Anyone else Nursing?

[Potatolover]

A child? What are you planning on doing? I am nursing a 27 month old.and I'm not sure what I am going to do. I had planned on weaning but I also had planned to get pregnant in June. I guess I am just going to take it one day at a time.

[Mom2Madeline]

My 19 month old is still nursing. I'm trying to nightwean her but don't plan on weaning her completely.

[liseux]

I`m nursing a 31 month old boy. I had hoped to wean before pregnancy also but now I`m just taking it one day at a time. I do not want to nurse two kids in August or September, I`ve btdt, and its not my favorite. I guess I`ll wait & see how it goes, but nursing is very uncomfortable right now and I hope it comes to end soon!

[kblue]

I'm nursing my 25 month old. She's down to nap and bedtime only, though. I don't know if she'll stop anytime soon.

When I got preg with dd2, dd1 was only 15 months and she continued to nurse throughout the pregnancy and after dd2 was born. I tandem nursed until dd1 weaned herself at 30 months.

[Guest*]

I'm nursing my 22-month-old dd. I half-hope she weans herself, but am preparing myself for tandem nursing. DD is just too addicted to the booby to give it up.

Also, there's a thread and pregnancy and nursing going on at the "breasfeeding beyond infancy" board right now. There's some helpful info.

[Potatolover]

Thanks for the for the answers. I ahve friends that have weaned and tandem nursed. I'm hoping to stick around and get support for what ever happens.

[AesSedai]

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[AutumnMama]

DS is 23 months and still nursing quite a bit, including nursing to sleep for bedtime and nap, and several times at night usually.

I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do....the only thing I DO know for sure is that I will be night weaning him sometime within the next 6 months.

I know my own personal limits, and while I would be appreciative if he just decided to wean on his own sometime during this pregnancy, I know that he really does love to nurse, and that I personally could NOT night nurse him as well as the new baby (and still be anything near a good Mama )!!

Soooo, I guess we'll just see how it goes over the next couple of months.
I'm starting to get a bit tender now when he nurses; I'm hoping that it doesn't get as bad as when I nursed DD when I was pg with him...it felt like they were on fire when she latched on!

[GabeMom]

Sounds like there are several posters in this boat... I am nursing my 15 month old. My milk supply seems to have dropped, but he just asks to nurse more often! My biggest concern (like many of you) is nighttime. Nursing is the only way he will fall asleep and still wakes several times a night. I have read about night weaning, but he does not respond well to anything I've tried. This is going to be tricky!! He is currently getting his molars and eye teeth (at the same time!) so I guess I'll wait until he's through that before trying anything else. I keep telling myself we've got time!!

[Guest*]

It's the night-time nursing that scares me, too. I wouldn't want to wean at all if dd would just sleep through the night, or even just wake up once or twice nurse instead of the 6+ times she typically does. If I have to nurse a newborn and toddler who nurses like a newborn, it will be the end of me.

I've tried nightweaning with Dr. Jay Gordon's method, but we weren't completely committed so it didn't work. But dd did respond okay. She was much younger when we tried, however. I'm planning on waiting until she's 2, then try again.

[CryPixie83]

My dd is 18 months and still nursing strong. We hope to go the CLW route, so I'm praying my suplly holds through this pregnancy!

[maciascl]

Originally Posted by jlpolzin

It's the night-time nursing that scares me, too. I wouldn't want to wean at all if dd would just sleep through the night, or even just wake up once or twice nurse instead of the 6+ times she typically does. If I have to nurse a newborn and toddler who nurses like a newborn, it will be the end of me.

This is us too!! My 2 yr old still wakes several times a night & will only be satisfied by nursing. I would like to night wean before the new baby gets here & tandem during the day, but well we all know that what we want & what actaully happens are usually 2 diffrent things I guess we will just take it as is comes & see what happens. Glad to know there are several other nursing mamas here too!

[Niamh]

I'm nursing a 22 month old. My motto has been "As long as it's working for both of us, we'll do it. When it stops working for either one of us, we're done."

So it's uncomfortable for the last few weeks, but not bad. She's mainly down to naps, going to bed, and waking up.

Regarding night weaning, we recently (4 months ago) tried that because we thought I'd need to get a graveyard shift job for a few months. We didn't end up having to go that route, but we tried night weaning anyway.

I tried a method that was introduced to me on these boards. It's incredibly gentle, and night weaning is on the child's terms-if they aren't ready, it won't happen.

