Breastfeeding in My 50s: My Top Tips for Nursing and Embracing This Unique Journey

Back in January 2022 I wrote about my birth and early breastfeeding experience with my son James. Recently I reached the milestone age of 50 and have found myself still breastfeeding my now toddler son! I wanted to share what it’s been like breastfeeding in my 50s, and offer some advice and tips for having a successful breastfeeding journey.

My first article discussed the feeding journey of my baby born at 25 weeks until about 4 months after birth.  Shortly after I wrote that article, James’s demand for milk exceeded my supply and so we combi fed (supplemented with formula) for a few months until I started weaning him.

As James’ food intake gradually increased, we ditched the formula and went back to just breastfeeding again. This time, I stopped pumping and sterilizing (phew!) and just relaxed into it really. It was so much easier not having to take the pump everywhere or worry about sterilizing.  

I guess like most Mums, I set arbitrary goals for finishing breast feeding at ‘6 months’,  then ‘1 year’ and so on,  but now he’s nearly 3 ½ and we’re still going ! It wasn’t planned that way and to be completely honest,  I’m more than ready to stop but James isn’t.  So, we’ll carry on for a bit and see what happens. 

Breastfeeding In My 50s

I’m now into my 50’s but it hasn’t affected my ability to continue breastfeeding. Despite James being born extremely prematurely,  he’s very rarely unwell and doesn’t seem to pick up most of the usual bugs doing the rounds.  I do believe that breastfeeding has played a vital part in building his strong immune system. 

I’m now into my 50’s but it hasn’t affected my ability to continue breastfeeding. 

My Tips For Having A Successful Breastfeeding Journey

My tips for anyone starting or worrying about breastfeeding are: 

• Think flexibly. You can mix and match and change your plan any time.  i.e you can exclusively pump or exclusively breastfeed, or do a bit of each, with or without a bit of formula thrown in and change it as many times as you like as you go through the stages.  There are no hard or fixed rules.  You can fluidly mix it up to suit you. 
• Worry less about losing your milk supply. This literally used to keep me awake at night, but actually when I relaxed into it and stopped measuring my supply I realised my body had it covered.  Yes, my supply dipped here and there but my body never let me (or James) down. 
• Ignore stereotypes about age (or anything else for that matter).  I’m still breastfeeding in my 50’s and feel fabulous.  If anything, I think it’s helping to keep me feeling young and delaying menopause!   
• Enjoy breastfeeding your toddler, if that’s what you choose to do.  I’ve fed my toddler in public many times, on holiday,  on the beach, on the train, anywhere and everywhere. We need to normalise feeding toddlers.   Some of my most cherished memories include these special feeding moments. 
• Realise breastfeeding is your superpower. Breastfeeding seems to resolve a whole bunch of day to day challenges…Hungry/thirsty? Feed! Hurt/upset? Feed! Tired/poorly? Feed!  It can literally with most circumstances, so make the most of your superpower!!