Anybody else with nursing toddlers?
 

I know I can't be alone.

My son just turned two.

I have a 23 month old "beast in children's clothing" - I fear she'll never quit:)

I've been nursing and pregnant for the last 5 years LOL! I cut my first son off at just over 3, when I couldn't stand the tandem nursing anymore (and he was emotionally ready). And I just cut my second son off at 2.5yrs because I am pregnant and it was painful without any supply (and I do not want to tandem again). He was pretty good with it, since it wasn't there anyway.

In a couple weeks, I'll have my third son and start another 3 years of nursing. I'm scared to see what my boobs look like when its all done. ha!

Cool Mom I really feel for you that is a long haul. Congrats on your latest upcoming child.

Count me in and thanks for starting this thread. I have a 2 and not quite a half year old. My son who is 9 now stopped nursing on his own at this age and I really wish my daughter would do the same but she is showing no sign of waining or weaning yet.

Me on the floor stretching, lifting weights situps you name it....and my little buttercup marches in and says in the sweetest little voice "may I nurse mommy"

I am curious if I will loose weight when she weans. I lost 10lbs over night with my son but I wasn't too carefull about how I ate back then so it may have been that I was much less hungry.

I have not one but two nursing toddlers! :carrot: :carrot: Linda is a little over three and she swears she's going to nurse when she's in college. Esther is sixteen months old & hopefully will go until at least three. As of yesterday, I've been breastfeeding nonstop for five years, through two pregnancies (thankfully I never totally lose my milk). I'm on my second round of tandem nursing.

I have one, too! I'm tandem nursing my 2.5 year old son and 7 month old daughter, plus pumping for a friend's babe. I'm not one of the lucky ones who loses weight while breastfeeding, my body holds on to fat like I'm going to be nursing an entire preschool.

My DD is just now outgrowing dairy and soy sensitivities (I'm happy, my son was sensitive until 16 months!) so I'm adding dairy back into my diet and starting South Beach again. My husband has been at sea for several months and I've been making some really unhealthy meal choices while he has been gone. Let's just say that my DS now thinks that lunch is always handed to us through the car window. :o

I also have a nursing toddler =) She will be 2 on the 28th and still going strong. She finally FINALLY slept through the night the last two nights. WOOHOO!!

*raises hand*

He'll be 2 on the 30th and is still going 5-6 times per day. It confuses the **** out of me with figuring out WW points. I have a half decent supply (I get mildly engorged if he doesn't nurse for several hours) and he's nursing a lot but there's no way I deserve the entire 10 points (except for times when he's ill and nursing is 100% of his diet - which was the scene about 2 weeks ago. Poor boy couldn't even hold down water, breastmilk was it so he was on it literaly every hour). I compromised though and I give myself up to 5 extra points depending on how much he nurses. It's going pretty well. I know that my body is hanging on to a bit of weight for him though and as soon as he stops it's just going to fall right off.

Rightcher! (as we say in Texas)
 

My DD is 21 months old. She's my 4th. All the others were weaned a little after two, with a little gentle guidance from Mom. This one had cancer a year ago last year and nursed all through it. She can nurse as long as she wants to -- of course, she may have to choose an instate college. LOL.

She's pretty feisty and independent, so it won't surprise me if she just up and stops out of the blue one day.

Originally Posted by Tristesse:
*raises hand*

He'll be 2 on the 30th and is still going 5-6 times per day. It confuses the **** out of me with figuring out WW points. I have a half decent supply (I get mildly engorged if he doesn't nurse for several hours) and he's nursing a lot but there's no way I deserve the entire 10 points (except for times when he's ill and nursing is 100% of his diet - which was the scene about 2 weeks ago. Poor boy couldn't even hold down water, breastmilk was it so he was on it literaly every hour). I compromised though and I give myself up to 5 extra points depending on how much he nurses. It's going pretty well. I know that my body is hanging on to a bit of weight for him though and as soon as he stops it's just going to fall right off.

