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katiebug
I'll love you for always
Member since 2/08 4624 total posts
Name:
Katie
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extended BF's-weaning questions
What made you decide to wean and not allow DC to self wean?
At what age did you wean your DC?
My DS is 15 months, and while I am in no hurry to wean him, I am on medication to keep me lactating and I really want to come off of it. I also want to start to try for #2 this summer and do not want to tandem BF. My problem is I am very attached to BF. I love it, and so does DS. I feel really guilty taking the breast away from him, but I don't see him self weaning any time soon.
Any tips on how to come to terms with this stage coming to an end?
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Posted 4/6/11 11:35 AM  |
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katiebug
I'll love you for always
Member since 2/08 4624 total posts
Name:
Katie
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Bump in case there are any extended BF out there.
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| Posted 4/6/11 3:31 PM |
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MamaB17
Back for baby #3
Member since 5/09 4065 total posts
Name:
N
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
I am curious too. DD is a year in a week. We are not weaning now, but might ttc in the fall.
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| Posted 4/6/11 4:09 PM |
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imyself
Member since 10/06 2938 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
When I was nursing ds my main goal was 6 week and then 6 months then a year and so on. When we hit a year I was like well I made it this far so i will let him self wean. Well I got pregnant. It was a wonderful surprise. My ob said I had to wean but my peri said ds would self wean soon from the taste change. The peri was right. Ds self weaned at 14 months (I was 10 weeks pregnant). I will admit it was very emotional for me I cried and cried and dh thought I was crazy lol
Dd is now 18 months old and still nursing. In fact she still nurses every 2 hours at night  . I am trying to let her self wean as well but am thinking of giving a 2 year cut off. She turns 2 in September and I have to go away for the weekend for work in October so I need her to be able to make it the weekend without me and the boobie. I love nursing and my ped said to do it as long as I want. he has never seen a kid leave for college still nursing but I am starting to worry dd might be the first 
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| Posted 4/6/11 4:19 PM |
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Blissful
Ultimate Expression of LOVE
Member since 6/08 4985 total posts
Name:
Maria
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
I wasn't comfortable forcing a wean. Janice's story about Josh's health reasons after the weaning scared the hell out of me. Alexa self weaned at 22 months.
If I were you, I'd come off the lactation medication and take it from there... he might self wean from that!
I will warn you I was an emotional WRECK the first 2 weeks after she weaned, probably form my hormones regulating again..
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| Posted 4/6/11 4:22 PM |
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yankinmanc
Happy Days!
Member since 8/05 18208 total posts
Name:
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
I agree with Maria, come off the meds and see what happens if you want to stop.
I had terrible flu last week and I entertained the idea of weaning Immi, but my friend warned me of the weaning blues, so I kept going. She is 13 months and I hope to BF her until she is 2...
well done for keeping it going for so long!
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| Posted 4/6/11 4:51 PM |
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
No tips but my son is 19 months and absolutley loves it still as do I. I say that if he does not self wean by 2 I will wean him so I can start seriously ttc for number two. I really love it though and will miss it so much
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| Posted 4/6/11 5:05 PM |
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Posted by imyself
When I was nursing ds my main goal was 6 week and then 6 months then a year and so on. When we hit a year I was like well I made it this far so i will let him self wean. Well I got pregnant. It was a wonderful surprise. My ob said I had to wean but my peri said ds would self wean soon from the taste change. The peri was right. Ds self weaned at 14 months (I was 10 weeks pregnant). I will admit it was very emotional for me I cried and cried and dh thought I was crazy lol
Dd is now 18 months old and still nursing. In fact she still nurses every 2 hours at night . I am trying to let her self wean as well but am thinking of giving a 2 year cut off. She turns 2 in September and I have to go away for the weekend for work in October so I need her to be able to make it the weekend without me and the boobie. I love nursing and my ped said to do it as long as I want. he has never seen a kid leave for college still nursing but I am starting to worry dd might be the first
your son and mine too (collage and still nursing). He yells for boob like his life depends on it!!!
