Extended BFing moms-some questions

First, I must say even though the fact that Sienna will be turning one in a week and a half is bittersweet, I never thought in a million years that not only would I achieve my EBFing goal of 1 year, but we would be going strong at 1 year! I also never thought I would be so happy and proud to become an extended BFing mom in less than 2 weeks!

So here is my question(s):

-How many times a day are you nursing your 1+ year old?
-If you have an allergy baby, do you find that you nurse more often?
-If you have a comfort nurser, did you let them continue to snack during the day or did you cut them off? Sienna is a huge comfort nurser, especially when she is frustrated or upset and she snacks a lot. She is very small for her age, we still don't know if her allergy is resolved, but she does take a sippy. Should I reserve nursing for waking and going to bed and sippys during the day?
-At what age did you wean them or did they wean themselves? How did you decide when to wean and how did you do it? (I figured 2 is now my age where I would like her to be 100% weaned if she doesn't wean herself)
-Is it stupid at this point to buy any other nursing tanks/bras? I should have enough but I could use another
-Last, do your boobs return to normal? Please prepare me for what to expect if I cut her snacks out.

Thanks!

Re: Extended BFing moms-some questions

First off, for making it this far and still going strong with BF!!
Kieran will be 13 months on Monday, so I'll answer your questions as best I can from my experience.

-How many times a day are you nursing your 1+ year old? 3 times a day. He was down to 2x most days, but then got really sick with a stomach virus, couldn't eat any food, but wanted to nurse ALL DAY. After he was well again, he went back to a normal nursing routine, but it's back up to 3x a day. I just follow his lead. I always nurse morning and night, and if he asks in the middle of the day, I will nurse him then too.

-If you have an allergy baby, do you find that you nurse more often? He DID have a milk protein allergy, but I never felt that it impacted the number of times he nursed. Although I really have nothing to compare it to, I suppose. When he turned 1, as per our ped, we tried giving him a little whole milk each day and he had no issues with it, so we went ahead with it and he seems to be over the allergy.

-If you have a comfort nurser, did you let them continue to snack during the day or did you cut them off? Kieran was never much of a comfort nurser, unless he was sick. I always give into it when he's sick. But otherwise, I think it would probably be best to try and curb the comfort nursing by this age. Since you said she takes a sippy, maybe try giving her a sippy of milk (or whatever milk-type product your ped wants you to give her) if she is looking to snack during the day. If there are any predictable times during the day that you know she tends to take more (like a full "meal" of BM), I would still nurse her at those times, just try to cut out the snacking.

-At what age did you wean them or did they wean themselves? How did you decide when to wean and how did you do it? He is not weaned yet, obviously. I don't really have a timeframe in mind. I am taking the "don't offer, don't refuse" approach with him. Right now, he is not drinking much milk at all, so I still want to make sure he nurses at least twice a day. But my plan is to just follow his lead with nursing. I plan to nurse him until he loses interest. Right now, I work, and he comes to daycare with me at my school. So if he is going to have his AM nursing, it has to be when he wakes, before we go to school, KWIM? So I can't really follow his lead on that one yet, because if he doesn't ask when he wakes up, but then wants to nurse like an hour later, he is out of luck. And that sucks lol. I am off all next week and since I will be with him all day, I am really going to pay attention to how he nurses. I am not going to offer at all, so I can see how often he would really want it if I don't offer it to him.

-Is it stupid at this point to buy any other nursing tanks/bras? I'm in the same predicament. I could really use another good bra, but it's hard for me to justify spending the money (bc the good ones are not cheap!) So I've been making do with what I have. I may give in and buy one though, we'll see!

-Last, do your boobs return to normal? Don't know personally yet, but from what I have heard, it is different for every woman. Some have said their boobs were exactly the same when they weaned. Some said they dropped 2 cup sizes, some said they stayed the same size but lost their shape and are kind of saggy. Who knows???


GL and great job!!

Re: Extended BFing moms-some questions

-How many times a day are you nursing your 1+ year old?- S is 17 months and I nurse him 2 very long sessions a day (morning and night) sometimes 3


-If you have an allergy baby, do you find that you nurse more often?-no allergies


-If you have a comfort nurser, did you let them continue to snack during the day or did you cut them off?- S only nurses before bed and in the morning, if he needs some extra tlc or is very cranky and asks for "boob" I will let him nurse/snack for a few minutes during the day but this is once in a blue moon.

