How much do 14m olds nurse?

[kriket]

DS is down to once or twice during the day, to go to sleep, once or twice through the night then in the morning. He was a marathon nonstop nurser. Maybe he nurses enough? He does like a sippy of cow milk while I work or with dinner, and he eats a ton. He has discovered where berries come from and is mowing them down out of the garden.

I work from home but travel, mostly during naps tho Is there a right amount that he should nurse? I think I'm concerned he will wean totally. DH thinks he needs to wean. He commented that 'the next baby' we should wean at 1 year. What a crappy birthday present.

So how much "should" a 14m old nurse? How much did/does your nurse? How long did they continue nursing?

[Peony]

I have a 14m old right now, DS nurses every 2-3 hours. He can go longer, up to 4-5 hours max between nursings if I am working or once in a while he will sleep that long at night. If I am going to be gone longer then 4 hours then I have him brought to me at work. He eats food and drinks water but needs to nurse after a while.


He actually nurses less then my other kids did at this age, the girls nursed every hour until 2 or so. DD1 nursed until the month she turned 4, and DD2 until the week before she turned 3.

[wookie]

I'm with Peony. Mine can go all day w/o nursing if he's distracted or we're out and about etc. But if he's home and I'm available he'll nurse 3-4x/day. Nights are another story though. We cosleep and he nurses on and off all night.

[karika]

I can only remember dd2 since she is still a baby, and she nurses at least once every 2 hours while we are awake. We are at home pretty much all the time. I do not wear a bra or much of a shirt. At the age of 14 mo she nursed a few times in our sleep, and for much of her life stayed attached for the majority of our sleep. She began sleeping longer stretch around 16 mo and went down to nursing once or twice in her 12 hr sleep.

I would recommend educating your partner about extended breastfeeding and the benefits. Even the WHO, which I don't have much to agree with, recommends breastfeeding for a MINIMUM of 2 years (which supports feeding until 3-5 yo). In other countries it is the norm to feed a child until they are 3-7 yo. dd1 weaned at 3.5 because her father took her out of state for 10 days and I was having health issues, but this time I am determined to protect my health so I can feed dd2 as long as possible.

In America people rely on the milk from other mammals, specifically cows. In a 'normal' way of being, milk is not consumed after a child weans between 3-7 yo. Cow's milk is unhealthy IMO and should be avoided. Feed your milk only and as long as you can. Increase frequency by wearing no top and holding the baby more. Baby see boob, baby will nurse....

[MrsBone]

I'm actually trying to wean DS down to naps and bedtime and eventually tackle overnight. He nurses all night long and we co sleep part of the time. I'd say as long as he nurses 3-4 times in a 24 hr period along with other liquids, preferably just water or herbal tea, or even raw cows milk, he's probably getting enough breastmilk. If you want him to nurse more, just offer it more often, he'll get the hang of it. I honestly just got tired of my toddler wanting to nurse every time I sat down, so I'm weaning slowly. My DS is 18 mo. I'd like to wean him completely at 2, but you can go as long as you and your child are comfortable..it's very healthy for them. DH thinks it's odd that I wanted to nurse past a year too, but that's not what is making me want to wean early. I feel so exhausted by the end of the day because of DS nursing all night and most of the day. Makes me want to throw him at DH when he gets home, but then DS doesn't want to go to DH, he'd rather nurse, so I need a little separation