Breastfeeding or Not... How long did you nurse?

[babysparkler]

With the recent breastfeeding post I started wondering what the "demographics" of the Hive is in regards to breastfeeding...

 

Of all of your babies, what was the age that your longest nursling was when he/she weaned (or was weaned)? Sorry guys... you can answer for your wives if you want!

 

My "will-he-still-be-nursing-when-he-goes-off-to-college" baby was 39 months when I weaned him (he was tandem nursing with his little brother at the time).

Edited December 17, 2009 by babysparkler

[bluemongoose]

Well, I am not done having kids yet, and I am currently nursing one. He'll be a year old next week. DD nursed until 21 mos. I weaned her because I was very prego and it was really hurting. DS weaned himself at 16mos.

[GWOB]

Dd9- Only nursed for three weeks. I had to go back to work.

 

Ds6- Nursed for 10 months. Honestly, I think he would still be nursing if I let him.

 

Dd2- Nursed for 12 months. She would still be nursing as well.

 

 

I applaud those women who nurse for longer than one year. I loved nursing my babies, but I was soooooo glad when it was over,KWIM?

[swellmomma]

DD is almost 27 months(in a couple days) and is still nursing and not likely to wean soon. Before her the longest I nursed was 4 months so this has been a learning experience for sure

[amy g.]

I weaned my first 3 between 3 and 6 months because I don't lose any weight when I'm breastfeeding. For some reason, I thought it was really important to get into pre pregnancy shape before their first birthday. They all had chronic ear infections, which resulted in speech difficulties and years of speech therapy.

 

I nursed Miss Bossy for 2 1/2 years, she has yet to have her first ear infection, and her speech is perfect.

 

It might be a coincident.

 

I'll nurse my new baby as long as she will let me.

[SonshineLearner]

My longest nursed till he was a couple of weeks before 5. I took a Cultural Anthropology class that set my understanding of nursing and co-sleeping. Funny, huh? Pretty much the only thing I remember from the class.

 

Carrie:-)

Edited December 17, 2009 by NayfiesMama
PS.... I did end up weaning him... I think he'd still be nursing... But... gotta stop some year:-)

[Jen in PA]

DD weaned herself at 9 months. I weaned DS at 28 months and it was miserable for both of us.

[Carrie12345]

While my longest was "only" about 11-12 months, I can't tell you how many people considered that "extended breastfeeding". Not that I got many *negative* comments, but there were an awful lot of wows! :001_huh:

[Amber in AUS]

Older DD was weaned at 5m due to severe lactose intolerance. She weaned from a bottle to cup around 16m.

 

DS self weaned between 10 & 12m. I fell preg with little DD at the time and i think he was nursing more for comfort than food, he didn't skip a beat. He still comes into my bed for a snuggle in the mornings.

 

Little DD self weaned at 16m or there about. She just decided one morning that the nearby cup of water was a more attractive proposition and didn't come into bed for a feed and snuggle.

[babysparkler]

My longest nursed till he was a couple of weeks before 5. I took a Cultural Anthropology class that set my understanding of nursing and co-sleeping. Funny, huh? Pretty much the only thing I remember from the class.

 

Carrie:-)

 

That's awesome! Sounds like a great class!

 

It is nice to have company in the "over 3 years" category... IRL I don't know many extended nursers.

[Crimson Wife]

My oldest was physically unable to nurse. I pumped but my milk never fully came in and it dried up entirely at 6 wks PP :sad:

 

My 2nd went on a nursing strike 3 weeks before his 1st birthday. I decided to wean him then because I was ready to stop.

 

My 3rd just turned 11 months and I've got her down to nursing 1x/day. I'm planning to wean her by New Year's.

 

I'd nurse longer if it didn't make using Natural Family Planning so tricky.

[amyable]

My longest (so far) nursed until a little over 3. She was tandem nursing with her younger brother too. I'm currently still nursing him (he's approaching 2.5). I would *like* to wean him soon, but he's probably my last and I'm torn.

 

My first three were much younger - my 1st self weaned at 13 months. She simply refused to nurse and bit me every time I tried to "force" it a little. She's still got that same lovely attitude, LOL! I weaned #2 at 10 months due to some radioactive medical tests I needed to take, and #3 at 8 months because her mulitple food allergies, with many we just couldn't figure out even with testing, were more than I could handle giving up in my own diet. I had been on several severe elimination diets with her and her sisters, and I just wasn't getting enough nutrition.

 

Well, probably more than you needed to know! :D

[babysparkler]

My longest (so far) nursed until a little over 3. She was tandem nursing with her younger brother too. I'm currently still nursing him (he's approaching 2.5). I would *like* to wean him soon, but he's probably my last and I'm torn.

