How long did your child ask to nurse?

[Shami]

I weaned dd one month before her 3rd B-day. She didn't cry at all, but she did ask and sometimes whine for it. DH took over bedtime ritual.

She is still asking and sometime she will hug or squeeze my breast. Its been about 1 1/2 months since she weaned.

I still feel bad that i have to say no to her, but I don't regret weaning.

I'm just curious...
How long did your little ones ask for it after the weaning process?

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

Well personally I dont say the child has weaned when they are still asking to nurse. My 6 year old still is asking to nurse after a few weeks of not nursing. And I let him nurse when he asks. True weaning...to me and my family....is when the child has agreed to stop nursing on his or her own timing and no longer asks.

[liliaceae]

Originally Posted by Mamato3wild ponnie

Well personally I dont say the child has weaned when they are still asking to nurse. My 6 year old still is asking to nurse after a few weeks of not nursing. And I let him nurse when he asks. True weaning...to me and my family....is when the child has agreed to stop nursing on his or her own timing and no longer asks.

I believe that's called child-led weaning, and the OP probably purposely did not pose this question in that forum.

OP, I weaned DS when he was about 23 months, gradually cutting out one nursing at a time, and I don't remember him asking at all after the last time I nursed him. I don't think DD is going to be that easy though, she's 19 months and still nursing every 2 hours around the clock.

[Shami]

Originally Posted by Mamato3wild ponnie

Well personally I dont say the child has weaned when they are still asking to nurse. My 6 year old still is asking to nurse after a few weeks of not nursing. And I let him nurse when he asks. True weaning...to me and my family....is when the child has agreed to stop nursing on his or her own timing and no longer asks.

What you are calling "true weaning" is called child led weaning (CLW), which is YOUR way of weaning YOUR children. Good for you. I tried CLW and couldn't continue to wait for reasons that I won't go into because I don't need to justify nursing my child until only 35 months rather than age 6. Obviously, I am offended by the undertones of your post. ...maybe I'm just hormonal and too sensitive, but geez, I never expected this kind of response.

[akind1]

DS is only 11 months, so I don't have any weaning experience (though I am trying to up his solids so we could drop a session or two during the day)

That said, she is three, so she can talk, can you ask her why she wants to nurse? Is she hungry? Does she miss mama snuggle time? Maybe if you can figure out what she is missing and supply that need, the asking will stop.

[Shami]

What a brilliant idea!  I just thought I should keep distracting and so i never thought to ask her why she wants to nurse.  Usually it seems to be when she is tired or if I change my shirt/shower and she sees my 'nurse' that she asks.  Sometimes it's the snuggling that triggers it when she is tired.

I will ask her next time and see what happens.

Thanks!

[Shami]

Originally Posted by liliaceae 

Originally Posted by Mamato3wild ponnie

Well personally I dont say the child has weaned when they are still asking to nurse. My 6 year old still is asking to nurse after a few weeks of not nursing. And I let him nurse when he asks. True weaning...to me and my family....is when the child has agreed to stop nursing on his or her own timing and no longer asks.

I believe that's called child-led weaning, and the OP probably purposely did not pose this question in that forum.

OP, I weaned DS when he was about 23 months, gradually cutting out one nursing at a time, and I don't remember him asking at all after the last time I nursed him. I don't think DD is going to be that easy though, she's 19 months and still nursing every 2 hours around the clock.

When mine was 19 months she was a round the clock nurser or i liked to call it a 'hit and run' nurser.  She just needed a little nip and then she'd keep playing.  I weaned her little by little by distraction.  This last and final deciscion at 35 months was cold turkey for a particular reason.  I was shocked that she never cried and she agreed to do it.  What I mean by "she agreed to do it", is that I explained the reason to her, and she said yes, she would stop nursing.  I was shocked, but we did it, and it did not seem to phase her much. 

I said all that to let you know that just because you have a frequent nurser and you cannot imagine them weaning, it may not be as hard as you are expecting.  Inwardly I was so afraid to wean her cold turkey, but it worked out just fine.  She might ask about every third day and when I distract she moves on without any whining or crying.  Good luck!

[porcelina]

Originally Posted by Shami 

 

When mine was 19 months she was a round the clock nurser or i liked to call it a 'hit and run' nurser.  She just needed a little nip and then she'd keep playing.  I weaned her little by little by distraction.  This last and final deciscion at 35 months was cold turkey for a particular reason.  I was shocked that she never cried and she agreed to do it.  What I mean by "she agreed to do it", is that I explained the reason to her, and she said yes, she would stop nursing.  I was shocked, but we did it, and it did not seem to phase her much. 

I said all that to let you know that just because you have a frequent nurser and you cannot imagine them weaning, it may not be as hard as you are expecting.  Inwardly I was so afraid to wean her cold turkey, but it worked out just fine.  She might ask about every third day and when I distract she moves on without any whining or crying.  Good luck!

Wait, what was the reason you said for not nursing??

[la mamita]

I weaned my son when he turned 4. We talked about it a lot before, so he would understand that I was tired, I needed rest, that it was starting to hurt me, etc...he might have asked a few times in the week or two after that and he still remembers nursing, but it became a non-issue very quickly and he never asks anymore, not even when sick or injured when i might expect him to revert to earlier comfort behavior. He's almost 5.5 now.

[D_McG]

  My son (22 mos) asked for about a week.  My DD asked for a little longer.  She was a bit younger (20 mos?) although she seemed to be asking more out of curiosity.  To see if the answer was predictable or something, IDK.  I was pretty matter of fact about weaning her.  I was done, so we were done.  I knew all the new lovely ways we'd be connecting.  It wasn't sad or even a big deal really.  Just a normal part of growing up.

[Shami]

Originally Posted by porcelina 

Originally Posted by Shami 

 

When mine was 19 months she was a round the clock nurser or i liked to call it a 'hit and run' nurser.  She just needed a little nip and then she'd keep playing.  I weaned her little by little by distraction.  This last and final deciscion at 35 months was cold turkey for a particular reason.  I was shocked that she never cried and she agreed to do it.  What I mean by "she agreed to do it", is that I explained the reason to her, and she said yes, she would stop nursing.  I was shocked, but we did it, and it did not seem to phase her much. 

I said all that to let you know that just because you have a frequent nurser and you cannot imagine them weaning, it may not be as hard as you are expecting.  Inwardly I was so afraid to wean her cold turkey, but it worked out just fine.  She might ask about every third day and when I distract she moves on without any whining or crying.  Good luck!

Wait, what was the reason you said for not nursing??

As she was drinking a vanilla milk shake,  I asked which tasted better, nurse or milk shake.  She said milk shake.  Shock!

I asked her, did she want to be a big girl because she's always talking about being being big enough to do....whatever.  She said yes.  I asked if she wanted momma and dada to teach her how to be a big girl?  Yes.  Then I named all the children who she knows to be big and don't nurse.  I asked her did she think she could stop nursing in order to be a big girl.  She thought for a moment and said yes.   Shock of my life!

Not that night, but the next night I reminded her of the convo right before bed. I said  tonight is the night mam and dada will teach you to be a big girl.  She said Nurse?  I said dada will take you to bed so that you don't have to nurse for sleeping.  And off they went.  Another shock!