Because my baby turned 18 months last week and we are still nursing, but starting to wean, it got me to thinking about others and how long they breastfeed and how they go about the weaning process.
I decided to ask my Facebook Fans so that we could have a little insight from other Mothers, and not just my opinions and methods.
I want to start by telling you a little about my nursing experiences and my weaning experiences. (I will get to what others have said in a minute.)
I married my husband when I was only 18 years old and had my first baby at the young age of 19. (That seems so young to me now, but at the time I was so mature and felt like such an adult…boy have I learned a lot since then!) I knew right away that I wanted to go about the “attached parenting” methods of raising my son. I was determined to breastfeed him, even though I had a very hard time getting him to latch right and take to nursing. I think sometimes people make it sound like it is easier than it really is (although for some it is easy.) I met with the Lactation Consultant several times and after a couple of months of nursing I was a pro. I nursed exclusively (no bottles at all) for 12 months. I really had no idea I could nurse longer (I was young and naive and thought that was just what you did.) It was almost right on his first birthday when I weaned him. We were away on vacation with friends when we weaned. Every time he would go to nurse either my husband or one of our friends would take him and put him to sleep. It took one week (most of our vacation) and he was weaned. It was hard for me, but much easier having friends there to help.
My second child nursed exclusively (no bottles) for 17 months. I actually got pregnant and needed to quit nursing him due to the fact that I was very sick and throwing up all of the time. The doctor thought he was old enough to wean and that I needed to wean in order to keep the new baby and myself healthy. He weaned pretty easily. I think the taste of my milk changed and that probably helped. I had my husband put him to sleep at night and I would leave the room. It didn’t take more than a week to wean him.
Our 3rd child was nursed exclusively for 18 months. Again, I was pregnant and getting very sick. He was a little harder to wean, so I used band-aids. That’s right, I used band-aids. This may sound bad to some of you, but I really felt like I had no other choice as I had tried everything and he just wouldn’t wean. I put band-aids on my nipples and told him I had “ouchies”. He would try to pull my shirt up and I would say “ouchie, ouchie” and then he would put my shirt down and lay his head on me or go play. It really was simple with him and I felt so much better doing it this way.
Our 4th child was nursed exclusively for 18 months. I did the band-aid method with him as well as again, I was pregnant! (Do we see a trend here yet!?)
Our 5th child (and NO, we are NOT pregnant this time around) is currently 18 months and has yet to wean. He is a stubborn little guy and he knows what he wants. We had one week of only nursing at night and then he got sick. I felt bad for him and I nursed him. Now he is nursing once at naptime during the day and then at nighttime. I plan to cut out the naptime nursing this week, but we are really having a hard time. I’m thinking we are going to break out the band-aids this weekend and see how that works!
Different things work for different children. While something may have worked for one child, it may not work for another. I recommend trying different things and doing what is comfortable for yourself and your child. Also, I want to mention that if you are not ready and you feel that your baby is not ready, you should think about why you are trying to wean. Had I known it was acceptable to nurse my first child past one year of age, I probably would have nursed him much longer.
Also, the best method for us when weaning was to cut one nursing out at a time. Once baby gets used to that we would cut another nursing out. It wasn’t until we were only nursing at bedtime that I put the band-aids on and cut out the bedtime feedings. Those were the hardest for us.
So, now that you know how things went for me, here is what some of my fans had to say…
-Most of mine (the first six kiddos) self-weaned around 15 months old.
– My 5 self weaned at 6-8 months, but my 17 month old refuses.
-My first one weaned at 22 months. My third at 12 months because I was pregnant, and my fourth at 13 months because I was pregnant again! I don’t really remember what I did with my 1st. My 3rd and 4th were weaned by offering more solids and cups before nursing that way they were full. Eventually the time they spent nursing diminished.
-1st baby-weaned at 6 months old (he was eating off table, so it was more just cold turkey.) 2nd baby, forced to wean at 8 months because I was pregnant and very sick. 3rd baby, weaned herself at 12 months. 4th baby, totally different story, weaned at 19 months, but it was hard to get him off. I just slowly weaned him off and for about 2 weeks I nursed only at bedtime.
-We finally went cold turkey when our youngest was 18 months old! He was only nursing to go to sleep.
-15 months, and I was done. Basically I just told him it was all gone. He was the youngest of 3 and I did it with him the longest.
-I nursed my daughter 11 months and she just stopped on her own. I nursed my son, on orders from the doctor for 36 months (he had serious health problems).
-My first son self weaned at 21 months. He was still nursing like a newborn so I put restrictions down and it was his way or the highway. He never asked to nurse again. My girl I weaned at two. I cut 1 nursing a week until we got the last nursing gone. Took about 6 weeks.
-My son was 16 months and I had to wean him because I started working again. It wasn’t until then that he became a huge binki sucker.
-I had a hard time keeping a supply that fed my babies so I had to supplement. I nursed until they were 6 months and then just slowly cut out feedings so it was just at night or in the morning. My supply dried up and it was easy for me and babies.
-I started to wean at 12 months and was done by 15 months.
-My youngest is 22 months and she still nurses at nap and bedtime. It’s hard when we co-sleep so I think as soon as she gets in her own bed in the next couple of months she will be done.
-My son weaned himself at 11 months. I weaned our daughter at 22 1/2 months.
Now, we want to hear from YOU!
How old was your child when you weaned?
How did he/she wean? Was it easy or hard for you and baby?
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