Still Nursing?!?!?!

Oh C. I feel for you. I nursed both of my children and before I became a nursing mommy I swore I wouldn't nurse past 12 months. With my son, the 12 months came and went and I just could not bring myself to take away something he had known of since birth to comfort and nourish him. So I told myself just a bit longer. At 15 months he weaned himself and I was completely happy with my decision to go past the 12 months. With my second, things were much different. My baby girl was diagnosed with developmental delays at about 10 months old. She had texture aversions and we could not get her to eat solids or from a bottle. So I knew I would be nursing her past the 12 month mark and I was okay with that. However, after about 18 months of nursing the nursing relationship was no longer 50/50, it was no longer give and take. She had gotten past the texture aversions and was eating food and drinking from a sippy. However, I was finding myself nursing more and more. She would nurse for comfort and I was becoming a human binky. I struggled with what to do and how to handle it when the nursing started to become painful. I still am uncertain what was happening to cause the pain, I think my dd was getting bored and not nursing properly, causing my skin to tear and bleed, yet I still felt torn about weaning her. I would sit "nursing" her and just cry. Anyway, one day it was extremely painful and I was bleeding more than normal and I just melted down, I was crying uncontrolably and told my husband I could not do it anymore. Our sweet baby girl was 21 months old at the time and that was it, I never allowed her to nurse again and for a couple of days my heart was broken to pieces each time she wanted to nurse. Good thing was, within a couple of days she was over it. I look back today and I know that without a doubt I should have stopped nursing the minute I felt the nursing relationship was no longer 50/50. Best of Luck to you in whatever you decide to do, I know it is not easy!

i don't really have advice, i just wanted to applaud you for nursing for such a long time! don't feel selfish for wanting your body back, you earned it. your daughter's nutritional needs can be met fully by meals at this age, so i'm sure it is just comfort nursing. maybe you could hold her close while she enjoys a treat instead of nursing until she overcomes this. (maybe like a frozen cube of juice or sugar-free kool-aide.) i don't know, but good luck and CONGRATULATIONS!

My daughter is 20 months and still breastfeeds. I don't feel bad about it at all. The World Health Organization recommends nursing a minimum of 2 years. The world average age of weaning is 4.6 years. Also, as long as you are nursing, you are supplementing your daughter's immune system. Also, it is an easy way to calm a child having a temper tantrum. I like nursing a toddler, and plan to continue at least another year.

well if you're really ready to give it up then you can put either vinegar or lemon juice on your breast and simply tell her that mama's milk is too old for her now since she is such a big girl now : ) She won't like the taste of your breast and she'll give it up.....but please don't wean her abruptly. Obviously she finds comfort with nursing, bless her heart, so at first just do that with 1 feeding you wish to cut out...after a few days add it to another feeding...ect.... good luck to you and kuddos to you for nursing this long! : )

I myself planned on doing the exact same thing, I figured at 1 year I would just start to wean and we would just be done . However it didn't work that way, I stopped nursing at around 18 months. My daughter would do the same thing and only nurse for a few minutes around her bedtime. Eventually I just started giving her a sippy cup with some milk and just let her relax with that instead of me. I would keep her occupied by reading her a book or singing a few songs and then she would be ready for bed. Within about a week she was used to the routine and never looked back. It was easy for her and painless for me! Hope this helps!

Hello C.. When my baby was born I was hoping I could nurse until she was a year old, well, before I knew it she was 15 months old and still nursing. Only my little one only wanted to nurse when she was tired. So, it was easy to wean her off, and one day I realized she hasn't nursed in a week (that was like yesterday lol). She still tugs at my shirt and whines when she is tired and hungry, but she doesn't get it. A few days ago I was sooo sore that I manually extracted some milk and put it in a cup for her, she wasn't even interested in drinking it. Now, she cries herself to sleep b.c I won't nurse her to sleep, and she eats alot of pretzels and animal cookies/crakcers instead of nursing, but I have my body back and she gets plenty of nutriction. Best of Luck!

I would like to first say congrats on nursing. When I got pregnant with my second I was still nursing my first. I found out five days after her first birthday that I was pregnant again. Anyway, once it started to bother me when she nursed I decided to ween. Only my daughter was ADDICTED to the boob. So I took a slow approach. I slowly took away one nurse at a time for a few days and then another. It only took a week and surprisingly she did really well with it. She is almost 22 mos now and hasn't wanted it since she was 14 mos. So my advice to you would be to take it slow, and I bet your little one will surprise you with how well she'll do.
Good luck,
T.