When did you stop NIP, and why?

[LCBMAX]

I find I am the only nursing mom in our various classes (though not in our playgroup which is more drawn from a circle of like-minded mamas.)

My son is 2. He still needs lots of reassurance in these situations, and seems to be doing a growth-spurt-separation-anxiety-based increased nursing lately, so I am really noticing that I seem to be the only one undoing my nursing bra all the time. I keep talking myself through my own discomfort about being a different kind of parent, and I'm not ready to cut him back on any nursing in the daytime myself.

Still, I'm curious how that happened for some of you.

[SoCaliMommy]

My son will be 4 in May. He hasn't tried to NIP in a while, but if he wanted to i would have no problem with nursing him. He still does nurse a few times during the day still and at night.

I'd keep NIP'ing if your son needs to when your out.

[tanyam926]

I am nursing my 4 yr old and my 17 month old. The baby nurses all the time when we are out (always in a sling, mei tai, wrap, some kind of carrier as I hate trying to find somewhere to sit down). My older one nurses occasionally in the van if he is REALLY tired, cranky, or has gotten hurt.

For me it was always a natural progression and I really don't even remember the ages at which they started to nurse less when out and about. If my 4 yr old wants to nurse I can tell him to hold on until we get home (unless he really needs to nurse, which is rare when we are not at home).

So I guess I'm not much help! Sorry! But we are still nursing and it gets easier as they get older to identify when it is a need and when it can be postponed.

[Baby_Cakes]

DD is 16 mo and we've really cut down the NIP. Not that I wouldn't do it, but it would really depend on the situation. If she got hurt or something, I wouldn't think twice. But if we're shopping in the food store and she starts lifting my shirt, I will gently remind her she can have nursies at home and she's usually fine w/that answer.
We still nurse discreetly in front of family if she won't be too distracted by all the commotion. If I think she will be, I'll go to a different room.
My advice to you would be don't worry what other people are thinking. Are YOU ok still nursing your LO in those situations? If you are, then I don't see anything wrong with it, and there's really no harm in continuing.

[Ruthla]

I started slowing down on NIP as soon as the baby was ready for solids- it was just easier to offer a sip from my water bottle and/or a cracker before offering to nurse when we were out, though of course I'd NIP if the child needed it.

As DS got older, he was more likely to be distracted and excited when we were out in public and not be interested in nursing until we were back home where it was quiet. But if he asked, I wouldn't refuse him. There were times when I'd try to distract him (if I thought he'd get distracted in 30 seconds anyway and leave me dangling with my nursing bra opened trying to chase him) but I'd never refuse him if he truly needed it.

When he was 3.75, we were both ready to work towards weaning, and I instituted the "only nursing in bed" rule. We nursed at bedtime and at wakeup time, and occasonally in the middle of the night, and once or twice in the middle of the day when he was sick and needed to nap. At that point, we'd officially stopped NIPing.

I would have no hesitations about nursing a 2yo in public in the situation you're describing.

[KristyDi]

My DD is nearly 2. We don't NIP very often anymore. Not because I'm not willing, though I will ask her to wait if the timing isn't convenient or distract her if I think she's just asking because she's bored or something. Mainly, DD is just too busy to want to nurse while we're out.

I would totally nurse her in the situation you're describing if it was what she needed to feel confident and safe. I know it can be weird to be the different one. No one has ever directly confronted me about NIP, but I have gotten some looks. I generally knowledge the looks with a friendly smile, or simply ignore them. The smile gets some interesting reactions. People either look confused and kind of half smile in return or look away, embarrassed to have been caught glaring.

[D_McG]

I stop at around 1 but that's because I'm looking to cut down nursing at that point. DD is 15 mos and I'll nurse her if I have to, obviously but 99% of the time she's fine with solid food.

