Yes, that is absolutely my experience and that of almost all the other
moms I've helped. I think, too, that we envision our firstborns to be
so much older than they really are--we're anxious for the milestones,
we're awed by how "advanced" they are, etc. With subsequent children
we really realize how very fast babyhood passes and are more willing
to follow their lead and let them be babies as long as they need to
be.

On a personal note, my first (who I expected to nurse one year) weaned
at 8 months or so because I was so busy pushing solids and the cup
(anxious to "advance" to the next levels) and we never really comfort
nursed much, so he weaned early. My second actually nursed the longest
at 3.5 years, and my third (while I fully intended to nurse the
longest b/c I wasn't pregnant/tandem nursing as I previously was)
actually didn't quite make 3 years (my minimum assumption) because
once I cut out his favorite (and my most problematic) morning nursing,
he just wasn't all that interested after that. So, surprisingly, it
wasn't my last who nursed the longest. Interestingly, none of them
really had a child-led weaning, which leads me to think natural and
child-led are two very different things.

Gina Gerboth
www.safepassagebirth.com

On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 7:49 AM, Diane Wiessinger <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dia -
>
>  I will be *utterly amazed* if there's research showing that firstborns are nursed longer.  I'm sure they get more "intellectual attention," just because they're a novelty and there are fewer parental distractions, but in almost all the families I've known - through family, friendships, and LLL - breastfeeding is influenced more by mainstream cultural voices the first time, but less with each subsequent child as we realize that the mainstream culture doesn't know what it's talking about.  Has that been others' experience?
>
>  Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY  USA
>  www.wiessinger.baka.com
>

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