I’m Not Going To Try To Convince You To Breastfeed Your Toddler

Three weeks ago she took her first independent steps.  Tentative and kind of shuffley, she did about 3 before dropping on all fours and crawling.  And that was it.  She wasn’t interested in more.  Between plenty of arms to carry her where she needed to go and lightning fast maneuvers on her hands and knees, she just wasn’t in a hurry to move her 19 pound, 30.5 inch frame around by walking.  Just the occasional effort of 2 or 3 steps, smiling at her audience as she performed her newest trick, Smunchie toyed with the idea of walking just to get a reaction from her family and it totally worked.  I was more than fine with this, it made her seem like my little baby a little longer and after my first 2 girls I learned that late walking was actually a gift and saved me a few months of running.

Then this past Saturday it happened.  I could see the shift.  It wasn’t a game any more, it was a goal.  She didn’t look to see who was watching and smile as she moved a couple of inches.  No, she decided it was time, looked at where she wanted to go and walked.  Within 24 hours crawling was only when she needed to go faster than she could manage walking and within 48 she was walking simply for the fun of it.

With that I’m officially breastfeeding a toddler, a 15 month old toddler.

It’s been a slow transition.  I don’t consider 12 months to be the magic turning point from baby to toddler but rather when a flexible idea of milestones and behaviors emerge.  She’s really a toddler now, gets her feelings hurt, picks her nose, shrieks “baba” when she sees another baby, is figuring out how to annoy her sister for fun and now walks.  Also?  She breastfeeds like a toddler.  Today she shoved a board book down the top of my shirt, grinned and signed milk.  Apparently I breastfeed a toddler AAAAAND board books.

I’m not going to try to convince anyone with this post that they should breastfeed their toddler, not this post, not this day.  Maybe some other time.  To be honest I’m not sure what there is to try to convince anyone about, to me I’m just feeding my baby still.  Sure, she’s changed and she’s bigger but she’s still my baby and I’m still her boobies, er, mommy.  But I will say that I have a love-hate relationship with breastfeeding toddlers.  Smunchie isn’t my first toddler to nurse, 2 of her big sisters did as well.  (The other 2 didn’t because I never planned to go past a year and, silly as it sounds, didn’t even know you could nurse a toddler.  Please, do not ask me what I was thinking, I have no idea.) Breastfeeding a toddler is an adventure but one that I’ve always eased into because our babies don’t just change suddenly.  Growing up doesn’t happen up over night, it’s a progression.  Good thing too because giving birth to a toddler sounds like the worst thing ever.  So while Smunchie did seem to just decide to walk one day everything leading up to this point was gradual, preparing both of us for this next stage.  We’ve already made it past so much that this doesn’t seem weird in the slightest.  Ok, maybe in the slightest because I can’t believe she’s this big already and could swear she was just born a month ago. So weird in that sense.  Like buying size 5 shoes.  Certainly not any more weird that cleaning snot off my boob and I’ve been doing that since her first cold at 3 months.

Some of my love/hate relationship of breastfeeding a toddler:

Love: Easing the transition of my baby growing up.

Hate: Lazy toddler latch.

Love: How comfortable and experienced we both are with breastfeeding by now.

Hate: How demanding or specific she can be about HOW she breastfeeds concerning position and me multitasking.

Love: The laughter and giggles we share when she’s at the breast like we’re telling each other secret jokes.

Hate: Fair weathered nursing- some times other things are way more interesting.

Love: The toddling steps up to me with a huge smile and signing milk.

Hate: That sometimes she’ll do that 4 times in an hour just because she can and it’s a new game.

Love: How she will gently touch my face and gaze up at me with the most wonderful and indescribable look in her eyes.

Hate: How sometimes she smacks me and giggles or tries to snatch my glasses.

Love: How if I’m already holding her and she wants to breastfeed she’ll sign “please” on my chest instead of hers.  I melt.

Hate: How she can climb up and start trying to get the breast on her own if I’m sitting down and the melodrama that ensues if she doesn’t get it right away.

Love: Knowing that the milk that grew her to this point can still keep her growing and strong.