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| Posted 4/6/11 5:08 PM |
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Rycois
Blessed with 2blue/2pink
Member since 12/05 13341 total posts
Name:
J
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
I was 16 wks PG with DS2 when I weaned DS1 who was about 14 months. I did that because:
1) it really hurt
2) he was barely getting anything at that point
3) I didn't want any confusion with baby #2 and knew I had no intention of tandem nursing - not for me
DS2 was weaned completely around 15 months and was a lot easier emotionally. We were only at a here and there stage at that point - after a year I packed away the pump. he bit me a few times when he was teething, he wasn't quite as attached - I was TTC'ing #3 and PG the cycle I weaned him and I was happy they both got about the same length of time
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| Posted 4/6/11 5:13 PM |
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Ophelia
she's baaccckkkk ;)
Member since 5/06 23378 total posts
Name:
remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Posted by MrsNicolaxoxo
Posted by imyself
When I was nursing ds my main goal was 6 week and then 6 months then a year and so on. When we hit a year I was like well I made it this far so i will let him self wean. Well I got pregnant. It was a wonderful surprise. My ob said I had to wean but my peri said ds would self wean soon from the taste change. The peri was right. Ds self weaned at 14 months (I was 10 weeks pregnant). I will admit it was very emotional for me I cried and cried and dh thought I was crazy lol
Dd is now 18 months old and still nursing. In fact she still nurses every 2 hours at night . I am trying to let her self wean as well but am thinking of giving a 2 year cut off. She turns 2 in September and I have to go away for the weekend for work in October so I need her to be able to make it the weekend without me and the boobie. I love nursing and my ped said to do it as long as I want. he has never seen a kid leave for college still nursing but I am starting to worry dd might be the first
your son and mine too (collage and still nursing). He yells for boob like his life depends on it!!!
can my kid join yours?  maybe they can start a support group!
like I told you the other day, Luce is 17 months and shows NO SIGNS of stopping. I have gotten his night waking under control (down from every 1/5-2 hours or 6 times a night to about 1 or 2 times a night) but he still needs me and our little nursing ritual before bed.
I just can't imagine stopping. this chubby little hand touching my face. 
even though he did motorboat me last night. and thought it was the funniest thing EVER 
I think it's harder too for you and I guess others who fought so hard to be able to breast feed at all....to have it be over...I am just not ready.
I was thinking though that if I dry up, he'd have nothing to drink and just sort of stop. that could happen if you give up the meds. and he could decide he'd rather suck on something that produces a liquid. 
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| Posted 4/6/11 5:22 PM |
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imyself
Member since 10/06 2938 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Posted by Ophelia
Posted by MrsNicolaxoxo
Posted by imyself
When I was nursing ds my main goal was 6 week and then 6 months then a year and so on. When we hit a year I was like well I made it this far so i will let him self wean. Well I got pregnant. It was a wonderful surprise. My ob said I had to wean but my peri said ds would self wean soon from the taste change. The peri was right. Ds self weaned at 14 months (I was 10 weeks pregnant). I will admit it was very emotional for me I cried and cried and dh thought I was crazy lol
Dd is now 18 months old and still nursing. In fact she still nurses every 2 hours at night . I am trying to let her self wean as well but am thinking of giving a 2 year cut off. She turns 2 in September and I have to go away for the weekend for work in October so I need her to be able to make it the weekend without me and the boobie. I love nursing and my ped said to do it as long as I want. he has never seen a kid leave for college still nursing but I am starting to worry dd might be the first
your son and mine too (collage and still nursing). He yells for boob like his life depends on it!!!
can my kid join yours? maybe they can start a support group!
like I told you the other day, Luce is 17 months and shows NO SIGNS of stopping. I have gotten his night waking under control (down from every 1/5-2 hours or 6 times a night to about 1 or 2 times a night) but he still needs me and our little nursing ritual before bed.