 

My first three were much younger - my 1st self weaned at 13 months. She simply refused to nurse and bit me every time I tried to "force" it a little. She's still got that same lovely attitude, LOL! I weaned #2 at 10 months due to some radioactive medical tests I needed to take, and #3 at 8 months because her mulitple food allergies, with many we just couldn't figure out even with testing, were more than I could handle giving up in my own diet. I had been on several severe elimination diets with her and her sisters, and I just wasn't getting enough nutrition.

 

Well, probably more than you needed to know! :D

 

Mine is VERY similar to yours...

 

DS- Self-weaned at 15 mos.

DD- I weaned at 29 mos. so that I could go on medication

DS- I weaned at 39 mos. (after 13 months of tandem nursing with little brother... he never would have stopped, so I chose the date)

DS- Still nursing at 30 mos. with no end in sight (though I am in that same "torn" state of wanting to wean but knowing he is our last...)

[Mrs Mungo]

Mine all weaned at around 2 1/2. With my girls I was way pregnant with the next one and had started to lose my supply before they gave it up. My son just decided it was yucky one day.

[Melissa in Australia]

I breastfed mine until 9-12 months. I found it very draining. I always lose a lot of weight while breastfeeding. and my hair stops growing / starts falling out. I produced a lot of milk though. the last child I breastfed the longest, until 13 months. then I got mastitis quite bad and stopped upon advice of the doctor, she said it was taking to much out of me.

[hsmamainva]

1st - 2 1/2 years

2nd - 2 1/2 years

3rd - 3 years

4th - 4 1/2 years

[LibraryLover]

I voted 36+ months, but I should have voted Other. ;)

[ChristusG]

I chose "other" because I'm still currently nursing my 33 month old. I nursed my 5 year old DD until she was 27 months. She self weaned then....I think because I was pregnant and the taste of the milk changed, plus I don't think I was producing very much after I got pregnant.

[Dawn in OH]

1st = 11 months

2nd = 12 months

3rd = 25 months, and would have kept going if I weren't pregnant and wanting some sleep.

[kokotg]

DS1: self-weaned at 18 months when I got pregnant again

DS2: weaned with some gentle encouragement ;) just past 2 when I was pregnant again

DS3: self-weaned a little after he turned 3

[Desert Rat]

My oldest self weened at 20 months. My youngest self weened at 25 months.

[melissel]

DD7 is my "would still be nursing if I'd let her" kid -- oh, who am I kidding? She'd climb back into my womb if I'd let her!!! :lol: She's very attached to me. I actively weaned her two months before she turned 3 because I was 7 months pregnant with my second and could hardly stand to be touched anymore, let alone nurse her. I was so burned out on nursing that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to nurse the baby! Thankfully, that instinct returned full force when DD4 arrived. However, she daytime-weaned herself much earlier than I expected (18 months or so) because she had a comfort blanket and sucked her thumb, so she didn't care to comfort nurse. She nighttime weaned herself at 24 months and that was that :(

 

I was glad to be done with the ties of nursing, but I still miss the act and the bond, even now. I'd love to nurse one more baby *sigh*

[Jean in Newcastle]

#1 - gradually weaned around 24 months

 

#2 - woke up one morning when she was 11 months old and refused to bf ever again. Every time I offered her the br**st, she looked and me and very purposely bit me as hard as she could. :eek:

[CactusPair]

My longest nurser self-weaned for good around his 2nd birthday. I was in my 3rd trimester w/ his sister and my milk may have changed enough for him to lose interest. If I had not been pregnant he may have nursed for who knows long. That kid was a joyful nurser, humming as he suckled, petting and twirling my hair.

 

My dd self-weaned at 14 mos., then picked out her own bottle at the store. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.:001_smile:

[Jennifer in MI]

1st - 2 1/2 years

2nd - 2 1/2 years

3rd - 3 years

4th - 4 1/2 years

 

I chose "other" because I'm still currently nursing my 33 month old. I nursed my 5 year old DD until she was 27 months. She self weaned then....I think because I was pregnant and the taste of the milk changed, plus I don't think I was producing very much after I got pregnant.

 

A lot like me.

 

DS1: Weaned at 3 years.

DS2: Weaned at 2.5 years.

Ds3: Weaned at 4.5 years.

Dd: Still nursing at 4.

[muffinmom]

Weaned ds at 15 months. We both seemed ready.

 

Weaned dd at 23 months, but she would have kept going. At 4, she still wants to bury her face in my chest or lay her head on my tummy. Loves that closeness and skin-to-skin thing.