Thinking of Smunchie’s new status as a toddler I asked the Leakies on our Facebook page for some of their observations on breastfeeding toddlers including the fun and not-so-fun.  Here are some of my favorites:

Aimee:  Constant motion and constant distraction.  As in, the baby is in constant motion and constantly distracted. 😉

Melissa:  Fun – able to sooth owies and tantrums; not so fun – drive by nursing sessions.

Carla:  The incessant ‘twiddling’ on the spare boob! Drove me to distraction!

Christi:  The unintentional boob flashes.

Rianne:  Being able to really tell you that they want to nurse. the way they really examine the breast before they nurse.  also not worrying when LO is sick, and not really eating. As long as she nurses, I don’t have to worry at all.

Laura:  I really liked how he knew what he wanted, and would stop everything at the end of his busy day to snuggle down and nurse. I hated how he would cry for “boobie” whenever he was told No or given a time out for something.

Jessica:  I loved that I could fix any owie or any tantrum with a boob.

Kiel:  This morning my 16 month old decided that it would be most comfortable to nurse while laying upside down…belly on my face. Then she proceeded to kick me in the head for a few minutes. That is about as bad as it gets….not so fun, but funny and totally worth it! She looked like she was trying to somersault at one point 🙂

Jennifer:  The 30 second sessions all day because he can’t concentrate on any one thing longer than that! Lol favorite thing, when he looks at me and smiles while he’s nursing.

Claire:  My son used to climb onto the lap and then want to feed standing with his bum stuck up in the air!

Jessica:  My 21-month daughter can do a 360 without unlatching.

Rachel:  Fun: nursing can fix any problem. Not-so-fun: toddler wants to nurse to fix every problem. 🙂
Fun: feeling close to my busy, active toddler. Not-so-fun: feeling overwhelmed by my demanding, needy toddler.
Fun: surprising myself by still breastfeeding at almost 22 months. Not-so-fun: the feeling in my gut when I think about her weaning.
I never planned to nurse this long, but I wouldn’t change it for the world now!

Christy:  DS (17m) often brings toys with him to nurse. It’s fun for me to see what he thinks is that important that he needs it to nurse.

Kim:  Fun: Instant cure-all. Not so fun: Toddler nursing acrobatics. Toes don’t belong in my eye!

Kimberly:  The only cuddle time my on the go kid would give me.

Shalan:  Fun: How he shows that he wants his milk (waves arms and also does a variation of the sign for milk). Not so fun: The acrobatics!!!

Monica:  I wish my son (19 mos.) was one that only had 3-4 times per day that he nurses. Instead, he seems to be pulling at me ALL DAY, sometimes while screaming “Nuss! Nuss!” as he lifts my shirt wherever we are. But I do love how he will be earnestly nursing and pull off to say one or two words, only to go right back to nursing with a crooked smile. It is like he just has to tell me what he is thinking before he forgets!

Alexis: I love that he can respond when I ask “Do you want milk?” (he isn’t able to sign/ask for it yet), and I actually really find the 30 second sessions sweet, I love that he can latch himself on without my help these days, but the accidental boob flashes are maddening.

Lauren:  It’s really great to be able to have breastmilk in her when she goes through any fussy eating stage. I always know no matter how much or how little she is eating that her diet is well-balanced.

Anneke:  plenty boobnastics in here lol!

Amy:  Not so fun…the unsolicited comments from EVERYBODY about whole milk and “are you STILL nursing!?! Yeah…what does it LOOK like I’m doing!?

Carrie:  The best- it knocks her right out at the end of a long, napless day. It gets her back to sleep with little effort from me when she wakes through the night. It resets those toddler tantrums like nothing else will. It calms us both. 27 months.

Jade:  Baby pilates!

Amy:  Breastfeeding gymnastics is not cute, and that’s coming from a gymnastics coach!

___________________________________

What about you?  What do you love/hate about breastfeeding a toddler?

