[lavatea]

Wow, I just came across this thread. It has stirred up some questions in my mind.

The biggest question for me is that if we are letting the child lead the weaning process, how could a child be weaned before they are a year old? Before a year, aren't you still feeding them some formula (if formula fed) along with their solids?

The second question for me is if you have a weaned toddler when a new baby comes and that toddler decides they want to nurse again, is that possible? I know Valorie said that she let her son pick up nursing again, but one of the links posted stated that the reflex would eventually disappear if not stimulated enough. So would a toddler who had been weaned for quite some time know how to nurse even if there was an interest present?

[twinzplus3]

Re: child led weaning before one year

I think that in our society, we subconciously do things that encourage earlier weaning rather than later weaning. I also think that many women mistake some signs for a child wanting to wean. In theory, you are correct. . .that if the child is leading the weaning process completely he will not want to wean before 18 months actually. But of course, there are lots of other factors. . .that's just the short answer.

Re Letting a toddler nurse once he's stopped

For me Alex weaned when he was about 22 months at his own initiative (I was pg w/ Meg & dd#1 weaned at the same time). Meghan was very difficult and at around 4 months, Alex decided he wanted to nurse again. So that was a break of about 6 months. I'm not sure how long you are talking that the weaned period is but yes, you can nurse again after a period of weaning. I do think that it needs to be initiated by the child though.

But I would also pose this: it is entirely possible to nurse during a pregnancy and for us, it made the transition a lot easier for the older sibling.

I'm not sure which reflex you're referring to: rooting disappears after a few months, once the baby knows how to communicate he's hungry.

[lavatea]

I was referring to a comment that was in the article written by the mom in the film. She said that all children will lose the sucking reflex (that effectively empties the breast) if allowed to self wean. I wondered how long that took.

My daughter and I stopped nursing when she was around a year old (I thought it was mutual, but maybe I caused it??). Now that there's a new baby I was wondering whether it would be ok for me to nurse her (or if she could) if she asked to nurse. I honestly hope it doesn't become an issue (it hasn't yet but she hasn't seen the baby nurse yet) because while I have little problem with her nursing again (she's barely 3!), I KNOW this would be an issue with someone in my family - be it Aaron or any of our various family members. Aaron's opinion matters, obviously, but although no one else's does, sometimes it's easier to avoid all the drama. KWIM?

[twinzplus3]

I totally know what you mean. If she wants to nurse I say go for it. The reflex that she was referring to for sucking then disappears when the 'milk teeth' disappear. I think it would be fine for your 3yo to nurse again if she wants to. Sometimes a toddler might ask, do it once, and decide that it's really not what they want to do long term. And other times, like in the case of my son, they will continue for several more months. But the thing about nursing older children is that there can be boundaries. I never nurse toddlers in public. Once they pass a certain age, they simply have to wait. I will nurse whenever while at home. . .but then I also have rules about 'monkey business' bc toddlers can get quite wiggly.

As far as you causing her to wean at one year. . .maybe but. . .I find that I have to actively encourage breastfeeding in order to meet the recommended two year mark. So I don't introduce solids until about 8 or 9 months. (When baby is old enough to grab something from my plate and eat it--we don't do mushy baby food.) And I don't really do other liquids until later too.

And yes, i totally know what you mean about drama.

[lavatea]

So you just skip the baby cereals and jar foods altogether? I could jump on that train! I had to FIGHT my grandmother from starting cereals before I wanted. She just couldn't see the harm in it. We started at 4 months, but I might have waited longer without the pressure. (My grandmother watches my daughter for me when I need her to; at the time I was working full time.)

[twinzplus3]

Yep. . .no cereal or at least not baby cereal. I make baked oatmeal pretty regularly and so when their old enough to gum that they can have it but no baby cereal. No jarred foods, but I did do chunky mashed foods. But basically the babies eat with us and when they're old enough to sit there and grab stuff off our plate and stick it in their mouth--that's how they start eating. UNICEF and other more international health organizations (or one's concerned with children's health) are starting to recommend NOT giving babies the mushed pureed food saying that it makes babies more prone to choking. I think I wrote about that somewhere. I'll have to go find it.

[pattiewrites]

No pureed foods here either. Life is so much easier when you just wait for them to be developmentally ready to eat and then give them table food.

[twinzplus3]

I just wanted to bump this up.

[NikkiLDS]

lavatea, if it's been two years since your dd nursed, I'd guess she wouldn't successfully latch on. But it's okay to let her try. My ds was weaned during my pregnancy for about 3-4 months, then started again when dd was born & is still nursing 10 months later.

We don't do the baby food either. With my first, we took our food & tried to mush it into baby food, but this time, we haven't done any of that and she's eating so much more than he ever did! She showed much more interest in food than he did, and she'll pick up anything & try to eat it! Of course, I don't let her have some things (nuts, for example), but she does great with everything I let her try.

[DK615617]

So how do you know when the baby really wants to wean?? Mine is only 7 months so I am not going to let her anytime soon, but am curious about what to look for.
Also, did someone say that you can breastfeed during pregnancy? I was under the impression that I wouldn't get AF back till breastfeeding was done. (7months later still no AF) I wouldn't care but we want to have the next one as soon as it happens! But I don't want to wean Tiffany too early. My sister is a nurse at a pediatritions office and she claims that you can't BF while pregnant cuz it will cause a miscarrigage. Is she wrong?