This was one of the common suggestions I would give to mums who were
wanting to cut back on nursing or totally wean. However, I don't
recommend this as often as I used to. There have been several mums at
our group who had pretty intense toddlers who would ask to nurse very
frequently. The mums found that if they tried to meet the toddlers need
to nurse it was very frustrating. They weren't using nursing at the
expense of any other time spent with their toddlers, these toddlers
wanted more of everything. They found that if they offered to nurse
their toddlers the toddlers reduced their frequency of asking to nurse.
It was like the toddler realized that they didn't have to ask all the
time because mummy would be offering as well. They also reacted much
better to being refused nursing sometimes because they knew mummy would
also offer. So in some situations I also recommend, "Offer, and refuse".

From personal experience I remember if I offered, I was much more likely
to nurse for as long as the child wanted, without that antsy feeling of
wanting to get up and do something else and have my daughter protest
mightily at the prospect of being unlatched.

I had the oddest dream the other night, of my second (who weaned just
after 2 years) being about 2 years old and nursing, and me thinking "Oh,
good, we can do this again, and we'll nurse longer this time".

Donna Hansen
Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada

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