Comments

  1. I love/hate the constant negotiation sessions of breastfeeding not a toddler but a preschooler. We are down to just goodnight and good morning feeds and it seems that I am still always ready for him to pop off before he is. I LOVE the discussion of how much he loves his milky, I do not enjoy the times when he decides to grab my boobs in public and start chanting with great affection “milky milky milky”.
    Michelle (@mamabook)

  2. I love how great the relationship is with my 12 month old. I don’t love that her new trick is sitting on my arm and leaning over my head when I’m lying down and she wants to nurse. It’s adorable for others, but the baby butt makes my arm fall asleep.

  3. I love the absolute joy in his eyes when I ask if he wants milk and lightly tap my chest. Or when he taps my chest to ask for it.

    I love that I can still soothe him back to sleep in an instant. I can resolve, or even avoid, a tantrum. I can magically fix a boo-boo.

    I love when he curls up against me. Even though he is 13mo and 25lbs, he still curves around my midsection perfectly.

    I’m not fond of the kicks, slaps, pinches, pokes, scratches, etc. But what I truly HATE, like Amy above, is the whole milk question. Or the suggestion that we’re only still breastfeeding because I want to, and that it isn’t necessary, and that I need to give it up soon. I HATE that “extended nursing” is even less accepted than nursing an infant. It’s all normal. Nursing is normal!

    Thanks again for a wonderful post!

    • Thankfully I don’t get those questions often. Actually, I haven’t had them since my 3rd baby, people are afraid to ask me I think, ha! Keep it up, ignore the ignorant, you’re doing an awesome job Lisa. ~Jessica

  4. Congrats to you and Smunchie on the lastest milestones! I read today in a Best for Babes blog that only 2% of women make it to 12 months nursing. We’re following in your footsteps 🙂

  5. I am breastfeeding my toddler quite by accident. I always intended to nurse my baby, but she just kept growing! It has yet to feel right to stop. I was planning to wean at a year, but here we are at 22 months.

    Thanks for the honest – and funny – portrayal of nursing a walking, talking, strong-willed little person. I never thought I would be here, never thought it would feel so normal and right to keep on nursing. And keep on we shall.

    I must share, too, that TLB has been a powerful force in normalizing toddler breastfeeding for me. That thread has been a joy to read today! It is so exciting and validating to see so many other mamas breastfeeding after the 12-month mark.

    • The first time I breastfed a toddler was on accident too. I actually tried to wean her, only made her want it more. After a few traumatizing experiences I thought I’d give it another week. Ha! Next thing I knew I was breastfeeding an 18 month old, LOL! ~Jessica

    • Thank you Rachel for saying exactly what I am feeling. My “baby” turns two today and people have been keep asking me when I am going to wean. It doesn’t feel right to keep something away from him that we both treasure. These quiet middle of the night moments will not last forever.

  6. WTG! I’m tandem breastfeeding a 2.5 yr old and 5 month old… I’m “in the closet” about breastfeeding my toddler so it’s so good to hear stories like this. Makes me feel more comfortable.
    Love – when my kids are sharing “booby juice”, as my son calls it. Nothing cuter than having my son hold his sister’s hand while each are attached to a breast.

    Hate – When my son demands “Leave your booby open, I’m not done, I just have to get my blanket.”…. ahhh, the demands of a toddler

    • Come out of the closet! Tandem breastfeeders are amazing, what a beautiful gift you’re giving your children! ~Jessica

    • “I am breastfeeding my toddler quite by accident. I always intended to nurse my baby, but she just kept growing!”

      Rachel, I love this! I’m going to add this to my list of fav quotations. I’ll give credit!

  7. Kathleen in Canada says

    My *baby* turns 14 years old in a couple of months and self-weaned at 4 1/2 years old. I remember standing at the park talking to other Mom’s and he’d shimmy up my leg and under my shirt and start trying to breastfeed. People would see him inching under my shirt and say “Oh, I see you’re still nursing him” LOL. And I remember when he was a preschooler having him tell me my breastmilk was better than chocolate.

    • “I remember when he was a preschooler having him tell me my breastmilk was better than chocolate.”

      That is like one of the best things ever! To hear that your milk is better than chocolate?! How cool is that! Thank you for sharing these memories, so very special.

