Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Breastfeeding › Child-Led Weaning › Who's nursed a child beyond 6 years?
New Posts  All Forums:
 

Who's nursed a child beyond 6 years?

post #1 of 36
10/21/08 at 6:53pm
Thread Starter 
I see that there was some discussion in a recent thread about kiddos who love to nurse. : My daughter is one of those kids.

When I was pregnant with her I wasn't sure if I would be able to nurse her at all. I had some medical issues where I may have needed to start back on meds that are considered to be not-compatible with nursing. (And yes I know that most docs are overly conservative, but these really aren't super-great meds for a nursing mom.) Anyway, the first 6 months were HELL nursing my daughter - we had so many problems. I had cracked and bleeding nipples until she was 5 1/2 months old! : Man that sucked. After we got things going well, wasn't about to let anyone get in the way of the nursing that my daughter loved so much.

I had no clue how long she would nurse. I did agree with a mom I met at a LLL meeting who told me that she saw no reason to wean her dd "because of some arbitrary date on the calendar." Well, my dd has not found any date when she wanted to wean yet. She is seven now!

I had planned to gently encourage her to wean this summer, but our house flooded and other chaos ensued, so I thought that was a bad plan with everything going on. She only nurses once every 2 or 3 days. Most days she nurses for about 5-10 seconds.

I am curious who else has nursed a child past 6 years? It isn't all *that* unusual for an AP mom to nurse a 3 or 4 year old these days, but once you hit 5 or 6 there seem to be very very few kids who are still nursing.

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
post #2 of 36
10/21/08 at 8:37pm
Maya turned 5 in July, so my reply isn't what you're looking for. But, I just want to echo the same sentiment that it gets a little lonely after 4...

--Heather
post #3 of 36
10/23/08 at 10:33pm
My second child naturally weaned shortly before his seventh birthday. My third child is 6 years 4 months old and continues to nurse every few days.

I think that once you hit 5 or so, nursing isn't in the forefront of conversation or thought on a daily basis, so it's not discussed as much "publicly".
post #4 of 36
10/23/08 at 10:41pm
my ds is 7y9m old and he still nips now and then. actually i'm tracking it now, because i want to get a tattoo to commemorate our nursing relationship :
he nurses about once every 10-16 days and for about a minute, or at *most*, two minutes.

you're not alone, mama! our kids are on the high end of the curve, but according to Kathy Dettwyler, still well within the range of normal!

pamela
post #5 of 36
10/24/08 at 9:20pm
Yup, it DOES get lonely, doesn't it? It's always nice to know that I'm not alone in this part of mothering. My oldest nursling is 7.5 (I also have a 3.5 yo and a 6 week old). When I was pg and had no milk, she was down to nursing once every 1-2 weeks, but now with all the yummy milk available she's back to every day or two. She's always been an extremely intense kid - I'm not surprised that her need to bf has gone on this long.
post #6 of 36
10/24/08 at 9:25pm
We didn't quite get to 6. My DS just self-weaned at 5 years, 4 months.
post #7 of 36
10/25/08 at 1:13am
not yet. ask me again mid february though
post #8 of 36
10/26/08 at 12:24am
My son is 6 years 2 months and still nursing daily.
He nurses before sleep, during the night sometimes and then possibly when he wakes, we co-sleep obviously.
I think he will most likely continue until he is 7 and closer to 8, we shall see.

Best of luck to you!
post #9 of 36
10/26/08 at 9:38pm
mine nursed again today. shall i keep y'all posted?
post #10 of 36
10/27/08 at 1:36am
Not a mama yet, but I nursed just until I was 6 (I think I nursed just 2 or 3 times after I turned 6, but I'd have to ask my mom to be sure), and my mom had a pen pal who was still nursing her 7.5yo (gave my mom courage when everyone else has long ago stoped... even in LLL). I my mom!
post #11 of 36
10/27/08 at 1:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by soygurl View Post
Not a mama yet, but I nursed just until I was 6 (I think I nursed just 2 or 3 times after I turned 6, but I'd have to ask my mom to be sure), and my mom had a pen pal who was still nursing her 7.5yo (gave my mom courage when everyone else has long ago stoped... even in LLL). I my mom!
Wow, that is so cool!
Do you remember nursing?
post #12 of 36
10/27/08 at 1:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by doriansmummy View Post
Wow, that is so cool!
Do you remember nursing?
Very vaguely, and mostly in an abstract kind of way... when I try to think back or remember, I get a really strong sense of comfort and happiness. But I don't have much memory of actually nursing... a little I guess, but not much.