[LadyCatherine185]

for us it is a little different I think... DS stopped NIP around.. 4 months? He just WOULD.NOT.NURSE if there was distraction. even at home, we had to be in our dark, quiet bedroom. I just made sure we weren't out of the house for longer than an hour or two. now, if we were at someone elses house and they had a dark room we could go into he'd nurse there.. but never if he could hear voices or see anything. it was extremely annoying.. but we made it work.

now at 17 months he WILL ask for "guh guh" (his rendition of milka milka) but only nurse for all of 3 seconds before going onto the next thing, and he only asks if he is really tired.

i am hoping my next child will be one of those who will nurse anywhere/everywhere.....

[Qestia]

I think for us around a year, DD from the time they were introduced has loved food and drinking from a sippy so it's easy to keep her full in public, and if something upsets her there's plenty of distraction as well. But I guess we haven't entirely, she undid a childproof gate last month at a friends, went up and fell down a short set of stairs (2-3 steps) and of course I nursed her in front of everyone without thinking twice (and she only wanted to for a second and was fine), but yeah, if she's just in the cart at the grocery store pulling up my shirt I tell her not right now.

[raelize]

i stopped with dd1 a little after 2. i was pregnant with dd2 at the time and really didn't want the stares from nursing a walking talking BIG toddler and being visibly pregnant. i'm not planning on being pregnant (though, i wouldn't mind either ) when dd2 is 2, so we'll see what happens. right now dd2 is almost 17 months and only nurses in public when she is tired and in a sling. she thinks she's 4.

now, my 4 y.o. dd1 weaned right before her 4th b-day, and would still nurse in public if i let her. she loved to nurse. i didn't want her to have any bad associations with nursing, so the way i got her to stop asking to nurse all the time in public was this little story:
i asked her if she really liked to nurse? she said yes. me: so don't you think everyone likes to nurse? her:yes! me: if everyone else sees a you nurse then they will think that i will nurse them too, and i don't want to nurse them, so lets just nurse when we are at home, that way they won't ask.

kind of silly, but it worked.

[spicy tomato]

My son is 2 1/2 and I still nurse in public. Though I am sometimes uncomfortable about it. I want to be the strong 'who cares what people think' type, but I guess I am not. Somewhere inside I can hear the gasp of shock and acusations in the mind of some persons around us. It is all in my head, as no one has ever said anything to me, but I do not like to sit with these fears to feed my boy. So I am more descrete about it now. I remember nursing him anywhere and in front of anyone until he was a year or so, but now I do try to find a quiet corner if it is possible. If I cannot find the right spot I will face those silly fears though.

(Just before his second birthday we took him to a baseball game; he slept for 6 of the innings and we were able to stay the whole game... this is just one of the times when nursing in public gave us the ability to do something we might not have been able to do otherwise)

[kiwiva]

I stopped around 3 (she's 3 and 4 mos now). If she really needed it and I was out then I would. If she wants to do it when we are traveling by air next month, then I won't refuse her, for ex, bc she'll probably really have a need for it and waiting hours won't be reasonable. If I am out in a like-minded group then I still do it (if she sees others nursing she wants to) or even if I am in a group with people who did breastfeed, though not nearly as long (family, for ex, who I know thinks it's weird).

She got to the point where it really wasn't necessary to NIP and if she did ask I would suggest we wait until we could be somewhere more comfortable.

Why did I stop? I guess I am a little uncomfortable about people being weirded out by me nursing my big kid (she's always been big for her age too). That didn't bother me when she was younger, but I would HATE if anyone said anything about it to me with DD since she would understand now and I just want her to know nursing is great!!

On the one hand I absolutely wish it were the norm and want to help it be more normal, but it's not and I have a bit of a concern about making breastfeeding "weirder." So, for ex, when I went to help my cousin with nursing her newborn I didn't nurse 3 yo DD bc I was concerned that that might make nursing weirder to her, though I wouldn't hesitate to talk about the fact that I am still nursing. I don't know if I am making sense.

