If you nursed past a year...come on in

So, um, speaking of nursing....

If you nursed past a year..
When did you stop?
How did you stop?
Why did you stop?
Was it baby led weaning or parent led weaning?
Did you introduce another form of milk at a year (cow, almond, soy, coconut?? Or did you just stick to bm?

Dd2 will be 1 in a week and a half and is ebf. I like nursing her and want to do it longer. Plus I literally have an entire deep freezer filled with bm that could prob last me 4 months.

Just curious to hear others experiences

If you nursed past a year...come on in

I nursed dd1 for 16 months. I pushed weaning bc I wanted to ttc again and didn't have a period yet. I had introduced soymilk (bc we found out she had an allergy)around 13 or 14 months which she did okay with. She nursed 3x a day (plus during the night at least once most nights). I cut out the after nap feeding by distracting her and offering a cup instead. Then cut out mornings by having dh get up with her for a week or two, then finally cut out night feedings cold turkey. We did cio bc she was having a terrible sleep regression and decided we might as well kill two birds with one stone. She sttn from night one and that was that.

Dd2 is 19 months and still nurses during the day. I night weaned at 16 months with the help of cio. During the day she nurses a lot more than dd1 had and is less routined. No idea how or when I wean. She will go to bed without nursing if I'm out which makes life easier and can go most of the day without if we're busy but if we're home she nurses several times. I'm thinking by age two I'd like to seriously consider weaning but we'll see how that goes.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

Nursed my son for 17 months...gently weaned him by myself bc he would still nurse now at 3 probably! I just gradually took away sessions. I offered milk but he refused wants nothing to do with it. Just added more dairy (yogurt, cheese)

If you nursed past a year...come on in

We weaned at 14 mo, but I would have preferred to do it earlier. Dd wouldn't drink milk until recently, but she's always eaten like a champ so that didn't matter too much.

Ended up going away for a weekend-she stopped taking bottles around 11 mo so she stayed with my sister and I weaned her cold turkey over 2 nights (well my sister did lol)

If you nursed past a year...come on in

I nurse dd until she was 16 months old. At a year she nursed 3-4 times per day. Around 13 months I cut out her late afternoon nursing session and introduced a snack. Shortly after that she dropped her mid day (lunchtime session) on her own. From 14-16 months she nursed in the morning when she woke up and briefly just before bedtime. She started biting me around 15.5 months and I took it as a sign that she was ready to wean. We were both ready for her to stop nursing when she did--the last morning I nursed she bit me hard and I decided that was it--that night at bedtime I explained to her that there was no more milk because she drank it all- I replaced nursing with cuddling in my bed before she fell asleep. My dd never drank any type of milk- she refused it and her pediatrician is OK with that-- he pointed out cow's milk is intended for baby cows and I just had to make sure she was getting enough fat in her diet. He also recommend I continue her vitamin D supplement and give her tums for extra calcium.
My dd has always been a good eater so I never worried that she doesn't drink milk--she eats cheese and yogurt.

If you nursed past a year...come on in

I nursed till 14 months. He was getting his front teeth at that time and was chomping me way too much. He was having whole milk by that time so I didn't feel guilty stopping, though I loved the bonding at the same time. To stop, I stuffed my bra with green cabbage leaves and within a day or two I was dry.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

If you nursed past a year..

When did you stop?
DS is 26 months and still nursing. If you would have told me 2 years ago I'd still be doing this, I would have laughed in your face.

How did you stop?
We're in the process of weaning (I like to think). In March, he was nursing 4-5 times a day. Now, we're down to 1-2 times a day - morning and night. During the day, I distract him or offer him regular milk. I also try to be out of the house. He typically doesn't ask in public.

Why did you stop?
N/A

Was it baby led weaning or parent led weaning?
A little of both. If he doesn't wean soon, I plan on doing parent led weaning.

Did you introduce another form of milk at a year (cow, almond, soy, coconut?? Or did you just stick to
I offered milk occassionally after a year. I had frozen milk that lasted him til 16 months. After that point, I just gave him water in between nursing sessions. On the weekends, I sometimes give him chocolate milk with breakfast as a treat.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

I stopped around 13-14 months old.
I totally regret it and wished I did it longer.
I stopped because I felt pressured to honestly.
We did a little breastmilk in the bottle but almost switched entirely to regular milk.

If you nursed past a year...come on in

If you nursed past a year..
When did you stop? 22mo. I continued to BF DD #1 all through my pregnancy until #2 was born

How did you stop? Cold turkey

Why did you stop? At the hospital after DS was born, my ped (I believe completely incorrectly) acted like I was crazy to still be BF #1 and told be I basically HAD to stop immediately

Was it baby led weaning or parent led weaning? Parent led (really doctor led)

Did you introduce another form of milk at a year (cow, almond, soy, coconut?? Or did you just stick to bm? Introduced cow's milk at one year.