I wish I could get dd down to twice a night. And she now says mommy boobie please. It's a little disturbing at times but I just remind myself she is only 18months. She just had good verbal skills lol
We can start nursers anonymous. At least together we won't get weird looks for nursing a toddler 
to OP the other posters are right. Once the milk dries up chances are he will wean. I know dd gets mad when she tries to nurse too soon and nothing comes out. She stop and then go for her cup instead.
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| Posted 4/6/11 6:43 PM |
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KennysMommy
Never knew LOVE like it before
Member since 3/10 2640 total posts
Name:
Danielle
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
I am still nursing DS who will be 18 months old next week. I have no plans to wean him until August... I have to wake him most mornings just to nurse so I can go to work. So in Sept. when I go back to school after summer vacation, I will wean just so he can sleep in! I hate the thought, but he'll be 22 months so it'll make me feel happy we went so long. Who knows? He might self wean before then.
I agree with PP, definitely go off the meds and let mother nature take it's course.
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| Posted 4/6/11 7:18 PM |
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katiebug
I'll love you for always
Member since 2/08 4624 total posts
Name:
Katie
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
It will take me two weeks to come off the meds. I sort of hope that I have enough milk that he can still nurse at least once a day. I didn't think I was going to take it so hard.
Thanks for all the help.
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| Posted 4/6/11 7:35 PM |
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schmora15
LIF Adult
Member since 9/08 2476 total posts
Name:
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
My DD shows no signs of stopping either, she's 22 mos. I went oot on 2 separate occasions, 4 nights each time. She's totally fine when I'm gone, but then she sees me and remembers! Lol, I told DH I need to go away on a 7 day vacation with the girls for her to ween :) I'm not sure if either of us is ready though.
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| Posted 4/6/11 8:33 PM |
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Katie, I agree with the PPs who said to come off the meds and see what happens. You never know.
DD is 13 months and like you, I am not looking to wean anytime soon. I can't bear the thought of it right now!
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| Posted 4/6/11 9:23 PM |
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Lola
LIF Adult
Member since 1/07 1854 total posts
Name:
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
i just weaned DS last week at 20 months. I wasn't planning to, but i had to have a metal filing removed and was nervous
about trace amounts of mercury getting into the BM. I thought we would both be a wreck over it, but it went very smoothly and he doesn't even ask for it anymore. I was still nursing him in the morning, to sleep at night, and when he came into our bed in the middle of the night so thought it would be so difficult. He understands a lot so I just told him that the "boo boos" were sick and the milk didn't taste good. I kept telling him this though out the day and surprisingly, he was fine with it. I'm also surprised that I'm not super emotional about it either.
I would just stop the medication and see if he self weans when there is little milk left. Good luck!
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| Posted 4/6/11 9:42 PM |
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
So interesting, I was going to post a very similar topic tonight. I am newly pregnant with #2 and my older DC (who is over a year) is still nursing. Just in the past week, he went from twice a day (morning and night) to only at bedtime. He stopped asking for it in the morning, but he insists upon it at bedtime- even though it's only about 5 minutes and I know he isn't getting much. Well, today I had my first OB appt. and he said the best thing for the baby (#2) would be to start the weaning process sooner rather than later. I was so heartbroken by this, because I never ever wanted to force my DS to wean, I always wanted to leave it up to him. I know he barely nurses at all anymore, but I feel like it is going to be so hard to let that last feeding go (for both of us ). So, I definitely can sympathize with what you're going through. I agree with what other PP's have said about coming off the meds and then taking it from there. Good luck- hang in there!
