Introduce Yourself (please don't be afraid to join us) - Page 14

[mama sadie]

lunchtime

Thanks! I am keeping a diary of nursing and napping times this week and am going to try timing my lunchbreak around them.

[redpajama]

Okay, I think I'm ready.

I'm Susan, 26-year-old SAHM to two. When my son was born, I was committed to breastfeeding "exlusively for 6 months, and then until a year," because that's what all the mainstream parenting books I was reading at the time said was best, and I'd be damned if I was going to break any of the "rules." I guess I had an image in my mind of nursing him off to sleep on the eve of his first birthday, and him awaking the next morning to a tall stack of flapjacks and a cup off coffee, black. As it turned out, though, he rather liked to nurse, and as his first birthday approached, it became clear to me that he would probably be closer to 18 months before he weaned. Shortely thereafter, I became pregnant, and read in all sorts of books about how my milk would change flavor on him, and then dry up, and then turn to colostrum--and this would all make it very likely that he would wean on his own during the course of the pregnancy. But as my due date approached, I could usually look down at my breast and see two blue eyes looking back up at me.
Then came the day--and I'll never forget it--when I looked down and there were FOUR beautiful blue eyes looking up at me. Lucy was born when Sam was almost 22 months old, and it occurred to me then that he would probably nurse until he was between 2 and 2-and-a-half.
He's nearly two-and-a-half.
Before I had my baby, 12 months seemed like a perfectly reasonable age at which to wean. Crying-it-out seemed logical. Co-sleeping, dangerous. Vaccinations, proactive. Babywearing, impractical. But come to find out, I didn't need a book to tell me how to nurture my children. All I needed were their big blue eyes.
I've stopped guessing, for the most part, at when he will wean. I'm in no hurry, and neither is he. I trust that he'll know when he's ready. And then everyone can begin asking me when his sister will wean--and that will make, no doubt, for an interesting change-of-subject!

So...that's me. Glad to be here. Glad there's a "here" for me to be.

[Redheaded_Momma]

Hi! this seems like a place I want to be I am my DS (7.5months) and have no intentions of stopping. I knew even before I got pg I wanted to BF and BF for a long time. I have many reasons but the most important one for me is the decreased risk of breast cancer (my Mom has had breast cancer for almost 15 years) and all the other obvious reasons.

When I look down at my DS when he is BF I just cannot fathom it ending. I cringe at the thought. I have some friends who have EBF so I have a supportive community but it never hurts to have more support!

Nikki

[Tessarakt]

Introducing myself!

Hello! I'm Jen, sahm to 18 month old dd, Caelen. I've been lurking around mdc for quite some time but this is the first time I'm posting. I usually read the lactivism forum, but, well, I'm caught up, so I've moved on to this one. LOL

I WANT to let Caelen wean in her own time, I firmly believe it is best for her. She's just really trying my patience recently between the all night nursathons and the insane pinching. I hope that maybe I can pick up some tips to help or at least knowing that her behavior is NORMAL (and that she's not just insane, well she is, but that's another post ... )will help.

[granola_mom]

Hi my name is Chloe, I'm a SAHM to Maaike, six months. That's coming to an end soon as I've just become a doula and am going back to school in the fall (considering pursuing midwifery). My little one is still exclusively breastfed and I plan to let her self-wean. I just moved to a new city so dont really have a network of supportive people, but am going to get into LLL soon. This forum is looking better and better!

[gingerbane]

Hi, my name is Caitlin. I'm not really a mom yet (I still have 8 months to go). But I am from a family who definitely believes in the benefits of breastfeeding. My mom breastfed me until I was almost three. I definitely plan on breastfeeding my baby until he/she is ready to stop. I'm really excited about CLW and am so happy to have found this message board.

[elizabethrose]

Hi! i'm Mary (elizabeth and rose are my dd's middle names). I'm bfing my 2 yr old son, Benjamin, and plan on CLW. I pumped for a year with my middle dd due to bfing problems, so when Benny was born, and able to nurse, I was so ecstatic. There is no way I'm going to let anything interfere with our bfing realationship. I am so happy to have found this board.

[jojospok23]

Since I'm reading here now, I guess I should say hi

I'm Joanne and my DD, Abigail is 26 months old. She still nurses maybe 4 times a day on a slow day and 8, or more on a needy day. She nurses at night too, at least three times a night and up-to sometimes eight.

