It sure was a conversation stopper. When my friend, oh, let’s call her D., let slip over dinner that she was still nursing her four-year-old, our collective jaws dropped. Mind you, this was a table of four other nursing moms, except our babies were still, well, babies. (Though one midwife friend swears it’s not unusual for preschoolers to still be nursing; she says she sees it all the time.) Here’s D. explaining in her own words….

When I was pregnant with my son, I went to all the pre-birth classes I could find. One of the classes was on breastfeeding and I remember the woman who led the class saying that she was STILL breastfeeding her 5-year-old. I thought: “How weird is that?” Even though I believed in all the benefits of breastfeeding, that seemed over the top (there must be some psychological problem with this mother and her child!). Go figure that four years later I still breastfeed my just-turned 4-year-old.

I certainly didn’t plan it that way. I breastfed exclusively during my son’s first year. Once he switched over to solid foods. I continued to breastfeed because he continued to ask for it, but I limited it to just twice a day - before his nap (I work from home) and at night before going to bed. I just thought he would naturally stop wanting my breast as he got older. Plus whenever I suggest stopping or skipping a night, he gets really upset….”I WANT BOOBY!” I just haven’t had the heart to turn it into some huge traumatic event for him.

So I started reading up on how to wean your child. I learned there’s really no right age to stop. Every child is unique and the best time to stop is when either mother or child is ready. I also read that there’s no emotional issues associated with breastfeeding an older child (they may actually have an easier time with independence later on) and it’s only OUR society that doesn’t embrace it.

At this point with my son, it has nothing to do with him being hungry. Now it’s all about comfort and closeness - a couple of minutes is all he wants. It helps him transition to bedtime mode. Just part of the routine along with brushing teeth and reading a story.

How long will we continue? As long as he wants.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 5th, 2007 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Guest Bloggers, Main, Nursing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.