When to wean

[Art mama]

My first dd self weaned about two months before her third birthday. I did nothing to encourage her to wean, despite being asked on a daily basis by family members when was going to quit lol. She just slowly tapered off until one day she fell asleep without nursing. Made me sad really. I only intended to nurse for at least 6 months due to lack of education regarding breastfeeding. But once we started we just kept going.

Current nursling is 8 months tomorrow. Now I'm educated and a huge breastfeeding advocate. She did start solids when she grabbed the food off my plate and started chowing down at 5 months but she still nurses constantly throughout the day. I will nurse on demand until she is ready to quit. I plan on that being until she's at least two years.

[NSB]

My first DD would only nurse until 6 months (up to 10 months just in the morning) and then I got sick of fighting her. I gave her a bottle and it was love at first sight for her! LOL She now 11 and still isn't a close, snuggly kid. She likes her own space.

My second DD nursed until about a week shy of her 5th birthday!!!!! I know, I know. It seems really weird/gross!! But all I can say is when I was nursing her she seemed so little still. It was like my mind tricked me into seeing her as a baby again while nursing. I can't explain it, but it would freak me out to see someone nursing a 4-5 yr old, but with my own, not so much! LOL

My DS was adopted by us at birth. My intention was to bottle feed from the start as I had supply issues with my girls and nursing as infants was a huge stress. But then I started second guessing myself and didn't want to have any regrets, so I had a Lact-Aid Nursing Supplementer on hand, just in case I wanted to try with him. He was a PRO nurser right out of the gate!! And there was no stress because I could see how much formula was coming out of the Lact-Aid baggy. It really was the best of both worlds. Once I knew I would be nursing him I went on Domperidone and my milk came back, but I still gave him bottles here and there from 4 months on. He is now 2 yrs and 3 months and I dread having to wean him!!! I don't see him weaning himself, but come on! The kid is a huge 2 yr old (38 lbs and tall! LOL)

My absolute favorite nursing partner is a toddler. It's just so worry free.
Well if you read my novel to the end, kudos to you

[BeccaSueCongdon]

Originally Posted by Connor Extended breastfeeding is protection against common/all diseases in every part of the world.

Obviously. My point was that in developed nations we aren't at as high of a risk of catching malaria, or dysentery, or getting sick from contaminated water.

[makclair]

Originally Posted by MommyTephanie Wow, I didn't think I had said anything way off. My opinion is just that- my opinion. I think that once a baby is 2 then they have attached emotionally to the breast to the point where it is tougher to wean them. I believe that my opinion is valid, whether it mirrors others' or not. I did not realize, though, that it's recommended to nurse up to age 2- my pediatrician advises to switch to whole at 1 year.

Sounds like your pediatrician is giving out incorrect information!

[knodceo]

You wean when you are ready.


I did 22 months with my first. The world health organization says nurse until 2. I am 20 months in with my son...the nice thing with both kids is that they never had colds or ear infections until I stopped nursing.

[cuddlebunny_24]

I have let my children nurse as long as they wanted. My oldest only nurse for about four months and my youngest nursed for over a year. The new baby will be allowed to nurse for as long as he wants also. I feel that it is up to the child when they want to wean. However, I also feel that there comes a time when if the child is still nursing that it should not be while out an about. A friend of mine had a three year old that would just tell her that she wanted boob and she would just pop it out in the middle of the store. I did not judge the fact that she still nursed, whatever works for them, however out in public was a little different. Especially since she would not cover herself up either. But as for an appropriate age to wean, I feel that would be between the child, the mother and the rest of the immediate family. (Not that dad usually has much of a choice in the matter anyways, lol). Personally with the new baby I am hoping for over a year again so we do not have to buy formula, that would be great, especially with three boys.

[laila]

All my babies were very close to two when they weaned. We weaned naturally. When they got down to one nursing a day, they pretty much just stopped needing it. I cuddled instead. By then, I was ready and so was baby.

Looking forward to nursing my last in February.
;-)

[AmyfromKY]

My daughter was a very distractable nurser from 7-10 months, she's 11 months now and can't get enough of it. They just go through phases, especially when they become mobile. To answer your question, I don't plan on initiating weaning until closer to 2.

[makclair]

My Son nursed at least once a day till 19 mos. my dd is 8 months tommorrow I hope she will nurse till at least 18 mos as well.

[mamaspice]

My experience so far:

My dd is 16 months and I have somewhat started the process because I am tired of pumping for her at work. I can't get much out, she doesn't take much from a bottle, and it is frustrating and time consuming. I don't have a freezer stash either.

So she nurses as much as she wants when we are together, but goes 4-6 hour stretches without breastmilk when we are apart. She eats solids during that time and seems to be doing just fine with it. She reacts to cow and goat milk (and many other foods), so I don't have a good milk substitute really. Just food with protein and water or juice. IMO non-animal milks are not really comparable in nutrients. But bm still supplies a lot of her calories.

I am also not as "on-demand" as I was when she is younger. I will ask her to wait for a bit if needed to finish shopping or whatever and that works fine. She understands, "Not now, we will have milk when we get home," or "first _______ , then milk." I offer a substitute if I think she is hungry or thirsty.

She still loves to nurse and I love nursing her so I plan to continue some nursing for quite a while- as long as it works for both of us.

I would like to night-wean her sometime soon but it would take a lot of effort and I haven't been ready to tackle that one yet. She has a very strong nurse/sleep association. I kind of like that she can make up for being away during the day with on-demand night nursing. Helps us both sleep more too!