Introduce Yourself (please don't be afraid to join us) - Page 13

[claras_mom]

Hmmmmm..........well.................

I feel as if I'm making a commitment by introducing myself in this forum, but it's pretty much the same feeling I had when dh proposed; i.e. full of trepidation, but knowing it's exactly the right thing to do!

Dd is 27 months; at first I figured we'd go to a year (my main model was my sil, who'd nursed my niece until 9 months, which at the time seemed pretty impressive). But at a year, I didn't want to stop and neither did Clara. And then I thought, well....let's go to 2 years. And that milestone has come and gone--it just starts to seem kind of arbitrary, KWIM?

[PrennaMama]

I totally kwum.

[MadameOvary]

OK, since you asked so nicely...

I'm a 46-yo mom (yes, I'm the mom, not the grandmother) to one DS, who will turn 3 yo in May. DH and I have been married for almost 24 years. We never thought we'd have children -- always too busy with our careers, etc. But now that we have one, wow! We love being parents. We both WOHM FT.

DS has been a boob monster since birth, and still loves to nurse...although we have cut back to about 3x/day.

Like many posters I have conflicting feeling about nursing and weaning. Some days I'm ready to wean, but on others the mere though about stopping just tears me up.

Anyway, I'm happy to have this forum!

Kathy

[amyamanda]

Originally Posted by PrennaMama

So did I read it right that you at one point were pregnant with a fourth child, while you were nursing all three of the others? That is incredible... I can't even imagine....

Thanks. Yep, that's right. My oldest had just turned five when I got pregnant with #4.

I did encourage him to wean fairly early in my pregnancy (my oldest, that is - I kept nursing the other two). It felt very complicated, balancing everyone's needs, and sometimes it was impossible.

Just as an aside, I've "met" a handful of moms online and IRL - maybe five, total? - who have nursed three at a time, and at least one who got pregnant with her fourth while nursing the first three.

[cuttiebearmom]

I'll jump in. I'm a 28 yo SAHM to two little girls. DD2 is still nursing all the time at 19 months, I can't even imagine an end anywhere on the radar and am very excited to witness the changes as she can communicate more of her feelings about nursing. Currently she shouts 'YUMMY' whenever she is done. Pretty cute.

DD1 is almost 4 and I had thought for sure that she would nurse right through my pregnancy with dd2 but she just gradually stopped (around 20mo. - 2 mo before DD2 came along). Nothing I did could change it. She is a major cuddle bug and I remember her telling me milk was 'icky' when I was pregnant. There must have been a serious taste change or something.

I've just started getting lots of 'how long will you nurse' questions with dd2. It's amazing that so many people think a 1.5 y/o shouldn't be nursing, jeez

[*mama moose*]

alright, I've been lurking a ton, so I'll jump in even though my DD is young! I'm Phoenix, my DD is 8 months today.
When I was pregnant, I just assumed we'd stop at a year, I thought thats when you were "supposed to", but I never thought about it much. When I was about 30 weeks pregnant I went to my first LLL meeting and met my now best friend who was nursing her 2 yo at the meeting, she was pretty much the first person to let me know CLW even existed, but I knew right then I wouldn't wean my DD at a year. Shortly after I had DD my LLL leader told me about MDC I have since been lurking on this board:
By this point I'm confident that I want to let my DD CLW no matter what it takes. Its so nice to know this community is here for me when people start with their "comments" and judgements. DH is very supportive of me nursing DD as long as she wants to and he thinks its super cute when our friends son uses his "monster voice" to say "where did my La La go?" and tickles his mommy before nursing
The rest of my family will probably have a fit once DD is over a year, but as long as my DH and best friend stays supportive, I think I'll be ok :

anyways, back to lurking, but thanks for the oppertunity to say hello!

[mother_sunshine]

Mamas

[Mama2ABCD]

i'm going to update my nursing status since i last posted on page 2.

Originally Posted by amyamanda

and at least one who got pregnant with her fourth while nursing the first three.

i think this is me because i remember asking you for advice on nursing 3 and being preg on the tandem thread. we got thru and i've been nursing 4 for the last 8 1/2 months. thank you, your advice was very valueable.:

My oldest nursling has his 7th birthday in 10 days. He and his 1st brother still nurse a few minutes several times a day (and when they do get real sick, then it's great to be able to nurse them more). i never in my wildest imagination figured 7 years ago that i'd be nursing my 1st born along with 3 more. I was just hoping to be able to start out nursing my newborn successfully. Nursing/tandeming has truely been a blessing for my family. And i thank God everyday for this gift (talent? ha, ha). I'm not sure when the oldest is going to wean, but i trust his need and i can spare a few minutes each day for his need. I see the wonderful child that he is and know that nursing has played a major role.

I have 100% support of my dh, and by long distance my dad who is an anthropology buff and loves to send me articles backing up my stance. i think me and my children are living experiments to him. my in-laws respect my decisions and realize it's my son's decision to still nurse.

And i'm super greatful to this forum and others like it that supports other mom's that know the value of full term nursing.

[momma earthical]

Hi, I'm Laura, I nursed my ds1 for 13mo when he self weaned to my total dismay. I now realise it was most likely a nursing strike but as I was the only person I knew who breastfed and I hadn't yet discovered La Leche League I wasn't aware of that possibility at the time. Currently I'm tandem nursing my 3.5yo dd and my 16mo ds2. This time around I totally want to do CLW but I'm having a really hard time with my dd's latch. I have questions about that and will post seperately.

Thanks

[Aura_Kitten]

I think I'm officially coming to join y'all.

My dd is 2.5 yo... I weaned her once due to medical issues and then re-lactated, and now she happily nurses on demand frequently ~~ whenever I'm home.