  8. Thank You and all the other ladies for being such an inspiration. I’ve been nursing for almost 8 months and have no plans to stop. I couldn’t imagine getting to a year and now I’m all about it for as long as possible. You ladies give me courage to stand up to all the people who think it’s “weird”.

  9. I love this! My baby turns 1 tomorrow and I couldn’t be prouder to have made it a full year breastfeeding. I have no plans to stop. Thanks for all the inspiration!

  10. Stephanie says

    I have nursed all of mine to at least 2. I tandem my first two until my oldest was 3.5. She told me my milk was better than icecream!! 🙂 I’m on #4 now, my first boy. He’s only 8 mo but he is SO physical now as we nurse I can only imagine what it’ll be like when he is a toddler!

    • I’m in the same boat – the big boys seem funny to nurse longer but really I cherish that time bc they’re not ours for too much longer. I didn’t think I could nurse past 2 weeks and I’m on 4+ years! Toddler nursing’s fantastic.

  11. I was just thinking about this topic today given that Squishy is the same age as Smunchie. 🙂

    I LOVE the warm, heavy weight of a contended nursing toddler in my arms. I wish there was a way to bottle that exact feeling and keep it forever. I love how she giggles until milk drips out the side of her mouth when I tickle her or make silly faces. I love how when I ask her if she’s my beautiful squishy girl, she nods her head without unlatching.

    I HATE the “nurse until the milk lets down and then take off” game. I also hate the supreme nitpicking about where, exactly, my own hands need to be when she is nursing. Not a big fan of sharp new teeth either.

    Come out of the closet toddler nursing mamas! I bet there are more of us than we realize….

  12. Thank you for this post! My babe turned 1 this past Saturday & our nursing relationship is still going strong. When I was pregnant I knew I wanted to nurse to a year, but set a goal of 6 months for myself so that if it didn’t go well, I wouldn’t feel guilty giving myself permission to stop. Once we got the hang of it though, those first 6 months flew & now here we are at a year & still nursing with no plans of stopping any time soon. I’m starting to get questions from family & friends about it & to be honest, it makes me uncomfortable. I really hate hearing unsolicited opinions on such a personal decision.

    Anyway, all this to say I really appreciate this community. It is a place I feel at home & can relate to others who feel the same way I do. I love the previous comment that said it just hasn’t felt right to stop yet. It’s so true.

  13. reading this article and the comments is making me leak all over!

  14. I love how easy we ALL feel it is. The boys, who are four and five, were only breastfed for the first 9 months. But with Itse, it feels so normal and natural. The boys see it as normal for their sister to eat like that, we joke about it sometimes, and for them that is what babies eat.

    I am not a fan of her being to busy throughout the day to eat, so she catches up at night. It is like still having a newborn, but one with razor sharp teeth and stubborn (she takes after daddy of course)

  15. A friend of mine was still breastfeeding her three-year-old last summer, and she was confident and proud of it. My DS is just coming up on a year, and we’re still breastfeeding, too. I don’t have any plans to wean. The only plan is to see where the journey takes us. Thanks for your writing. I’m lucky that I have a friendly environment for breastfeeding, but I know not everyone has it that way.

  16. I LOVE THIS BLOG! My company, Bamboobies, doesn’t sponsor any others bc this is my personal favorite. Why? bc everything that is natural is normal. Not so simple in the real world.

    I’ve been nursing for 4+ years straight – on my 3rd child – and have loved every leaky, embarrassing, silly, annoying/tugging moment of it. And then not so much some other moments already memorialized in the ‘hate’ section above.

    What a special treat nursing is at every stage – thank you Jessica for creating such a great community of support!

    • Love you too! Thank you so much for helping make this place possible, I couldn’t do it without my sponsors.

      Natural and normal, that’s what I hope it is. Just… real. 🙂

  17. My daughter is 13 months and still going strong. She feeds on demand, and boy, is she demanding! I guess I never really even thought it was weird to breastfeed now that she’s walking and “talking.” The truly weird thing for me would be to just stop giving it to her suddenly because she’s a “big girl” now (she’s not, she’s tiny – 16.5 lbs). We would both be so traumatized!