Should I reserve nursing for waking and going to bed and sippys during the day?-I would see what your ped says with this one. If you have a concern bc she is small/allergy then it can't hurt to continue but I'm sure she will adjust if you choose to stop daytime nursing/snackign


-At what age did you wean them or did they wean themselves? How did you decide when to wean and how did you do it? (I figured 2 is now my age where I would like her to be 100% weaned if she doesn't wean herself)-still nursing


-Is it stupid at this point to buy any other nursing tanks/bras? I should have enough but I could use another-havn't bought one in forever bc I no longer wear then during the day


-Last, do your boobs return to normal?-mine did but never really changed. They were big in the beginning but now they are pretty much what they were before I was pregnant. I guess I'm lucky since S is always pulling on them!

Please prepare me for what to expect if I cut her snacks out-S adjusted very well. Replace this with milk and small snacks that are like treats for her (yogurt melts, fresh fruit ect)

HTH xo

Message edited 2/18/2011 11:40:47 AM.

Re: Extended BFing moms-some questions

So happy for you, sweetie!! I nursed Aidan for 15 months. If you have any questions, please ask!

-How many times a day are you nursing your 1+ year old?

I nursed Aidan twice a day after one year. It was morning and night. He got organic whole milk the rest of the time.


-If you have an allergy baby, do you find that you nurse more often?

Aidan didn't have allergies so I can't answer.

-If you have a comfort nurser, did you let them continue to snack during the day or did you cut them off?

Aidan did nurse for comfort at times. I cut him off and kept nursing strictly for morning and evening only.

I think you should go for the sippy during the day.

-At what age did you wean them or did they wean themselves? How did you decide when to wean and how did you do it? (I figured 2 is now my age where I would like her to be 100% weaned if she doesn't wean herself)

I weaned Aidan when he was 15 months old. I did it because I was pregnant with Julian and didn't have much of a supply left. I also did it because I wanted my boobs back for a little since I knew I was going to nurse again. Aidan was not ready at all to wean. I first cut out the evening nursing session. I let DH put him to bed and kept myself busy for a few days so that he didn't have a chance to ask for it. It was tough because Aidan cried for it. After a few days he got used to not nursing in the evening. The AM nursing was cut out by illness. Aidan got a stomach virus and didn't really want to eat or drink. I offered him the boob one day and he took very little. I decided not to offer it again and he didn't ask until about a week later. I told him it was all gone. He asked "All gone"? I said yes and that was it.

-Is it stupid at this point to buy any other nursing tanks/bras? I should have enough but I could use another.

i would not buy anything else.

-Last, do your boobs return to normal? Please prepare me for what to expect if I cut her snacks out.

My boobs are now droopier than they were. However, I also stopped nursing while pregnant. I'll let you know whenever Julian stops nursing!

Re: Extended BFing moms-some questions

Thanks ladies! You are all very helpful!

Re: Extended BFing moms-some questions

-How many times a day are you nursing your 1+ year old?
I dropped down to nursing in the morning and night, but DS quickly dropped the nighttime session.

-If you have an allergy baby, do you find that you nurse more often?
DS didn't have allergies, but my friend whose DD had a lot of allergies continued to nurse often until her DD was 17 months old.

-If you have a comfort nurser, did you let them continue to snack during the day or did you cut them off? Sienna is a huge comfort nurser, especially when she is frustrated or upset and she snacks a lot. She is very small for her age, we still don't know if her allergy is resolved, but she does take a sippy.
DS wasn't much of a comfort nurser. He was a huge paci addict.

Should I reserve nursing for waking and going to bed and sippys during the day?
That's pretty much what I did, but it's really up to you.

-At what age did you wean them or did they wean themselves? How did you decide when to wean and how did you do it? (I figured 2 is now my age where I would like her to be 100% weaned if she doesn't wean herself)
DS self-weaned at 15 months. I would've continued the morning nursing session until at least 18 months. My supply really sucked at that point though.

-Is it stupid at this point to buy any other nursing tanks/bras? I should have enough but I could use another
I don't think it's necessary to buy anything else.

-Last, do your boobs return to normal? Please prepare me for what to expect if I cut her snacks out.
I was up 2 cup sizes from pre-pregnancy. I went back down 1 cup size after I weaned. Then, I lost a bunch of weight and am probably a little smaller now than I was pre-pregnancy. They're also droopy.

Re: Extended BFing moms-some questions

have no advice just wanted to give you !!!

Re: Extended BFing moms-some questions

You should be so proud! Great job mommy! No advice yet dd is only 10 months. I will be asking you what you did soon enough. If you decide to do sippys during the day, what are you putting in them? That is my concern too b/c of the milk allergy. Also Ava is tiny too so I am worried to not offer during the day or let her nurse for comfort. Kwim? You worry they are not getting enough. I am sure you will have some great advice for me in a few months.