I know what you mean. My daughter nurses an awful lot most days and so most of the time I am confused as to if I need the extra calories that a nursing mom needs.

Can I just say how happy this thread makes me? :D I'd expect to see it somewhere like Mothering, but this is a pretty mainstream site.

Originally Posted by GreatBigMonsterMomma:
Can I just say how happy this thread makes me? :D I'd expect to see it somewhere like Mothering, but this is a pretty mainstream site.

Well, MDC and C2PP are the other boards I hang out on. :) Mothering is what changed me from a "I'm going to try to nurse for 6 months" to an extended tandem nursing homebirther. :lol: Now I'm here on 3FC to get support in switching over to a better way of eating and becoming healthier.

Yes, MDC will do that to you. I'm Sagesgirl over there, btw.

This thread makes me very happy, too....Altogether, I've breastfed for 9 years, tandem nursed for a couple years...I miss it!

More and more women are nursing their babies well into toddlerhood. Or rather, women have done so for generations, but more and more women are feeling comfortable talking about it.

I'm glad to see more women nursing toddlers and child-led weaning also. My grandmother nursed her oldest (my dad) for 8 months but I'm the only one in my family to nurse since then. :)

I'm Red Sonja over there.

:) I am happy to see this thread too! I figured everyone over here would think I was a freak! My dd self-weaned at 22 months. I was trying to get pg again so I didnt discourage her weaning then. I had pre-term labor with her the entire pg so even in the nursing group they said I shouldn't nurse while pg so it was nice she picked that time to stop.

Good to see there will be somebody around who understands me for the next 2 years!

I definitely understand that feeling, ennay, I had preterm labor with my son and that was scary! Luckily my pregnancy with DD went just fine, she was born a healthy 10 lbs. :)

Heh, I was nursing Linda like mad the last few days of my pregnancy with Esther, trying to kick that blasted prodromal labor into gear. ;) It didn't work, naturally.

it only works when you dont want it to.

Did you see today's Oprah? 99% of women in Norway nurse their babies.

Still going...
 

I am nursing my 18 month old son. Trying to keep it to three times a day, but sometimes he is very persistent about "this" (the word he uses for nursing). He gets on my lap and tugs at my shirt and says "this." We are PCSing in a month and I feel I cannot even think about weaning him at this moment. This will be a huge move for us and I think he is going to need atleast the familiarity of nursing. I am also on a weight loss program and lost 16 pounds in six weeks and have lost nothing since, that was eight weeks ago. I work out three times a week and do cardio three times a week. I have to wonder if my body is holding on to the fat due to my nursing. Any one else with issues of a plateau? I am baffled, I am currently 237 and see no other tangible reason for me not to have continued losing. Any wisdom would be appreciated.

Hollie

Hello!

My younger is almost 2 and I did the tandem nursing thing too, for a bit.
I don't know what it would be like to stop nursing and whether it would make
weight loss (and future maintenance) easier or harder. I'm not going to
make nursing decisions based on my weight, but I want to guide
in the direction that's to my benefit, and I'm not even sure which that is.

So I'd love to hear more about other people's experiences with weight loss and toddler nursing. How does nursing affect your weight loss, your
cravings, your "set-point" and maintenance, etc.

I reduced my % bodyfat during both pregnancies (in other words,
I didn't gain so much) and I gained weight really easily during nursing.
(I got carb cravings or low blood sugar at the start of each feed.)
Anybody else experience similar patterns?
The effects of nursing seem pretty minor now, but it was more
significant when I was nursing more.

How did your appetite, weight and "metabolism" change
when you stopped nursing?
Can you tell if nursing made it easier to get a lower setpoint?
Can you tell if it made your cravings more or less?
Has anybody done fast weight loss (2lbs / week) while nursing?
Had any feedback from your child about changes to the milk?

