s/o BFing: Anyone let LO self-wean?

etoyama · February 2012

Yes, I'm I know I may be considered more "crunchy" than most, but self-weaning is something I have a strong interest in doing with G. I'd be curious to hear from other mommas who took this approach. At what age did your LO(s) stop nursing? How many time per day were they nursing by the end? How did extended BFing affect LO's interest in solids? TIA!

BeccaLandes · February 2012

i am still waiting for my boys to want to wean!

benjamin nurses sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes zero times a day.

asher would nurse 5 times a day if i let him.

it has not affected their interest in solids- they are generally good eaters. they also like to drink whole milk and water- maybe they drank less milk initially but i would say their intake now is pretty average.

gymnst1013 · February 2012

I'm a crunchy mama too and I'll be letting N take the lead. He will nurse as long as he likes. I'm curious about your questions as well.

Dochas · February 2012

Mine weaned at just shy of 13 months. He had been nursing 4 times a day at a year and dropped the sessions two at a time. I always nursed before giving him solids so it didn't stop us when he started eating more. It was very difficult for me when he stopped. But I consider myself very lucky that it went this way as I just can't imagine how hard it would be if I had been the one to say no.

GypsyEsq · February 2012

I wanted to, but choose to encourage it when we realized I was carrying the triplets. It was too uncomfortable. DD's last nursing session was January 2. She still asks to lay down on my chest and holds on to me like I'm her lovey but she's ok giving up the nursing. At the end she was 29 months old and nursing at least twice a day.

ESTH2000 · February 2012

DD is still nursing and she will turn 3 this year. I never in a million years thought of bfding let alone extended bfding but here we are!!!

She nurses when I get home from work, at bedtime, sometimes middle of the night and before we get ...we bed share too...I do feel it has contributed to her being a picky eater...but now I think she gets very little milk...

So am I a crunchy??? lol

futrkingsley · February 2012

Ah, yes I let DS self wean. The last time he asked to nurse was the day he turned 3.5 years old. Crazy huh?

He was a voracious nurser for a long time. He nursed 24/7 when we were together for the first 18 months of his life. He did okay with solids but was never a big eater. He still isn't. He drinks a LOT of milk on a daily basis and has always been a very big kid (90th percentile or higher for height and 70+ for weight) so no one is worried about his intake.

He nursed a lot through the first three years, very slowly nursing less. Our big sessions were wake up, when I got home from work, before bed and during the night. If we were together at nap, he'd nurse then too. He also nursed when he was upset, or hurt or sick.

The last six months he really pulled back from nursing and it was crazy what a huge change it made in our relationship. He started talking about it negatively -- he was a big boy according to him and only babies nursed. He picked up this idea at school (where there are rooms for babies and he's in the big kid room). It was accompanied by a lot of emotional upset from him and turmoil for me.

Towards the end, he got softer about it and only asked to nurse when he wanted to be close to me at bedtime. The last time he nursed, he tried for a bit and then said, "There's no more milk. I think I drank it all." Like a pp, he still wants to use my chest as a lovey.

cairolio · February 2012

I plan to let Henry self-wean. My oldest DS nursed to 24 months. I didnt offer one night and he didnt ask. The end. I thought it would be a much bigger deal than that!

Good for you, mama!!!

beebe929 · February 2012

yes it happened shortly after 18 months. We were down to morning and night around 15 months, she dropped night first and then eventually said "No" in the morning

She was still a good eater she likes food, so by the end it was comfort more than nourisment

good luck!

hannah&ben · February 2012

My first self weaned around 15 months.

My second was never really able to nurse, I EP for 6 months.

My third is 2 and a half and still nursing, I plan to let him self wean. He's made some headway - he's down to only 1 or 2 nursing sessions per day (before nap and bed but he doesn't nurse to sleep, he nurses then we brush his teeth, read a book and put him down awake). We hit a rough patch where he increased sessions a few months ago but he's on his way back down. I just 'don't offer, don't refuse'. As far as solids go, we started that around 6 months. By 10ish months he was eating 3 table meals a day and has ever since. Up until 15 months or so I always nursed first, then offered solids. After that I stopped offering, and let him take the lead. It's worked out well, I think.

muppet.fan · February 2012

beebe929:

yes it happened shortly after 18 months. We were down to morning and night around 15 months, she dropped night first and then eventually said "No" in the morning

She was still a good eater she likes food, so by the end it was comfort more than nourisment

good luck!

Pretty much this exactly. We were down to just morning and night (and weekend naps) at 13 months and she dropped morning at 15 months. She hung onto before bed awhile longer, dropping it (with a little encouragement from me) around 20-22 months. It was definitely for comfort at that point.

alchris · February 2012

Kira weaned herself around 2 years 8 months (maybe 2 years 9 months?) when I was pg with Elena. She just stopped asking. It was a steady decline in the last month or so such that I didn't even notice when it happened...truly I don't know when she last nursed. I got pg with Elena when she was 2 years 5 months and she was still nursing 2-4 times a day then. When the decline started it was a couple times a day, sometimes just once, and by the very very end it was once every few days and trickled off.

ALY1981 · February 2012

This was my plan with Henry. He self weaned at 10 months cold turkey

. Much earlier than I had anticipated.

etoyama · February 2012

Thanks for your responses! It's great to hear about your experiences with this..

queenbone · February 2012

DS1 stopped cold turkey when he was 9 months old. He learned to pull up that week, we both had a cold, and he stopped nursing. I tried for several weeks to get him back on while I pumped, but he was done!

DS2 is still nursing and I am trying to wean him because I want to go back for treatments at 18 mo. My goal was 1 yr and he has surpassed that and doesn't seem the least bit interested in giving it up. So I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do! The other day he crawled up on to my lap, faced me, and started tugging my shirt up. Somehow I've become that mom! Stick out tongue

I nurse him 1st thing in the morning while we are both still sort of asleep and then before his naps/ bed time. I am trying to offer a bottle before one of those naps though so I am down to only 3x a day nursing. Some days he'd like more, some days that is enough. So as far as baby lead weaning goes, if I weren't ttc again, I'm sure we'd be nursing for a good long time based on his wishes right now.

GL!

dana316 · February 2012

I started dropping sessions at a year old so that we could head back to the doctor to TTC #2.

I think I was at two sessions when I got pregnant with Parker, and then we went very very quickly to one session after that. She very quickly lost interest at that point, and I didn't want to tandem nurse...so we just stopped. I say she weaned herself, simply because it was a complete struggle to get her to nurse at all at that point...she was 14.5 months.

Cassian · February 2012

Crunchy mom here too. DD is 19 months now and still nurses about 3-5 times per day. I plan on letting her self wean as well. She just loves it so much I can't imagine forcing her to stop, plus she is so sweet when she comes up to me and simultaneously signs for milk while saying 'nah-nah' with that lovely little voice. Nursing has no effect on her solids intake. Despite her recent pickiness, she has always been a good eater.

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