    The best thing about this post and the comments afterward is the clarity that these nursing acrobatics are common – I’ve had a foot in my throat for the last 2 weeks! Sometimes I think my husband feels it’s time to stop or cut feedings, but when we go to the pediatrician she’s so encouraging and complimentary that he realizes it’s what’s best for her.

    The best thing about BF’ing (besides those lovely hormones and endorphins) id the ability to reset her mood with a little booby break. The worst thing for me is having to pump daily since I work 1/2 days 5 days a week. I’ll be happy to break up with my pump!

  18. I wanted to breastfeed my baby until she was at least a year old. Unfortunately, she was alway on the go. By 6 months she was crawling like a pro. One day, when she’d just turned 8 months old, she took a couple sips of my boob, unlatched, and crawled away. She never looked back. She wanted to explore, and she couldn’t do that with a boob in her mouth. She was walking by 9 1/2 months and running by 13. She definitely keeps me busy. She is now 19 months old.

  19. I haven’t nursed a toddler yet, but am fully planning to reach a year+ this time around (only made it to 6 months first time as we were also supplementing…bad decision in hindsight, but didn’t know any better at the time…) Enjoyed this post and even though this one isn’t supposed to convince me to nurse my toddler, it has actually made me a little more excited about it and a little less stressed about the unknown. Loved some of the fb poster’s comments. A few even made me teary!

  20. Well my days of a breastfeeding toddlers AND yes, even preschoolers….are many years past. But what I loved about it, was that it soothed the wild beast of a tantrum and it brought immense comfort and feelings of safety to any upset. The climbing all over me and pulling my boob into all kinds of various contorted directions was frustrating though.
    One time, my third child, a beautiful girl who will graduate from high school this May, stopped mid-nurse to tell me “Oops, out of batteries” because she had drained it of all of its milk. Time to switch sides. Memories like that one make me smile and appreciate the closeness of those years. I loved that time in my life.

    • Oh my goodness, “oops, out of batteries” is one of the cutest things I’ve ever heard! Love it!

      I need to have someone do a guest post on nursing preschoolers, I know it’s a whole other ball game then!

    • Inspirational! My son tells me my booby is broken too and that daddy needs to put batteries in it. LOL…

  21. Love: When I get home from work and we have a nice little reconnect and snuggle, with giggling and tickling and the whole nine. Those are my favorite nursing sessions by far.

    Hate: The “spaghetti noodle” latch… Mommy’s booby is not a noodle, do not grab the tip and slurp! OUCH.

    Love: The fact that I DID IT. The first four weeks of nursing were absolutely hellish for us, and I came so very close to quitting so many times. But we stuck with it, and it’s done us both a world of good.

    Hate: The fact that my almost 24mo daughter wants to nurse EVERY 20 MINUTES on days when I’m not at work, and does not respond well to delay or denial.

    Love/Hate: How hilarious she thinks it is to fill her mouth with milk and then blow a giant, wet, splattery raspberry on my boob, and the grin that invariably results.

    I have absolutely adored the two years I’ve spent nursing my daughter, but I have to admit, Mommy wants her boobies back.

    • “The “spaghetti noodle” latch…”

      This made me laugh so hard I choked on my breakfast! My daughter is only 3 months old, and already she has perfected this latch. I’d never thought to call it anything, but this name is so perfect! 😀 Thank you for the most spontaneous laugh I’ve had in ages Jenna!

      I love this site, I try to read some at least every few days to give myself the little boost I need to know that I’m doing the best for my girl, as well as getting ready-made answers to tell my grandmother-in-law when she asks why I’m still nursing (yes, STILL nursing at 3 months!). Won’t she be impressed when I’m nursing a toddler!! 😀

