Nursing Older Toddlers

Yes, nursing a child over the age of 12 months usually gets a lot of stupid comments. I nursed my son until he was a few months shy of 3. It was not my plan certainly but I was really ok with it, and obviousy, so was he. After the age of 2, I only nursed him before his nap and before bed. There were a few times that he was overtired or overstimulated and I would nurse him then. I never did it out of the house after 18 months unless were were staying somewhere over night. The last one to go was the one before bed. So weaning for us was very, very gradual. Always lose the easy ones first, aka the ones where the kid does it because he is bored. The ones that are part of a routine are the hardest. The best advice is "Don't offer but don't refuse". When we were down to that last one before bed one night I just told him that we would only do it for 10 seconds and I counted to 10. Stop. The next night it was 5. Then 2. Then the next night he didn't ask. And that was it. It was not painful or bittersweet or anything like that. It was like, ok, this is the next step. I would not tell anyone except other moms who are in your position how long you nursed. Society has a very perverse relationship with nursing. You are a bad mom if you don't nurse but God forbid you nurse a toddler.

I did want to mention though that after a certain age (probably about 1 or so), if the child is getting up more than once a night to nurse, then that should not be going on as sleep is very important to both mom and child. The exception to this is illness and teething, in those cases, nursing is a lifesaver!

Oh my. Been there, and done that. I breastfed my 3rd until he was 2. I ended up "closet-nursing", because of the negative attention it brought. I started receiving negative attention in public by the time each child was about 7 mos old, and from family by about the 1 year mark. I didn't let it stop me; it just changed where I did it, and who I talked to about it. Each of mine went different lengths of time, from 15mos to 2 yrs. Do what feels right, just be prepared to alter your expectations of what people find acceptable. We can't change their perceptions, so we just have to alter our own drive to do what feels right for us.
Good luck to you!

I nursed my son until he was 26 months old. Only got a few passive inquiries from family members, but for the most part they understood he had a very limited diet (Oral Sensory Issues associated with Autism) and I wasn't about to take away any decent source of nutrition for him until he was accepting more foods.

I did not, however, do it in public a lot since he was about a year old and started hating the nursing cover. I used the cover more to keep him focused on eating time not looking around at everything time. By the time he was 2 years old, he was only nursing before bed by his own determining.

Nursed my twins until past their first birthday. Then I spent an extensive amount of time in the hospital and while I was on pain meds, my milk dried up. :-(

If someone says something like, "You're still nursing." You can come back with, "Please hold your applause. It distracts him from his meal."

"Doesn't she have a lot of teeth?"..... "Yes. And Mamma's milk is so much better for them than juice or soda, I agree."

There are few circumstances in life where a well-phrase smart-alec comment doesn't do a world of good. :-)

I nursed my two older children until 20 months. My oldest weaned herself while I was pregnant, and I helped my second wean at the same age b/c I was ready to be done (I had been pregnant and/or nursing for 4 years and I wanted a break!). I am nursing my third right now and I plan to until 24 months b/c, like you said, it is recommended, and it's only 4 months longer than I did my other kids. I demand nursed until around 14 months, at that point they were nursing a very predictable times, breakfast, lunch, dinner, nap and bedtime...I wouldn't nurse if we were "out", away from the house at that point...by 16-18 months I stopped nursing at meal times (this was often motivated by baby, they wanted to drink from a cup and were eating enough that they didn't "need" to nurse for calories) and generally would only nurse first thing in the morning, at nap, at bedtime...I would drop the nap, then the morning, lastly bedtime between 18-20 months. Neither of mine ever cried or pitched a fit, it was a slow process and I was prepared with an alternative to nursing, whether another drink option, a distraction or some other soother. No one ever questioned my extended nursing, but I didn't really do it often while we were out at this age, and my family was very supportive.

I nursed till my son was 2.5 years old. Weaning was easy - you just take out the nursing times that get replaced by food, then pull out others as you go. Usually the nightime and early morning ones are the last to go. I had very little discomfort when we weaned. No one made comments, and if they did, I ignored it, or told them that I had trouble during the first few months, and planned on nursing as long as I could, at least till 2-2.5 because of the health benefits. It's none of their freaking business, honestly. And the teeth don't hurt cause they don't come into the latch, usually. Good luck and enjoy!

