Dear Leigh and all,

I tell mothers that in our culture, most babies wean themselves around 18
months.  There are some babies who for one reason or another need to breastfeed
longer.  If they need breastfeeding longer then we need to wait for the next
window of weaning.

I too had a baby that had surgery at 6 and 9 months.  Physically and emotionally
she was not ready to give up breastfeeding at 2.5 years.  She weaned herself at
about 3.5 years.  I do not remember the exact time.

There is a difference in meeting the needs of your child and mother led
breastfeeding.  We all get those times when we would like the baby to stop.  I
call that the mother cat syndrome.  This feeling is what helps us look for
alternatives to meeting the child's needs.  You can try a story or something to
drink from the fridge.  I found that my toddler nursers were always thirsty
after breastfeeding.

This baby had a lot of trauma in her young life and may need to nurse a little
longer but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't look for other ways to make her
feel safe.  The best advice that was given to me was: the more you push the baby
away, the more she will sense that and want to cling on to the experience.

Hope this helps,
Diane Herforth