NIP reaction of a 5 year old

[nia82]

...So, I just spent 2 hours at the military medical clinic to pick up a prescription for myself... It took them forever and DS got very hungry.
The waiting area was the one for family practice and pediatrics, so there were a couple moms with kids. I nursed DS discretely, covered with my cardigan so that nobody could see my skin. However, the 5 year old asked his mom: "What is the baby doing lying down there?" Mom said: "I don't know". And she made quite a face. She also had a 9 months old girl (she asked earlier about DS and they are the same age)... So I assume that baby isn't nursed as the brother had no clue what was going on... And then the baby's paci dropped, she licked it clean (yuckie) and popped it back in the baby's mouth.
I wish more kids knew what breastfeeding is, that's how the ignorance and prejudices concerning nursing develop.

[fruitfulmomma]

I wish more kids knew what breastfeeding is, that's how the ignorance and prejudices concerning nursing develop.

My kids would have.

I am actually not sure any of them know what a bottle is for. But we are just weird like that I guess.

But in fairness, I knew a little girl who was bottlefed and then her younger sister was breastfed and she still asked me what I was doing. Of course her mom wouldn't have acted dumb.

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Maybe the lady was not certain if your LO was sleeping/trying to sleep/ or eating. (And I've been guilty of popping my LO's paci into my mouth to clean it before giving it back--sometimes she wants to suck, but does not want milk and I've got a pretty strong letdown if she so much as looks at the boob, which leads to fury.)

[Cheshire]

The mom missed a great opportunity.

My 5yo never latched and was bottle fed expressed milk and then formula. He totally gets that breasts are for feeding babies and he's so excited about his baby sister's impending birth. I'm hoping this time we can get breastfeeding established but if not at least he will have seen me give it my best shot.

And, he knows that a baby has a right to breastfeed wherever and whenever. If people don't like it they can look the other way.

[polykow]

When my son was 5 years old he was still nursing!

[SunShineSally]

My son is five and when he saw a baby nurse he smiled and said "ohh mommy look that baby has milkies like I had awww that is so cute" the mom smiled so happy and looked like she was going to tear up

[craft_media_hero]

sad

Wow, sadly it's pretty standard for children not to know that baby milk comes from mommies, not dried up powder in a can!

When my LO was 9mo, I got a job at a childcare center where I could take her to work with me. I was discreet and always made sure that the kids never saw my breast, but it amazed me how they could be so disconnected from how babies are naturally fed! Many had infant siblings, and none of them knew that baby milk came from the mommy's breast.

I did what I could to educate the kids in a way that would not offend their bottlefeeding parents, but it was really weird to me to have to explain that babies nurse for food. Duh! Why in our culture do they get that baby animals nurse but humans dont?

My DD now 5, has the same reaction as the last PP, she thinks it's wonderful for babies to get mommy milk, and I always try to give NIP moms a discreet eye contact or smile you know?

[MissE]

I think my 2year old DS wouldn't care if he saw a woman breastfeeding. He'd probably go there, look and say "baby milk?" and that's it. He sees me feeding DD every day and he knows where the milk comes from and what baby does.

I have never gotten 'the look' from anybody (except a dad at my playgroup today but I don't care). One little girl said that she could feed DD for me. I thought it was cute...she obviously didn't know that I was going to nurse but she wanted to help.

[sunnymw]

At first I thought you had a negative reaction from NIPing a 5yo :

Anyway--it also makes me sad that when I explain it to a younger child who doesn't get it, I have to say "Like kitties do when they are first born." AACK!!

[transylvania_mom]

Originally Posted by sunnymw

At first I thought you had a negative reaction from NIPing a 5yo :

i thought the same thing!
The 5y/o's reaction seems quite normal. It's the mom who has some hangups, luckily she didn't say anything negative to her kid. Keep up the good work!

[KSLaura]

My 5YO neighbor frequently asks if my baby is sucking on my belly button. I've tried to explain to her that I am feeding the baby milk, but she doesn't seem to 'get it'. She has no idea that my older daughter (her best friend) is still nursing!

[kalynnsmom]

That is sad that the mom didn't use this opportunity

I am very glad that my 6 YO DD is used to me nursing (I'm nursing her 2 1/2 year old twin brothers). In fact, she was confused as to why women who aren't nursing have breasts :

[mama516/419]

I had a young boy ( maybe 7 ?) ask his mom what we were doing at an ER once and the mom said " beimg disgusting " and dragged him away hopefuly he will learn better then that . It saddens me too , my 3 yo tell moms to give the baby "nubbnubbs" when they cry but in my area most just get a binky or bottle of kool-aid

[MissE]

Oh wow...that is not nice. The boy deserves an explanation at least give him a big picture, you don't have to go into details. PLUS saying 'being disgusting' is very offending toward you.

DS came crawling up the couch today when I fed DD, he pet by boob and said "Baby Boobie" :

[nia82]

Wow mama516, that was so rude! The poor little guy... I feel for those kids, cause probably they are also told weird things about sex/where babies come from with such uptight parents.

I wanted to clarify that that other mom clearly gave me a nasty look for nursing. And I really didn't even expose an inch of skin (I personally feel unconfy naked in public so I really make sure noone sees what they didn't pay for). The little boy was curious and it would have been a nice opportunity for him to learn about nursing I think.

The paci thing upsets me cause my mom used to lick my paci clean and put nutella or lemon soda on my paci to get me to calm down. She thought it was convenient and did me a favor, but it just set me up for crappy teeth! So I am very sensitive towards that topic!

@MissE: Yeah for your DS, that is soooooo cute.

[sunflowergirll]

The other day I was at a playdate and my 5 week old needed was fussing to nurse. I sat down and a 4 yo girl came over to check on us 3 or 4 times. Finally she asked "aren't you going to feed him?" I said, very matter-of-factly, "I'm feeding her by nursing her." It hadn't occured to her that I was nursing

[Bluegoat]

Maybe the mom felt self-concious about explaining in front of other people?

The little guy I babysit is 5, and has finally figured out that the baby is eating when she nurses. I wasn't sure how best to explain the details to him when he asked, because I wasn't sure what he already knew - he clearly thought I was nuts when I said she was drinking milk - as if I said jam was coming from my ears! I think his mom might have explained it to him, as he suddenly seemed to get it.

I think he was BF for a while, but as an only child he didn't have the low-down yet.