I have no intention to do anything but let her decide when the time has come to stop, and it's getting more and more funny looks all the time. Only one person has so far given me grief and reading what I am doing here I am very grateful for that!

[BensMamacita]

Hi Mamas!

When I was pregnant w/my ds I knew that I would be nursing him, but I didn't know much about it and figured he would wean sometime around one year. Well, here we are at 18 mos. and now I can see that he's nowhere near ready to wean, and that's fine with me. I'm a working mom, and nursing is a great way for me to re-connect with my ds in the evenings (and all night and in the morning, lol).

My dh is very supportive of our nursing relationship, he has always commented that he gets such a feeling of peace when ds latches on. Neither of us knew much about it before having ds (he was never nursed, I was nursed for only a few months), but we both feel strongly that ds will wean when he's ready. I feel lucky that he's cool with it. Our ped. is also supportive of it, which is great.

I'm so glad that this forum is here for us to share our stories, concerns, etc.

Happy nursing!

[kittn]

HI there!
i am Annemarie. I currently have 2 nurslings Sammy is almost 3 and Nate who is almost 5weeks. I nursed my two older boys until they self weaned as well. In the last 12 years I have spent 94 months of them nursing. thats well over half the time!
I honestly started nursing because my mom convinced me to. I had the formula and bottles all bought for my oldest son (hey I was 17, i thought thats what i was supposed to do) my mom convinced me to do it for 3 months. Honestly I let my first self wean because I had no idea how to wean and just didnt want the fight. I felt sad taking something away from him that really was just so important to him. so I set my mind to do the same for all of them. at first i would say 2 was it. then 3. then if I got pregnant again. well i've stuck to nothing . i am a gutless flipflopper except when it comes to letting my babies decide when they get to be done with one of the most important stages of their lives.

[VeganMamaRed]

Hello to all! I have been lurking here for a long time and just recently became a member.
My DD Jamie nursed on demand until she self-weaned at 21 months. She and I worked through a lot of initial latch issues to go on and have a great nursing relationship.

My DS is 23 months and still nursing very strong. He was in the NICU when he was tiny and had a lot of aggressive suctioning and an NG tube for 4 weeks. As a result, he has a pretty severe oral aversion. He is still almost exclusively nursing, will not tolerate solid food of almost any kind. He will occasionally eat a cracker or a piece of rice cake, but that is rare. He gets therapy twice a week to help him tolerate solids and has been having it for the last year, without much progress. He nurses probably 20 times in a 24 hour period. We co-sleep and he nurses off and on all night long. I don't see him weaning any time soon, obviously. He loves to nurse.

[sadhitia]

hello all

My name is Erin. I am tandem nursing my two daughters. They are Frida (4 in October) and Arlo, who just turned oone. We are going strong, and while Frida is only nursing a few times a week, she loves to nurse, and I don't see her weaning any time soon.

Erin

[Hearts Connected]

Hi, mama of a nursing allmost 4 y.o.!

Hi,
Thought I'd join in, I'm Grace- mama to my sweet Hope who is allmost 4 and still nursing. Never thought I'd be nursing an allmost 4 y.o. but it has been such a sweet journey!
We are working on another little one, and are so excited about that!
Hope nurses maybe once or twice a day for a minute and then at night after stories for a short minute and then goes to sleep. I never thought the day would come where she would stop nursing on her own and just roll over still awake and just go to sleep, LOL!
Anyways, glad to know there are so many child-led weaning mamas out there!
Keep it up sweet mamas!!!

[mirpmama]

Finally posting my info!

at least i think i have not done it before - who knows! i am karin and i am tandem nursing an almost 5 year old and a 16 month old! i, like some previous posters (redpajama's made me cry!! it was like i wrote it!), figured i would nurse my ds till 1, then 18 months, then i found mothering and read about clw and my life changed - everything i had been doing and wanting to do was here, with other people who helped me know i was not a freak - i was a natural ap mama! thank you mdc and all you mamas! clw is very very important to our family - dh is totally supportive - thank GOD! and these forums here are a God send!! rock on mamas!

