Introduce Yourself (please don't be afraid to join us) - Page 15

[nicey4887]

My dd is only 18 months but I'm all for child led weaning... although I would love for her to sto0p I'll follow her cues... it seems like she's on her way to being done only nursing randomly now.. but we'll see!

[Belletheacd]

Hi,

I am currently tandem nursing my 23 month old dd and my 6 week old ds. I was bf'd until I was 17 months as a child, so it just came naturally to me to want to nurse my kiddos for so long. My dd is a really booby baby, so we shall see how long she wants to go. I am having some issues with her wanting to nurse everytime she hears her brother even start grunting, so we are working through that. There is a bit of competition for her, understandably so.

I will be honest and say tandeming is *really* uncomfortable for me, but it is a lifesaver when both kids are crying to nurse. I don't like it at all, but I won't stop. It comes in handy when I need it.

I am glad this forum is here!

[paakbaak]

hi, my kid is 17mo...and even when people say that a kid doeant start to self wean before 18mo...mine has been doing it for some months now. we are now at once or twice a day, on good days. other days, "busy" days, he won´t ask and doesn´t want to when i offer...

so yeah, he´s on his way. i don´t force him anymore as i used to, i don´t worry anymore...i just let him set the pace. i hope he doesn´t wean completely cuz he´s a very healthy kid...but i must say i am very very happy that he nurses so little!!!!!!

[Froggie]

Hi there - I'm so happy that MDC has a special forum just for CLW It's such an important part of the nursing journey.

Ds weaned when he was 4 and I am currently nursing 2.5 year old Dd. She is such an acrobat that I came looking for support.

Thanks for being here.
Jenni

[PIOL]

Hello, Im Piol, and I nurse my dd and I am planning to do so for as long as she needs and wants to. She has just rounded her first birthday, but already I get the funny looks and comments like "your milk is without nutrition now" (!) So I find great inspiration and comfort in reading your stories and treads. I hope I in time can give some inspiration back to you all.

[Strockwife]

Little wee one is about to turn 3 and she's eating as we speak!!!

By the way, I love you guys.

You don't know.

[nancyw]

Originally Posted by BLUEKAT941

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!!!

thats wonderful!! Ive had the same thought! why fight with a 14 month old to get her to sleep, or for that matter, a 2 yr old, 3yr old, etc.....

sarah will be 4 in oct and is still happily nursing--happily going to sleep at night--(with slight alterations over time).....its just so nice. not changing anything here!! (except maybe I should update the girls ages in my sig )

[PrincessDoll]

Hi all,

I'm Elle and mom to a beautiful 2.5 yr old boy. He is still actively nursing although I am quite ready to close this chapter of our relationship. I thought when I first got pregnant that I'd "nurse for a year". I didn't put any thought into the temperament of my child or my strong desire to meet my son's needs. Well, that year came and went and we are still nursing. I learned early on that as my son gained language skills, weaning would be easier. The thing is, I didn't realize that I am implementing CLW until I read the intro post here - I respect his needs to nurse but I also need to respect my needs to wean. So I implement limits in a gentle and loving manner with my son. Ideally, I would like for him to be fully weaned by the time he is 3 with some gentle prodding from me. Right now we are basically limited to naps/bedtime and a couple times at night with our nursing. He is very respectful of mommy's milk needing to rest during the daytime. I am happy with where we are in our weaning process and I am just looking to get to know other women who are also experiencing life with a nursing toddler.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone

[mother_sunshine]

Hi PD,
I wrote the intro post and am a little confused as to how you might have interpreted it.....

When we talk about limits within child-led weaning we are not talking about limits with the intention to wean, however gently, or to encourage weaning. There should be no such thing as a mother-led weaning process in child-led weaning. Children slowly decrease nursing (with ups and downs) naturally on their own. Limits should not be intended to speed up that process, they should be used to naturally teach respect and empathy, keep mama sane, and allow the breastfeeding relationship to continue. Respecting one another's needs should go hand in hand in the breastfeeding relationship. Prodding a child to wean by a certain age, imo, is not clw because it is not respecting the child's natural need to nurse until he is ready to wean on his own (which is the only given absolut definition of child-led weaning that we all agree on).

Putting major limits on a child and consistently encouraging/prodding a child to wean until he/she stops would not be child-led weaning imho because it would be less of the child's natural path and more mother-led and mother-encouraged. Reasonable limits, imho, are fine if they are implemented to allow mother and child to continue breastfeeding, not implemented with the expectation of weaning by a certain age.

I hope you will stay and learn more from all the supportive mamas here.

[PrincessDoll]

Oh, I see. I guess then I did misread the intro post. Looks like I can't catch a break, I thought that maybe I would fit in here (I don't with mainstremers and I don't with natural parenters). Sorry to trouble you and I don't want to upset the balance here. I believe what I am doing is allowing my child to ultimately decide while I facilitate and provide gentle and loving limits. It may not be purely CLW but it is CLWish.

I said in my ideal world he'd be weaned by 3, I never said that is what is going to happen if he is not ready for it to happen. This is why I have such trouble finding any support here, I feel lonely in my parenting as I just don't belong anywhere. I will keep on searching until I find my niche. This may not be it, I need encouragement not disapproval.

