Kaiser Pediatrician who supports extended breastfeeding?

My daughter is now 4, and we breastfed until 2.5. She has always seen Dr. Anabel Kim at Kaiser Oakland and it has never come up more than a question if we were still breastfeeding or not. 

I have Dr. Phu in Oakland and like him a lot. I nursed my second child through around age 2 and he never said anything about discouraging it. Not sure if he is accepting new patients.

That's super surprising! One year is the minimum to stop breastfeeding. My experience at Kaiser has been supportive of breastfeeding well past 1 (unless it's, say, replacing learning to eat solids/getting enough iron through solids). We're at Richmond so maybe not helpful but we like our ped Jaygopal Nair and he's accepting patients. If you're interested, I could ask him specifically about breastfeeding (DM me). 

That is troubling, sorry to hear it. I've never had a conversation with our pediatrician specifically about extended breastfeeding, but when it's come up that I'm still breastfeeding our son, she has definitely not had a problem with it or encouraged us to wean. She is Dr. Diana Ong at Berkeley Kaiser. My son is 14 months and an enthusiastic eater, the breastfeeding is just morning and evening bonding at this point rather than nutrition.

I breastfed until ~27 months and Dr. Daniel Junge at Kaiser Berkeley never said anything that I deemed unsupportive. Solid foods did become a primary source of nutrition somewhere between 1-1.5 years and I was no longer breastfeeding at night after 6 months. I share only to provide context not to judge your situation.

I'm sorry you're having that experience and if you feel comfortable I recommend filing a complaint with Kaiser. 

My pediatrician is Junge at Kaiser Berkeley, and he was fine when I was breastfed both kids til 2 years. He was most concerned about tooth decay, especially at night, so he put flouride treatments on my youngest to help with that. His biggest concern was really the night feeding.

My kids teeth seem fine now, for the record :)

I apologize because I don't have a recommendation for you; I looked for our former pediatrician but she seems to have left.  I just want to support your breastfeeding past a year.  That is really disturbing, in this day and age, to have a pediatrician who doesn't approve.   I assume your milk is supplementing your child's eating in which case, what is the doctor's concern?   It's totally natural and for those of us who enjoyed breastfeeding, a wonderful connection with one's child.   I breastfed for 2 1/2 years.   You go, Mama!!!!

Hi there, that seems odd and not evidence-based (not in line with recommendations from American Academy of Pediatrics, WHO, etc who encourage continued breastfeeding beyond 1 year, as long as baby is getting the majority of their calories from solid food.) Has your pediatrician explained why they have these concerns specifically? 
We see Dr. Berry-Millet at Kaiser Berkeley, who is awesome, but in general I think KP is supportive towards continued breastfeeding, so I would be surprised if you encounter other providers who discourage it. 
 

Most importantly, as long as continued nursing is still working for both you and your baby, don’t let an uninformed care provider discourage you : ) 
 

I don't have a specific ped. to suggest, but I hope it's still ok for me to post this.

The official policies of both the AAP and the World Health Organization specify support for human milk feeding for two years —and beyond if desired, so any "concern" about following that guidance is itself concerning.  This is NOT "extended" breastfeeding (is there such a thing?).

Unless the concern is that baby is only breastfeeding (little to no other food), your pediatrician needs to get up to date! 

That is wild! Maybe consider looking for someone in the family medicine department? I take my (breastfed) one year old to Dr. Angelica Zen at the Berkeley office. She has three young ones of her own and is lovely. I just got myself added to her panel as well so we can handle both our medical to-dos in one visit. Im not sure if she’s taking new patients either but perhaps there are others in the dept? We had a couple appts with VanArsdell (sp?) while Dr zen was out on maternity leave earlier this year and she also seemed great.

Sorry you're dealing with that, a pediatrician shouldn't be discouraging continued breastfeeding! We see Sam Backus at Kaiser Berkeley, and he has been wonderful, and very supportive of ongoing breastfeeding. He was accepting new patients as of a couple months ago. 

That is so strange - is your pediatrician aware that the AAP now recommends breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond, if mutually desired by mother and child? I am so surprised your pediatrician is so concerned! My daughter is just under a year so I don't know what her pediatrician will say when she is over a year, but Dr. Fort at Berkeley is very kind and we have been happy with her so far. So sorry to hear about what you're going through!

What! 
All three of my kids see Dr. Fort in Berkeley. She’s great and “low intervention”. My eldest was booked by a random Dr after an ER visit for a tonsillectomy and she was like wait wait let’s try these things first. I could tell she cared not just going by Kaiser protocol. I’ve also nursed all my babies for 2 years and 2 of them through entire pregnancies and tandem nursed in the hospital. No judgement 

Hi there,

I'm sorry that this has been your experience and I'm glad you're trusting your intuition and seeking a new, more supportive provider.  I breastfed my eldest child until he was almost 4 and I still breastfeed my 2.5 year old.  Even well-intended people, friends and family included, have questioned me, or raised an eyebrow, at my extended breastfeeding.

I am a Kaiser patient and my kids see Dr. Nelson-Munson; I was able to get on her full panel after switching from a pedi who was not a great match.  In my case, I had done Centering Pregnancy with Dr. Nelson-Munson, and she was able to take us on after I messaged her directly.  She's great.  I'm not sure it would work, but you could try reaching out to Member Services or the Berkeley/Oakland Family Medicine/Pediatrics office and explain the situation to see if one of the more supportive providers can fit you into their panel.  Someone from member services or one of the offices might be able to directly message a provider with a full panel to see if there's wiggle room.  I also might check with Kaiser Oakland's breastfeeding services/lactation consultants - perhaps they maintain a list of supportive providers.  

If you happen to be on Facebook, I highly recommend joining Bay Area Breastfeeding Support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/211086202257411/.  It's run by a RN who is also a lactation consultant and does/has (?) worked for Kaiser. The group is a phenomenal resource for all things breastfeeding & very supportive of extended breastfeeding (and weaning too, when you & your kiddo are ready).  The community there would likely have provider recommendations. I believe the group is invite-only, so feel free to message me privately if you would like an invite to the group, or if you would like me to ask the group on your behalf re: recommended providers if you don't use FB.

La Leche League also comes to mind; I have no idea if they maintain a list of recommended Kaiser providers, but their Oakland chapter has been helpful to me in the past. 

Best of luck! 

I know you said Dr Tenney isn’t taking patients’ but if you get her for a sick visit you can ask her to open up her panel and add you. 

She’s AMAZING! She’s the pediatrician for both of my kiddos. I breastfeed the first until 2 and stopped because I started IVF again. 

Give it a try! 

We see Dr. Pelly Fan and she's always been supportive of my breastfeeding (my oldest (now 5) was a little over 2 when I stopped and I'm still nursing my little guy a 2.5 years). Good luck!