She has shown no interest in weaning, and I plan to go as long as she wants.

[Shenjall]

Originally Posted by Aura_Kitten

I think I'm officially coming to join y'all.

My dd is 2.5 yo... I weaned her once due to medical issues and then re-lactated, and now she happily nurses on demand frequently ~~ whenever I'm home.

She has shown no interest in weaning, and I plan to go as long as she wants.

Thats so awesome! And very inspiring.

[Ks Mama]

Hello! DD is 31 months, and I'm pregnant with DS, due in June! Excited to embark on our tandem nursing journey. Pregnancy has been difficult at times to honor DD's still strong nursing needs, but it's important to all of us that DD feels comfortable nursing as long as she needs to. I'm just waiting on that good milk to come back!

I've found the concept of CLW to be so natural to myself, and DH... and yet, it seems so difficult to find anyone, even in LLL, that really follows or even understands this concept. "I weaned her at X age" or "I will wean her when she turns X" seems so normal to say for so many nursing mothers, and I'll admit I never saw anything wrong with that in my early months of nursing... it's just as DD has gotten older, DH & I realize more & more how important nursing is to her deveopment, and our closeness as a family, and we follow DD's lead on so many deveopmental issues (sleeping, etc), that it seems only natural & right to follow her lead with nursing, no matter how out of the norm it is.

Anyhow, this has been a great site for support & education.

[angelachristine]

I just stumbled upon this board, well this whole forum really. My goal since DD was born has always been to breastfeed for at least 2 years or until she wants to stop. I may not be a true CLW because I work full time and plan to stop pumping at work therefore wean DD from a couple day nursings, but I think she will know best when it's time for her to stop nursing completely. The more I read, the more excited I am to tandum nurse. (I'm not even pg again, but still want to tandum.) It's great to find a group of women who are still bfing their child, regardless of age.

[rmzbm]

amyamanda - you're awesome!

[Firemom]

Originally Posted by angelachristine

I just stumbled upon this board, well this whole forum really. My goal since DD was born has always been to breastfeed for at least 2 years or until she wants to stop. I may not be a true CLW because I work full time and plan to stop pumping at work therefore wean DD from a couple day nursings, but I think she will know best when it's time for her to stop nursing completely. The more I read, the more excited I am to tandum nurse. (I'm not even pg again, but still want to tandum.) It's great to find a group of women who are still bfing their child, regardless of age.

Your still a true clw even if you work. I nursed my dd until she was almost 6 and I worked

[faerygirl36]

Hi! I nursed my first son to ten months, my second son to 12 months and my third son (also my last) is three years old and we're still going strong! I didn't realize I supported CLW until recently when I started telling people who'd ask that I will wean when he's ready, plain and simple.

[SUNMAMA]

Hello everyone! I'm nursing my 3 1/2 year old dd and she has been nursing 10-12 times a day for the last several months, she has always been a lover of the boob, nursing long and often. I have recently made a Mochy Chart to document for both myself and her how much she actually nurses, I just couldn't do it 12 times a day, my boobs were hurting. So I've been telling her she can nurse after she eats her lunch or dinner, I'm not interested in weaning her but I think 4-6 times a day is more doable for me. Is this still considered childled weaning, cause I could sure use some support! She seems ok with this arrangement for the most part. Thanks and so glad you supermommas are here!

[mother_sunshine]

You might get a wide range of answers here in the clw forum but, imo, reasonable limits are fine at 3 1/2 yrs. Breastfeeding is not only about nourishment, comfort, immunity etc., it is also a 2-way relationship. Learning how to work together, showing empathy and compassion, and respecting one another are all important parts of the relationship (and life itself).

If these reasonable limits help you maintain your sanity so that you may continue to breastfeed, then I don't see any negatives in that. It is absolutely still in line with child-led weaning.

[mama sadie]

starting to leave DD at home

Hello all:

Former lurker - I just joined for real. My DD is just over 9 months old and I have been bringing her to work with me since 2 mo. (Very understanding and casual office.) I have family members come and watch her there so I can get work done, but now she is getting mobile and I think would be better off at home. Also work schedule is heating up and I won't be able to be with her 24/7 for much longer. I BF on cue, but she LOVES her "solid foods" and even though I offer BF frequently, I notice she is really only going for it at nite and morning (co-sleeping) and at around lunch time and dinner time. I am thinking of leaving her at our house with Auntie or Grandma and having them bring her to me for lunch time BF. Due to bizarre storage issues (my milk goes bad easily due to some special protein) pumping is not working well. Should I just see if she will go with the lunchtime routine, or go to the darkside and have them offer a little formula during the day if I am not available?

Any other hints for transitioning to work? My boss is thankfully very flexible, so I can make my own schedule, including working at home sometimes.

I hope to continue BF as long as she wants - we both love it.

Also - due to work schedule, I need to start transitioning to having DH or Auntie or Grandma put her to bed occasionally, so I am trying to stop ONLY nursing to sleep, although I am happy to most of the time. Any pointers?

- Sadie

[Firemom]

Originally Posted by mama sadie

Should I just see if she will go with the lunchtime routine, or go to the darkside and have them offer a little formula during the day if I am not available?

If can nurse at lunch time that would be great. You can get away with no formula.

Any other hints for transitioning to work?
Also - due to work schedule, I need to start transitioning to having DH or Auntie or Grandma put her to bed occasionally, so I am trying to stop ONLY nursing to sleep, although I am happy to most of the time. Any pointers?

- Sadie

Both of my kids pretty easily went to sleep on their own with grandma and still slept with me when I was home. So, I really have no other pointers for you there