How Long Can we last?

[tarahsolazy]

My nursling son is 10 months old, and I have been much more profoundly moved by our nursing relationship than I ever thought I would be. I always knew I'd nurse at least a year, and figured that I'd just let DS quit nursing on his own. I guess that's CLW, huh? I am just concerned he will wean or have a strike that doesn't resolve sooner than I hope. I really would like to nurse until at least two, and have no upper maximum age in mind, its up to my lad. But, he's always been a quick nurser, never nursed more than every two hours or so, and sleeps through the night. (Self night weaned) I WOHM full-time and pump for him, and will continue to do so for at least several more months. I am just scared that, since he's a quick nurser already, he'll stop sometime between 1 and 2. Is there anything I can do, other than offering frequently when I am home, and nursing him whenever he gives me cues, to help keep us going? Quitting work is not an option, DH is a SAHD, I keep us going financially.

I get the impression (I don't know where) that its not CLW when your 1-2 yr old stops nursing, its a strike, is that a commonly held belief/fact?

Anyone with a similar nursling that went on to wean at a time when they could articulate that they were weaning?

[Victorian]

CLW means you nurse until they are done. If your child decides to wean at 13 months than that is that. Usually when babies wean themselves it is a gradual weaning. If they suddenly stop nursing, that is a strike and can be remedied (my ds ended a 26 day strike at the end of November!)

My son is a comfort nurser so I can't really respond to that part. Although I do know that if he weaned I would be so sad

V.

[sparkeze]

My DS was also a quick nurser who didn't nurse for comfort... until he turned a year old! Once he was walking pretty well he suddenly started wanting to nurse every 10 minutes all day and it was a huge shocker for me! He was one of those nurse for 5, longest 10 min each feeding every 2-3 hours type of babies and I was sure he would wean early. But the ability to run away from me quickly seemed to make him want to stay as close as possible to me. He nursed a LOT until he was almost 2 and then he cut way back between 2 and now he's 33 mo. Maybe he will still wean relatively early (by 3 maybe?) but certainly he wasn't ready to wean when he was 1.

With what I've heard/read it seems like if you continue to encourage your child to nurse, the child will rarely wean before 18-24 mo. And I've heard that if you wean before 12 mo it's not too hard, but if you make it into the toddler stage it will be a real struggle...

[foreverinbluejeans]

It is hard to predict what will happen in the future. What can you do now to try to maximize your nursing relationship? You could minimize or eliminate bottles. Your baby is old enough to drink from a cup. You could sleep with your baby if you aren't already. Enjoy your nursing relationship as much as possible now since you don't know how long it is going to last.

Some people think its not CLW if the baby is under 2 or so or if the baby weans because of a separation, illness or the mom is pregnant. The worldwide average age of weaning is 4.2 years.