How committed are you to CLW vs. just 'extra extended' nursing? - Page 5

[ma_Donna]

I don't know how I'm feeling these days. In some ways I'm proud that I still have a nursing relationship with my 4.5 year old and it's how he starts his day. In some ways I'm done. I also have a 22mo so I'm not nearly done nursing, but with my older son, it feels different.

For a year and a half he's been nursing for a short period in the morning, usually just a minute or two.

I guess we'll see how it goes - and that's the way to go - follow the path and see where it leads.

[BlueStateMama]

I put limits on nursing. I couldn't do it without some kinds of limits and boundaries; I'd go insane.

We're here too. DD is three and I'm at my max. I wish she'd be done with it so I have set limits and we're down to bedtime only. She rarely asks during the day, mostly it's if she's having a huge meltdown and it's her way of reconnection, so I give her lots of hugs and snuggles instead. In the middle of the night I tell her the nursies are sleeping and she says, "I wake them up! Let me try!" Then I say mama needs her sleep too.

I'm reeeeealllllly ready for this to be over. I hope she decides to drop her bedtime nursing soon.

[big-mama]

I am not too sure...with my last baby (now 10), he nursed to sleep until almost 6. I stopped him right before kindergarten. He didn't fuss about it at all, if he had I would have given in, LOL.

My current nursling is 4 months and I plan on following the same pattern with him, unless he wants to stop sooner.

[mama_nym]

Jumping in...

I'm completely dedicated to CLW and have been with all my kids. My first naturally weaned at 5, my second a few weeks before his 7th birthday. I continue to nurse my almost-6 year old dd, my 2.5 year old ds and my 3 month old dd. They will wean when they're ready, and not before.

My dh and I laugh about what will happen when our youngest (3 month old - and last child) weans in 5 or 6 years. I've been nursing for over 9 years straight and he's a bit afraid of me "off prolactin and oxytocin" !!! :

[annethcz]

I've read this thread off and on a few times, and I'm finally posting.

I'm currently nursing a 4.5yo, the longest I've nursed a child was 5 years... and I still don't feel like I'm completely committed to CLW

I nightweaned all of my nurslings before their second birthdays, and I definitely put limits on nursing. I strongly feel that the limits I placed on nursing helped to prolong our nursing relationships. I truly would've felt like a martyr and gotten burned out if I had allowed my kids unfettered access to my breasts. I did my best to balance my needs with my kids' needs, and it seems like it's worked out well...

[graceshappymum]

I've been fopllowing this thread and am finally posting. DD is 2.5 and still nurses lots, I think that I will in all honesty let her BF till she is ready to stop. She is not nightweaned yet, but really has cut herself down to once a night unless she is sick or grumpy.

[cutic]

When dd#1 was the only child I thought I would nurse her forever or as long as she needed to. It all changed however when dd#2 arrived. Nursing a preschooler suddenly didn't seem so much fun at all and I started resenting it. So, although I didn't wean her I started looking forward to her weaning. Of course, over a time of our tandem nursing relationship dd#1 cut back to nursing only twice a day.
After 15 months of tandem nursing I got a thrush and she had a choice to take gentian violet as did her little sister or to wean and she chose to wean. She did wean when she was 4 and 2 months and I feel it was a right moment for her and me. I could (or maybe not), of course, insist that she continues to nurse and force her to go through the treatment but at 4 years old I thought she was done and ready. She never again mentioned that she wanted to nurse and I could see she was happy to wean.

Altogether, it happened when it was meant to.

[uzra_hashmi@rediff]

Although my eldest (DS, 5.5 years) nurses once or twice a day when others are not around, I sometimes feel sad that one day he will nurse for the last time and I would miss him so much. I had not fixed any age for weaning him as CLW is a norm in our family and children have nursed till age 8 or even beyond. So, I think I am a very committed CLW mom.
Uzra

[doubledutch]

i haven't been to this board for several months because i've been feeling less committed. my nurslings are 32 months and 14 months. ds1 has been down to 3x a day (waking, nap and bedtime) for about six months, with me offering substitutes when he asks other times, or just reminding him that we will nurse in a bit. i was hoping he'd drop one of those nursing sessions on his own, but he hasn't, so now i've been changing our routines up a bit so that he forgets to nurse. this past week, he has forgotten almost every morning, a couple naps, and a couple bed times. it's not that i'm pushing for him to completely wean, or that i have any certain date in mind, but i want to see some kind of progress toward weaning, even if he isn't fully weaned for another year or more. i feel guilty about all of it, because he is still pretty young and babyish, but ds2 needs a lot of nursing and my supply tanked last weekend just before i (finally) got my period back. i'm looking forward to night-weaning ds2 next winter, as well, lol - this all makes me feel like such a flake!

[simonee]

Dd nursed till right before 6 yo, DS nurses twice a day at 4:9. There is a point somewhere around or after the 4th bday where their sucking power is so strong and their mouths are so big, it wasn't comfy for me anymore. I still CLW, but this was for both children the point where I put strong limits in place, and they're old enough to understand and accept them.

thismama, dd nursed through pg (ds was born right before her 4th bday), and she never wanted to stop (but I had to cut her down becuse they only nurse one side so I had supply issues), and she really stopped fairly suddenly -- within a space of 3 months it was from nursing was one of the main events of her life till the day I realized "hey, she hasn't had any for a week" and I asked and she said "No mama, nursing is GROSS, it's for babies" :

[williamsmommy2002]

I'm nursing a 5.5 year old. It is much different than nursing a 4.5 year old which is different than nursing a 3.5 year old. I have had thoughts that he is older and soon would be seen as way to old by most standards. However the way and amount he nurses is just like a little check in and that is ok at the moment. It is such a non issue that sometimes it just surprises me. I don't feel the need to push him. It's all in his time. He has taken a bit longer to do everything else so he will probably take a bit longer with this also.