Just read a message on a website about a lady nursing her almost 3 year old daughter. I have to say I was a little shocked. It’s not everyday that you hear about a mom nursing that long. I know some people had a negative reaction to it but, I thought well if it works for them, cool. In her message she said she noticed not many people nursing that length of time and wanted to find other parents who support child-led weaning. I nursed my son for nearly 11 months and only stopped because the milk stopped flowing. I was really disappointed and felt (for a minute) like I had failed him. I really wanted to make it to the one year mark. I guess working full time and pumping most of the day took its toll on me and my body gave up. I’m not sure though if I would have kept going almost three years though even if my milk did keep up. I was already feeling like I needed a break less than a year in. It’s so much pressure to nurse a child, especially when you work outside the home. I needed to eat in a timely fashion and make sure I was making healthy choices and I was always hungry and drink, drink, drink. All that drinking made for a million restroom trips! It’s hard to keep up with all of that when you have meetings to run to and a crazy schedule that doesn’t lend itself to your nursing needs. At one point, I had a shoot for our network and I just returned to work. Of course, nobody is thinking that I’ll need to pump. Why would they? So I needed to make provisions to make sure there would be an area available for me to pump. Picture it, we’re doing a shoot at a loft in downtown L.A. and the only room available for me to pump was a roof-top conference room with floor to ceiling windows. Oh and there wasn’t a lock on the door. It was pretty crazy but I got the job done! So while I felt like a failure at first later I was more relieved. I was glad to have my body back and be able to wear a regular bra! For all of its challenges, I’d certainly nurse again. Did you nurse and if so how long?
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7 Comments on Milk – The Sweet Nectar
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Hi!
My son just turned two, and he is still nursing a few times a day. I don’t make as much milk as I used to, so the majority of his fluid intake comes from water and some juice (he doesn’t like cow’s milk or soy milk). I had hoped to make it through the first year, but here we are at year two. My husband and I are supporting child-led weaning, but I’m starting to wonder how long that will take. We’re doing fine so far because I only work part time, so I don’t need to pump often. I have only heard a couple comments about why I am “still” nursing. It bothers me because such people don’t realize that the only negative is their opinions. The average age of weaning worldwide is between two and four years, and there are numerous benefits for the child and mom.
This is the first time I’ve spoken about this other than to my husband. Thank you for letting me vent! 🙂
Teri, everything I’ve read says our society is way behind on this one. What you said is true. In other countries people go much longer than the year we strive for here. I even had some comments from family because I was still nursing after 6 months. It was like “that’s enough now, he’ll have teeth soon”. People don’t even realize what they are saying or how it comes across. Glad you got to get that off your chest – no pun intended! 😉
fantastic!will you run out of milk? and what do you do to not run dry? let me know your secret,you must be doing something right to nurse that long and what to do next k?
Don’t worry about the length of time you nursed – especially with your first child! My first self-weaned at 8 mos, when he figured out he got the milk faster out of a bottle than he did nursing. My second and third child tandem nursed and weaned together at 18 mos and almost 3. Each child is different and they know what they need. (And for the record, my child who nursed until 3 is now my most independent one!)
Tricia – thanks. i think i’ll be much more relaxed and laid back about the whole thing when we decide to have a second child.