Lisa

I'm breastfeeding my toddler (right now, actually) who is 26 months and I have nursing twins who are 5 months. I wish my toddler wasn't asking so much (every time the babies nurse, she wants to, or anytime she sits in my lap, etc) but such is life.

I've been dropping weight like mad recently,, so I think I need to up my calories.

I also am happy to see this thread here! I'm a baby wearer, myself, and I know others here are too.

Does my baby count? She just started walking! That makes her a toddler, right?

My first nursed to 21 months before he "self weaned with encouragement" (he stopped asking and I didn't offer). My second self weaned at 16 months when I was 5 months pregnant. Avery's still going strong, although she just in the last two weeks has been nursing more at night than during the day. Some days she goes all day just on solids and then nurses only at night. She's still waking at least twice a night to nurse. Joy...

Kara

Wow, it's been a while since I have been on this site and boy am I glad I checked in today!! I have a 15 mo old that isn't even close to weaning and it is so nice to know that there are others out there. Thank you! I taught her the sign for milk so she is constantly at my shirt smiling signing saying nuh nuh. Also I have a question...my close to 3 year old (who weaned at 15 mo) is now asking to nurse. I don't think she would like the milk should I let her try??

She's probably just curious. I'd let her try. If you're uncomfortable with her actually nursing, you could express some in a cup for her.

Your kids are so adorable in their sunglasses!

Kara

Up to you if you want the three-year-old to unwean. I've been telling my five-year-old no on the rare occasions she asks; I'm just not comfortable with it. (And she nursed until a week shy of her third birthday, so it's not like she was shorted anyhow.)

Hi...I'm new to this forum, but am a member od MDC also :) I am currently nursing my 38 month old Zoe :) She shows no signs of stopping so I am praying for the CLW to kick in soon :)

Hi, I'm a lurker, my babe is 8 months old so not a toddler yet :)

Just wanted to say I'm also on MDC, I'm njbeachgirl over there!

I would be happy to nurse dd into toddlerhood, but I have a feeling she won't be a very extended nurser. But if she is, see you all over here :)

What is MDC? I want to check it out. I went 6 months with my son, most of the last 3 months was exclusively pumping since he preferred the speed of the bottle. My 2 month old really seems to like nursing a lot more, so I'm planning on going at least a year with her.

MDC is MotheringDotCommune, the message boards at Mothering.com (you may have come across the magazine Mothering in the book store, but probably not as they tend to hide it ;)). It is a very pro-breastfeeding, attachment parenting site. They have a very definite vibe to them (there are some parts of the site I don't go into).

This is their intro on their forum page, which will give you a good deal of info about the community:

Originally Posted by :
We host discussion about nighttime parenting, loving discipline, natural birth, homebirth, successful breastfeeding, alternative and complementary home remedies, informed consent, and many other topics from a natural point of view. We are not interested, however, in hosting discussions on the merits of crying it out, physical punishment, formula feeding, elective cesarean section, routine infant medical circumcision, or mandatory vaccinations. We do not tolerate any type of discrimination in the discussions, including but not limited to racism, heterosexism, classism, religious bigotry, or discrimination toward the disabled. We will not host discussions that involve explicit sexual references and are cautious about discussions on volatile topics such as abortion, religion, and race. We invite you to join us as a member, keeping in mind the focus of this intentional community and respecting its advocacy.

Well, now I have two nursing toddlers. My little one is almost 14 months and my DS just turned 3. :)

Isn't it kind of funny to realize you've been tandem nursing over a year? Takes some kind of dedication. Or insanity, I've never been sure which. ;)

Some days it definitely feels like insanity! But it's a long way from when I was pregnant with DS and thinking "well, I'll try to nurse for 6 months, maybe a year".

I've got a nursing toddler too. She just turned two last week and she nurses more now than she did a year ago. Every time I sit she's in my lap, which I guess can be a good motivation for me to keep moving!

I'm amazing at what a different nurser she is than her big brother. By this age he was only nursing a couple of times during the day and not at all at night.