[Coco_Hikes]

just passed one year

Hi, mamas,

I'm H, my daughter S turned one two weeks ago (zoom!). Prior to S's birth I didn't have a set timeframe of how long we'd be nursing. I do remember that when my little bean was around seven months old one of our playgroup mamas (all nursers) made a comment along the lines of "When she can ask for it--it's time to quit." and the other mamas agreed. I just nodded idly, not especially commiting one way or the other to the conversation. But now that S has been making the "milkies" sign for a few months, that conversation replays in my mind over and over and I laugh--stop now that she can ask for it?? Pshaw. So, yeah, we are on board with CLW.

Edited by Coco_Hikes - 6/12/11 at 3:21pm

[GodChick]

nak

i'm a clw-er and tandem nurser. nursed dd1 until she was 4, along with dd2 until she was 2 (she weaned due to low supply during pg) and am currently nursing my 2 month old ds. i love clw because i really believe it is respectful of each child's unique needs and personality.

[SammysMama]

Hi from California

Hi all, I'm not new but am returning after taking a couple years off the forum. We will have been nursing for 3 years in Aug. I was all for CLW but the nipple twirling and nipping is really getting annoying. Family members are not very supportive and hubby thinks we should quit because I get frustrated with the night nursings and nipple fiddling. In my heart I know she will stop nursing when she is ready and I think I should find better ways deal with nursing an older toddler. My major problem is support. I don't know anyone withing 50 miles that nurses a toddler. Yeah, moms say they breastfed, but if you pry it was for 3 or 6 months. IMHO that age was a piece of cake, no wiggling, twiddling, hanging off your breasts.... Oh that was what I call peaceful nursing.

Anyways, Happy to be here!

[Swallace]

intro

hello everyone! wanted to say a little about myself so you all can get to know me and i can get to know you!!!
I am a mother of 3, Sage is my oldest 4 in feb, Maya just turned 3 , 3 days after my birthday and then there is Micah .. he will be one at the end of july and I enjoying every minute of it!!
I breastfed Sage till he was a little over 3 and occasionally will have a suckle her and ther but has forgotten how so he kind of just sucks...I Tandem nursed Maya and Sage and nursed Sage obviously through pregnancy. I had problem nursing sage in the beginning. He is my high spirited child and had what say was acid reflux, colic, but i don't think it really was. breastfeeding got off to a difficult start from a difficult birth. I think the beginning isd why our breastfeeding relationship did not last as long as i wished...
Then came Maya , beautiful birth, Nursed often adn comfort nursed alot. She is still nursing about 1-2 x a day. she wants to nurse more but I get soem weird feeligns that i wish i could get over and just turn them off. I know it is the best thing for her and she really needs it but i feel very anxious about it to say the least.. I really need some inspiration and motivation and ideas how to get over that hump. I am still nursing Micah and love it as well. plan to nurse him as long as possible as well as Maya. This feeling seems to happen about the age of 3. Same feeling i had with Sage and We ended our nursing relationship on it .
I don't know if this is natural or nature telling me to wean or if maybe I am just overstressed and touched out. I have been involved with LLL since Sage was 6 months but having micah i felt like i really did not need any more help but am now thinking of going back
looking forward to hearing more stories to be inspired and empowered...

[BLUEKAT941]

Newby

HI MY NAME IS KATIE. MOTHER OF MOLLY WHO IS 14 MONTHS OLD....I AM NEW TO HERE AND JUST INTERESTED IN ALL THE INFORMATION THE OTHER MOM'S ARE PROVIDING....I AM CURRENTLY TRYING TO WEAN MY DAUGHTER BUT DONT HAVE THE HEART YET TO CUT HER OFF--SOMETIMES THAT IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET SLEEP!!!: I HAVE DECIDED THAT NO MATTER WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WANTS TO TELL ME, I WILL LET MOLLY DECIDE WHEN SHE IS READY TO STOP....SHE HAS SLOWLY CUT HERSELF OFF BUT I KNOW THAT SHE STILL NEEDS IT FOR THE COMFORT AND I ENJOY THE BOND WE HAVE!!!

[e.naomisandoval]

I'll intro because I could use some help. My older daughter weaned sometime after 5 and I would not say it was completely child-led. I was pretty keen for her to stop years before that but wanted to let ler lead and she really needed it so badly. By the time she finally agreed to weaning, my 2nd dd was probably about 1. Now she's over 3 and I would really like to be done once and for all (and how ironic she's nursing at this very moment) but I don't know how to make that happen and continue to work at home. Now off to surf a bit.