I have a few breast feeding questions that hopefully you all can help me with:

1. As of right now my doctor is 100% behind me exclusively breast feeding until 6 months. Why is 6 months the "magical" month?

2. At 6 months can I continue to exclusively breast feed her or do I need to begin to give her more/something else? at this point she is still only feeding on one side at a time, so there is definitely more milk to give. Will I know when I need to give her more?

3. Evelyn is fed on-demand and so we're able to use BF as a form of birth control. anyone else have experience with this? If so, how long were you able to prevent the return of ovulation?

Thanks!

I have a few breast feeding questions that hopefully you all can help me with:

1. As of right now my doctor is 100% behind me exclusively breast feeding until 6 months. Why is 6 months the "magical" month?

No there is no magic month when breastfeeding becomes not good enough anymore. I didn't start solids with Aralyn till 7mths and even then it was only a little here and there to taste. She is 16mths old now and still exclusively breastfed for the most part. I feed her three meals a day but she doesn't really eat much of it, so I am thankful that she is still breastfeeding and getting what she needs. You can hold off on solids for as long as you like, when you feel she is ready to start tasting things go ahead and let her endulge. Your baby does not need other foods until after a year, your breastmilk has everything she needs. My ped didn't stress solids at six months or supplementing with formula but did suggest iron supplements, which I declined. I did start feeding her iron rich foods at around seven months, things like cabbage and rice.

2. At 6 months can I continue to exclusively breast feed her or do I need to begin to give her more/something else? at this point she is still only feeding on one side at a time, so there is definitely more milk to give. Will I know when I need to give her more?

Follow her clues. If she begins reaching for things to eat, then let her taste. You should stay away from dairy products, honey, and peanuts till at least a year but other than that if it doesn' pose a choking hazard you can let her experiment if she is up to to it. If she is not showing any interest in other foods I wouldn't worry. If she wishes to nurse more then let her nuse more, if she starts to go longer breaks that is fine too. Trust her cues and your instincts.

3. Evelyn is fed on-demand and so we're able to use BF as a form of birth control. anyone else have experience with this? If so, how long were you able to prevent the return of ovulation?

I breastfed on demand with Aralyn since birth, and still do, she still nursing through the night and yet after both my babies my periods came back at 6wks. I wasn't able to get pregnant right away with Aralyn though, it took us 11 mths to get pregnant and we started trying when Isaac was 1yr.

Thanks!

Good questions!

My first didn't even want to taste solids 'till 8 mo, and wasn't really eating 'till 15 mo. My second started eating at 4 mo....I just followed their cues.

It doesn't work for everyone, but I do know that for bf birth control to work, you need to feed on demand, don't deny at night or don't go more than 5-6 hours without nursing. No pacifiers or bottles or use them very sparingly. And THEN it should last 6 mo. Some more, some less. I didn't ovulate with my first 'till 11 mo., my second at 6 weeks :( I have no idea what I did different!

Good luck, it sounds like you are on the right track.

I am still not feeding Noah solids. I've tried a couple of different things with him, but he spit up a LOT after and/or had diarrhea, so I guess he's just not ready yet. He will be 8 months on the 8th. He is about 24lb, and very happy. He nurses only one side at a time too, and we also bf on demand. With Emma I didn't know you could bf exclusively 'till a year (exclusively meaning no other foods but b-milk) and was afraid she wasn't getting enough, so I fed her at almost 6 months (she seemed interested, but only wanted a couple bites, and only once a day) she didn't really get into food 'til a year.

As for the ovulation thing, I still have not started my cycles yet, but with Emma I started right at 6 months (which still isn't bad). Although I started my cycles, it was 10 months before I could get prego (we were trying.)

Elizabeth is 11 months old and eats solids here and there when she acts like she wants something that we have. We don't do baby food, we just give her whatever is soft at the table and let her gnaw on it. Even things like steamed broccoli or carrots. I nurse her on demand and still have not had my cycle come back and am not having any indications that it is coming back.

Each of mine were starring me down, reaching and whining to try what we were eating between 5 and 6 months. So, that's when we went ahead and introduced a little baby food. They really were totally into it, so I knew it was the right time.

As for the return of my cycle, with DS he was sleeping really well and long at a young age, and I still didn't get my cycle back until he was 10 months and only eating 3 times a day....all totally taken from his cues. He just LOVED table food.

With DD, she was a night nurser and all day nurser until somewhere between 10 and 11 months she decided she loved sleep...and there came my cycle within about 2 weeks! She was still nursing plenty during the day, but my body was used to going every 4ish hours at night too....until that flip switched for her.

So, each of mine, my cycle returned about the same time, but one was due to sleeping longer stretches at night and the other was just a baby that was more into table food and not eating from me as often.