[thismama]

This is a great thread. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> Thanks everyone! Really nice and heartwarming to read.<br><br>
Mine had gone right off the nursing but now I'm making colostrum so she is a hardcore again. I've introduced the concept that at 5.5 she will be weaned and then we will get bunkbeds for her and her sib... we shall see how that goes. I won't nurse til 6 myself... 5.5 is my limit. DD is not overly enthused about the weaning but does want bunkbeds. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[funkygranolamama]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>nyxx</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10143191"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">if you want to know what this will look like:<br><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa8IUOPAZ-g&NR" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa8IUOPAZ-g&NR</a><br><br><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/whistling.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="whistle"><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Duck">:</div>
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i think i just peed my pants....

 

[funkygranolamama]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxv6R9fUO74&feature=related" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxv6R...eature=related</a><br><br>
found this one after watching yours.... truly beautiful.

 

[Mama2ABCD]

my dd will be 4 on the first day of spring. she's nursing just like her older brothers had done at her age so she'll probably be nursing for awhile still. the oldest recently weaned about 6 mos ago at 7 1/4, while the 2nd who is not quite 6 1/2 is down to once every other week or so (unless sick....which nursing is such a blessing). funny how a year ago the older two were nursing at least twice a day and now even the 2nd is just about weaned.<br><br>
i don't really know who all knows in IRL how long my children bf or who is still. when they see me nurse my youngest (i'm talking public events), if they realize he is nursing, some are just wrapping their minds around that, so they would never dream of wondering about my other children. and my dd still NIP, but not often. breastfeeding an older child never comes up in conversation unless your family is profiled in a baby magazine that shows pictures of your kids and states when they've weaned or still bf, etc.

 

[tsume]

I'm nursing a 4 y/o (9/03). She weaned a few months ago but decided she wanted to continue nursing. I'm also nursing her 19 month old sister.

 

[nyxx]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>arismama!</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10201907"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">i nursed DS until he self weaned the week of his 5th birthday. he still likes to reach down my shirt and hold it when hes feeling stressed out or sad, now he is almost 6.5. I am just curious what it is like to nurse an 8 year old. other than in the movie "the last emporer", i dont think I have ever heard of a child nursing beyong 5 or 6. this is totally not a knock on your breastfeeding relationship with DC, as a formerly nursing mom of a school aged child i am honestly just very curious!</div>
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don't know how to explain. what exactly do you want to know?<br>
i think age is not a relevant category. children don't grow up over night. it's a very slow process, there is no due date, you don't wake up one morning and think "oh, now she's too old".<br>
of course there is a difference between nursing a newborn and nursing a school aged child, but i couldn't describe the changes and when they happened. in the last few years there weren't many differences, only the frequency (twice a day morning and bedtime, once a day bedtime, every other day, week...). the 2 years between age 1 and 3, when she started to sign and talk (about nursing <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"> ), were more "exciting" than the last 2 years between age 6 and 8.<br>
now nursing is more like a ritual or a symbol. it's still part of our relationship, but it's not that important anymore.<br><br>
would you recommend this movie? i haven't seen it yet, but when nursing an older child is mentioned in it... <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lurk.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lurk">:

 

[guestmama9904]

yes, it is an amazing film, the emporer is a child and he is still nursed, i think at 12 years of age by his wet-nurse/nanny.<br><br>
as far as nursing a child over the age of say 5 (since this is how long i had experience nursing), i just wonder how the child percieves breastfeeding, how your family incorpoates nursing as normal, ect. by the time my son was 4-5 i think people assumed he had weaned, except when we were with my parents i really didnt nurse in public. he just usually didnt need to nurse when we were out and about, it was pretty sparce after the age of 4.5, like once every couple days.

 

[mum2corbie]

opps.wrong.thread.....

 

[Kira's mom]



yes, i just wonder how the child percieves breastfeeding, how your family incorpoates nursing as normal, ect.<br><br><br>
Dd was totally shocked to learn that not only not ALL children were bf'd, but that those who were only nursed when they were little babies!LOL

 

[thismama]

Mine was nursing like crazy at a birthday party today. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> One little girl was staring in rapt fascination, and a mama I know made a comment that eventually she will need to be cut off, but mostly it was no big deal. Which is nice. My kid is still totally un-self-conscious about nursing, at 4. When children ask questions I can tell she is proud to be fussed over. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"><br><br>
I don't know when this will change, but for now it's no biggie at all.

