Did YOUR mom do CLW? - Page 2

[Ruthla]

My mom thinks she did CLW but in reality she didn't know how to handle a nursing strike in a newly walking 11mo. She says I weaned on the same day I took my first steps.

Still, nursing for 11m isn't bad for 1973!

My oldest brother nursed until he died at 6.5mo (SIDS) and my older brother nursed until around 6mo when she found out she was pg with me and her OB told her to wean. None of us ever had formula, as the advice at the time was to switch from formula to cow's milk at 6mo.

[elanorh]

My mom believes she did CLW with us, and I suppose for the times (70's and early 80's), it was essentially that..... As well as it could be given the information she had and was given.

I weaned at 10 months when she was 4 months pregnant with my next sister (it was abrupt, a nursing strike while she was traveling cross-country with just us kids on the train; probably her milk changing with pregnancy? It sounds like she and I were both miserable when it happened).

Everyone else nursed somewhere between 15 months and 18 months, but all were drinking cow's milk by 8 months (per doctor's advice) with meals, and by a year of age were mostly down to only nursing 2-3 times/day. So in the end it was unintentional MLW ....

My Dad and I were talking when Ina was about 2, about nursing, and he told me one of his favorite memories of Mom nursing - when Mom was getting ready for bed one night, putting her nightgown on, their first baby (who was about 15 months at the time) launched herself at Mom and just jumped onto her and latched on with a huge grin on her face.

Mom kept reassuring me, with Ina, that "Oh, she'll wean soon, babies don't nurse much past a year of age." She got a bit concerned when Ina was still nursing happily at two years of age, and I know it made her a little uncomfortable/worried in terms of "how long" we'd go -- but she and Dad (and everyone else truly) were great about it in the end. And, believe it or not, when talking about bf with my family awhile ago, my sister who weans promptly at a year, became very defensive about weaning then instead of continuing to nurse like me ... how's that for a switch, instead of the CLW Mom being attacked? (I'm still proud of her for nursing a full year, given that she WOH and her dh doesn't help with baby care and she doesn't cosleep).

I've never told Mom that she wasn't really doing CLW, because she is very proud of letting us nurse as long as we needed to. There is no need to take that away from her! I'm proud of her for all she did with us.

[milkeriffic mama]

my mom nursed me till 22 months in the 70s with family that kept asking her why she just didn't give me formula after about 6 months. I credit her for why I'm such a supporter of breastfeeding.

DHs mom nursed him till about 11 months (like PPs, she was told that she had to wean so she could have surgery) and regretted that she had weaned so soon.

So glad that my DSs grandmas are supportive of nursing

[emdeecee_sierra]

Goodness no.

I think she nursed me for a day or two, or maybe a week or two, then, according to her, I quit. So, in her mind I probably CLW.

[big-mama]

Sort of.

I was born in 1973 and I weaned right before starting kindergarten in 1978. I was bribed with an owl clock which I still have. I don't remember actually nursing but I do remember being bribed. It was a no brainer to me... I took the clock with no hesitiation. I guess I was ready.

My sister was born in 1981 and she nursed until about the same age and did not have to be bribed. She just quit voluntarily.

[mommyabroad]

Not a drop of breast milk for me. When asked about it, my mom said she wanted my dad to be able to be involved.

I knew I'd breastfeed -- I had enough breastfeeding dreams way before my son was born to know that it was something I longed for on a deep level. It's a beautiful gift I've been able to give him -- he nursed for almost 4 years.

[MidgeMommy]

No.....All her kids were breastfed, but she thinks toddlers nursing is 'gross.'

We don't talk, but I'm sure she'll be horrified when she hears I'm planning to CLW.

[treespeak]

Yes: I love my sweet mama! I weaned at 27 months. My mom told me recently that she loved nursing and would have liked to keep going beyond that, but I said "all done" one day and that was that. My mom is nearly 60 and has shared with me that she still has wonderful dreams about breastfeeding. Gotta love it! See what we have to look forward to nursing mamas?

I don't remember nursing, but I've seen a photo of me at about age 4, sucking on my finger and rubbing my cousin's head while he was nursing at his mom's breast, so I definitely had fond associations of breastfeeding at that time. I also have noticed that nursing my DS has gone very smoothly for me. I wonder sometimes if a lot of that is due to my own mom's dedication to nursing me...like my body remembers, even if my brain doesn't.

