Breastfeeding Family History - Page 2

[springbabes]

I was breastfed until I was 9 months when my mom claims I self-weaned. I do feel lucky that I was breastfed at all. It was 1974 and my mom knew absolutely nobody who breastfed. She read about it in a book and decided she could do it. She stuck with it even though I had a lot of trouble gaining weight at the beginning.

Both of my grandmothers FF their babies. My mom's mother really wanted to breastfeed her last baby but was unknowingly given a pill to dry up her milk following the hospital birth:. My dad's mom said she didn't make enough milk.

My mom went on to nurse all 7 of my younger siblings, most well into toddler-hood. All of my aunts breastfed their babies. A couple of them credit my mom for her example and expertise.

My DH is adopted so he was definitely FF. His mom didn't BF the babies she gave birth though. Like my grandmother, she mysteriously didn't have enough milk. So glad I didn't give birth in the 50s!

[KyrieNioMama]

My mom breastfed me for over a year (same with all my siblings) but I was given breastmilk in a bottle for a few of the first months when my dad was out of a job and she was working.

My DH wasn't breastfed at all.

[Violet2]

My mom tried. Made it 6 weeks and got fed up

First, the docs were no help b/c formula was king. She told me her bfing was considered counterculture.

Second, the bfing mythology/popular ideology set her up to fail. Bfing is natural, but not easy and can be stressful for the first few weeks/months and my mom was not prepared and had no support.

Third, she hated sweating and sitting in clothes that smelled like sour milk (I was a summer baby) and they had no a/c.

She is amazed I've lasted as long as I have with my DD. So am I!

V

[kriket]

I'll have to ask my mom how long she BFed us, I think it was only about 6 weeks. I'm pretty sure she BFed my youngest sister (7 yrs younger) for about 4-6 weeks. I will have to ask her why. I don't feel resentment but I feel a little let down. Like I missed out on a party. I really hope that I can BF my children until at least 2. Every child is different, but I want to give mine the best start I can.
I know that my family will be supportive. I have an amazing family. Even my inlaws (although nuts) love me. Plus everyone says my MIL is a "hippie". That and they know I'm a headstrong bioch.

A pill to dry up your milk?! WTF.... I've seen some of the "recipes" that they game women in the 50's for homemade formula... kyro syrup... *grumble*

good thread!

[notwonamesalike]

I would have had to use a different response. "I don't know". Mom is gone, and her sisters don't know if she breastfed or not.

[mumm]

My mom bf each kid different amounts. She said I was fully bf but I have bottles in all my baby photos and she never pumped. I don't know about my older siblings. Of my younger sibs one got more than 3 years and the next 'weaned herself' at 9 months.

[HappyFox05]

I don't know. I'm in Korea, she's in New Jersey, so we don't have many big conversations. When I was pregnant last year, I asked & she said that we did a some breastfeeding & some formula. Born in 1970.

[artgoddess]

My mom didn't try. I was born in 1970 and I don't think it was at all common. Neither of my parents were breastfed, "that was what poor people did" so neither of my grandmothers were about to even try.

I will say that I do have an amazing immune system, I was hardly sick as a child, and I only have occasional seasonal allergy issues.

[JANmom13]

My mom breastfed me for a little while, I think maybe 6 months. She said she went longer each time, feeding my youngest brother the longest. I actually remember her feeding him once but I was about 7 when he was born.

I actually am lucky, quite healthy. I don't know how long I was on formula. Didn't they switch to table milk sooner back then?

I guess I attribute my health to luck (my cholesterol and bp run good on my mom's side only), and to the amount of exercise I got when I was younger- I was always outside and running around until we moved up north. Even then, it was ok to bike ride without a helmet on back country roads and you'd never see a car! Nowadays it's different- kids aren't allowed to do as much for safety reasons. Plus, we probably are much busier and more likely to feed to make the baby less fussy...just my guess.