  22. I love the secret jokes we share when she’s nursing. And the excuse to just snuggle her close. I’ve gotten hours of more snuggles than I ever would have if she didn’t nurse or only used a pacifier.
    Hate: the “the world is OVER” tantrums and panic when I say “not yet” to nursing. SO over the top.
    I don’t allow gymnastics or twiddling. So thankfully I don’t have to deal with that! If you don’t like it, they *can* be taught to stop. Might deal with a few ugly tantrums and it might take a few days of consistently setting them down if they persist (also redirecting them to some thing they CAN do (rub the material of your shirt, or a nursing necklace or a lovey)…Even if they are in the middle of falling asleep ,which is inconvenient and horrid. But consistency is what’ll get through to the persistent twiddler. *If it doesn’t bother you, no biggie.* But twiddling and gymnastics give me the willies! I wanted to mention that as I saw a lot of that mentioned in the “hates”. If you don’t like it, change it! :0)

    • Sarah Halford says

      My mom was just with me for 10 days and she said the same thing about the gymnastics. I personally don’t mind too much. Sometimes if she is too crazy I do snuggle her up and make her stop. Other times, I just laugh cause she’ll have a booby in her mouth and her booty in my face-just too cute. My problem is I have a mole in my cleavage crack that she likes to pick-and it hurts!!! So that is what I am trying to break…

  23. I have 5 girls and have breastfed 4 of them the youngest is 15 mos I love nursing and even though shes a toddler she is still a baby to me she doesnt appear to be any where near weaning wich is fine with us, the only down side other than the nipple twiddling that I hate is my fertility has not reappeared and I would like to try to conceieve and would actually love to try tandem nursing just curious as to when others fertility came back when they were nursing.

    • It just depends. For me it came back last time around 14/15 months. This time it still hasn’t returned. It can be different each time, I think it’s the body’s way of making sure we’ve got the right spacing at that time.

  24. I am nursing my two month old right now (literally, right now!).. Anyway, I hadn’t thought much about nursing much past age one, but articles like this and the honest, open thoughts of other bf moms leads me to feel encouraged that maybe I could nurse into toddlerhood too. I wish I could be nursing my oldest daughter, age two. I think it may have helped with the adjustment to having a baby sister.
    Thanks for your great blog and honest sharing.
    Stephanie

  25. Everything in this post is me…every love and hate, and several of the comments, too.

    I am on my sixth child, all have been nursed. With my first 3, I was young and uneducated, but managed to nurse until they hit a “nursing strike” around 9 to 10 months.

    With my fourth, I got preg again when he was only 4 1/2 months and, determined to nurse him a year, I nursed throughout my preg. It wasn’t easy. My last month I was so dried up (maybe completely) that we cracked and bled and my nipples have not recovered (it’s been 8 1/2 years). They will always bear scars, but it was SO worth it.

    When my fifth was finally born, my fourth was still only 14 1/2 months old, still such a baby, and in love with breastmilk.

    The day I brought his sister home from the hospital went like this: He looked at her, leaned over to see her latched on (this was her first feed at home), smiled quite satisfied that she was doing it correctly, looked up into my eyes to give his approval, looked back at her with pride, patted her gently on the back a few times, put his arm around her, and latched on to my other breast. I have a picture of them nursing together this very first time, his arm resting protectively and proudly on her while they shared this most wonderful experience: nursing.

    We tandem nursed for 2 1/4 years until I was admitted to the hospital for something unrelated. The medicine I was given upon release precluded nursing and was needed to save my life (I had almost died.) Tandem nursing and nursing two toddlers had been a wonderful and sometimes frustrating experience, but I wouldn’t trade that time and our experience for anything in the world.

    This last baby is a NICU baby, born at 29 weeks. I worked my @ss off for 2 wks to bring in the milk and I had to pump for the better part of 5 months due to growth issues, but now she’s 16 months and we are still nursing. I hope and pray we can wean when she is ready and that nothing will interfere with that (and that she won’t be ready for a while still.)

    She has some swallow issues from her preemie birth and she hardly eats solids still, so when she was sick last week, boy was I glad she breastfed. I didn’t have to worry about dehydration or malnutrition, because she breastfed right along the whole time. Yay, breastfeeding!

