those with 3+y.o. nurslings, where are you?

[SereneBabe]

I only know one other person offline who is nursing a child as old as Maya. I'm wondering where you mamas live? Just curious to know if there's some kind of geographic trend for this little forum, or, whatevah...

Do you know others nursing "older" children?

--Heather

[aileen]

well, i'm in jamaica plain, one of the "crunchier" boston neighborhoods. and while i'm pretty sure i'm the only mama i know in real life who's nursing a 4.5 year old (one woman i know nursed til 5), i had a funny zoo moment the other day. a beautiful mama and i were watching our children climb on a statue of kiki, the mama gorilla at the local zoo, and somehow it came up the kiki was still nursing her baby and would for 3 to 5 years and the mama said, "well, it is jamaica plain!". but still, i'm pretty sure i'm bucking the curve around here. we moved from portland, OR two years ago and i felt like i was the only one around here nursing a two year old and it made me homesick and then i realized all my mama friends there were finishing up too and before i knew it we were the last pair standing. not that we stand to nurse. well, we have but...
all this is just to say, "yeah - i'm curious too."
when i think about it i don't know how many people know she still nurses.
so maybe there are other pairs i don't know about.
i guess i'll wait to see who replies to this thread!

[astrophe27]

Florida, nursing a 3 yr old, 7 mos daughter.

A.

[broodymama]

WA, just west of Seattle. I know one other mama who is nursing a 3+ year old.

[MamaMonica]

I'm in the PNW, too but my town is uncrunchy. I'm nursing one way over three... I know one other mom IRL nursing in the 3+ age range.

[alegna]

I'm in Houston. Dd turned 3 in August. Off the top of my head I know of at least 3 other nearly 3s or over who still are nursing.

-Angela

[alliteration]

Oregon, crunchy large city.

[neverdoingitagain]

Central Alberta, Canada. Only 3+ year old nursling, I know irl is mine.
We have cows in our town, how crunchy do think we are?

[gabriel'smom]

Anchorage, Alaska nursing a 3-1/2 year old!

[pixiesmommy]

As you can see from my sig, I nursed my DD until she was 3.5 yrs and self-weaned, in a very non-crunchy town in the south... HOWEVER, there were two moms in my LLL group nursing toddlers as well. One was Russian and nursing an almost-5 yr old and the other was nursing (I believe) a 2-yr old (I want to say that mom was from Colorado....)


Manda

[uzra_hashmi@rediff]

Well, I live in Delhi, India now. I am nursing a 4.9 years old (only at night and occasionally at day timre) and a 3.5 years old. There are several acqaintances and relations who have or had been nursing much beyond five years. however, to find any geographical trend you should have a large enough sample.
Uzra

[Meredith&Alexander]

I'm in Keller, Texas- part of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

[Calidris]

In in the West Indies, nursing a 43 month old (yeah I just calculated that )

[hottmama]

I'm in Ann Arbor, and I don't know of any 3+ yr. olds who nurse here except my biggest nursling. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that any 3+ yr. olds are nursing, though-- lots of mamas around here babywear and there are lots of LLLs. I moved here a couple months ago from Louisville and have one friend who weaned her son shortly after he turned 4, and several who weaned their kids around 2, and lots of still nursing 1.5-2.5 yr. olds. I also knew, through LLL, someone who nursed until her son self-weaned after 4 and one who weaned her son when he turned 5.
But really, you have to get to know people to know whether their 3+ yr. old (especially 4+) is still nursing. My son stopped NIP at 3.5, except for major injuries, and altogether by 4. I'm rather open about the fact that my kiddo is still nursing, because I want to normalize extended nursing, but most people aren't.

[momuveight2B]

I am in rural Nevada, dairy on one side of me and alfalfa fields on the other for about as far as the eye can see. I don't know anyone in my small town who does CLW, very few who nurse newborns. In the city though where they have LLL meetings I do know there are leaders and moms who practice CLW.

[brackin]

I'm here in the DEEP south, nursing a 5 y.o. I definitely have the oldest nursling I know!

[CathMac]

Massachusetts, South Shore, slightly south of Boston

I am tandem nursing DD1 (8/29/04 DoB) and DD2 (6/21/06 DoB). I've only met one mom IRL that nursed a 3 year old. She was an LLL leader.

I don't know anyone else IRL that has tandem nursed.
~Cath

[Angierae]

I'm in Philadelphia. Just moved from Seattle. I do know a bunch of other mamas nursing 3+ here and in Seattle. My oldest just weaned at 5 and half, and I've never known anyone irl who nursed that long!

[beanma]

i'm in the triangle area of NC. my almost 4 yr old is down to mostly nighttime nursing and naps w/ the very occasional in between pop-in. her sister nursed until she was almost 6. i also know lots of extended nursers.

[Mama2ABCD]

i'm in northern AL (a few miles from the TN state line). My dd is 3 1/2 and nursing is still a big part of her life. Her oldest brother just recently weaned at 7yrs 4 mos, and the 2nd brother is 6yrs and hasn't asked to nurse in over a week(wonder if he'll notice).
I've met a few other mom's IRL nursing 3 yr olds.

As far as nursing the older ones, unless you are nursing out in the open, it doesn't really come up in conversation. I like to think that there are many more out there nursing IRL.