I ended up nursing my son until he weaned himself at nearly 4 years old (!). I totally didn’t plan on nursing him that long, but he loved (LOVED) the comfort of nursing, and I loved the sweetness of the special cuddling time it gave us when he was a busy toddler. I just didn’t see any reason to stop until he was ready. For the last two years, he really only nursed briefly just before bedtime, while winding down for the night. I didn’t broadcast the fact that we were in it for the long haul, especially to my family (who always felt a bit squirmy with the idea of breastfeeding, since my mom and grandma had gone the formula route with their babies). I wasn’t ashamed; I was actually a bit proud to be able to give my once-upon-a-time preemie such a good start. That said, I was always aware that our nursing relationship had lasted longer than most of the other families we know. I was reassured to find out that my experience, with a 3 year old who only very gradually weaned himself off nursing was well within the “natural age for weaning” (interesting related link: http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html). I’ve got a new baby girl, and I’m planning to take the same approach with her, and let her needs drive the duration of our nursing relationship. As long as both of us are fine with it, I’m planning to let her lead the way.

My son is still nursing and he will be 3 years old in September. My goal, before he was born, was to make it until he was 2. 2 came and went and he still enjoys nursing and it is clear to me that he still gains so much for it even if that so much is more emotional than it is nutritional. We nurse every time he goes to sleep and every time he wakes up. We also nurse sometimes when he is totally overwhelmed and the second he latches on his little eyes roll back and it seems like every problem in the world melts away. I am ready to stop nursing, but am committed to him and will let him decide when he is finished. I am fortunate that my family and friends are supportive, though we rarely nurse outside the home. When I do nurse outside the home I do it discreetly, but without shame. I am doing what is absolutely best for our son and am happy to do so.

I know someone who is nursing her almost 1 year old, and has no plans to stop even though her son clearly isn’t interested. Every time I’ve seen her nurse recently, he pushes away hard, looks like he’s standing on his head trying to get away, and never seems to try to nurse. So, I’m all for it if the child is in to it, enjoys it, whatever. I nursed my daughter until she was 1, and knew towards the end she wasn’t into it anymore. But going beyond that when it’s clearly for the mom and not of interest to the kid seems a little silly to me. Why force your kid into something when he/she doesn’t need to get nourishment that way and doesn’t seem to want to either?

I still nurse my 21 month old, she is allergic to milk and eggs and so I know she is getting everything she needs in my milk. No one would ever know she is still nursing, unless I tell them. She only nurses at night, and never even shows interest in it until she is tired and wants to wind down for bed. The World Health Organization encourages mothers to continue nursing for as long as both mother and child are still willing, and I think it’s great. My daughter is very intelligent, healthy, confident and well-adjusted and I feel that a part of that is most definitely attributed to our continued nursing relationship. It was not my intention to nurse past 6 months originally, but that was before I educated myself on the health benefits of nursing, and extended nursing. I feel there is just a general lack of education, and even a lot of misinformation that is made public on the subject of breastfeeding, and it’s really too bad because it gets discouraged when it should be the opposite.

my daughter and I are still going strong at 15 months with no end in sight. I am proud of this and make no effort to hide. I am a firm advocate of nip and that includes nursing a toddler. the more people do it, and the more people who see it, the more normal it gets. i wish to take my nursing relationship to 2 at least, and that includes in demand nursing, but will go for as long as she wants it.

I extended fed, tandem fed my boys and only now am I in the process of weaning my 2nd boy who is 2.

I only recently stopped breastfeeding my 3.5 year old daughter and that was only becuase we are trying to conceive again. She was ready for it and I know this because when I explained that she was a big girl now she accepted it without any arguments. We did have a couple of weeks where she would come up to me and say ‘Mummy I’m a big girl now I don’t need milky anymore’. Even when she was 3 she wasn’t ready to wean (I know becuase I tried). I am all for extended breastfeeding and applaud anyone who does it.

I nursed my son until he self weaned at 14 months. By the time he was a year old, since he was obviously on solid food, he was only nursing 2-3 times per day. 1st thing in the morning and before bed and sometimes after I picked him up from daycare. Yes, it was a little sad that we didn’t have our, special time anymore before bed, but we instead cuddled over books and lullabies. I figured I would have to ween him at 12 months, but he didn’t seem ready to stop when he turned one and I didn’t feel like pushing him. It worked well for both of us that he self-weaned. I didn’t have to deny him and deal with tantrums and I didn’t have to suffer the pain and discomfort of waiting for my breast milk to dry up. I don’t know how long we would have gone had not weaned at that time. I would think I would have probably stopped by the time he was 2. Given his size and our busy schedules, nursing too much longer beyond that, probably would have been difficult.

I nursed my son till he was 4yrs 3mos & only stopped because I was pregnant & it became too painful. It’s sad the most people who practice extended nursing are in the “closet” if it was done more in the open it might become more acceptable. I had no problem nursing my son where ever even as he got older. The only person who ever gave me greif was my 90 yr old grandmother who was not nursed & did not nurse her children & thought I should have weaned by 1yr. It’s one of the best things you can do for your kids. There were times when my son was ill & couldn’t / didn’t want to eat or drink. It was the only thing that could calm him down from a tantrum or if he got hurt.

i am so happy to read that many moms have breastfed their kids for such a long time. i personally fed my daughter until she was3 years old and literally the milk dried up. she is now 5 years old and still misses the breast, so instead she now cuddles in my breasts during bedtime. we still have that special moment of cuddling before going to bed, i know that she misses it a lot still. i did not care what others said. :)

I think extended nursing is great! I have a 5.5 month old, and our breastfeeding relationship had a rough start but now we are both in sync and our bond is amazing. I look forward to nursing him as long as I can, but I have a question. Some of these ladies say they nurse their toddler maybe once or twice a day; but I was wondering how can they nurse so little and still maintain milk? What about engorgement? If I go 3 hours without nursing I am in a lot of pain! I know the body adjusts, but 1-3 times a day doesn’t seem like a lot in order to not dry up?

I grew up with a mother that believed in nursing! She even wore the La Leche League symbol around her neck most days. She nursed all her children till they were about 2, then my youngest brother until just before he turned 3.

I now have a daughter and I wanted to nurse her until she was 2, but only made it to 21 months. She had been self weaning, and it was starting to become a fight to nurse before bed. (She has been independent since the day she was born, and never very much into snuggling.) She is 25 months now, and I know she still remembers nursing because every once in a while she will touch my boob and say/sign milk, but then she will move on to something else.

My family and a few of my friends knew I was still nursing, but I am a very private person and normally don’t divulge any personal information unless I am asked. For me nursing my toddler was something between the two of us, and we both were going to stop when we were ready. It was always a comfort to me to know that at least 1 or 2 times a day she was getting some good wholesome calories.

To Jennie H, Once nursing has been established (after the first few months), I think your supply becomes more just supply and demand. As your baby starts to eat more solid food they will start nursing with less frequency. Your body will adjust without you even noticing. As my baby was self weaning I never became engorged, but when I decided to stop nursing and I was sore for about a day or two.