[Rosie_0801]

Dd is 2 1/2 and has been weaned twice so far :glare: First because I was pregnant with ds and dried up, she was 16 months at the time. She used to come back every day or two just to check there was nothing there, so when I started lactating again in late pregnancy, she went back to it (when I could tolerate it.) Ds was born in the middle of the worse heatwave in years, so I couldn't handle nursing both kids. I could hardly handle the one, actually. Months later, she still wasn't over having been weaned so I figured I needed to let her wean herself. She only gets a short feed every few days, because I hate doing it, but as long as she keeps asking, I guess we'll keep doing this.

 

FIL asked me the other weekend how long I was planning to continue nursing 11 month old ds, heheh. What he doesn't know won't hurt him :) though I'm finally weaning him off night feeds. I need to sleep sometimes...

 

Rosie

Edited December 17, 2009 by Rosie_0801

[Paula in PA]

My dd weaned at about 39 months. We started the process around her 3rd bday, so it was gradual. She gave up napping around the same time.

[athena1277]

My dd nursed for 1 month and we had some problems that caused us to need to stop. Ds nursed til he lost interest at 15 months.

[Jenny in Atl]

First dd 4 years, second dd 3 1/2 years.

[lionfamily1999]

You ladies are incredible.

 

DD about 3 months. I was young and my lactation consultant pretty well told me not too. Apparently 16 yos don't produce the right milk :glare:

 

Ds the elder, 10 months... he started running and people got really nasty when they realized I was bfing a toddler :(

 

Ds the younger... right after his fourth tooth so... 6 months. I could not handle bleeding nips.

[patchfire]

My oldest self weaned at 60 months & 2 days. Yes, at five.

 

Ds insists he's going to wean "next week." He's been saying "next week" for three or four months now. He's 4.5 yo and he has said that if he hasn't weaned by his birthday, he will wean then.

 

Dd2 is only 13 months! She still nurses quite frequently.

[Tam101]

I choose 24-36 months...it was actually 25 months with my son. 12ish for my daughter.

[AnitaMcC]

With the recent breastfeeding post I started wondering what the "demographics" of the Hive is in regards to breastfeeding...

 

Of all of your babies, what was the age that your longest nursling was when he/she weaned (or was weaned)? Sorry guys... you can answer for your wives if you want!

 

My "will-he-still-be-nursing-when-he-goes-off-to-college" baby was 39 months when I weaned him (he was tandem nursing with his little brother at the time).

 

 

With my twins I didn't even try to breast feed them. The pregnancy thru about 2 months after having them, things were very rough for me. Due to my meds and complications and them being two of them... doctors did not recommend breastfeeding.

 

Ds#2 I tried to breastfeed until he was about 4 weeks old. I could not produce enough milk for him. Plus he and I ended up with severe thrush (medication again). I pumped every two hours and could only get about 1-2 ounces at a time total. I gave him what I could and had to supplement with formula. By 4 weeks old he was drinking 6 ounces of breastmilk/formula every 2-3 hours. He started on cereal feedings twice a day when he was 6 weeks old and still took in 8 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours. By 9 months old he was 24 lbs and wearing 18month clothes and was walking (running soon after). He wasn't overweight either, no fat rolls... just a biiiiiig boy. He was 7lbs 8oz at birth. Although at 12months he was only 26 lbs wearing 2T (he pretty much just ran all the calories off-LOL).

 

Ds#3 made it to 6 weeks and but again he was formula supplemented as I just could not produce enough milk for him. But nursing him went much easier. He also was a piggy and big and was on cereal at 4 weeks of age. At 12 months old he was 28 lbs (but not walking yet- Yikes). He was 8lbs and 7oz at birth.

[katemary63]

DD24 Self weaned at 10 months

DS22 Self weaned at 8 months

DD18 I weaned her at 18 months

DD8 I weaned her at 12 months

[jillian]

18 months when she began self weaning

[mom2jjka]

DD - 16 mos

DS - 23 mos

DD - 15 mos

DD - 9 mos (had to wean because I had to start taking medication for my heart)

[Heather in OK]

#1 - 9 months

#2 - about 14 months

#3 - 10 months

#4 - 22 months

[LibraryLover]

My oldest self weaned at 60 months & 2 days. Yes, at five.

 

 

Let's not talk in years, kay? :auto:

[jelbe5]

My youngest was four when she weaned. She was down to once or twice a day and was nursed only at home on our couch. My first two weaned around 12 months. But with my last I decided to nurse longer and it just continued. I went to a LLL convention where two ladies presented on the benefits of extended breastfeeding in other cultures and I decided I would continue as long as it was comfortable for both of us. They advised talking to the older breastfeeding child about nursing only at home in a set location (the couch, for example) to minimize any outside pressures or raised eyebrows.

 

Towards the end I did not offer to nurse unless asked and my youngest slowly stopped asking. It was the most natural of endings and I, personally, am glad we did it the way we did. I was pretty sure she was to be my last baby (I had high blood pressure in pregnancy with her so future pregnancies would have been risky). So for that reason, especially, I am glad we nursed longer.

