away without giving a baby vitamins--just take one
yourself.

Beth

teapot wrote:
I just wondered if anyone knew how long you can EBF for without the
baby missing out on anything.

At least a year. Breastmilk's quite complete, it just takes a lot of it to
feed an active toddler (and I should know!).

--
tristyn
www.tristyn.net
"i have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
i do not think that they will sing to me."

I just wondered if anyone knew how long you can EBF for without the
baby missing out on anything.


Depends on the baby. Some will become anemic sometime in the second half of the
first year without additional foods. And, from a caloric standpoint alone, it
would be hard for many mothers to meet an active older baby's needs without
some additional outside food. But some mothers/babies do fine on breastmilk
alone for a year or more.


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)

Beth wrote:

"Herself" wrote in message
...

I went for a year with no problems...and no supplementing with vitamins
(probably the wrong thing to do, but I didn't know until he was starting
food that I should have).

You should be able to get away without giving a baby vitamins--just take one
yourself.

Ah, just the old iron question...and if you're bf'ing make sure you take
a little extra calcium too :-).
--
'Tis Herself

You should be able to get away without giving a baby vitamins--just take
one
yourself.

Doesn't work, unfortunately. You can't get the iron content up high enough to
do any good if your baby turns out to be one of those with inadequate iron
stores to get through 6-12 months. Vitamin and mineral supplementation doesn't
change milk composition all that much.

--Helen

My neighbor just found out her daughter is anemic (sp?) She's 13 months, and
does not eat much solids, like to b/f more. The doctor told her that
breastmilk is not sufficient for getting iron and she (the baby) is now
taking iron supplements, in addition to hiding high iron foods in things she
will eat. Vitamins that mom takes is not enough. I heard somewhere that a
baby is born with enough iron for the first 6 months, after that they need
to get it from food. Can still b/f, just not exclusively. I didn't realize
that iron does not get through the breastmilk in sufficient levels.

Leann


"teapot" wrote in message
om...
Its the Moo boys big day - 6 months old today and the carrot is on to
steam!

I just wondered if anyone knew how long you can EBF for without the
baby missing out on anything.

teapot

Just curious - how would you know if a toddler was anemic? (Other than to
get tested by a Dr.)?
"Leann and Donald" wrote in message
...
My neighbor just found out her daughter is anemic (sp?) She's 13 months,
and
does not eat much solids, like to b/f more. The doctor told her that
breastmilk is not sufficient for getting iron and she (the baby) is now
taking iron supplements, in addition to hiding high iron foods in things
she
will eat. Vitamins that mom takes is not enough. I heard somewhere that
a
baby is born with enough iron for the first 6 months, after that they need
to get it from food. Can still b/f, just not exclusively. I didn't
realize
that iron does not get through the breastmilk in sufficient levels.

Leann


"teapot" wrote in message
om...
Its the Moo boys big day - 6 months old today and the carrot is on to
steam!

I just wondered if anyone knew how long you can EBF for without the
baby missing out on anything.

teapot

Well she did get tested by a doctor. Our doctor does a finger prick for
blood to test for iron and lead at the 12 month appointment. It's funny
because both of us thought that this was an unnecessary test, since neither
one of our children were in the high risk group for lead, and we never
thought iron would be an issue. Turns out we were wrong.

Leann

"CY" wrote in message
news:SbVAb.25248$o9.3003@fed1read07...
Just curious - how would you know if a toddler was anemic? (Other than to
get tested by a Dr.)?
"Leann and Donald" wrote in message
...
My neighbor just found out her daughter is anemic (sp?) She's 13 months,
and
does not eat much solids, like to b/f more. The doctor told her that
breastmilk is not sufficient for getting iron and she (the baby) is now
taking iron supplements, in addition to hiding high iron foods in things
she
will eat. Vitamins that mom takes is not enough. I heard somewhere
that
a
baby is born with enough iron for the first 6 months, after that they
need
to get it from food. Can still b/f, just not exclusively. I didn't
realize
that iron does not get through the breastmilk in sufficient levels.

Leann


"teapot" wrote in message
om...
Its the Moo boys big day - 6 months old today and the carrot is on to
steam!

I just wondered if anyone knew how long you can EBF for without the
baby missing out on anything.

teapot