6 months for DS because I had a thyroid crisis and was diagnosed with a radionuclear test.

2.5 years for DD.

13 & 12 months respectively for kid 1 & 2. In your place, I'd keep BF until a year of age if I could just nurse. If I had to pump, I'd see how it's going and then decide to continue/ not.

10 months for baby 1. His idea.

19 months for baby 2. I would have stopped at 12 months but she never took a bottle (even at day care) and also woke once overnight to nurse until 18 months. It sucked.

First child, 2.5 years

Second child, 15 months

We transitioned to cow's milk around a year, but continued nursing in the morning and at bedtime for another 12 months. Eventually, he dropped the bedtime nursing session and we just did mornings, and we've wrapped up (almost) completely at about 2.5. It didn't end up being an issue at all, he just started to prefer going downstairs to play with his toys instead of coming into bed with me! Couldn't have imagined it any other way, tbqh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC1 self weaned at 18 months, was down to twice a day from about 14 months on. He loved his milk bottle until we took it away around age 3, and then just wouldn't touch milk after that.

DC2 is 14 months now and LOVES nursing. She nurses 5-6 times a day. I don't even know where to start, but I think I'll let her nurse until about age 2 or so. I know it's a big comfort thing for her right now. She'll go off to play with her brother happily for an hour then come for some nursing and cuddles for 10 minutes, and go off again.

My little girl was like your second child. While there’s is nothing wrong with nursing a toddler, if you want to cut down the sessions give warned cow’s milk in a straw cup and always have water at the offer. With my DD at around 16 months, when she came to me to nurse I would hold her and cuddle her - make her laugh and give her undivided attention. If she wanted to nurse after that I never refused but about six out of ten times all she really wanted was my attention and to connect with me. Since she was eating and drinking well, and liked cows milk, she just wanted the quiet cuddle. She self weaned completely at two and very easily. Just an FYI

Thank you, that is helpful!

I introduce cow's milk at 12 months decided to follow my daughter's cues for when she wanted to wean but by the time she was 22 months I was ready to throw in the towel so I weaned her with minimal issues.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does your MIL think six months is normal? If it’s going well and both mom and baby are happy, breastfeeding is just so much easier than bottles and formula. If you’re going back to work, pumping is a pain and you have to deal with bottles but if you’re with your baby the next months/year are golden!

Maybe the MIL wants her to get pregnant again soon

As a rule, MILs should not be involved in the decision making about family planning or breastfeeding duration. I'm one of the PP who bf-ed her kids for over 2 years each and my future DILs should do whatever works best for their families - breastfeed for 1 week or 5 years. Not my place to judge or comment.

Just a note in this thread for any moms looking to wean -- take care of your own health during weaning, too. There are a lot of hormones associated with breastfeeding and some people experience big mood shifts during weaning if it happens really fast, similar to the "baby blues" in the first few weeks postpartum. Make sure you are eating well, staying hydrated, and paying attention to your moods. Something that really helped me was making sure I was getting one-on-one cuddle time in with my little one to replace the nursing sessions. Even though I was SUPER ready to wean, I had weird feelings of sadness/abandonment during the process. So extra time with my baby, especially at bedtimes, helped to alleviate that.

Oh, and my child weaned at 15 months. We introduced cow's milk at 1 year, and stepped down gradually until I was only nursing at bedtime, and then dropped that one as well.

We weaned two months before their third birthday. I was going on a two week trip and opted to not continue when I returned. I cut out two feedings and was down to one a day before leaving. Child tried to latch when I got home but I’d taken drying herbs that last month. Without the prompt the milk left. They weren’t into solids until about 16 months though they began earlier, never took to cows milk or dairy.

First weaned at 17 months for two reasons: 1) pediatrician advised any big changes to the routine like weaning we do before 18 months as 18 months is age where it gets really difficult for toddlers to accept changes. 2) we wanted to TTC another baby

Second weaned at 19 months. Was going for weaning before 18 months again but we happened to have a really busy few months w travel, out of town visitors, etc right between 17-19 months and I waited til things settled down to try to wean so she wouldn’t have too many disruptions all at once.

Both babies were BF fanatics and I anticipated weaning being really difficult for them both times but it actually wasn’t. We did it gradually over the span of about a month, dropping one feeding every 4-5 days with the right before bed nursing to be the last to go. Offered a lot of extra snacks and extra cuddles throughout the weaning process.

Anonymous wrote:I have a somewhat related question - did anyone wean from breastfeeding and not introduce cow’s milk? Is it possible to wean from breastfeeding or formula and just move them to solid food + water? I’m not in any way opposed to cow’s milk or formula, just curious if anyone did this.

Yes. For 2 of our kids (DD1 and DD2) we had to skip all dairy and eggs because they had an allergy. Thankfully they outgrew their allergies by age 4, and started to have other dairy. They did have other things like almond or soy milk, though. They were both BF, not FF.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a somewhat related question - did anyone wean from breastfeeding and not introduce cow’s milk? Is it possible to wean from breastfeeding or formula and just move them to solid food + water? I’m not in any way opposed to cow’s milk or formula, just curious if anyone did this.

I did not, but this came up at a La Leche League meeting I attended last week. No, t's not required to give your kid cows milk at all. They do need calcium and Vitamin D though so some of the moms talked about giving their kids milk alternatives, calcium-rich foods and/or vitamin D drops.

Yes I weaned at 2.5 and he does not drink cows milk since he has an intolerance. He drinks ripple mixed with almond/coconut with cereal and we use califa farms/forager cashew for smoothies. He only gets water and the occasional demitasse cup of OJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a somewhat related question - did anyone wean from breastfeeding and not introduce cow’s milk? Is it possible to wean from breastfeeding or formula and just move them to solid food + water? I’m not in any way opposed to cow’s milk or formula, just curious if anyone did this.

Doesn’t completely answer but we only did cows milk 2cr a day when I weaned around 13 months. Once at wake up and once after nap. And then by 18 month only at wake up and still do that at 4.5 since she gets up at 6:30 hungry and I’m not ready to get up and do breakfast and so she has milk in a cup and we snuggle some more. But it’s certainly doable without cows milk if you’re good at getting food up and ready when they’re hungry in the am.

I'm the pp who nursed till 29 months with my first and still nursing #2. I introduced cows milk throughout that time after he turned one but he never took to it. He's 4.5 now and still won't really drink more than a few sips straight from a cup. He will take chocolate milk but that's a special treat. Usually I sneak some milk into his cereal, or give him yogurt, cheese and calcium fortified OJ.