When to Stop Breastfeeding? - Durant,OK

You already got some great responses (Shaun C said everything I would have). I just wanted to say congrats to you! I breastfed my three children anywhere from 12 - 27 months. As long as it's still enjoyable to both of you, keep it up! Despite what others might think, it's not weird to bf past 12 months and there are continued benefits to extended breastfeeding.

I didnt get to breastfeed, but the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until age 2 if the mom and baby are both comfortable with it.

Ive been breastfeeding these last 2 and a half years, it is beneficial. Its the best thing you can do for your babies nutrition and immune system. Plus you'll never get a better bonding experience. In answer to your question its time to stop breastfeeding when you and your baby decide its time. Not your husband or best friend,your MIL, your cousin or a person on this site.

About your supply, by a year it might be slowing down because it needs to. Your supply is directly linked to supply and demand. Baby and and milk reserves have a very awesome way of communicating, If you feel the need to "up it", drink more water, try fenugreek, or have a midnight snack of something high fat, low carb. But, your body is probably adjusting because your baby is, and thats a great thing!

Way to go mama on making it this long, and good luck on making it longer.

The WHO recommends breastfeeding until the 2 year mark.
I wouldn't worry too much about supply issues. Your body's been making milk for a year now. It knows exactly how much it needs to make :) If the supply seems lower in the evenings, it's probably because that's when the baby (even at 1 they're still babies to me) nurses less :)
As far as what she should be eating, she should be eating 3 regular meals a day and snacks when she seems hungry. My kids ate breakfast, lunch and dinner (all regular "big people" food, then a snack in the afternoon and one before bedtime).
If someone says "Are you still doing that?" Just say "Yep! I sure am! It's great!" and change the subject. I've found that involved in arguments or debates never works. If they say "That's disgusting" Just say "Really? Hmmm...." and walk away. You have to sort of just let the negative comments roll off your back. People will make them, just ignore them. Or you get really snarky and say "Really, you think I'm disgusting? What about when you do XYZ?" LOL!
I'll share a quick story, I breastfed both my kids. My dad and stepmom were always offering me another room (with a door that closed) for me to nurse in, or they would just leave the room when I nurse. I finally said something like "you don't have to leave, it's not like I'm going to offer you any." For us, that was the ice breaker we needed to get past the uncomfortableness.

Congratulations on reaching your goal! Here's to another year :D

#1 nursed until he was 3 years old, through my pregnancy with #2 and for 2 months I nursed both. #2 nursed until 2 months before he turned 5. The last time he nursed was days before I found out I was pregnant with #3. #3 is days away from 20 months old and still nursing strong. I don't plan to make her wean and she's not going to wean herself any time soon.
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breast feeding until AT LEAST 2 years old, or longer if wanted by baby and mama. In cultures where child led weaning is the norm it is not unheard of for a child to breast feed until upwards of 7 years old. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation of only a years is behind the times. The recommendation to change your child over to cows milk at a year is largely aimed at the formula fed. Children still need the nutrients in milk. Human milk is better for a human than cows milk. Breast milk does not loose it's nutrition just because a calendar says a child is X old. Breast milk changes day to day, hour to hour to meet the needs of the child. It contains the nutrients, healthy fats, antibodies, and everything else a child needs to grow and be healthy in a perfectly digestible form. As a child gets older they become more efficient at getting the milk out so it takes less time for them to get their fill. Some will mistake this for a drop in supply or any other bad issues. It's not. Also as they get older they don't nurse as often or as much as a newborn. As my kids got older they cut back to once a day or once a week, unless they were sick and then they'd often step up again to help get better.
My 2 favorite sites with lots of information on breast feeding beyond a year are Kelly Mom http://kellymom.com/ and La Leche League International http://www.llli.org/
Congratulations for nursing you child to a year!

I've nursed until daughter was 4.5 years old. Not saying everyone should go that far! But the antibodies in the breastmilk and complex (individualized to your child alone) nutrition will help your child as they go thru the normal stages of getting really sick when they start daycare or pre-K.

Until about year 3, she would nurse about 3 times or more a day... then it dwindled to twice a day (unless she was sick or had a hard day at school) until finally... she said "Thank you Mom, but I don't need Mommy milk anymore, can we snuggle instead?"

No one could tell, there was no 'brand' on her forehead "Hey I'm a child and still breastfeeding!", no clinginess, no dependence on Mommy for everything or any of the BS you'll hear other non extended nursing Moms talk about.

She was old enough to have wonderful and loving memories... and will remember that for when she has her own children.

I nursed my son until he was 15 months. He self-weaned (gradually turned away from me when I offered it) It was great because there were no fits or tears it was his choice (and there was no engorgment for me!) I would say as long as you are both happy, keep going. In my experience, it is easiest on mom and baby to let the baby wean themselves. I've got a 10 month old daughter and I plan to do the same with her, nurse until she's done.
Good luck!

*Adding this: Just ignore the rude comments from others about your nursing. I mean, that is really 'personal' and private.
All my friends (who's kids were the same age as mine) were also still nursing and going the self-weaning route, too.
My Husband, was actually "proud" of me that I let my kids self-wean, and he'd actually 'brag' about it to all his friends.
- at a certain age though, I did not nurse my kids, in public etc. And it really is nobody's business, what I did with my kids. Nursing still or not.

I breastfed both my kids and let them self-wean.
My daughter self-weaned at about 2.5 years old.
(Many of my friends, also did this).
My son, self-weaned at about 1 years old.
Each kid being different.

I still had milk.
Even after weaning, it does take time for the milk to completely dry up.

I nursed on-demand. But when older, a child (in my kids' cases) they naturally are at breast less and less. Until they just stop.

