Author Topic: Extended Nursing Moms-I have a Question  (Read 1038 times)

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Offline dallinsmommy

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Extended Nursing Moms-I have a Question
« on: January 03, 2006, 20:58:45 pm »
Hi There!

I've gotten such great advice from you-and look up to each of you. I have a quick question;  I would really like to keep nursing my little guy for at least 18 months or possibly 24 months. However, I understand by that time he should be getting a lot of nutrition from solids; so, he'll probably only be nursing a couple times each day (morning and night) from a year on or so, right? I'm wondering if your body naturally is okay with that-or if you have to worry about not producing milk anymore.

Another quick question; were all of your babies okay with continuing nursing as long as you have? My son is VERY spirited and struggles with holding still to nurse now-however, I know nutritionally it's excellent and it also gives him a chance to stop for at least a minute-any advice would be great.

My son is only 7 months now; but, I'd like to start learning about what's ahead.

Thanks so much for your input.

annamum

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Extended Nursing Moms-I have a Question
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2006, 21:32:17 pm »
How nice that you are trying to see what's ahead of you. Each toddler is an individual and may have different apetite. My dd has an enormous apetite and even without nursing she would be fine since 1 year old. But there are quite a few toddlers who are very picky eaters and they survive on a few bites of solid food per day.

Anyway, up until one year, your milk is supposed to provide up to 90% of his food intake. During the second year, it should be roughly 50%. Now, how much your little guy will nurse will depend on many factors. First, on his temperament, he may be too interested in playing and may limit his nursings to just a few ones. Or during seperation anxiety period he may want to nurse more often for some time.

Second, it depends on how you "trained" him. He may have his natural body biorythm set on feeding every 3.5 or 4 hours and may want it at these times of day even though he is bigger and eating solids well. Or he may gradually start weaning if nursing was never for comfort but for food only. I found that a lot of babies who nursed for comfort continue to nurse well into their 3rd year while those who had some sort of a schedule wean earlier or at least drop many day feeds and keep only two.

You don't need to worry about your milk supply once he is older than a year. Your body will produce only as much as he wants/needs and even if you slowly start losing your supply, this is how natural weaning happens, it works both ways, child loses interest in nursing and mom's supply drops because of it.

My dd when she was 7-8 months old didn't want to waste her time on nursing either. But after 12 months she realized that nursing has a calming effect on her and chose to nurse for comfort, so well, basically you can't force a toddler to nurse when they don't want it :lol:.

Good luck!!!

Offline Lilah'sMommy

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Extended Nursing Moms-I have a Question
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2006, 21:32:39 pm »
Hi!  It's so great that you're only 7 months into this and already thinking of continuing beyond the first year.

As for your first question, yes, your lo should be taking a fair amout of solids, and yes, your body will adjust to the decrease in milk intake.  Now I'm probably not the best example, as I had problems with having too much milk in Lilah's infancy, but I have had no problems keeping up a supply with just two feeds a day.  Even if you aren't producing a huge amount, every bit helps.  Just don't wean off those mid-day feeds too quickly and you'll be fine.

As for whether your lo will want to continue, that's another issue.  Every toddler is different.  Some just lose interest earlier on, and unfortunately, there's not much that can be done about that.  When your baby is ready to wean, you'll have to follow suit.  You could keep pumping and give your milk in a cup if you want to keep offering the antibodies and other health benefits, however.  I found though, that though Lilah was more than happy to drop the mid-day feeds in favor of cow's milk in a cup, which she could take outside with her, go for a walk with, etc., there is no replacing the morning and evening feeds.  They are sacrosanct.  Could be that when the time comes, your lo will strike the same balance.

Good luck!  Feel free to ask for our help any time!
Sabrina
wife to Roy, 6-29-01
mom to Lilah, 9-5-04
Iris, 1-8-07
and Eve, 4-9-09

Offline Erin (redstarfalling)

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Extended Nursing Moms-I have a Question
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2006, 01:01:59 am »
I switched to just twice a day nursing about 6 weeks ago and it's going fine.  Your body adjusts as everyone else has told you.  And you'll just have to see how long he stays interested - he might surprise you!  :D
Erin
Mother to Megan and Samantha


Offline dallinsmommy

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Extended Nursing Moms-I have a Question
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2006, 03:00:03 am »
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and advice. I really look up to you! I'll probably be posting again once we hit that year mark-but, hopefully it'll just run smoothly and I won't even have any questions. :)

Thanks so much again-you guys are wonderful!