[welsh]

My Mum told the nurse at the hospital on Day 1 that nursing was hurting and instead of help she got formula!

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by big-mama

Sort of.

I was born in 1973 and I weaned right before starting kindergarten in 1978. I was bribed with an owl clock which I still have. I don't remember actually nursing but I do remember being bribed. It was a no brainer to me... I took the clock with no hesitiation. I guess I was ready.

My sister was born in 1981 and she nursed until about the same age and did not have to be bribed. She just quit voluntarily.

I'd consider that to be CLW. If you hadn't been ready, the "bribe" wouldn't have worked.

[Maggirayne]

I wasn't CLW, but up into preteen years(7-9 yo), I would call cuddling "nunny", my term for nursing.

[StayAtHomeMama21]

My mom swears up and down I "rejected" her at five months...

[GradysMom]

I hear diff things about how long I was BF, but about 9 mo... I do remember wanting to BF and not being allowed... or it being bad ... or something. very vague

[MichelleAnnette]

Yes, I remember nursing.

I nursed until I was nearly 5 years old. I was born in 1984, though, so that was later than most of you I think.

My sister was born when I was 4.5 and I was allowed to nurse when she finished a session. She also nursed until past age 4.

[bjorker]

My mom thought I wasn't getting enough bm about 1-2 weeks after I was born, so she switched me to formula. So that's a big no. At least she "tried". I think both of my sisters were formula drinkers from day 1.

I don't really believe that I wasn't getting enough already by that point (how would she even know? she had no frame of reference for this), but I do think that it would have been a possibility down the line. I had major supply issues with dd, and thyroid issues run in my family. My mom knows now that she has a slow thyroid, so if she did then -- that could have easily affected it. But at 2 weeks? I doubt. It took ME a long time to realise that *I* was having supply issues. It's not all that easy to tell.

She also had me on solid foods by 6 weeks.

When dd was still an infant, she made some comment to me about how she thinks its "gross" that some people still breastfeed when their dc's are one and a half. I was thinking, "one and a half?! That sounds young!"

Funny, but dd stopped nursing at exactly one and a half. I fought very hard for my milk supply, but I just didn't have much left at that point. But I still let her comfort nurse as much as she wanted until she just stopped asking for it.

I have a feeling that my mom already feels a little differently about her 1 1/2 year-old comment. I think I've opened her eyes a little. I hope.

My step-mom, on the other hand, was a HELL of a lot more supportive about it after she went to an LLL meeting with me.

[Phoenix_Rising]

I don't know anyone IRL who did anything like CLW except my grandmother. She BF her youngest until (according to my mom) he was 4 (and much too old for my mom's comfort). I was BF until I was 10 months. My sister was the longest at jsut under 18 months.

[thixle]

I was born in 1981 and weaned when I was somewhere near 4. I vividly remember nursing while listening to country music and watching the trees through the big box fan in the window!!! And I remember going through a phase where I had to hold the boobie to get to sleep... And it was the best thing my mother ever did for me and I will always thank her for that... even if we cannot get along as adults.

[aja-belly]

my mom did clw for some of us (there are 6 of us). i remember her weaning my youngest brother at 2. i remember her nursing my middle brother at 3/4 and i remember her letting me nurse when i asked once when that brother was a baby (i was 3 or 4 - that's my only concrete vivid nursing memory). i was weaned during her pregnancy with him. i don't remember it, but i still raz her about poor me having to wean early at only 3 years old (she was nursing me and my younger sister while pregnant and someone just had to go).

[Kama82]

I was bottlefed, my mom says she would have loved to breastfeed but I was adopted and she didn't know anything about how you can try to get your milk to come in for an adopted child.
I was on the bottle until I was 2, one day I got a stomach virus and she told me the bottle caused it and I threw them all away, so child led kinda I guess? a bit deceptive though.

[thyme]

I remember nursing too, and I was born in 1972. I didn't realize until recently how extraordinary my mom was for making that happen despite medical advice advising her to wean during pregnancy and with all the societal pressures. My mom tandem nursed me and my younger brother, and he self-weaned before I did!