at what age (if ever) did you start giving some limits?

[hollytheteacher]

just curious at what age did you feel comfortable having your LO wait a few minutes to nurse, or like wait until you are done a certain activity to nurse. Or if you did the countdown thing (count down from 10 and then you are done), etc.

I don't mean ways to start weaning at all, but just what age did you start/will you start saying something like, "we can nurse after i finish cutting up these vegetables" instead of dropping everything and nursing on demand.

[chi_mama]

I think about 14 months or so... it was around the same time I started saying things like "I will get that spoon off the floor for you after I finish putting my shoes on" ect. Pretty much nursing limits have moved in pace with everything else.
The only time I regularly cut a nursing sessions short is in the morning. DS would like to lay in bed and nurse for hours but I get irritated. I tell him 3 seconds more and usually he'll pop off after "1" and announce he's all done.

[Ruthla]

I don't know exactly. It was one of those things where I just felt the baby could wait a few minutes so I asked him or her to wait- I never stopped to consciously think about it or remember at what age I set what kinds of limits. About the only detail I do remember is, once the baby was on solids, I'd usually offer solids/ a sip of water in public before offering to NIP. Why fumble with my bra strap while pushing the grocery cart if the baby can nibble on a cracker until we're done shopping?

I can't recall ever doing the "countdown" to end a nursing session- most of my limits were about waiting until I was comfy before starting to nurse; extending the nursing session a few more minutes was rarely an issue.

[readytobedone]

Originally Posted by hollytheteacher

just curious at what age did you feel comfortable having your LO wait a few minutes to nurse, or like wait until you are done a certain activity to nurse. Or if you did the countdown thing (count down from 10 and then you are done), etc.

I don't mean ways to start weaning at all, but just what age did you start/will you start saying something like, "we can nurse after i finish cutting up these vegetables" instead of dropping everything and nursing on demand.

recently, like in the past couple months. she is 18 months old. i will ask her to wait till i'm done with the task i'm on, or till we get home, even. and i'll offer her a snack and a drink instead.

[mrsdocmartin]

I'm just starting to ask DS to wait now and he is 16 months. If he gets really insistant though, I will almost always drop what I am doing. Ususally he gets distracted very easily and I am able to finish what I am doing. GL!

[lillymonster]

I ask DD and try to gauge it. If she is frantic, I do drop stuff to nurse, but sometimes I can wait longer if she is calm.

[veganone]

I started asking her to wait (like until we got to the car) in public if it was inconvenient at probably 10 months or so, but would nurse as soon as was feasible. Probably never more than 15 minutes. And I would offer water or Os in the meantime.

I now do it at home sometimes and we have a flexible schedule for nursing. Once when we wake up, once before work/nanny, once when we get home (this is a hard one - since she has to wait from when she sees me until we get home, but it's not practical to sit at the nanny's house for 15 minutes to nurse), after dinner, and before bed (and then through the night as she wishes). On the weekends we nurse maybe 2 more times during the day. She normally doesn't ask outside of those times (which is how the schedule came about).

Not at all planning to wean, and I will always make an exception of she's frantic or upset.

It's sort of happening organically. I just trust my instincts and her reactions to gauge what works for us...

[D_McG]

Originally Posted by hollytheteacher

I don't mean ways to start weaning at all, but just what age did you start/will you start saying something like, "we can nurse after i finish cutting up these vegetables" instead of dropping everything and nursing on demand.

As soon as the real 'starving' newborn cry thing went away I stopped dropping everything. He could always wait 5 minutes without much trouble (and I expected that of him. Just like everyone in the house has to wait a little bit for things they want sometimes). I didn't start to actually refuse him though until I started to wean (20 mos).

[kohlby]

DS - 11 months. DS was nursing at least 20 times in 24 hours at 12 months, despite me not letting him nurse every time he asked. He ate 0-100 calories of non-breastmilk at 18 months and was a whopping 35lbs and nursed 12 times a day then. So, limits were essential with DS to make nursing managable.

DD - Never. She'll be 3 in March. I havent' had to put any limits on her since she has reduced her nursing like a normal child! She now nurses 3-4 times at night now. (But day weaned herself around 2). Her idea of a long nursing session is 15 minutes, while DS would stay attached for the entire day if I let him.

The whole "don't ask, don't refuse" thing doesn't work with either of my kids. I refused DS lots of times. Even when he nursed 20 times a day, he asked around 30 times a day! On the flip side, I offer to DD more than she asks since she won't always ask. She started not asking to nurse even if she needed it at only 4 months old. So I had to ask.

[scrappingmom]

I think it depends on the child, when do they start showing signs of being able to "reason " slightly at least... you usually start looking for foodbefore hitting the i'm going to pass out in a minute if i dont eat, stage... baby does too. I think the more kids I have the earlier I start saying.. just wait... distraction is great! I send my 16mo to find something usually if i cant or dont want to nurse right then... it usually works. Babys can understand ALOT of what is happening WAY before we notice that they understand. The can se mommy is busy and generally speaking as others said once old enough fro a "solid" snack or water in a sippy(6ish mo depending on the child) can generally hold on a while. Depends alot on personality too

[Mama Poot]

Henri is 27 months and I'm starting with him. I have to start practicing violin hardcore and getting ready for my return to school in January. He has his own violin, and he is welcome to play while I'm playing, but if not he needs to play with his toys, sit and listen to me, or otherwise leave me be. Most of the time he is great but he will grab my leg or cling to me and yell at me "Put violin AWAY!!!!!!!!!!": I'm also phasing out nursing before bedtime, which he doesnt seem to mind provided I've nursed him at least an hour before we turn the lights out.

[Mama Poot]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

I don't know exactly. It was one of those things where I just felt the baby could wait a few minutes so I asked him or her to wait- I never stopped to consciously think about it or remember at what age I set what kinds of limits. About the only detail I do remember is, once the baby was on solids, I'd usually offer solids/ a sip of water in public before offering to NIP. Why fumble with my bra strap while pushing the grocery cart if the baby can nibble on a cracker until we're done shopping?

I can't recall ever doing the "countdown" to end a nursing session- most of my limits were about waiting until I was comfy before starting to nurse; extending the nursing session a few more minutes was rarely an issue.

I do a countdown. I tell him "Itsy bitsy Spider then all done. Henri stops before the spider gets washed out most of the time. I'm glad this works with him-otherwise our nursing sessions would go on foreeeeeever.