If you BFed and continued past a year, did LO self-wean? If so, what age? And if YOU began the weaning process, when did you do so? LO is 12 months and I am still enjoying morning and evening nursing--in an ideal world, he would self-wean when he was ready, but at this point I don't know what my desired length of time would be. Curious to see other's experiences--I know they are all so different!
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At 12 months, I was only nursing in the mornings. Xander self-weaned at 14.5 months, though part of it could be because I'm pregnant and was drying up (or maybe the milk tasted differently).
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I let him self-wean which was, admittedly, earlier than I expected it to be! I knew so many kids that when left to self-wean, it was past age 2 or even 3... I wasn't opposed to extended breastfeeding and figured I'd take it one step at a time and see how it felt. But he weaned on his own around 15 months. It was about a 2-3 month process - from when I started noticing that he was dropping feedings to when he stopped altogether.
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At 12 months I stopped pumping at work, so we were down to 2-3 nursing sessions per day (wake up, bed time, and sometimes an early evening session). I was not ready to give up nursing because I loved it and I felt like it was the vestige of "baby-ness" in my rapidly growing, independent toddler. But we weaned by 14 months for two reasons:
1. I wanted to get KU and my body was not happy nursing and TTC. My hormones were pretty out of whack until I weaned completely.
2. One day I looked down at my *baby* and realized she wasn't a baby anymore. I was holding onto nursing as a way to hold on to something that had already gone.
Not everyone gets to that point, but I did, and after that I was done. That was the last time I ever nursed (we were down to just one session by that point).
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We dropped down to 2 nursig sessions (morning and night) around 15 months (around when we switched to 1 nap), and then around 17 months I dropped the night session. LO was not really very into the morning session by 18.5 months, so I did don't offer/don't refuse, and we weaned within a week! He did randomly ask for it during the day for a few days, but that was it.
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we were at about 4-5 times a day at 1 year and then she dropped to 1 nap and i slowly dropped the after that 1 nap session, so we were down to 2 times a day at 15 months. over the last week or so, i've dropped the morning session if she doesn't ask (at 17 months) and we still have the night session. i was open to going until 2, but i think i'm ready to be done sooner. i know it will be bittersweet, but i can already see her losing interest a bit, which i didn't think was possible a couple weeks ago!
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I just stopped offering at 15 months. She never asked for it. It was way easier than I expected. I realized that she was only nursing because I put my boobs in her face.
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I still have a boob monster at 15 months. I cut out the last daytime session two weeks ago and she still throws an epic daily tantrum (10-15 minutes of screaming, attempted biting and hitting). She even asks for bedtime early just so she can nurse. I'm ready to be done but I have no idea what's in store for me when I try to cut out morning or night.
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We're down to 3 sessions a day, and I think he'll quit entirely by the end of the summer - hes 12 months now.
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I'm at 18 months and still have a morning feed left. Sometimes we skip it, but sometimes he asks. We're going through the 18-month sleep regression (which is AWFUL) and last night he was having trouble going to sleep and asked to nurse, so we did, but he hasn't nursed at night since a year. I'm ready to be done, but we are TTC soon, so I think he'll probably stop on his own when I'm pregnant.
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@oliviaoblivia: haha, that was us too. I'm sure I could've stopped nursing a LOT sooner if I stopped shoving my boob into his mouth! As it was, he finally got sick of it and protested when I would offer, so I knew it was over!
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He dropped before bed around.. 16 months? and after waking up around 18 months. He refused before bed so I stopped offering, and I stopped offering in the morning when I had to take medicine. It was a really peaceful process and I am so so so thankful that we had such a nice end to our nursing relationship, on his terms. Every once in a while he will pet my chest and say "booooz (boobs)" and sign milk nostalgically, and it's adorable.
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We had been down to two nursing sessions starting at about 10.5m, then at 13m he didn't ask to nurse in the evenings and three weeks later also quit the morning session. So by 14m he had weaned himself. Like @Adira I was pregnant though and think the milk tasted differently which probably influenced things.
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I just stopped right around 12 months. We were down to am/pm and I just offered a bottle of WCM instead of the am session, did that for a week and then did the same for the evening one. Both babies were a little clingy/fussy/slept badly for a few days and then they were totally fine and don't seem to miss it at all.
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I had to wean DD as she showed no interest what so ever. She was 15.5 months at her last nursing session...I started the process at 14 months. It's been 2 weeks and she is now perfectly happy getting milk. Thank goodness. Don't get me wrong, I loved nursing, but I am pregnant with my second and wanted a break in between.
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E weaned at 15 months because he was sick and was too congested to latch on properly. We were only down at one session, though, and my supply was low, and by the time he was able to breathe properly again I had dried up (my goal was only a year so I wasn't pumping or anything).
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At 12 months we were still fully nursing because it took a while to introduce WCM. Once DS started drinking WCM nursing sessions decreased to morning, before naps and bed and during the night. I had to cut out the middle of the night and morning sessions but he often asked for it up until recently. He dropped a daytime one when he went down to 1 nap. His brother was born when he was 20 months and he immediately dropped the bedtime session because he wanted daddy to put him to bed. We're now down to just before naptime and it's really short. If he doesn't give it up by 2 I'll stop giving it to him then.
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I'm interested in this thread, because LO just turned 1 year old too, but we still nurse 7-8 times a day (3-4 during the day, same overnight), he nurses to sleep for naps and bedtime, and I have no idea what the weaning process will look like for us. It's cool to read others' experiences!
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@MoonMoon: that's about where I was with my girl at twelve months but with a couple more daytime sessions
At almost twenty months Miss A is down to four daytime sessions (wakeup, before nap, 5pm and bedtime) and one or two sessions over night although we do occasionally have extra day sessions (I'm a SAHM so it's not an issue to do so). Miss A will go 7-8 hours without nursing during the day if we're not home and she doesn't really nurse to sleep now unless she's really tired or having trouble settling.
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@maybebaby: I wasn't ready to wean! I can't remember how often we were nursing still - I think 2x a day at that point, morning and night? then around 14 months I think I dropped to just one feed, and then every other day, and eventually stopped. she could not have cared less! last nursing session was 15.5 months, and I had zero leaking, engorgement or anything.
Eta: I wasn't ready at 12 months but was by 14.5 when we started dropping feeds!
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LO self-weaned 10 days ago, just before 18 months. I wasn't quite ready, but that was that! She had a cold and was teething, and wouldn't nurse one night, and never wanted to after that. I offered for several days, but finally stopped.
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I weaned just after 12 months. We were down to two nursing sessions a day and I decided to see what would happen when I dropped one. He didn't seem to care at all, so I dropped the other session about two weeks later. He never asked or indicated he missed nursing, so it worked out perfectly!
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Ours was a very gradual wean. At 15 months I cut out all feeds between 11-7, then the next month all feeds from 7-7, then the following month we night weaned, then after that I cut out his morning feed. He was feeding once a night a almost two months and I weaned him at just shy of 21 months two weeks ago. He hardly noticed and he is doing great. The initial weaning was really hard particularly the night weaning. During the day he was more easily distracted. I know f a lot of toddlers who self wean easily. Mine was not one of them and I really had to take the reigns. Congrats on nursing for so long and keeping it up. I miss it but I am also enjoying having my body back again!
Not everyone gets to that point, but I did, and after that I was done. That was the last time I ever nursed (we were down to just one session by that point).
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