Extended Breastfeeding Ques with Almost 14 Month Old

First, let me congratulate you for continuing to nurse! You are doing a wonderful thing for your child. World Health Organization recommends to breastfeed for *at least* 2 years, longer if mutually desired by mom and child. Forcing weaning at 6 months or a year, which is standard in the US, goes against basic human nature. It is not unheard of for kids in upwards of 7 to be breastfed in countries that practice child led weaning.

To answering your question. What your little one is doing is perfectly normal! She will increase and decrease depending on her needs. Some days she'll barely nurse at all, others she might try to nurse like a newborn. Especially if she's feeling a cold or something coming on or stress etc. As your child gets older they can get milk out faster and more efficiently. It is possible that in a matter of only a couple minutes she's gotten her fill because she was able to get the milk out better than when she was younger.

I nursed all 3 of my children well into toddlerhood. My first child nursed until he was 3, through my pregnancy with my second and for 2 months I nursed both of them. He cut back a lot during my pregnancy because he didn't like the change in milk and getting kicked by his brother. He nursed a number of times after his brother was born and then decided he was good to stop. My second was about 2 months shy of 5 years old. The last time he nursed was a couple days before getting the positive test for my third. I was extremely sick when he asked one day. I asked if I could just cuddle him, he said yes, and that was it, that easy. My third is 3 1/2 now and nursing. Some days she only nurses a couple times, other days she nurses all day. When we get illnesses in the household, she gets over it the fastest and with the least severe symptoms, if she gets it at all. It was the same way with my older children when they were breastfeeding as well.
Do what is right for you and your baby. Ignore all the naysayers. They are wrong!

Pretty normal for older babies to go up and down in terms how much they want to nurse. One month you think they are about to be done, the next they are back to wanting to nurse 3 times a day.

Just a word from "been there done that": I weaned my DD at 19 months because I got a lot of pressure from my DH and family. Neither myself nor DD was ready for it at that point - it resulted in her becoming addicted to her binky (never much liked it while she was nursing) and I was very resentful against DH for his lack of support and frankly his lack of understanding and his selfishness.
Do NOT let others tell you when it's time to wean! Do whatever feels good to YOU. If you want to be done, that's fine - but if not keep going as long as you and your child want to.
Good luck!

It sounds like everything you are doing--and she is doing--is fine. Kids go through phases, and if nursing still works for both of you, you can keep it as an option.

(An aside, but I have to say: I found a lot of the comments in the post you referred to last night very judgmental and assumptive as well. Hmmph!)

I nursed my son until nearly three years old. Some things that helped us were to have routine nursing times (usually upon waking and before nap/bedtime) and to nurse mostly at home. This was less about the Nosy Nellies and their opinions about what I was doing, but more because out and about, he was very distracted. So, unless it was a usual nursing time or he was needing comfort, that became more or less an at-home activity. And when the nurse-and-tumble (acrobatic, busyness, wiggling around) started, I would tell him "all done boo boos", close up my bra and shirt and tell him to go play. He could either nurse or not, but it wasn't on demand at that point because I had things to do, too.

Otherwise, just stay in tune with your girl and know that there are lots of fluctuations in nursing.

I second everything Katrina said. My sons followed almost the exact pattern of her first two, my second son still nursing now at 2. My current nurser has widely varying demands, from once a day to 4-5 times or more. My five year old has been on antibiotics once in his life, never had an ear infection, and always recovers quickly from any little virus. My two year old is the same and recovers even more quickly when the rest of us get sick. Just keep up with what you are doing, make the offer morning and night. It is very unusual for a baby under 2 years to truly self-wean, though it does happen (as Shane can attest :) ). It is much more likely that she will continue to nurse in an irregular pattern until she is 3 or older unless you choose to stop offering or start weaning.
My biggest challenge at that age was sticking it out through biting!!
Best of luck, and great job :)

Personally, I don't think of breastfeeding as extended until after the baby is 2. I nursed my son until he was 19 months and I never thought of him as an extended nurser. I have friends who had children who weaned themselves around 10-13 months and they were sad to give it up (especially if it was during flu season) but the baby was done. I think that can be very normal. My son probably would have nursed until he was 10 but I was done and ready for him to wean when he did. You did a great job getting passed a year. I quit pumping at 13 months but nursed about 4 times per day until weaning at 19 mos. I looked at my milk as extra nutrition/vitamins at that point but he could have been healthy without. Good luck...I have heard of a few where the baby acted like he weaned himself but they were just on a temporary "strike." If you would like to continue, I hope that is the case for you. Good luck.

All you can do is nurse her for as long as she wants to. Trying to force her will make it an unenjoyable experience for all.

I think you're doing fine.

Sounds like she may be weening her self, and that is normal. The real point of EBF is to allow the child to decide when they are finished. As for anyone who is freaked out by it, that is becoming less and less since EBF has now become the norm for most people. I do think people get a little uncomfortable when they see a 3 or 4 year old nursing in public, but mostly because that is not only against our societal norms, but because a 4 year old is no longer needing breast milk as their main source of nutrition so nursing could wait until they are home.
As for your child, just let her lead the way.

My son nursed until he was 17 months. My daughter.. never really caught on, we limped along until about 7-8 months, but had BM in bottles till she was one exclusively, then we switched her to milk. The magic number for me was one so that I could switch them to milk and stop dragging my pump everywhere we went. My goal was to not give them formula. But I also work full time and nursing any longer was very difficult due to pumping at work etc.

When my son changed his nursing patterns it was because my milk level went down. The last feeding to give up was the morning one. Likely because they are hungry when they get up and that is the fastest thing for food.

Good Luck.

My first baby weaned herself before a year old. Seriously, she wanted nothing to do with the boob. As I became engorged, trust me, I begged her to try, but nothin' doin'. She was done.

Second baby, my husband and I agreed on 18 months. However, I had to cold-turkey my son just before 15 months due to basically needing a pronto hysterectomy. It was hard and my husband bore the brunt of that situation. I couldn't hold my son without him trying to lift my shirt not to mention the fact I went into the hospital for a week. When I got home, my son was fine. The love of the boobie was a distant memory.

All kids do things differently. I think you should be proud and glad that you've breastfed as long as you have. You can continue to try, but I wouldn't force it. Babies who self-wean are actually easier, although it's rough, as you know, if mom isn't exactly ready.

I personally hated pumping, but if you can get her to have breast milk from a cup, she's still getting the health benefits.

The less she nurses, the less you will produce and things will come to their own conclusion. You got beyond the first year and that's awesome!

Best wishes.

My first bf'd until 14 mos, second until 30, and still going strong with three at 24 months. In my experience, babies have a natural ebb and flow to them. My son actually went to stay with grandma and grandpa for a week when he was about 2, and I figured he might be done nursing when we got back together. But no, he didn't miss it when he was away, I didn't get engorged, and we resumed nursing for another 6 months when he got back. When kids are active and happy, they'll nurse less. When my daughter is sick or teething, she nurses quite a bit. Just when I think, Oh, we might be done, something happens and she wants to nurse a bunch again. She also is a distracted nurser, moreso than my boys. She never stays on long, but wants me at her beck and call, which has only gotten worse since hitting toddlerhood. But, according to the breastfeeding folks, babies don't naturally wean themselves that early. Of course, you'll hear plenty of people say their babies did, but the bf'ing people claim that babies are wired to nurse much longer than one. Ultimately, it's your choice. I would say your baby is acting very normal--there is so much for her to do now, that nursing is low priority. But, IMO, if you took it away, she'd miss it terribly. Keep doing what you're doing!