DD is 17 mos. I figured it up yesterday, and even on days when she's in daycare for 8 hours, she nurses at least six times. And these aren't quick nips, but LONG sessions. Some nights she hardly lets go all night, she nurses for up to an hour on the way home unless she falls asleep, even our on-the-way to daycare session is usually 15-20 min.
On days she's w/ me, she will go some long daytime stretches and mostly nurses before naps, plus a few short sessions and her usual nighttime sessions.
The past couple of weeks it's been a bit more than that because she's been sick. But even when not sick, she nurses almost as much now as she did a year ago. She eats solids, though not quite as much as other toddlers I've seen, even BF'ed ones.
She's also quite petite, only 18 1/2 lbs. The ped has no concerns about her growth as she's on a consistent curve, etc. I don't worry about her weight, either.
But when is she going to let up? At a LLL meeting the other day the leader (a friend of mine) told me to quit mentioning how much she nurses in front of the pg/new moms for fear of scaring them off extended BF'ing! (She was kidding, sort of, but none of her three nursed this much at this age, either.)
On days she's w/ me, she will go some long daytime stretches and mostly nurses before naps, plus a few short sessions and her usual nighttime sessions.
The past couple of weeks it's been a bit more than that because she's been sick. But even when not sick, she nurses almost as much now as she did a year ago. She eats solids, though not quite as much as other toddlers I've seen, even BF'ed ones.
She's also quite petite, only 18 1/2 lbs. The ped has no concerns about her growth as she's on a consistent curve, etc. I don't worry about her weight, either.
But when is she going to let up? At a LLL meeting the other day the leader (a friend of mine) told me to quit mentioning how much she nurses in front of the pg/new moms for fear of scaring them off extended BF'ing! (She was kidding, sort of, but none of her three nursed this much at this age, either.)
. Our kids know a lot more about how much they need to nurse and what is normal *for them* than we do. We sometimes forget this!
My dd is now 3.5 and she still nurses quite frequently some days but nowhere near what she did between 15-22 months. And she too was a long nurser. I always wondered how other babes could nurse and go so quickly -- my dd wanted to be snuggled up in my arms, sometimes for 30+ minutes! From speaking with other moms, between 15-19 months is a very common time for a child to increase nursing. She could be "stocking up" when you are home to tide her over when you are apart or she could simply be becoming more independent and you are a reassurance and a comfort to her. And that said, when my dd was sick a few weeks ago she nursed a LOT and it took us almost 2 weeks to get back to our regular schedule. There are so many "normals" -- as long as you are both comfortable with the new "schedule" than go with what works. It will change again before you know it!
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