[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.<br><br>
For a year and a half he's been nursing for a short period in the morning, usually just a minute or two.<br><br>
I guess we'll see how it goes - and that's the way to go - follow the path and see where it leads.

 

[BlueStateMama]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">I put limits on nursing. I couldn't do it without some kinds of limits and boundaries; I'd go insane.</td>
</tr></table></div>
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.<br><br>
I'm reeeeealllllly ready for this to be over.<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/shy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="innocent"> 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.<br><br>
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...<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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" !!! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">:

 

[annethcz]

I've read this thread off and on a few times, and I'm finally posting.<br><br>
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 <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"><br><br>
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.<br>
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.<br><br>
Altogether, it happened when it was meant to.

 

[[email protected]]

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.<br>
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.<br><br>
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" <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="rolleyes">:

 

[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.