If you know me at all, you know that I am almost always nursing someone.
Let me be more specific -- I keep the nursing to my children, but since I've been nursing a baby/toddler for the past 5.5 years with only about a 3 mo. break in there, it's true that I'm almost always nursing someone. And that's a great thing, imho. Nursing all of my kids till they were around two is one thing I'm very proud of, and I'm not at all a shy nurser -- we nurse anywhere, everywhere, in front of everyone, in every circumstance. I believe -- strongly -- that even in this age where many people do nurse, the startling brevity of most nursing relationships demands that people who feel comfortable doing it pave the way for those who are still learning the lactation ropes. It's just that important to everyone's health and well-being, frankly.
You can thus understand the great admiration that I have for one of my students who, as the mother of a newborn, is so devoted to giving him her own milk that she slips out of class every two hours and sits IN THE NASTY BATHROOM FLOOR (I'm working on it....I'm working on it.....) pumping, in order that he might get the best food around. When she told me that he takes bottles only -- that he won't go to the breast at all -- I immediately started thinking of ideas to get him to the breast. Of course, I am her prof, not her lactation consultant, so I don't want to offer advice that may jeopardize or in some way make awkward our educational relationship. But as I found myself more inclined to think about latches than Hinduism, I got a bit tickled by lactation-consulting alter-ego who is not too far under the surface, waiting to emerge if this academic gig ever goes south :).
Lactation is also ever on the mind of Cole, who at the tender age of 3 still remembers nursing (he was weaned only a little over a year ago), and who thought he'd give it another shot when Micah was born 9 mos ago. At that point Cole didn't really seem to remember how to nurse, and after giving it more thought was rather amused by it. But Cole's love of nursing shines through. This is seen in the fact that recently, when I was knitting a very cute sweater (if I may say so myself) that is covered with bobbles in the front, Cole examined the sweater carefully, exclaiming "Mom! You're making a nipple sweater! A nipple sweater just for me!"
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7 comments:
You go - nursing for 5yrs straight. I made it 3months with Racqella plus 2 months of pumping (the overactive let down was too much for her). I'm at 5 and a half months with Cosmo and am pretty sure he's not giving it up anytime soon even if I wanted to (we've managed to work around the let down issue and I even use it to my advantage, actually catch milk in a jar that's spraying out the side he's not nursing on so I won't need to pump any extra I might need - I know it's weird but why waste all that milk). So my question Ms. Lactation Guru... should I have teeth marks/bruise on me now that he has teeth (seems to be nursing in his normal way) and will he ever really be willing to drink from a cup instead of me???
liel is still very intersted in nursing, too. she still kind of remembers (and she and cole weaned about the same time as i recall)...lately she asks me to "nurse her like a baby" which doesn't involve boobs, but holding her in a cradle hold as if to nurse. very sweet.
and i am SO with you on nursing anywhere/everywhere! people can't be expected to think of it as normal if they never see it, yk? i nursed liel on the subway many times :)
G:
what an early teether Cosmo is!
Hmmm...this is interesting.
a)Babies nurse with their tongue extended over their bottom teeth (if you'll look carefully you'll see this) -- it's essentially like they're sticking out their tongue while sucking at the same time. where exactly are the bruises that you're talking about located? Top of the breast, i assume? When I nursed all of mine after they had teeth, I never really experienced any sort of teeth mark problem, primarily because this "standard" sucking position covered the bottom teeth -- I always knew when they were about to bite me because they "got out of" that position.
If it's uncomfortable it would definitely be worth chatting with a La Leche person or lactation consultant about -- he's young enough that you all have a LOT of nursing left in you. This sounds like something that someone needs to observe. Could be just his habit of nursing, or could be something about his palate, etc.
b) yes, he will drink from a cup :). And you at the same time :).
Thanks Leslie, that's what I thought, but since both his teeth are on the bottom I thought maybe I'd made it up. It's already starting to feel more normal again so I think maybe he changed the way he was nursing for a while (maybe he was weirded out by his teeth touching his tongue or something & was latching on differently). I'm still confused how those top teeth aren't going to be a problem but I guess I'll find out when the time comes.
I have *got* to see the nipple sweater!
The other day, did I mention this already?, my son saw my elbow and thought it might be my nipple and decided to give it a go. He wasn't very happy with the result, so I gave him the real thing.
I've nursed everywhere, too: trains, buses, bars, cafes, restaurants. I also think it sets a good example (and it's better than poor Bert having a crying fit!).
Chloe --
I shall attempt to get a picture of Camden, aka the nipple sweater, up here and on Rav today. I have become a terrible, terrible procastinator when it comes to knit pictures!
But on the topic of babies and their tendency to mistake anything pointy for a nipple:
I KNOW! Whatsup with that?
Each one of my kids has done this with some inanimate object, and each one has also attempted to nurse on my husband at one point or another, which I find amusing for a number of reasons: a) it tells you something about the size of my boobs compared to my husbands, and b) it makes me wonder about the wherewithall that babies have.
I mean, seriously? They can't tell the "operative" nipple from the elbow? or the man boob?
Of course, then again, I'm asking questions of people who eat paper. That should teach me.
NURSE ON!
PS: I am totally with you on the superiority of Full N Soft Mascara -- that is the one you said you like but can't get, right? I just *knew* you and would be friends when I saw your excellent taste in cosmetics :).
Bert hasn't gone after my husband's boobs, but he has tried to nurse my husband's arm, neck, and nose. The other day, he was "kissing" my cheek and suddenly. . . .suck-suck -- you know, just in case.
I was lucky to receive 2 tubes of Full 'N' Soft mascara as a "congratulations on your baby"-sort of present from a friend of mine in America. And my little sister is coming to visit in May. She lives in Ohio. I need to bribe her to get me a couple tubes.
What other kinds of make-up do you like? I got a free IsaDora compact foundation powder years ago from a rite-aid freebate (back when I lived in the US -- I learned about Full N Soft from a freebate, too) and it is pretty fabulous. I hear they make a good mineral foundation, too, but, much like my beloved Full N Soft, they don't exist here! ;p
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