[Cetan Luta]

I NIP until my kids went to only nursing at night ( just before age 3) which was only about a month before they each CLweaned from that as well. I was always a discreet nurser, while still feeding my kids anywhere and anytime they wanted too (except while driving or any other Totally inconvenient moment of course), but was not about to stop NIP with my kids just because they got older. I got a few looks, but no one ever had the guts to make any rude comments. Hang in there Mama. You've made it this far, just keep doing what works for you and your child, and try not to worry what others think. Some folks will think it's great and maybe even share stories about their little ones, and some folks will be rude and judgemental no matter what you are doing. Just be true to yourself and yor child is my best advice. Only you know what that is.

[blizzard_babe]

DS is 21 mos and pretty much the only NIPing we do at this point is on airplanes. Anywhere else, he's too busy to want to.

[fancyoats]

i stopped nip at about 18-20 months....then a couple months later cut back to only at morning, naptime and bedtime, which is where we're still at now. we started cutting back so we could start ttc after her 2nd birthday. but, like a pp, we did nurse on the airplane to grandma's house at christmastime. just to keep her quiet

[bronxmom]

I nursed my daughter (now 10) until she was just under 3. I'm pretty sure I nursed in public that entire time and that it was fairly frequent - e.g., at restaurants, demonstrations, meetings, etc. This was because we were almost always in public. We were very out and about and when we were together it was often outside the apartment. So that would be when she'd want the reassurance, comfort, food, whatever. I don't think I thought too much about it, but I think I helped pave the way for other friends/peers who have now had kids and are much more comfortable nursing in public. Before me, I don't think any of my larger group of acquaintances breastfed for more than 6 months or so. I'm pretty confident (or at least seem so on the outside) and very opinionated so I think pple backed off and deferred.

I now still nurse my 13 month old and again it's frequently in public and again because that's often where we are. We're frequently at meetings or friends around the time he's ready to sleep and I'll nurse him and he'll fall asleep. It's less the case during the day because of the distraction factor.

[pdxmomazon]

My daughter is 20 months-old and when she asks to nurse while we're out, I often try and put her off/distract her. Why? She's so darn wiggly! It makes it really uncomfortable. However, if she hurts herself or seems upset/sick/teethy I'll nurse her.

[eunytuny]

My ds is 3 yr 3 months and he still nip. I really dont care what people think or say. I am giving my son what he needs and if people dont like it, they can write their feeling down in a strongly worded letter just to get it off their chest. I feel like I want to set a small example for up and coming mamas that it is more important to decide what is best for you than kowtow to other peoples comfort level.

[annie2186]

I find that - sadly enough - I am very affected by those around me. If I feel like they don't feel weird about me nursing I don't feel weird and vice/versa.

Granted I RARELY get out of the house between my three kiddo's keeping me busy - nap times - and working from home.

I will nurse at MY parents house with no problem at all (of course with a little cover - as much as she will let me have). My mom nursed all of her 6 kids until 2 or almost 2, and she does NOT approve of formula -

My in-laws house, I usually retreat to a back-room now.............I think it is half because I don't really feel like I should make them uncomfortable and feel like THEY have to leave the room (because they will) and half because my 14 month old leaves my boob hanging out all of the time now, and I would rather not expose myself to my in-laws!! ha ha

If I were out in a public situation and felt like my LO wanted to nurse - I absolutely would, but I would probably retreat to a more secluded area now, more than I would when she was a younger baby..............once again - half because I feel uncomfortable and don't want her to pick up on it, and half because she doesn't really let me be modest alot of times!!

[calpurnia]

DD is 21 months & I have just decided to stop NIP. She now not only needs to be twiddling the other nipple, but has to have it RIGHT OUT of my bra. I just cannot sit there with a baby on one boob & my other one hanging free & feel comfortable. She doesn't ask to nurse in public very often at all anymore so I'm hoping it won't be too hard to distract her...