I wanted to post my experience with DS back in 2009 in the hope that it may help some of u who may be under pressure to stop breastfeeding by friends and family...

I was on the brink of stopping 3wks after DS was born, due to sore, cracked nipples, his initial slow weight gain and mastitis. Being around MIL didn't help - she was hostile to it. When she got me crying down the phone one day, she said, trying to be helpful, 'you've done your best, no one expects you to carry on, let me go and buy you some formula'. She has this horrible attitude that mothers who breastfeed their babies through 'issues' are selfish, are not thinking of their baby and only doing it for their own gratification. Clearly not the best kind of influence to be around if you're hormonal, suffering baby blues and struggling anyway.

One trip to our local Baby Cafe, them watching DS latch on and feed and some reassurance that things would be ok, and I suddenly felt like this huge weight had been lifted off my mind. I continued to visit the Baby Cafe on and off until DS was about 6 months old. At that point, I trained and worked as a volunteer peer supporter for the following 6 months.

Getting that support outside of OH's family's negative attitudes was crucial to me, and if you have any support organisations locally, I can't recommend them enough. If you don't have these available, even just going to mum and baby groups to meet other mums going through the same thing can be a godsend. If you're getting comments like the above and pressure to stop, it can give you such renewed confidence in what you're doing, and reaffirm for you that you are doing the best by your baby.

I truly believe it was this support which enabled me and DS to carry on until WE were ready to stop and not when 'well meaning' family tried to pressure us to.

Thanks for sharing

Out of curiousity, when did you end up stopping? And what did your MIL have to say?

What a lovely post

I had confidence issues on the second day, my milk had not come in and Ellie screamed all day/night. In the end we gave her a little formula and she took 3oz (I kid you not!). My MIL had a similar attitude and said that she bottle fed her babies and not to beat myself up etc etc. Well when my milk came in even with everyone telling me to formula feed I put my foot down and explained it was something I really wanted to try, sure enough bubs took to it and even with everyone telling me "Its ok if she loses weight" etc etc in the beginning she regained her birth weight and an additional 5oz by her first weigh in!

It seems so bizarre to me that breastfeeding can be seen so negatively - how is wanting to try to give your baby the best selfish? I am by no means a formula snob but it does make me cross - thats why support is so important

Thank you both! - we went to 10 months in the end. I only ever planned to go to 6 months (to see him to when he weaned) - I guess I just assumed that that was the done thing. When we started nearing 6 months tho, I realised I didn't want to stop, and DS was still showing keen, so we continued. 10 months felt right for us - we were down to 2 feeds a day and Lo's interest was dwindling - I felt like it naturally ran its course. To answer how MIL felt, she was still making digs as late as that - it came to a head when she put an article about reflux in front of my nose and said DS should have been on special bottled milk (nutramigen) from the start...Talk about total slap in the face - I had told her several times that the drs had ascertained that his reflux was down to not being able to take fluids well (and not due to any milk allergies) - and in any case, what could I have done after the event? - so it was totally just to bring me down for my choice of feeding

Just to add, reading back, hope my original post doesn't sound a little sanctimonious, and like I am a formula snob (love that phrase btw!). I have no criticism of others choosing to FF (DS had a bit in hospital to help with his jaundice and it proved to be a godsend, perking him up enough to latch on finally!)... When I say above about reaffirming that you are doing the best for your baby, I felt it was really important to keep telling myself this, or at times, I could easily have stopped.

thats an impressive weight gain - bet u were glad u ignored them all

I breastfed my dd for 22 months, until the day before I gave birth to my ds. At that point dd didn't like the taste anymore I really wanted to get to 2! I didn't face any opposition, aside from my gran saying I should stop for my health after she was one, but that wasn't direct, always via my dad. My mil would sit and watch me feed, which freaked me out. It must be hard for people who are finding it difficult AND have no support. Support is what creates success. I also went to bfing groups and it was the norm for boobs to be out and babies on them!