Will my 4.5 year old ever wean?

[SundayCrepes]

I really don't want to be on the 8 year track. Obviously I believe in CLW. It's just that his suck has gotten so annoying. It's sloppy or something. Nursing my 2 year old is just fine. Nursing at 4.5 gives me the willies.

He nurses for a few minutes when he wakes up.

A few times each week he asks for milk during the day. He always wants "11 bits," though he counts by 2 to get there so it's like the count of 5.

Often he does not nurse to sleep. Tonight he nursed for a minute, I told him we were done, and he stopped nursing and rolled to his other side.

My hair is falling out by the handful. It never did that after he was born. I'm thinking both my kids are nursing so much less that I'm going through hormonal changes and losing my hair. I wish this was a sign my son will be weaning soon.

I miss the idea of him nursing. We were such a great team. But he's not a little baby, or even a toddler, any more. He is a kid that rides a 2 wheel bike and sautés onions and so much more. I wish I still had that baby to nurse but I don't (I have a different one.) I don't want to make him wean, though I usually cut him off before he would stop and that's usually okay by him.

Anyone BTDT? I really hate asking about him weaning. Part of me will never be ready for that. Another part of me is hoping he'll wean soon. Part of me wonders if I'll make him stop after his birthday in December (won't do it on his bday. That wouldn't be nice.) I doubt that because he really doesn't nurse much. Weaning has to be around the corner...Right?

Then tonight he woke up screaming. I quickly calmed him by nursing him before he woke his sister. Once he weans I won't be able to do that.

[Jamie19]

Just talk to him, ask if he's ready to stop, remind him of all the big things he does and when he asks to nurse tell him "remember what we talked about? You're a big boy now!"

My 4.5 year old nurses maybe 2x a month (today for the first time in a while actually) my 20 month old is nursing still 4+a day if Chlo was nursing more often I'd go nuts but usually she doesn't ask unless she really needs down time for a minute, calms down cuddles and goes back to playing, so I figure 10 minutes a month isn't going to kill me, she won't be nursing this time next year!

<3

[SundayCrepes]

We've talked about how when he gets bigger he won't want to nurse. The first time I mentioned that he acted like I was a complete and total fool. There's no way he would ever want to stop nursing. Recently we saw a family walking down the street. He told me, "Those big kids don't have milkies any more because they're too big."

I asked him, a couple times, why he likes milkies. Does he like to snuggle? Have special time with me? Nope. He likes the taste of the milk.

Sometimes I limit him by saying, "You've gotten so big and your suck is too strong. It hurts when you nurse too long." He stops but doesn't seem concerned about my needs here. (He's a very generous, kind child. But when it comes to milkies, he knows what he likes.)