Breastfeeding 27 month old

[ramblinrose]

Hi all! I have a 27 month old that we adopted when she was 5 1/2 months. I taught her to breastfeed with induced lactation at 6 months of age. She is 27 months and still nursing..which is fine, but I really don't think I have any milk, and I'm just wondering if she will ever stop? I do tell her no sometimes, but she gets pretty insistent and tantrumy about it. I would imagine it gets harder to wean as they get older? Any experiences out there??

[Momtwice]

"Did you say your name was ramblin' rose...."

Excuse me I was just singing a little song.

Each mom and baby's story is different. (And what a wonderful thing YOU have done!)

Some kids wean themselves as a very young toddler and their moms grieve. Some kids nurse for years. Some moms feel they want the child to decide, others want to have more say themselves.

It's all good.

For me, with the child who weaned herself, it wasn't hard (the weaning) on her because it was her choice. She was older than 2 though.

Some books that can help:
How Weaning Happens
Mothering Your Nursing TOddler

[velcromom]

My 27 month old still nurses anywhere from 3 to 6 times a day, depending on what we are doing. He had a big drop in frequency right after he turned two, but I think he's teething and he's been asking to nurse more often lately. I won't mind if he keeps going for however long he needs to. He won't be nursing forever, one day I'll realize "he didn't nurse today!" and know he's on his way to weaning. I know there are quite a few mamas here who allowed their dc to CLW, maybe they will chime in too.

[OTMomma]

Wow, I am really impressed at you for nusing.

Anyway, with the ideal weaning situation, the child is ready to wean when the mother wants to wean and it goes smoothly. I think some children are much more attached to the breast than others and those children demand to nurse longer. Personally, I didn't set out to nurse as long as I have (33 months), but my dd was a very attached nurser and I never wanted to turn our nursing relationship into something that I would have bad memories about. I do think that I am going to encourage weaning when she turns 3, because I think I'll be ready to stop. And I think it will go MUCH more smoothly that it would have a few months ago. I've noticed she has become less attached to the breast over the last few months and happier with being comforted in other ways. So my conclusion is that your child being older does not necessarily make weaning any harder than it would be right now and an older child may be more ready to move on from this stage of life.

I hope that helps. Good luck to you whatever you decide is right for you and your dc.

[TiredX2]

do tell her no sometimes, but she gets pretty insistent and tantrumy about it. I would imagine it gets harder to wean as they get older? Any experiences out there??

In some ways (and at some times) that can be true. BUT, basically what you are saying is it is harder to take something away from someone when they value it more, kwim?

It was very very very easy (for me) when DD weaned. She did it on her own... you can't get much easier than that, you know?

I think it is GREAT you have nursed DD that long, esp after inducing lactation. What a gift for you both.