Honestly, I really credit extended nursing/CLW for the amazingly close relationship I have with my mom (that and unschooling... we spent SO much time together!).
post #13 of 36
10/27/08 at 6:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by soygurl View Post
Very vaguely, and mostly in an abstract kind of way... when I try to think back or remember, I get a really strong sense of comfort and happiness. But I don't have much memory of actually nursing... a little I guess, but not much.

Honestly, I really credit extended nursing/CLW for the amazingly close relationship I have with my mom (that and unschooling... we spend SO much time together!).
Okay, can I just say that I loved reading that!
I am child-led weaning our son, he is 6 years old right now and still nursing. And we homeschool/unschool. Our relationship is so wonderful and I always hope it will stay the same as he grows.

Thank you for giving me extra hope.
post #14 of 36
10/28/08 at 5:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by doriansmummy View Post
Okay, can I just say that I loved reading that!
I am child-led weaning our son, he is 6 years old right now and still nursing. And we homeschool/unschool. Our relationship is so wonderful and I always hope it will stay the same as he grows.

Thank you for giving me extra hope.
Aw... :
post #15 of 36
10/28/08 at 9:49pm
me too, soygurl. i LOVED that. i hope my ds remembers nursing in a special way, too.
mind if i ask how old you are?

we DID unschool, and i had to put him in school so i could go back to school it's not going well at all, and it's the most progressive, unschooly public school there is. it'd truly suck if i had to put him in a "regular" public school, probably. i can't wait till this is over, and i hope it doesn't damage him too much.
post #16 of 36
10/28/08 at 10:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mercyn View Post
me too, soygurl. i LOVED that. i hope my ds remembers nursing in a special way, too.
mind if i ask how old you are?

we DID unschool, and i had to put him in school so i could go back to school it's not going well at all, and it's the most progressive, unschooly public school there is. it'd truly suck if i had to put him in a "regular" public school, probably. i can't wait till this is over, and i hope it doesn't damage him too much.
Oh mama. Big hugs to you.

Anyway you can do classes from home? I am sure you already thought of that. I hope in time something will work out for both of you.
post #17 of 36
10/29/08 at 2:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mercyn View Post
me too, soygurl. i LOVED that. i hope my ds remembers nursing in a special way, too.
mind if i ask how old you are?

we DID unschool, and i had to put him in school so i could go back to school it's not going well at all, and it's the most progressive, unschooly public school there is. it'd truly suck if i had to put him in a "regular" public school, probably. i can't wait till this is over, and i hope it doesn't damage him too much.
I'll be 23 on thanksgiving.

And mercyn, try not to be so hard on yourself! As I'm sure you've told yourself, it's so important that YOU to be well educated and able to provide for your DS... I'm sure he will make it through this time in PS and at least you're lucky enough to have a good progressive school available! You're clearly an amazing mama!
post #18 of 36
10/30/08 at 4:02am
I feel sad to say that my DS recently weaned (at least it appears so) two months shy of 6 years. it was the month of Ramadan and he was away from me too. I am still sad as I was not mentally pepared for this. Incidentally, I too myself had weaned atound this age but had hoped that he would follow his father whom my MIL used to tell, would often nurse past eight years.
Uzra
post #19 of 36
11/2/08 at 2:26pm
I agree that it gets lonely here after 4. T turned 4 in October and even people that were supportive (in LLL) are like saying well he is 4!!!! I am annoyed! good to have you all here!
post #20 of 36
11/2/08 at 7:07pm
another nursing Halloween morning
he is 7y10m1d old today.
New Posts  All Forums:
 
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Child-Led Weaning

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Breastfeeding › Child-Led Weaning › Who's nursed a child beyond 6 years?