My son is 9 moths old and nursing strong. I pump while at work so that he can still have it during the day. I don’t even want to think about the day he will stop. I am all for self-weaning because I want him to nurse for as long as he wants. He is eating solids and drinks water from a sippy cup but still nurses from me in the morning, in the afternoon when I get home and at night. Just reading these comments about the babies who stop make me so sad so I have no idea how I am going to take it when he does finally become a “big boy” and stop. I am so grateful that I have been able to breastfeed him and I will truly miss it when we stop. I read something somewhere that said “No one said how much it would hurt to start breastfeeding or how much it would hurt when it had to end” I think it is going to hurt me more than him

I nursed my son until the day after his 2nd birthday. I was planning on letting him decide when to wean, but caved to social pressures and stopped at that time. I still regret it.

At 2 yrs old they are still a baby, and I’ll never get that time back with him. I felt pangs of regret with every cold he contracted for at least two years after we weaned. His colds were always less severe and shorter in duration when he was nursing.

We adopted our first child, and I tried adoptive nursing, but didn’t have a lot of support. I quit after 2 weeks (when she was 8 weeks old). I wish I knew then what I know now. I wouldn’t have quit so easily.

My advice is to stick it out. Treasure each moment. 20 years from now you’ll look back and truly appreciate how short this time is.

I weaned my oldest at 6 months because I had to go back to university and did not have the money upfront to buy an expensive efficient breast pump, let alone a place to pump while at school.

I started to slowly wean my 2nd off mid-day feedings at 10 months, only to have my supply drop dramatically to the point where she became increasingly frustrated and difficult to nurse. One day a few weeks later she just refused to nurse, despite my attempts to up my supply again, thinking that if there was more milk flowing she would nurse again. After a week of persistent unsuccessful attempts to get her to latch on again, I threw in the towel. I couldn’t handle the rejection.

Neither time I felt like it was really on my terms, which is disappointing, but I can’t dwell on it too much. They both received much benefit from the time I was able to nurse.

I’m another one who took the easy way out and simply let my son lead the weaning process. We wondered for a time if I’d have to sleep in the top bunk of his college dorm room, but he did eventually decide that the time was right. I think that’s the main thing, if you’re up to it, they WILL NOT nurse forever. If you want to make it easy easy easy on yourself, let them decide when their bodies are ready to give it up.

My son slowed down considerably by the time that he was two. By three, he was nursing a few times a day, but slowing down even more, and by three and a half he had knocked back to once or twice a day at most. He was a couple of months shy of his fourth birthday when he announced that “Nursies is for babies and I’m a big boy now so I don’t need nursies anymore”. Done, never looked back, piece of CAKE!

I did not nurse my 2 boys because I was young, working and going to college and thought it would be “too hard”. with my dd who is now 17 months I knew I wanted to nurse. she loved nursing and would only nurse…no bottles, etc (tho I tried pumping she did not want it!!” lol…..I truly loved nursing and regret I did not my boys..anyhow she was weaned at 14 months…I kenw I wanted to get to 1 yr mark…so around 11 months I would slowly take away feedings…it worked!!!! the last week was rough..but finally a weekend at grandmas ended it…she went all weekend w/o it..and when she came home she wanted it..but I would gently say no and give her the sippy w milk in it..after a day or so..that was it!!! I am so glad I got to nurse as long as I did…and I ahev to admit it I miss it but love the memories made

I breastfed my first daughter for 11 months. One day she just turned away and did not want to breastfeed anymore. But my younger daughter was a completely different story! I breastfed her for 28 months. She was a real breastmilk addict. After 28 months I thought that it was about time to wean her. It took us two difficult nights to get her used to the idea that mommy´s breasts were not available anymore. She never touched a dummy or a bottle. Even when we tried to give her a bottle, she just gave us a surprised look and spat out the nipple. We went right over to a cup. She is 13 now and we still have a strong and loving relationship.

31 months and still going strong here. Will continue until he naturally weans himself. My first child had a facial defect so breastfeeding stopped not long after her first sugery at 14 weeks. But she continued with a dummy until almost 5 – so I think i breed sucky babies who need it for food AND comfort, and both those needs are equally important

The WHO does recommend BF through at least two years for several reasons. During pregnancy, your body put in an extra layer of fat intended to support BF in the second year. Also, extended BF does continue to offer nutritional benefits to the child as well as health benefits for the mother.
I have done child-lead weaning with all seven of my children. They have all stopped on their own at various ages, but most right around the second birthday, usually due to a new pregnancy, I feel. My youngest is 17 months, and I am 16 weeks pregnant with #8, so we will see if he decides to give it up. Still an active nurser! Blessings all!

Child-led weaning. You should definitely nurse for the first year of the child’s life and even up to age 2 if the child still wants to nurse. But child led is certainly the easy way to go!