my daughter is 22 months and still breastfeeding. while i have her down to just once in the afternoon and before bed, its not her i am so worried about. now that the end is near, i think i will miss it more that she does. i only breastfed my older child for a few months, and i still feel guilty. i know i need to just get over it, but its not easy. has anyone else ever dealt with this, and how did it turn out?
I know the feeling J.. I hated when it was time to wean. Especially with my last child who is my only boy and he nursed longer then the others did. I nursed him till he was 14 mths. It was hard. I missed it and still do sometimes. We did it slow though and it all went ok. good luck to you.
S. Bailey CLD
Aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com
If you and she aren't ready, simply don't wean. Don't do it because of pressure from anyone else. I practiced "child-led-weaning" where my daughter told me when she was ready to stop. I figured she would just slack off and stop, but what happened was she ended up nursing only on her preferred side after my supply dwindled and she was mostly "comfort nursing."
I started cutting out daytime feeding by distracting her a lot because I was "touched out" and didn't like the fact that she was 2 and 3 years old and feeling like she was in control of my body and not me.
She nursed for the last 6 months only before bed and then one night (it was Valentine's Day!) she said, "Mommy, I'm a big girl and I'm going to quit nursing now." It was very sad for me, and I honestly think it was due to pressure from my family about what she had heard them say about it, which I really regret- but it worked out just fine in the end. (She was 3.5 yrs)
If you would like to speak with other moms who are nursing, weaning, or "extended breastfeed," there is a great discussion forum here: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/index.php
There are also several Yahoo groups that deal with these issues that I found helpful when nursing.
And, kudos to you for nursing so long!! I think it is awesome!
Amanda
aspiring IBCLC
I nursed our daughter until she was over 3, I'm not sure exactly when we quit. We were down to once or twice a week before bedtime. I found it easier to just let that happen for the exact reason you are, I was afraid I'd miss it. Because we just let it taper off, we found that we simply slowly replaced one ritual with another and it allowed my husband to get much more involved in bedtime, which he loved.
J.,
Congrats on doing such a great job! I think it is definitely harder on us...I was really sad when my first gave it up the week of her first b'day...within a few weeks I was actually excited and enjoying my new freedom. We just had our second - he's 5 weeks now and it's flying by. Since he's probably our last child I'm enjoying every minute of nursing him and know I will be sad when it's over again....motherhood is a lot of tearful and joyful moments all wrapped in to one!
Hi J.- I too nursed all my kids past their 1st bday. I have heard nursing is a team effort and one of the players is done, the game is over. You have to decide if you or your daughter is ready to quit. I am happy with my decisions to wean all my kids between 13-15 months. You have to be ready to stop, then distract her during old nursing times. Cuddle before bed or offer a sippy cup of milk. The nursing before bed at this age could damage her teeth unless you are brushing after (I never did) Good Luck You know the decision you make will be right for you and oyur daughter!
B.
Hi, reading this, I still get a little emotional, teary, thinking about when my now 2 and a half year old daughter weaned herself because of my pregnancy with my fourth, now 2 month old girl! I was having a really hard time with morning sickness, a very stressful move, and I just couldn't deal with the nursing and my hormones.
I struggled with this, because I had never experienced this before. My first and second are 4 and1/2 yrs. apart, and my 2nd and 3rd are almost four yrs. apart. I was literally sobbing about feeling uncomfortable with nursing. I felt like I just should be able to do it. I nursed my first two til they were at least 2 and 1/2 yrrs. old and I didn't want her to be the only one that I didn't. She seemed so fine with it, but I just felt like it was my fault. I even asked her if she wanted to nurse every once in a while for the first month, and she always said no, so I guess it really wasn't as big of a deal as I felt it was.
If you aren't ready, just let it taper off on its on. That seems so much gentler on both of you.
Now I'm happily nursing my fourth, and am being gentler with myself about my 2yr. old. She is happy and confident and nursed til she was almost 2, about 23 mos. and I don't have to beat myself up about our nursing ending sooner than I had hoped.:)
Take care of yourself and I wish you peace and light!
Yup, sounds too familiar. I weaned my baby girl around the same time. She was a before bedtime nurser. It was a habit that was harder for me to give up than her. One day I told her that she was a big girl and she needed to say good-bye to the breast. She did and she gave them each a kiss good-bye. Then I went through the dry up which was no big deal. She was MORE than fine with it. I can only recall a couple of incidents where she was crying for it and I believe it was when she was tired. Not a big deal. Mom, you are right on, at this point it is something you are going to miss more than your baby. Good Luck!
I am weaning off myself with my twinkies. I plan to make this Sunday my last (10 months). We are down to one session a day now. It makes me very sad but the past couple of weeks I am getting more used to the idea.
