There is a distraction phase that hits a lot of babies. That's a place where solids can be an issue. The baby prefers the solids and gets less breastmilk and cuts down on the nursing and the mum doesn't do a thing about it - then solids do cause a baby to wean too young. But we're not talking about an 18 month old filling up on solids, we're talking about a child under 12 months.
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I did not do CLW with my oldest. I cut him down every step of the way - but even with cutting down, he nursed more than any other child I've ever heard of. (For example, I cut him down to just 12 times at 18 months, down from 20 times at 12 months - and that was with me telling him no a dozen times a day!) I did do the final weaning as well, right before he turned 5 years old. He has sensory issues and was very solid delayed as a result. Then there's DD, who has been on the pure CLW path since her nursing has been managable. I had to work very hard to keep her nursing from the age of 4-12 months due to a terrible distraction phase. She never nursed to sleep. She never nursed for comfort. So I really thought she would wean on her own much younger than ODS. She did daywean herself right before her 2nd b-day, but still nursed 2-4 times at night. (She would only nurse lying down). At 4 years old, she was still nursing 2-4 times a night. She dropped to just 1 time, at bedtime, at around her 5th b-day. That was a few months ago and she's still nursing once a day. So, I really think that had I been able to do CLW with ODS, that DD and ODS would likely be around the same age. (Figuring that most nurslings will stop by 7).  They had totally different nursing styles, yet they both nursed a while. DD has no sensory issues but wasn't really into solids until 16 months, though she started them at 8 months.
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YDS is almost 2.5 years old and has bigger eating issues than ODS did. He did start the occassional bite at 8 months - while ODS wouldn't take his first bite until 11 months. But he didn't learn how to chew until 22 months. He still can go several days without any solids. He does nurse to sleep. He does comfort nurse - but not to the extreme that ODS did. It's too far in the future to know when YDS will wean, but I'd be very surprised if it's before 4.
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*I do think that the parent plays a role and that could influence the kids. Not everyone uses the same strict definition of CLW. Not everyone recognizes things that aren't true CLW - especially when it comes to kids under 2. If you want to nurse until at least 2, then it's most likely you will be able to. It's after that the nurslings differences will vary more since true CLW under 2 is not common.