I nurse my youngest son, my last baby, until he was 3 years old. He'll be 6 in September, and he still remembers and loves my breast. He wishes he still could. It was the hardest thing I have ever stopped with him. He is my last, I tied my tubes after him, and I'm guilty for doing it that long. It was our bonding time, and we bonded. He used it as his blanket. It was hard to stop, a lot of crying going on. I still see him as my baby, and to this day I probably do baby him more than I did with my older kids, maybe because I know I will never have another baby. I forget how old he really is at time, and then it hits me, when I look at him, and how tall and smart he is.

Yes, it's healthy, yes, I got a lot of comments. Especially since when my sisters breastfed until their kiddos where 13-15 months and I was the one saying, what's wrong with you. But I understood, only another mother can understand. I'd say if your son tries to wean himself, let him. It's harder when they become attached. I didn't care what anyone else said, they couldn't feel my heart, how much I felt connected in a different way.

I nursed until my son was 19 months old. The last few months were only night time nursing. He would go to daycare and learnt to drink whole milk from sippy cup , so didn't even have to pump after 14 months or so. My plan was to nurse until 2 years. Yes I got a LOT of 'you are still nursing"? I was told it's not good to be nursing for so long and I should stop immediately. Also , my son was getting up way too often in the night and seemed like he was constantly nursing all night unlike before. Maybe my supply was getting low. I was losing patience as well because of lack of sleep. It wasn't helping both of us. I just didn't feel ready to stop nursing , so I continued. Then finally one day I had his dad put him to bed and that night he slept peacefully all night. I was surprised. The same thing happened the next night as well. And I felt maybe he is really done with nursing. So just for my sake , I nursed him one last time (I was also getting uncomfortable because of stopping suddenly, didn't want to get engorged). He nursed fine and slept.He didn't ask again and that was the end of it.

My first born self weaned at 19 months. My second daughter nursed two months into my third pregnancy. I weaned her when she was 3 yrs 5 months only because breast feeding became uncomfortable during pregnancy. Otherwise I loved nursing my "older" baby. I would have gladly continued nursing her.

My second daughter was an active nurser. She nursed 4-5 times a day. I don't care who says the baby doesn't benefit from "extended" nursing. That's is their opinion, I have mine. It's a very close and personal relationship between mama and her baby. It's a decision that only you can make. I allowed my husband and my sister to coherse me into weaning my child because past two years old, they both thought it "was time." Hog wash! I tried to wean her. My poor baby cried and it broke my heart to push her away when she came to me to nurse. I ended it by embracing the fact that my child, my baby LOVED to breast feed and so did I. Yeah, I got sideways looks from people who thought my baby was too old. People don't seem to have a problem with women flaunting their breasts in low cut shirts, I wasn't ashamed to nurse my baby either. Besides, there are ways to teach your child to ask for milk in public. I taught my daughter how to tap on my chest. That was her sign for wanting milk. She was a master at unclipping my bra and lifting my shirt too!

The ped we had at that time was not an advocate for breast feeding. Even she asked when I intended to wean when my daughter turned 3. I told her I had no intentions of weaning her. But, shortly after her third birthday, I became pregnant and like I mentioned above, my breasts just became so painfully sensitive. I weaned my daughter with love and that means slowly and gradually.

What to do about rude comments? Ignore them. Just smile and walk away. It's not worth your time to defend something that is (1) none of their business, and (2) doesn't concern them (a.k.a ~ none of their business). Nurse your baby for as long as you want, as long as your baby wants it. Embrace it, enjoy it. It doesn't last forever. Once my third baby came along, I was unable to breast feed due to him having a weak suck and I lost my milk. Now, I'm actively breastfeeding my 4th baby and I will nurse her for as long as she wants it.

We nursed for 21 months. My original goal was 6 months, at 6 months I moved it to a year, and at a year I read that the World Health Org recommends 2 years, so I then set that goal. But by 21 months, I was DONE, LOL :)

I was never a public breast-feeder (I could just never masterfully pull it off w/out exposing myself it seems) so I didn't really have any negative comments come my way, but I do think that my mom and MIL probably rolled their eyes a little by my extended nursing plan. But they were from the formula generation, so I never really cared what they thought too much, anyway).

The great thing about weening a child at this age, though, is that they can understand things more. So I began saying things like, "Oh, wow, you're such a big girl now! No longer a baby! That means that mommy's milk is going to end soon because you're a big girl now." Totally worked. She got it. We also co-slept so if she woke up wanting milk, I had a sippy cup of water on the night stand and I'd hand that to her. A few times of that, and she no longer woke up for milk.

Good luck ... and good for you!

