Attached to Baby

my son is FOUR years old in july...looking for support

I support you!!!!!

DS#1 weaned at four and a half.  DS#2 still going strong.  DS#3 fattening up nicely on all this good mamamilk.

he weaned with no help from you? mine shows no signs yet...and still nurses to sleep at odd times of the night. last night he re-awoke at 1 and we spent the rest of the night there...

I've got a 3.5 yo DD who is still very attached to her "mommy milk". First thing in the am and right before bedtime. She is still going strong!

DD2 is now 10 mo and just as much a mommy milk girl as her big sister at this age. I figure its gonna taper off naturally. DD1 sometimes forgets especially the bedtime one.

As long as my girls want their mommy milk is fine with me. Of course as they get bigger, I definitely put limits on it. I won't be too upset when DD1 weans though. She can be a little rough sometimes.

I have been nursing for 10 1/2 years!!!!!  Obviously not just one child .... dc #4 is 7 months old today!  and his 4 year old brother still nurses once or twice a day ... more if he is sick or hurt.  I've had my ups and downs with breastfeeding over the years .... reading "How weaning happens" or "mothering your nursing toddler" or "adventures in tandem nursing" have certainly helped ... so has a long time membership to LLL. 

Here is a persepective I picked up once from one of the LLL founding mothers:

If you were to draw out 79 or 80 inches on a line to represent the average life span, then color in just 4 or 5 of those inches .... its a great visual of how small a chunck of time it is overall .... it helped me ... I'm a  very visual person.   There are days when I'm so tired, but I'm reminded that bf is part of an investment I'm making ... investing in my children's future health, and in our relationship.  Certainly a mom should look at gradual weaning if she  is becomeing aggitated or annoyed everytime she nurses, becuase that does not help your future realtionship.  But I have found other ways to get my small breaks, and the things that I need to revive and restore my soul so that I can continue to give to my children.

Another wise LLL friend once told me she thought of it this way ... on her death bed will she ever wish she had spent less time bf or nurturing her children? .... probaby not .... but she wants to be careful to not end up in the reverse situation and wishing she had spent less time on other things and more with her children.  I'm not suggesting moms become marters and give up everything for their kids .... there certainly is a delicatae balance to find and each of us needs slightly different things to be revived and rejuvinated so that we can continue to give to our children.   We need to take the time to figure out what works best for our family.  And it certanly helps to be surrounded by family and friends who can be supportive.  

I encourage to hang in there!  You child is blessed to have such a loving mom!  But certainly remember to take care of YOU ... you are the only mom your son has.

You post touched me and brought a lot of perspective to somethings I have been struggling with this week.
Thank you

blessedw/4:

I have been nursing for 10 1/2 years!!!!!  Obviously not just one child .... dc #4 is 7 months old today!  and his 4 year old brother still nurses once or twice a day ... more if he is sick or hurt.  I've had my ups and downs with breastfeeding over the years .... reading "How weaning happens" or "mothering your nursing toddler" or "adventures in tandem nursing" have certainly helped ... so has a long time membership to LLL. 

Here is a persepective I picked up once from one of the LLL founding mothers:

If you were to draw out 79 or 80 inches on a line to represent the average life span, then color in just 4 or 5 of those inches .... its a great visual of how small a chunck of time it is overall .... it helped me ... I'm a  very visual person.   There are days when I'm so tired, but I'm reminded that bf is part of an investment I'm making ... investing in my children's future health, and in our relationship.  Certainly a mom should look at gradual weaning if she  is becomeing aggitated or annoyed everytime she nurses, becuase that does not help your future realtionship.  But I have found other ways to get my small breaks, and the things that I need to revive and restore my soul so that I can continue to give to my children.

Another wise LLL friend once told me she thought of it this way ... on her death bed will she ever wish she had spent less time bf or nurturing her children? .... probaby not .... but she wants to be careful to not end up in the reverse situation and wishing she had spent less time on other things and more with her children.  I'm not suggesting moms become marters and give up everything for their kids .... there certainly is a delicatae balance to find and each of us needs slightly different things to be revived and rejuvinated so that we can continue to give to our children.   We need to take the time to figure out what works best for our family.  And it certanly helps to be surrounded by family and friends who can be supportive.  

I encourage to hang in there!  You child is blessed to have such a loving mom!  But certainly remember to take care of YOU ... you are the only mom your son has.

My oldest nursed until he was about 5 years old,  the others (the ones that are weaned at least)  did so between 2 years and 5 years of age.  I've been nursing for over 11 years now,  tandem nursing for almost 10.  (and throw in a couple years or so of triple nursing)

Wow, you women are amazing!  I hope I am able to continue my BFing relationship with my DD for quite some time.  She is 6 months old now and people already ask me how long I will be nursing her!  When I say "I don't know.  Some women nurse until their children are 5 years old." I get some strange looks.  Of course, right now it IS hard for me to imagine myself nursing a toddler...but I don't have one yet!  I can't even imagine taking the boob away from my daughter ANYTIME soon.  She loves it and I love that I can give her that.  It is one of the most amazing feelings in the world.  BFing has been a learning experience from day one and I think it continues to be as the child grows and the relationship between you grows.  I don't know that you even really think much about the age of the child you are nursing...just that you are providing for YOUR child.  I imagine as my DD gets older I will face questions, comments and/or criticisms about nursing an older child, but that's okay.  I will know that I am doing what is best for my child and that's what's important.

I did want to ask a question to those of you that have tandem nursed.  My DH and I do plan to have more children and I was just wondering what you have to say about tandem nursing.  How hard on you is it to be nursing two (or more) children at the same time?  Is it difficult for the older child to share mommy?  Just looking for information in general on it so I know what to expect when that time comes around for me...hopefully sooner rather than later.

I nursed my first son until 3 my second until 2 and 1/2 , I think that they would still be nursing if I did not encourage a "gentle" weaning... We read Maggie's weaning, and still do, it really helped my boys, as do extra cuddles

I bow to you ladies!

DS is now 19mos. Most of the time nursing it is wonderful, but it can be hard at night. He still nurses 2 - 3 times during the night, and though we co-sleep, it is a bit tough as I can only sleep on my tummy. It looks as if he will want to nurse for a loooong time. I am not sure what to think about it because while I am against forcing a child to wean, I don't know what I will do if the the lack of sleep and no menstruation continues much longer.  Maybe I  should  try to night wean?

Though this is my 4th baby, this is the first one I have nursed for longer than 12 mos. I never weaned the others though: the 2 first self weaned (5mos and 9 mos) and with the 3rd we sadly had our BF

Well, I don't want to steal the thread. Just wanted to say that I think you are AMAZING for nursing this long and that I admire you!

I totally recommend "Adventures in Tandem Nursing" by Hillary Flower!!!  It was like my bible the first time I was tandem nursing.  Nursing two children of different ages has been an experience!  This book was a great resource for me as I was learning how two mother 2 children at once.  And now I have 3! LOL

Thanks for the book recommendation.  I will certainly check it out!  I hope DD and I are able to have a successful BFing relationship for a long time as well!!

 

Thanks for the advice