Message edited 6/22/2016 7:39:50 PM.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

I weaned at 14 months and I decided to wean her then b/c she has a lot of allergies and my diet had to be VERY limited (couldnt have anything with even traces of dairy, eggs, peanut, tree nuts, sesame seed, etc.). If that wasn't the case, my plan was to let her self-wean. I introduced hemp and coconut milks around 12 months. I slowly weaned by dropping sessions. She seemed fine with it so that made me feel better about initiating weaning.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

If you nursed past a year..

When did you stop?
just in the past week or so, at 13.5 months old.

How did you stop?
Gradually. Started cutting back around 11.5 months. Got down to 2 times a day, stayed there for a while, then just at bedtime, then just once every few days, then after a while I wasn't making much at all anymore & when I'd let him bf he'd get so frustrated when he figured out he couldn't get much anymore & that was it. Now he'll happily drink a bottle.

Why did you stop?
Oh a lot of reasons. He started to lose interest to some degree so when he'd bf it would only be for a couple of minutes & he started to seem to not need it as much for comfort. I also didn't want to pump at work anymore so once I stopped that, my supply began to drop... and some mornings before work he wouldn't wake up to bf, so again this led to my supply dropping. I also was kind of ready to be done with it, didn't want to deal with random engorgement & leaking & all that fun stuff anymore, plus he'd bite occasionally & that really hurt. I also never got my period for the whole time I breastfed & I wanted it back so I had to stop.

Was it baby led weaning or parent led weaning?
Combination. He started to rely on it less, and I took advantage of that & cut back.

Did you introduce another form of milk at a year (cow, almond, soy, coconut?? Or did you just stick to bm?
He has been getting bm from the freezer in a bottle since I started weaning & now it's almost used up so I've been mixing it with regular whole milk which he likes. Soon he will be drinking just whole milk when I run out of bm.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

Nursed till 2. Stopped pumping at 11 months so switched to cow milk during day, and still nursed evenings/weekends. Parent led, I was done, it was tough, DS was not done at all.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

We're not there yet but I'm planning to slowly wean him after he turns a yr by introducing cows milk, or almond milk if he still hasn't outgrown his intolerance.

If I were u, I wouldn't worry about introducing any other type of milk for a while. Many times u've talked about having a frozen stash that would last for like 4 months, so I'd just use all that and by the time u have half of ur stash left, I'd then introduce another type of milk so ur frozen bm can last u for another 2 more months at least.

Message edited 6/23/2016 8:56:54 AM.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

When did you stop?
DS weaned at just shy of 2.5 years old. So at about 30ish months?

How did you stop?
We cut down from 2-3 times/day to once a day (mornings) at 2. And then I started explaining that nursing was for the baby (I'm pregnant) about 3 weeks out, and kept reminding him, and then we offered a cup of milk in the morning. Took 3 days, meltdown on the 3rd day, and then he was totally fine with it.

Why did you stop?
I got pregnant, and it started to become painful to nurse.

Was it baby led weaning or parent led weaning?
Parent led. He would have kept nursing 1x/day forever

Did you introduce another form of milk at a year?
Yes. He is in daycare and I was pumping which I loathed. So at 1 we introduced cow's milk in a bottle, and until 2 years old he would nurse a few times a day and do bottles at daycare. At 2 we switched totally to cups, and cut down on milk (only when he asks for it), but he still drinks a cup or two a day generally.

Message edited 6/23/2016 2:17:21 PM.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

I nursed my DS till 2 1/2. Around 2yrs old I stopped offering it or stopped just automatically doing it at our routine times..... I waited for him to ask. If he asked, I always would nurse.

At the time I started "don't offer, don't refuse" I was dappling with the idea of having another potentially in the next 6 months or so and knew I'd need to be weaned for that because of drugs needed to get and/or stay pregnant. I wanted to wean on my DS's terms rather than stop abruptly. We had such a beautiful nursing experience and I wanted it to end on a positive note. Ultimately, we decided not to try for another yet anyway and he had nursed for the last time in February. Some days I'm glad I "have my body back" without the worry of a medication or hair dyes, etc passing through to breast milk....... But then other days I miss his little face nursing up against me and I'm sad we weaned....... But all in all, nursing is something I never thought I'd get to experience in the first place, especially having walked the path of surrogacy for a year before he was conceived. Nursing till 2 1/2 was beyond all expectations I could have ever hoped for, and weaning was bittersweet, but felt right. At almost 3, he remembers he was nursed and when he sees a baby he talks about how they nurse too

We did not introduce another form of milk at a year, or even now at almost 3. My DS actually tried organic chocolate milk for the first time yesterday and occasionally has milk in his cereal, but he does not drink it routinely. He does eat LOTS of cheese (American, cheddar, feta, Parmesan, mozzarella, the list goes on...) and my ped said as long as he's getting at least 3 servings a day of dairy, it's fine.

Re: If you nursed past a year...come on in

DS turned 2 last month and he still nurses 0-2 times a day, but usually at least once. its mostly just a comfort thing and our little quiet bed time routine. Not sure when/how we'll stop. We introduced milk around 1 year and he will drink it occasionally, but otherwise is a yogurt addict and will have 4-6 servings of yogurt a day. He loves water (his sippy cup is almost the equivalent of a security blanket, it goes EVERYWHERE with him)