I breastfed my son until he was 3 years, 3 months. By the time he was 2 he was drinking cow's milk out of a cup, he nursed in the morning when he woke up and at night before bed, only occasionally during the day if he was sick or got an ouwie and needed comfort, and just for a minute or so. At that point it wasn't for nutrition, he mastered solids at a very young age and ate everything under the sun except lima beans ; ) BTW, he had a full set of teeth early on and his chewing on me hurt, so those sessions were over immediately and he learned not to do it from a young age.

He nursed as long as he did simply because it comforted him. When he stopped asking I was then working full time and by the time we got home, had dinner, I threw a load in the laundry, gave him his bath, etc., he was tired and ready to go to sleep on his own.

After he was about 6 months I never breastfed him in public anymore, he would rip off whatever covering we were using and I'd be exposed, so no negative comments from that, but if people found I was still nursing and commented I said, "Yes, he's still nursing." No explanation, it wasn't their business. Weaning went quite naturally, the less he nursed, the less milk I had, when he stopped my breasts didn't engorge, they just stopped producing milk, no pain. Nursing him as long as i did was really no big deal at all, except to him because he still wanted to do it, and me because i was able to give him what he needed, he led it all. His younger sister was done by 13 months and never looked back, her decision, I feel I did right by her, too.

Frankly, I have a friend whose daughter is 3 and still nursing on demand.

For me, I nursed DD pretty much on demand til she was 2. She was nursing mostly morning and night and we eased into nighttime only. Then I made the sessions shorter and shorter til one night she didn't ask and then a couple of days later she nursed for just a moment and we were done. She was 2.5. It worked for us. I was probably more sad than she was. DD had teeth at 6 months.

With toddlers, teach them manners. No pulling up your shirt in public, no leaving you hanging out, not biting or whatever else you don't want them to do.

I actually didn't get a lot of comments other than "Wow, you're still nursing?" by people who probably realized they shouldn't say anything else. Although...I did get the hairy eyeball from her dentist and I basically said she needed to work with me because I was not forcibly nightweaning my child at 10 months old (dentist was not very pro nursing so I usually try to get another dentist in the practice now).

I did get a kudos from some ladies in Motherhood. I went in with DD, who was probably 16 months, looking for a new nursing bra for a dress. The one lady realized I wasn't pregnant and my nursling was in the stroller and basically said good job.

So just smile and be cheerful and don't let anybody's comments mess with you. I don't know if my friend gets any comments with her DD, but I know she nurses in public with her 3 yr old on her lap. I think that rather than be all defensive, a smile and "it works for us" or something is better. You show people it's normal by being normal. KWIM?

My youngest was completely weaned a few months after she turned two. I went back to work when she was 3 months old, so for most of that time I pumped during the day and fed on demand in the evenings/overnight. I stopped pumping when she turned one and just nursed when I was with her. It was really just a comfort thing and she nursed at bedtime or sometimes during the day if she needed a little bit of comfort. Most people didn't realize I breastfed as long as I did b/c I wasn't doing it in public (a. I was never good at public nursing and b. my little one would get too distracted in public. She really only wanted to nurse for comfort in private.). I definitely got some comments, but for the most part it was between baby and I (maybe hubby too) so I ignored what other people said. My little one was completely ready to wean at that time. I think it was a little harder on me than her but it really wasn't too bad on either of us.

I think my little one was about 18 months. But after a year was maily in the morning and at night. You will get looks from some nomatter what age the baby is. Don't worry about it. My mom was very pro nursing but was of the thought that EVERYTHING should be covered no matter how hot it was. So when my oldest was 5 months old and in June that I should cover up when we were outside even when it was over 90 degrees out side. Not to mention that where we were most the women were less coved than myself. I was only able to nurse him for almost 7 months cause he got very sick and I was so stressed my milk dryed up. You just teech them not to bite, My oldest cut teeth at 3 months. But even at that age he learned not to bite. You do what works best for you and your family don't let anyone make you feel bad for doing it!

Good luck and God Bless!

Both my kids, self weaned.
That was my choice to do so.
My son self weaned from breast at about 1 year old.
My daughter self-weaned at about 2.5 years old.
Or course they were on solids and drank whole milk by then. But they self-weaned from breast.

As a child self-weans, they will naturally, nurse less and less often.
I have NEVER EVER, gotten negative reactions from it. My friends also allowed their kids to self-wean.
No problems.
My Husband, was actually very "proud" that I let my kids self-wean, and he would actually brag about it, to his friends.