nursing 2 year olds

[mermaidmama]

My son is going to be 2 in a few months and I was just wondering how often other 2 year olds nurse? Also, do you still nurse for naps and at night?
My son goes through stages where he will nurse often during the day/night and then other days he won't nurse during the day unless he is tired or upset.

[CowsRock]

Depends on what we are doing, but my son usually nurses many times during the day. He likes to have a long session after waking, maybe a few sips in between that and nap. Nurses down for nap unless he falls asleep in the car, but I can't transfer him unless I nurse him down. Lots of short sessions between nap and bedtime, then nurses down for bed and nurses at least four times through the night. We co-sleep though so I don't usually wake for that. He is nursing right now, I thought it would just be a sip but he is taking his time. Most of his "peers" don't nurse this much. If he is very distracted during the day, he will make up for it overnight.

[lindsey8]

DS2 was 2 in December - and he nurses a lot. I haven't nightweaned him, so he still nurses at least once a night, usually 2-3 times. I think he's slept through the night 4 times in his life

He nurses when he wakes usually, then a few times during the day, and at bedtime I nurse him to sleep. he's all but given up naps, but every once in a while he'll fall asleep while nursing during the day.

[walking burp cloth]

My ds was 2 in novmeber. He almost always nurses first thing in the morning. I have night weaned him, but he still wakes up in the night telling me "nurse! sunshine!!" As I have said he has to wait until the sun shines to nurse. I was not one to be able to sleep through nursing, and ds woke A LOT at night to nurse. (i must have sensitive nipples, or he is very aggressive, or both) He has been night weaned for just a few months.

He will also nurse down for nap, and bedtime. Sometimes he will just go to sleep on his own. And sometimes he'll nurse during the day just for kicks, but not all the time.

So, 1-3 times a day for him. Rarely do I offer (unless he seems upset and unable to be soothed another way. And rarely do I say no. Just at night, and he has been pretty good with that.

[pinky]

My two girls were very different. My older dd by about 2.5 was nursing only at wake up and bedtime and occasionally at a nap (if she took one). My younger dd was nursing a LOT, still frequently at night. So I think that kids can vary a lot.

[kcparker]

DS1 nightweaned because he started sleeping like a rock at around 15 months of age. He is going to be three this summer, has a baby brother, still nurses, and would nurse more often in the day if I let him. But we have "special nursing times," and it keeps me a saner, nicer mama if he sticks with those. If he had his druthers, he'd nurse a lot more often (probably 5 or 6 times) during the day. I could use nursing to try to get him to take a nap, but it would be a hit or miss proposition with nursing not always paying the dividend of a sleeping child. I am a meany and don't let him nurse whenever the baby nurses because sometimes I don't like nursing two squirmy monkeys. If there were no baby, he'd probably be fine with our 3 times (waking, when I come home from work and before sleep) because it was our routine when I was pregnant and had no milk...