Comments on: Toddler’s Reduced Interest in Breastfeeding (Mom to Mom #15)

By: Independence and the Breastfed Child

Independence and the Breastfed Child — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:49:15 +0000

[...] evidence of this, see this question from a breastfeeding mother who wrote about her daughter’s growing independence, and this story about the time my then four-year-old made it quite clear my presence was no longer [...]

By: Maria

Maria — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:00:36 +0000

Nursing The Boy as a toddler is sometimes up and down– for both of us– but overall enjoyable. There are times when he is just too busy to slow down and nurse, and there are times when all he wants is to nurse. When he hit 15 months or so, I stopped offering (not to wean, but I thought I might be holding him back from exploring), and he still comes and asks to nurse when he needs it, and all the “mommy-led” nursing ended. It’s been great for both of us. I don’t expect he’ll give up the remaining sessions any time soon!

By: LoopyNZ

LoopyNZ — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:55:50 +0000

Before being a mother of a nursing toddler myself, I had imagined that the path of breastfeeding would be a steady drop-off in the number of feeds the child requested until they had weaned completely.

Now I know that it can go up and down quite dramatically depending on what’s going on in the child’s life. When he’s sick, he wants almost nothing BUT “mummy milk”, but he’ll quite happily spend a night or two with Granny without a tear. (Although he occasionally asks Granny for “mummy milk” first thing in the morning, which she has to regretfully decline!)

I’ve often read from mothers who say sadly “my son gave up the breast/weaned himself at 9 months”, and wonder if they were aware of nursing strikes and that a drop in interest in or length of feeds doesn’t necessarily mean that the breastfeeding relationship is over.

For me personally the harder thing to handle is when his interest in nursing increases again… I have to stop myself from automatically saying “No” – being a mummy, I’m always busy, of course! – and check whether I actually DO have the time to sit down, relax, and enjoy him.