Nope he will not wean, and to be honest..

Ok
Lachlan is now 15 months old and i am being asked about weaning him. In fact it has been suggested that i should wean him by now by several family members and complete strangers.
He is a Mummy's boy and can get very clingy to me, I know that sometimes he feed's from me just for comfort, and yes he does sometimes use me as a dummy.
Lachlan still feeds around 5 times a day, he has always done this since he started to sleep through the night at 10 weeks old, he has not dropped any feeds.

I admit sometimes he wants a feed through the day and i wish he could give me a break but then he hops up and looks at me while he feeds and i melt.
Today he fell asleep on the boob and when he woke he cried for a feed again, DH and I tried to distract him with toys even the kids came in to play but he would not settle again until he had a top up feed.
I am confused now as to if this feeding is normal, should i try to restrict the number of feeds he has or do i just continue along our journey until he is ready.

Tan

There is no such thing as "normal" when it comes to feeding and weaning. There is no need to cut his feeds or wean him unless YOU want to. If it annoys you to have him feed purely for comfort or use you as a dummy then you can try and cut feeds....if it doesn't bother you, then keep it up :)

It is totally up to you and Lachlan what road your BFing journey takes....anyone else that cares to comment on whether you should be weaning or not should just go and get stuffed, LOL.

I think you are doing a FANTASTIC job!!!!

I have let Jack decide when to wean and he has only just gone down to one or two day feeds in the last month. Although there are still days when he is upset or cranky and he may use me for a bit of extra comfort.

tan, it sounds very normal to me. The other interesting thing is that babies who are fed until they self-wean generally become much more independent children. So while it might seem clingy now, it is really giving him the self-confidence, reassurance and confidence he needs to be emotionally stable and healthy.

I think you are doing a wonderful job hun. I know how hard it can be when no-one seems to understand your choices. But that doesn't make you wrong. We all support you hun :hug:

thankyou ladies,
I am still enjoying our journey and i do get some pride that i can comfort my boy when he is stressed.
Sometimes other peoples comments can just get you thinking and start questioning what you are doing.

sounds like you are doing a wonderful job and there are quite a few fellow bbers who feed thier LO in the same way. My DS only usually feeds once a day but if he wants more feeds then I am happy to do it. He does feed 2 or 3 times overnight :rolleyes: as well as before bed though

You should check out the link in Barb Glare and Jennifer13 signature we are going to have the strongest wrestlers around ;)

I think you are doing a wonderful job by the sounds of it ;)

As long as you and your DS are happy then I say, keep going! Try and ignore other people's un-educated comments :rolleyes: it's hard though isn't it.... I'm not looking forward to when DD turns 1 as that's when those comments seem to start..... :rolleyes:

You're doing great!
DS didn't drop any feeds till 11 months and he would still be having at least 4 a day and more through the night if I hadn't forced him to cut back to get af back and ttc again.
Some kids just need more for longer - if you're happy to accomodate him then there's no problem.

Hi,

You knew all along it was completely normal. I guess the hard thing is we rarely see the normal these days - so many babies are prematurely weaned.
I always have a giggle when people say "he uses me as a dummy" because, of course, they are using a dummy as a substitute for their mother's breast - that's why it is called a dummy - a dummy breast.

Well done. You are doing a great job with your little one.

Thanks Barb
I went and looked up the link that kelebek directed me to and it has now along with the support of fellow BBers and my DH given me comfort that i am doing just fine

Thank you all again

Hi tan :)

Sounds very much like where Jazz and I are at right now. Sometimes I would love my space, but as soon as we settle down for a feed I just can't imagine not breastfeeding her until she's ready.

I had a post around here, I think you might have read, about how many feeds in a day, and yep we are going fairly random here, whatever she decides bfing-related is what she gets (within reason of course!). If its not broken for you, why try to fix it ;) I have just realised that myself, and have no intention of holding out to only feed her x times a day, and no intention of weaning her. She can wean herself when she's ready.

I am very similar to you also. I have had many comments about how feeding a toddler is 'weird' and the 'when will you wean' questions too. My ds is 14mths now and some days I would love to be 'free' of the expectation to feed him, occaisionally a little resentful that I still have to be there for him.
But when I sit with him and he has his boo, the look on his face is priceless. The little giggles I get when he has a feed after I've worked all day is just too precious to give up. I love feeling his little hands stroke my chest and tummy in the middle of the night when he settles down in bed with me. He is feeding usually atleast 5 times in 24hrs. Some days more some days less. Today he's only had 2feeds so far. Undoubtedly that will be more overnight though.
He is only so little for so short a time. And he will be our last baby so I have to enjoy this while it lasts. I am so proud of myslef for getting so far. I have fed him for 14 months! WOW! What an achievement!! Be proud and ignore those that don't know better!

You ARE doing fine, Tania!

Keep going with what you feel comfortable with and do your best to ignore all of those with well-meaning advice. Seriously, this is your third baby, you'd think they realise you're pretty aware of how you'd like to parent by now!