My kids, of course, since 6 months old, were on solids. Solids for the 1st year, is not a replacement for nursings/breastmilk.

At about 12 months I dropped to just nursing morning and night. Sometimes before nap. As long as they are also eating table food adequately, I think it is entirely a personal choice.

I slowed down on the breastfeeding after a year, but didn't stop until he was 2. After 15 months we only BF once a day.
At this point do it as long as you want to. As for friends and family, I started only nursing at home at that age (usually before bed time) so I wouldn't get a lot of unwelcome comments. When they do happen, just smile and change the subject.

My son is now 15 months old, and we're still breastfeeding. He eats lots of solids at mealtime and for snacks, the nursing is just mainly first thing in the morning, around naptime, and bedtime. He drinks water in a sippy throughout the day and I'm trying to get him to drink milk, but it's hit or miss. I had planned to try to stop at one year, but he's not ready yet, so here we are. Our pedi says ideally it should be a mutual decision, so I'm letting him take the lead and when he no longer wants to nurse, or my milk goes away due to lack of nursing so much, then we'll stop. I know the breastfeeding is the best thing for him, so I'm not complaining. But I won't lie, I can't wait to have my boobs back, lol! As far as supply goes, it's probably seeming weak in the evening because you've been nursing all day. Don't worry, you have enough for him. If you're worried about it just give him some water during the day so you make sure he's getting enough to drink. Good luck and congrats on breastfeeding for so long!

I nursed mine 16 and 20 months respectively and it was positive for both of us to continue past a year. I felt great about continuing to provide the benefits of breastmilk and it was nice to keep the breastfeeding bond going.

My goal with my oldest was 6 months, but we went to 17 instead! At that point I was only nursing him twice a day, once before his nap and once before bed. He would probably still be nursing if I left it up to him, but at that point I just wanted my body to myself again. Also my son was starting to do things that made me uncomfortable, he would throw tantrums when he wanted to nurse, or he would just walk over and pull my shirt up or grab at my boobs no matter where we were!

I'm now nursing my second child (a girl this time) and I hope to go to 18 months or longer. Maybe it will be different since she's a girl, but who knows?

My in-laws were twitchy about breastfeeding from day one. They were & are very uncomfortable talking about it or even knowing that it happens! I guess it was good practice for me to learn to ignore people who don't approve. Everyone does what they think is best for their own kids, so they just need to butt out!

I nursed my first child until he was 8 months old. Would have gone longer but my milk supply dropped and he didn't have a strong preference as to where his milk came from. My second child nursed until he was 2 1/2 years old. Mostly morning and night the last year he breastfed.

And I would get comments from family and friends when I nursed him after the 1 year mark. Like "Are you still going to be doing that when he starts school?" . I would just say something like "Probably not, but we shall see." and then I would smile.

Mainly these were people in my home or theirs that hung out with frequently. Their point was if he could ask for it, then he was too old. He was quite verbal very early and I guess that seemed weird for them. Most people were just glad my kid wasn't screaming and bothering everyone and I was discreet if I did it in public.

My son were refer to my breasts as the "Mommas" and come up to me and say "I needs some Momma". Since most people not close to us didn't know what that meant, they just thought it was cute.

One day when he was around 2 1/2, he said at bedtime "He didn't need the Mommas anymore." And that was that. I wasn't making as much milk as I used to and this way he was ready and so was I.

I loved nursing and did what was I felt was right for me and each child. The heck with everyone else!

Good luck! And my advice would be do what is right for you and your child and don't just quit because some book tells you to at one year.

Kim

I nursed both of mine to a year and a half, more or less. I just nursed when they wanted but especially before bed to calm them and because it was part of our routine. Don't quit now just to quit. The year marker is the minimum. Tell family and friends to stick it. I hate so much that so many people think that nursing is gross after 1. That is absurd. Research nursing after the age of 1; you will arm yourself with plenty of info to feed your friends and fam. I cannot believe you have people in your life that disagree with feeding your baby the best thing on this planet for him/her! This is the food intended for our children. Human's were intended to drink milk from the human breast, not the cow's breast. If you think about it, how disgusting is that!!! We drink milk from a cows boob. ...and that is accepted by our culture! Strange, very strange.

My son was 14 months old. The only time he was nursing was first thing in the morning and at night before he went to bed. We were at the zoo and I was sitting on a bench and he came over to me and lifted my shirt in public - THAT WAS IT!! No more breast feeding. My daughter was 16 months old. She got teeth much earlier than my son and would "bite" me sometimes. I would stop her from feeding and tell her no. I would tell her if she ever bit me hard, that would be the end. She was 16 months old and bit me so hard I started crying - she never was allowed to nurse again.

Your child will self wean, if allowed, and that is the healthiest way to go for you both. I nursed my son till he was almost 3, 35months, now w/my second he's only 5m now so we're still nursing. There are SO many benefits to allowing self weaning, you can research a lot online about extended breastfeeding and toddler breastfeeding. It may only be 2x a day for nap & bedtime or something, but they're still getting so much from that milk & time w/you. At a year I was nursing I think 3x a day, then after about 18m mostly 2x a day. Their immune system is only 60% developed at a year. A lot of 'terrible twos' come on because of forced weaning. Keep up the great work! Go online to find a le leche league group near you. She can eat anything at this point, keep it healthy... there are food pyramids online for her age.

IF you need to get rid of some feedings only take away one feeding every couple weeks. Distraction during those times works well.

FYI The average WORLD age of nursing is about 4years. In some countries it's thought of as a status symbol because you must be well off if you're healthy enough to provide that for your children...