 

It is such a personal decision but I feel each family has the right to breastfeed for as long or as short as is comfortable.

 

Adrianne in IL

[dirty ethel rackham]

I did not start out in the extended BF camp. I planned on nursing for 4 months and be on the bottle by 6 months so that I could go back to work. At the time, I thought this was a long time because I didn't know anyone who nursed longer than 3 months. Well, at 4 months, ds started refusing his bottle of expressed breastmilk. I had an "epiphany" of sorts. Why did I want to wean, again? What was the purpose of getting rid of the good stuff and feed something I felt was less beneficial? We put off my back to work plans (I was only interested in part-time and the part-time position did not materialize until ds was a year old.) Then at 10 months, we discovered he was allergic to milk. That really put off my weaning decision.

 

When ds was 15 months, he had pneumonia (he had aspirated some medicine when he had a bad cold), got dehydrated because he stopped nursing and we ended up on the hospital. He nursed a ton in the hospital and refused all solids. Instead the week-long stay they were predicting, we got to go home after 3 days. The nurses all said that his remarkable turnaround was because I was nursing him and they encouraged me to continue (and I think a few nurses changed their tune on extended nursing.) Well, that sold me on continuing. I weaned him at age 2 because I was pg with ds # 2. Nursing was very painful and I was not really up for tandem nursing.

 

With 2nd ds, we knew he was different. Incredibly high need - never slept. At about a year, he stopped eating all solid foods. We tried everything we could think of. The stupid pediatrician told me that if I weaned him, he would eat. My heart of hearts told me that she was full of BS, so we changed to a wonderful family practice doc who was OK with extended nursing. We later found out that ds had tooth decay (in a deformed tooth that never had enough enamel.) After we fixed the tooth, he started eating solids again, but was VERY finicky. 3 years later we found out that, all this time, he had MAJOR sensory issues. Nursing pretty much saved my sanity because it was the one tool I had to calm him - nothing else worked. He self-weaned at 3 1/2 when I got pregnant with dd.

 

DD would probably still be nursing if I had let her:). She has always been my cuddle bunny - still is. She weaned at 3 1/2 when I had to go into the hospital for surgery. I kind of planned that this would be weaning time. She had 5 days without me. She did ask several times in the following months, but I told her that I didn't have any more.

 

I think my limit is about 3 1/2. With my high need child, I probably would have gone on to 4 if he hadn't weaned himself. That year after he weaned was hell on earth.

[MyLittleWonders]

My first weaned at 9months - he went on a nursing strike and I was still teaching at the time (and they did not grant me time to pump), so I had a very limited supply.

 

Ds#2 nursed all through my pregnancy with ds#3, and continued to nurse for another 1 1/2 years - I weaned him just before he turned 4 (I think it was a week or so before - he was only nursing for bedtime, but it was just too much for me, tandem nursing).

 

Ds#3 is still nursing, only at bedtime, at 3 1/2. I am working on weaning him completely, but he doesn't want to give it up. Ds#2 would still be nursing if I let him! I think ds#3 is the same way. I'm going wean him completely before his 4th birthday as well. My body is ready for a break.

[Mom-ninja.]

Ds 1 over 3 years

Ds 2 over 4

Ds 3 going strong

[patchfire]

Let's not talk in years, kay? :auto:

 

The smaller numbers are easier to keep track of than months. :)

[jenL]

DS#1 weaned himself at 10 1/2 months, but I would have liked to have nursed longer.

 

DS#2 weaned himself around 15 months.

[tabrizia]

I had to go with other, since I can't answer it yet, I am tandeming right now with DS 32 months and DD 9 months. I really don't see DS stopping anytime in the near future so pretty sure I am going to get to over 36 months with him, but since we haven't yet reached that point I can't really say.

[smrtmama]

Let's not talk in years, kay? :auto:

 

Why on earth not? The World Health Organization says babies should be breastfed for a minimum of two YEARS. "Years" is exactly what we should be striving for. We should be proud of our years and years (and years). ;)

 

22 months

33 months (yes, that's almost three years)

8months and still going strong

Edited December 17, 2009 by smrtmama

[TravelingChris]

Never breastfed any of mine. I had health issues and had to take medications that were incompatible with it.

[caitlinsmom]

My longest was nursed for 21 months. The other two were 12mo and 15mo.

[eternalknot]

I nursed #1 exclusively to 11 months (then I got stuck away from him for 10 days because of 9/11 - it was supposed to be less than 24hours of separation for us) and when I came back, he refused the breast. At 13 months he accepted it again, and nursed past his second birthday.

 

I nursed #2 through her fourth birthday, at which point I "weaned" her to nighttime only. She is still four, and nurses very infrequently upon request.