[mother_sunshine]

No, you misunderstood me. I said I hope that you will stay and learn and gain support from all the mamas here. I just wanted to avoid any further misunderstandings. As the OP of this thread, I don't want people to misunderstand what I said so I felt the need to clarify. Child-led weaning is very subjective but the one given is that we are letting our children decide when to wean, not with our prodding and expectation to wean by a certain age. We can always hope, but if we expect and encourage it then it is no longer clw.

I hope you do stay PD. There is a tremendous amount of much-needed support here. But this isn't the place to argue or debate. Feel free to PM me further if needed.

[PrincessDoll]

Oh, I see mother_sunshine. Thanks for adding that extra reply there. I appreciate that. Take care.

[LotusBirthMama]

Ok...so I am joining up here fairly early, seeing as DS2 is only 6 months old, but I just know I am gonna need TONS of support so you all are stuck w/ me!

I nursed my DD until 2.5, with me very much pushing her to wean starting at 20 months. I nightweaned her then and after that she tapered off to nothing by 2.5ish. With this guy, who is 99 percent sure to be my last, I really want to let him set the timeframe. It makes me nervous b/c I know how antsy I got with Sophie at the year and a half mark, but I am very committed to CLW this go 'round.

So, Hi!

[Hottubgodess]

Hiya!

I am the proud mommy to two boys. Mikey is 3 1/2 and weaned at 24 months. He stopped all by himself (I was bummed). Then after 1 month, he got the stomach flu. My husband actually asked me to nurse him, so we relactated, which was pretty easy. After a month, he weaned again.

Timmy is 15 mos, and I have to remind him to nurse. He wants to keep up with big brother, but he loves his "nah" too. I will let him decide - it is not like he is going to nurse before going to the prom.....lol. And he wont be this size forever....

[RadiantMama]

Okay, I'm in!

Thank you mother sundine...

my name is anna and i have two children aged 3 1/2 and 6 months.

i love child led weaning, in fact, we do consensual living as well which is basically "child led" also and unschooling (aka Child Led Learning)

Anyhow, I just wanted to share our story of "weaning" which I always did hate that term...after dd 2 was born, i was tandem nursing for awhile (the football hold on both worked very nicely with my back against the wall on the bed)...then i got thrush...it was like the three of us were passing it back and forth and i just couldn't keep up with who had it... we tried everything, even the allopathic path! Finally, I got the nystatin again and said to my elder daughter, "I can't nurse right now because of the thrush, I am taking medicine for seven days and then you can nurse again." We were down to about 2-3 times a day, mostly for bedding down and sleeping...but she didn't really fuss, she was understanding, but DID BECOME MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THE BABY@!!! Now it's about four months later and a few days ago she said "I'm not done with milka!" So we nursed for a minute...that was all.

It helped for me to call the BABY's breastmilk "nummies" while hers had been "milka"--she really did understand that it was different, in fact, when the baby was born she said my milk tasted bad!

I wish I could have nursed her longer, it just hurt so bad. 3 years 8 months is pretty good right? I heard once that we tandem nurse to be good parents and connect with our children, and if we are not connecting with them and are so frustrated, that helping them stop nursing will help you become a better parent. Oooo--that sounds bad--what i mean is that if you need to take a break from ANYTHING (including nursing) to be a better parent, DO IT, because we are here to be good parents and that is our job...and we love our children so dearly.

DD1 did get into snuggling me more after she weaned. I think the whole process for her took a year or more, but I never pushed her till the end. What I mean is that I never turned her down for milk until the last two months.

Anyway...I hope this helps...please PM me for advice or chatter

I will sub this thread.

LOVELOVELOVE!!!!!

[Mona]

feeling the need to join others w/ older todders who are nursing.
my dd is 4.75 and nursing about every other day. sometimes she forgets and it is a few days.
today she is sick and has nursed a few times today.

[TryingMommas]

Hi -
I'm Rachel and planning to CLW (as much as one can when working FT out of the house). Em is 15 mo and is my first, and we have been blessed to have a easy, wonderful nursing relationship thus far.

I so appreciate the motivational and inspirational stories here (though the re-hashing whether a given situation is "real" CLW gets a little old I have to say).

Thank you thank you to everybody who posts words of encouragement for mamas to keep offering the miracle juice to the wee ones until they are ready to move on!

[mama2toby]

Hi! I'm Stella and i've almost been nursing my ds for 3 years. Like alot of people when I first got pregnant I thought I would breastfeed for only 1 year. But lucklily I had a few close friends who had babies just ahead of me and nursed past that 1 year mark, so when my little guy turned a year old it was natural to continue. He still nurses alot, day and night. And I plan on continuing until he's ready to quit.

[JennaW]

Hello! Can you help me?

Hello Everyone,

My name is Jenna and while I am not a mommy yet, I hope to be one day. I joined this board because after I am done with college in December, I plan to pursue getting my IBCLC certification. I am very interested (and supportive!) of CLW. I have another friend that works for WIC as a lactation specialist and we were talking today about nursing into and past toddlerhood. I remembered I had read an article online written by Mom a while back talking about this and how she helped established repect with her daughter about nursing (i.e. not pulling on her shirt, ect..) My friend very much wanted to see this article and I can't find it for the life of me! Does anyone else have the hyperlink saved? Thank you so much!

Jenna

[~PurityLake~]

Katreena, 33 year old Mama, tandem-nursing 28.5 month old Abigail and 13.5 month old Sophia, hoping to led my children wean themselves in their own time.

Some days I'm so sick of being groped, prodded, climbed on, sucked on, etc, I wonder if I'll be able to, but I still think it's what I'll do.