[WinterWillow]

My mom didnt breastfeed any of us girls (2 sisters). She thought it was icky . She was supportive of me though

[momtoalex]

I am Russian and I don't know of anyone on my side of the family who was not breastfed or did not breastfeed. My American husband, on the other hand, is the 3rd (or later) generation who was not breastfed.

[hipmummy]

My mom was the only one to breastfeed in her family. She comes from a family of nineteen on one side and 9 on the pther and not one of her cousins bf. She bf all fou of us for at least a year. No ff what so ever I CLW at 11.5 months, no wlooking back she thinks it was a nursing strike.
#2 was bf until 15 months #3 17 months while she was pg with #4 and #4 for 22 months. No one on my Dads was Bf or Bf some tried one time but quit right away.
Dh is one of ten and all of them were Bf. I do not know how long most of them had solids very early but none of them have any health problems which is surprising because they drink like fishes,smoke like chimneys and are rail thin because they do not eat much. Must have been that breast milk. I know Dh was the one who nursed the most and the longest but I do not think It was over a year. Sad only one person on dh's side has bf's, on eof my SIl's bf #1 for 2.5 months and her #2 for a month. The other 7 nada ff from the start.

[patronia]

My mother breastfed me for 6 months, until she went back to work. I don't know about any other family history.

[holothuroidea]

I was breastfed for almost 2 years. In fairness, though, it was 1986 and I think formula was somewhat fading out by that time. My maternal grandmother BFed 9 babies , but mostly because they were "too poor for formula."

MIL did not breast feed any of her children, and claims that she did not make any milk. This seems like a very rare occurrence. I don't know the truth about that. DH attributes his asthma to a combination of not being breast fed and being exposed to cigarette smoke regularly as a baby (and in the womb).

[kawa kamuri]

I don't remember how long I was breastfed. My mom had four kids in four years and I know she BF my youngest sister till 4. I'm the oldest. My granny did not BF my mom because a doctor told her she didn't make enough milk

[rrs]

I weaned during sometime towards the end of my mom's second trimester with my sister. It was after I turned a year, but not much. My sister did the same, and my brother weaned on his own, around 2.

We're each 18 months apart.

ETA: My husband was not breastfed.

[Peony]

She didn't, she was told she didn't have any milk and I was too small, formula was her only option.

[nevaehsmommy]

I am not sure how long I was nursed . Baby book says 3 months. Mom says 8 months. At any rate I was given rice cereal at 5 DAYS old.

Sister was nursed until she was 13 months old. Mom says she thought she would never stop, that she ALWAYS was on the breast.

Brother nursed for 6 months. WIC was willing to give mom free formula but not a pump. Turns out brother was allergic to all formula and had to be given goat milk

Grandma was unable to nurse her children due to severe prematurity. Doctors told her to give the PET milk and formula. She is my biggest supporter

Great Grandma nursed all but one child for 2 years each. For a total of nearly 25 years of nursing. She has 15 kids of which 2 died in infancy. The first child was unable to nurse. She was fed mares milk. We think Great Grandma did not have her breast developed enough to nurse when the first child was born ( she was barly a teenager)

[wryknowlicious]

My mother BF'd me for 6 months.

She went back to work when I was 3 months old, and could only hand express.
So I got hand expressed BM for another 1 1/2 months, and then a Bf/Formula combo untill I as switched over to full formula at 6 months.

My mom breastfed all of us (4 kids) and 2 of us for over a year.

My grandmother breastfed her 4 kids for atleast 6 months each as well. And they were all born between 1948 and 1960

ETA: I was born in 1980.
But I think it was more my familiys history of BFing then societys swing towards BFing tolerance that influenced my mother. Her older sister had a premmie in 1972 - and she pumped for him the whole 4 months he was in the hospitol.

[sasayaki]

My mom breastfed me for 6 months. I think she must have weaned me straight onto solids & cows milk, because she said I never got formula. She breastfed my younger brother for 1 year.