 

[luckysam]

Hi, I'm Sam, and I am new. I just wanted to say I understand the feeling that no one around is nursing when you are, I had never nursed beyond 10 1/2 month, so I never guessed I would still once and a while be nursing our 5 1/2 year old and tandeming with our 3 year old! At first I got a lot of flak from co-workers and friends who never had heard of such a thing, but they just hadn't ever experienced it. Finding other mamas on the computer helped me know I really wasn't alone in what I was doing and how I was feeling and gave me the support I needed to continue listening to my instincts that simply continuing something that means very much to them and only adds love and comfort to their lives is certainly right for us! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/kid.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="kid">:

 

[Calidris]

Hey can I join pre-emptively?<br>
I can't see DD quitting in the next month (she'll be 4 in Feb). Especially since she has gone back to nursing to sleep, the last couple week.

 

[the_lissa]

My oldest nursling will be 4 in March.<br><br>
I rarely go to LLL, but when I do there is at least 2 women nursing kids who are over 5.

 

[EmsMom]

Hi, everybody! I am nursing my second 4 year old. He keeps on saying he is going to stop but I doubt it! This is going to sound really silly, but I had kind of forgotten it was unusual to nurse a 4 year old until I read this thread! It just seems such a normal part of life and child rearing at this point! My dd is now 9 and still seems so proud of her nursing heritage.

 

[PinkTerrier]

4 1/2 yo Alannah still LOVES the nummies and wants them fairly often. She loves to just gaze at them too. She tandems with 9 mo Leela.

 

[riversglory]

I am not sure if I am still nursing my 4 year old. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/wink1.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="wink1"><br>
Weeks will pass and I will have thought that nursing was a thing of the past, and then my ds will have an urgent need; a fall, an day of overstimulation etc, etc, and we will nurse for usually a few moments. Every once in awhile, he will pull away with a huge smile on his face and shout "Milk! There is some milk in there!" I don't think I'm lactating much, and I think his latch has gotten sloppy, but it is still something he treasures. Even during those times he forgets about nursing, he often pats my breasts and smiles.<br><br>
The only thing that saddens me about this process is I never know which time will be the last time!

 

[Heffernhyphen]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>riversglory</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10408509"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">. . . Weeks will pass and I will have thought that nursing was a thing of the past, and then my ds will have an urgent need . . .</div>
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Really? I didn't know it worked like this!<br><br>
I have been invited to attend a workshop in another state that would keep me away from DS for 4 days. I've said no because I thought my supply would dry up (or I'd get enormous and sore) and it might end our nursing relationship unnaturally. I suppose I could take a pump, but it's been so long since I've pumped I don't even know where mine is.<br><br>
Do you think I should go?

 

[Debnicolai]

I am currently nursing my DS, he will be 6 in April. He and I just do it when we feel like it and it has come to a point where no one in the family gets it anymore.<br><br>
I wish I didn't have to be so self conscious about it. I love it, he loves it, it is a blessing when we are sick or just needing a moment of quiet bonding. He is down to about 3 times a week. I have no clue when we will stop, I just know it has been the right thing for us.

 

[mom2snugbugs]

DD was 4 on 11/29/07. I am tandeming with her 20 mo brother. Oh, and his dolls, trucks, dinosaurs, etc. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin">

 

[thismama]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Heffernhyphen</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10408673"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;"><br>
I have been invited to attend a workshop in another state that would keep me away from DS for 4 days. I've said no because I thought my supply would dry up (or I'd get enormous and sore) and it might end our nursing relationship unnaturally. I suppose I could take a pump, but it's been so long since I've pumped I don't even know where mine is.<br><br>
Do you think I should go?</div>
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How old is your child? 4, right? I didn't nurse my DD for 3 days once due to medication I took, and our nursing relationship was fine. I don't have a lot of milk anyway so that is not what it is primarily about, although she does drastically decrease nursing when my milk supply decreases (as in the first part of this pregnancy). I didn't notice, nor did she report, a decrease when we went 3 days without, and I didn't get engorged. However, it was emotionally difficult for her to go without nursing and that made the whole thing pretty torturous. Although that may be different if you are physically not there - I was physically there but saying no to nursing, which was hard.