I nursed my son for two years and four months. It was not easy, or always pleasant, and certainly not always met with encouragement, but I did it because the little voice inside my heart said, Don't stop it's not time, yet. Unfortunately, the day after my son turned one, the voices coming from friends, family and sometimes even complete strangers, were quite the opposite.
"Your STILL doing THAT?"
"I thought once a child turned one, the breastmilk was no longer necessary for growth?"
"Ugh, you have got to stop that."
"Really? He's two? That's weird. Shouldn't you have stopped a year ago?"
NO! NO, I should not have stopped a year ago! I stopped when it was right for my son...
Trust me, even I am amazed I nursed for as long as I did, but I am certainly not questioning whether to not nursed for too long!
I knew it was going to be the best thing I could do for my son, so if I could do it, I was determined to figure it out. At first, being that it was painful, tiring and very demanding, every day I would tell myself I could stop tomorrow, just keep it up today.
I kept up this little game of, "you can quit when..." until my son's first birthday. At that point, I was determined to stop.
So. Much. For. That.
I was finally at a point where nursing was second nature, and worked like a charm to get my son to sleep. Not to mention, such an important source of nutrition. My son also turned his nose up at cows milk, almond and soy milk, really just bottles in general, so the weaning process was not going to be easy, even if I wanted to.
So, I kept on nursing, without any real idea of when I would quit.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nursing until two, and even beyond, is recommended, so I felt like I was not outside of the norm.
Still, the breastfeeding haters thought otherwise. The outside pressure to stop because my son was a week over one, was shocking.
IT'S MY DECISION! Leave me alone. I wanted to say, Why don't you stop talking! You should be ashamed of yourself for talking without being fully educated on the subject.
Even though the shaming hurt, especially from family and friends, nursing my son will always be one of my proudest achievements in life. I fought hard for it, and worked hard to keep it up, and oh my goodness was it ever worth it! I also know that I made the right decision to nurse him for as long as I did, and would tell any extend nursing mother, good for you! Keep it up... you will know when it's time.