![\"Abby](\"https:\/\/thebadassbreastfeeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/7ik.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI can\u2019t tell you why everyone nurses a toddler, but I can tell you why I personally breastfeed my 4-year-old. I didn\u2019t plan to breastfeed Jack this long. If someone had asked me when he was born about breastfeeding a 4-year-old I would have said that was weird and gross. Now that I am here<\/a> I can say that it is a lot of things, but it is not weird to us and it is not gross to us.<\/p>\n To answer your questions: Yes, Jack does eat food. He eats everything that you and I eat. He eats at every meal and has a zillion snacks throughout the day. He doesn\u2019t however, drink regular milk, if by \u201cregular\u201d you mean cow\u2019s milk, then, no. But it\u2019s not because I won\u2019t let him or have some \u201cbeef\u201d with cows. (Get it? Beef?) I have offered it and he just doesn\u2019t like it. I have offered every kind of milk and he\u2019s not into it. Is that because he\u2019s breastfed? I doubt it, I think he\u2019s just Jack and picky about every damn thing. He drinks tons of water and some juice. I don\u2019t feel any need to cut him off from human milk to provide milk from another source.<\/p>\n Jack also plays. I mean try and stop a 4-year-old from playing, right? Jack does not spend all of his day lying on my lap nursing. Neither he or I want to have anything to do with all that. Nursing for Jack has taken many forms over the past 4 years. As an infant it obviously met all of his needs; nutrition, comfort, security, attachment, etc. As he has grown so has his world and he has begun to get some of these needs met in other ways. Certainly nutrition is mainly through solid foods these days, but don\u2019t believe the hype; breastmilk does not lose nutritional value. Ever. Jack\u2019s means of meeting his need for comfort, security and attachment have also grown as any other child\u2019s would at his age. But breastfeeding is still a big part of it. I believe that weaning is a process<\/a> and it will take time for him to fully replace breastfeeding.<\/p>\n Jack does still love to nurse. He likes it, needs it and benefits from it. He nurses about 3 times day although he asks more frequently. I do not nurse him every time he asks because it\u2019s just too much for me. I also nurse a 1-year-old so I need boundaries for my own comfort. If he asks I make sure he has some water if he is thirsty and some food if he is hungry. But I can usually tell what\u2019s going on when he asks. If we are at a park and a bunch of kids from a local daycare come stampeding in I can guarantee you he will ask. Jack has some sensitivities around auditory stimulation and if a kid screams near him I can predict him approaching me to nurse. If we have been out for a long time I\u2019d bet you my right arm he\u2019ll be coming to me asking for \u201cboobie.\u201d Jack also nurses to sleep.<\/p>\n Non-breastfed toddlers react to all of these situations too, they just do it in slightly different ways. Nursing meets many needs for Jack at this point, but I appreciate that this is not what is commonly acceptable in our country. But you know what? It\u2019s acceptable in my household and it\u2019s what works for Jack. It’s not always wonderful. There are plenty of times when it’s exhausting, when nursing aversion<\/a> is in full swing, when I just want to run away and hide in a closet. It’s like anything else with parenting, it’s hard and there are good parts and bad parts.<\/p>\n I have many friends who breastfeed their 4-year-olds. I also have friends that do not. But all of us meet the needs of our children in ways that work for us. This is what works for us<\/em>.<\/p>\n Abby Theuring, MSW<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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