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| Posted 4/6/11 10:26 PM |
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imyself
Member since 10/06 2938 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Posted by shooting4number2
So interesting, I was going to post a very similar topic tonight. I am newly pregnant with #2 and my older DC (who is over a year) is still nursing. Just in the past week, he went from twice a day (morning and night) to only at bedtime. He stopped asking for it in the morning, but he insists upon it at bedtime- even though it's only about 5 minutes and I know he isn't getting much. Well, today I had my first OB appt. and he said the best thing for the baby (#2) would be to start the weaning process sooner rather than later. I was so heartbroken by this, because I never ever wanted to force my DS to wean, I always wanted to leave it up to him. I know he barely nurses at all anymore, but I feel like it is going to be so hard to let that last feeding go (for both of us ). So, I definitely can sympathize with what you're going through. I agree with what other PP's have said about coming off the meds and then taking it from there. Good luck- hang in there!
My ob told me the same thing but my peri said that I didn't have to wean. He said the new baby gets the nutrients first and then the nursing baby followed by the mother. My peri said the taste of the milk changes and most babies wean on their own. I was lucky Ds did wean on his own when I was 10 weeks.
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| Posted 4/6/11 11:33 PM |
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MamaB17
Back for baby #3
Member since 5/09 4065 total posts
Name:
N
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
What did you give them to drink after they weaned?
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| Posted 4/7/11 4:45 AM |
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kspags
LIF Adult
Member since 6/08 1228 total posts
Name:
Kelly
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Posted by MrsB0118
What did you give them to drink after they weaned?
I give DS cows milk...
I'm in the same situation as PPs, expecting #2 and weaning DS. He just turned 1 and I was down to 2 sessions a day until he slept late the other day and I had to go to work. I figured it was best to stop the morning session and just nurse before bed. So really, it's every other day for each boob. Will I eventually dry up that way? Not sure how to go about it...He actually refused the boob tonight!
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| Posted 5/4/11 10:06 PM |
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babycakes18
LIF Adult
Member since 4/09 1281 total posts
Name:
Dani
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
I weaned Lexi at 14 months....she was obsessed with the boobs and would probably still be nursing...BUT although i LOVED every single second of it...i weaned her off for purely selfish reasons. I was ready....but not fully. I just started dropping feedings...i stopped nursing when she went down for naps in the afternoon for a while. Then I was nursing only in the AM and PM. I dropped the AM feedings and a month later dropped the night feedings.
Although this was something I wanted to do....it was SO SAD :(
I think they key is to gradually wean off so its not so shocking. I took my time and it was very successful.
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| Posted 5/4/11 11:06 PM |
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Kidsaplenty
Sister love
Member since 2/06 5971 total posts
Name:
Stephanie
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Unfortunately I had to force her to wean because I had to be on medications and could no longer nurse. I just increased her milk intake, and really she wasn't nursing much to begin with. She adjusted to it pretty well, but it was extremely sad for me. And I still have milk, 4 months later 
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| Posted 5/4/11 11:14 PM |
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Blissful
Ultimate Expression of LOVE
Member since 6/08 4985 total posts
Name:
Maria
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
Posted by Kidsaplenty
Unfortunately I had to force her to wean because I had to be on medications and could no longer nurse. I just increased her milk intake, and really she wasn't nursing much to begin with. She adjusted to it pretty well, but it was extremely sad for me. And I still have milk, 4 months later
Glad I'm not the only one. Alexa self weaned 4 months ago and I still have milk and feel engorged every once in a while! ***? My midwife thinks its because I'm around newborns so much for work..... I'm like seriously, I'm gonna be a dairy farm forever 
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| Posted 5/4/11 11:25 PM |
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Kassie
LIF Infant
Member since 12/10 240 total posts
Name:
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Re: extended BF's-weaning questions
I weaned at 21 months. After a year he got cow's milk during the day and I only BF on demand. It ended up being between 2-4 times a day at first and tapered down to 1-2 times a day as he got more involved in life.
Then, I went to a 3 day conference. I decided this was a good time to wean completely. I came home and he cried and cried so I BFd one more time and that was it. Pretty easy actually...
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| Posted 5/5/11 8:14 AM |
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