    To those moms who are having a hard time with pressure from others, let me encourage you with this additional bit of unsolicited advice: My children range in age from almost 20 to 16 months. I have found in my parenting journey that EVERY parenting decision I made had naysayers, and NOTHING I decided was ever going to please everyone I loved–and that I couldn’t be the parent I needed to be until I stood up for my right to make these choices for my family–not just passively ignored them, but confronted them about their behavior being rude, unacceptable, and harmful to our relationship.

    BF provides the perfect opportunity to stand up to mommy guilt because it is so uncontroversial when it comes to FACTS. The science is on our side, the experts are on our side, all the facts and benefits are on our side. Also, it is coming at the beginning instead of the end of the journey of parenting. So, let me encourage you that this is the best time to practice standing firm and PROUD that you are doing what you know is best for your family.

    Bless you all.

    • Great post, Khyraen! It’s wonderful to hear from experienced moms about this topic. That’s how the rest of us learn. =)

  26. Thank you for another great article! I have so enjoyed your insights during these last 16 months! I too am “accidentally nursing a toddler” My initial intentions were to try it, then six months, then to a year. Next thing I know I’m deciding to let her self ween! I got a lot of “hairy eye balls” when I responded “I’ve decided to let her self ween”. So much so I’m thinking about having cards made up with the WHO recommendations on them just to shut people up and their rude, ignorant and judgmental comments. I LOVE BREAST FEEDING MY BABY/TODDLER! She is my one and only and I completely agree that 12 months is an arbitrary line in the sand to end a beautiful functional relationship.

  27. Thank you for another wonderful post! I, too, just found myself going from nursing my baby to nursing my now toddler. 13 months today. (How does that happen so fast??) And I will echo what other mothers have said…I am so thankful for blogs and groups like this! I knew very little of breastfeeding before I started, and then the more I read the more I knew I wanted to nurse for a long time. The rest of my family is not quite on board yet but it’s the online support from pages like yours that keep me confidentally going. And very happy to be doing so!

  28. Kimberly says

    LOVE: The adorable smile on her face when she looks at me, pats the pillow, and says “Baba?” (It used to be Maba… but changed to Baba)

    HATE: The pinching or uncomfortable (for me) positions she chooses so she can multitask.

    LOVE: How she always touches my face or lays her hand on my other breast and looks at me as if to say “Mommy, I just wanna be here with you forever!”

    HATE: The 30 second switching back and forth between Baba’s.

    LOVE: The extra sleep

    HATE: The hurting shoulder from sleeping in weird positions b/c she’s picky and only will let me sleep if she gets Baba a certain way lol.

    LOVE: Our little games we play together as she nurses.

  29. Hear, hear! I agree with the ups and down of breastfeeding a toddler… my twins are 21 months and still going strong. Here’s my slightly snarky but still heartfelt post on the topic:

    http://attachedatthenip.blogspot.com/2011/01/extended-really.html

    I get the comments, and questions, and sideways glances. But I still do it. They’re my children, and they rely on me. Plus we’re mammals, and we’re just doing what mammals do 🙂

  30. Great post…
    When my first was born I thought I would nurse a year… by the time he was a few months old I knew I would let him self wean… and he did… just after his fifth birthday… my second also nursed until 5 and my third until 4 3/4…

    I am now nursing my last and she is just 22 months and hoping that we have a couple more years…

  31. I love what the little ones are able to say about nursing or the boo boos. My George a month from being three will tell me that this boo-boo is his but the other one is for daddy. So at least he is a sharing kind of kid.

  32. I read most of these posts and cried. I have an almost 11 month old and was planning on weaning at a year. Until I was typing this I didn’t even realize a year was that close. My DD has 4 teeth and I definitely don’t like when those teeth bite down just a little too hard. But I love when she falls asleep nursing and she is just so calm and snuggly. Reading these posts and especially Jessica’s story has made me feel more comfortable about continuing to breastfeed my baby. Who knew, certainly not me. I never would have thought I would be breastfeeding beyond a year.

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  1. […] more tuned in, intending to savor every moment, holding onto it because it was one of the last.  I told everyone I wasn’t going to try to convince them to breastfeed their toddler, just talked about breastfeeding mine.  Like a fairy tale marked only occasionally by moments that […]