Get an ottoman-like the ones that come with your gliding rockers and put it near your bed. When your child wakes up for the first feeding of the night, tell them "OK, but you need to stand up to nurse", get out of bed, sit on the ottoman, and have them stand up to nurse. I did let my daughter lean a bit, but not lay on me. Repeat that everytime they want to nurse.

This is as hard for you for the first few nights as it is for them because you don't want to get up and sit any more than they want to stand. The first three nights went really well. The fourth night was HARD. Lots of "NO 'tan". The fifth night when I said "OK, but you need to stand up to nurse", she stood up on the bed, still 3/4 asleep. It was pretty funny. After that, she still did nurse at night occasionally-but only occassionaly, usually when she was sick-and was content to stand while nursing. She also went right back to sleep after nursing.

Now she nurses to go to sleep and nurses when she wakes up-usually 5 or 6 am.

So if you want to speed the process along, but still want it pretty gentle, you might want to try that. Like I said, if they're not ready to wean at all, they'll let you know pretty strongly. My daughter was ok with it, just didn't like having to wake up to nurse.

[jadzia's_mommy]

I'm nursing my almost 15 month old. We've recently started working on night weaning. It really wasn't too big of a thing because she was never nursing to sleep and I was only nursing her once at night anyway. The main thing was at that one time she'd wake up to nurse, she'd end up awake for 1-2 hours, and it has been murder. So, I'm just trying to eliminate that one nursing session.

She looooves nursing in the daytime so much I don't really have plans to wean right now totally. DH thinks I should, but she gets so happy! The problem is, my supply is already dropping so I don't know if she'll end up weaning herself if it continues to drop early on in the pregnancy. I'm really going to miss it, although I guess it would make things easier when baby #2 comes.

[liseux]

"it felt like they were on fire when she latched on!" Autumnmama

OMG, that is me right now! I am not enjoying nursing, but I`m sticking with it for now.

[AesSedai]

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[VBMama]

I'm also nursing. Ds will be 2 at the end of this month. We are down to three nursing sessions - am waking, naptime, and bedtime. I've been really struggling with nursing. I have a hard time coming out and saying this on MDC, but I don't want to tandem nurse. But I also don't want to wean ds. I guess I'm hoping that my milk will dry up and he will wean himself, but if that doesn't happen, well, I don't know. Taking it one day at a time here also...

[chalynm]

Originally Posted by VBMama

I've been really struggling with nursing. I have a hard time coming out and saying this on MDC, but I don't want to tandem nurse.

Don't feel bad. If you can't be honest here, where can you be?

I felt a little guilty when I weaned dd, too. It was right before her 1st bday...and right before we moved. I know it was a lot of change for her at one time, especially since she stayed w/ my mom for a week while dh and I did the final packing and the big drive from OH to AL. (That was the 1st time she had even spent the night away from us!) I really would have liked to have nursed her longer, but I got so stressed out preparing for the move that I wasn't able to pump anything for the time she was w/ my mom.

I kept berating myself, saying well, if you had just planned better or if you had just not stressed, then we could have picked back up right where we left off. But I think it ended up being good for both of us, in different ways. She's still very much a mama's girl, but she gained a lot of independence in the time we were apart. And I regained my bodily privacy, which I had missed much more than I realized.

Just remember something my m/w told me when discussing the risk vs. benefit of me being on meds during this pg: You can't have a happy baby (or toddler) w/o a happy mom. If you're not comfortable w/ tandem nursing, then it probably wouldn't work for you anyway. And that's OK. You've already lasted so much longer than a lot of mamas out there. Just having nursed at all has already put your ds a step or two above so many other kids. Be proud of what you've done already, and don't run yourself down for what hasn't even happened yet.

[Potatolover]

VBMomma don't feel bad. Truthfully I'm kind of hoping for that too. But I am trying to be open minded I really cherish our nursing relationship. I was planning for her to wean while I was pg in my original plan but now the plan has been changed. It seemed somehow better to me if she weaned st 3 instead of 2 and a half. We all can only do the best we can and hell most of us are going so far and beyond the "average" nursing relationship.

[VBMama]

Thanks for the supportive comments, Chalyn & Potatolover. I just know the standard for nursing is much higher here, but I also know my personal limits. Right now ds is miserably sick so I am glad that we're still nursing at this point.