How often does your 3 yr old nurse?

[Satori]

I am going crazy, my 3 yr old wants to nurse constantly, as in every 10 minutes! At night yes I can understand her needing to nurse every 1-2 hours but during the day when there's food to eat to keep her blood sugar up there is no reason to need to nurse 5-10 minutes every 10 minutes! I am going crazy! She's been having a tantrum going on 50 minutes now because I said NO to nursing. She's spent at least 1/2 hour nursing not 10 minutes before the tantrum started. During that 10 minutes she also had 6 oz of milk and a snack. Nursing every 10 minutes is driving me CRAZY, its been this way for MONTHS. If it wasn't for the metabolic disorder I would literally wean her cold turkey I am so sick of nursing. My other dd was an addict too but I don't remember her needing to nurse every 10 minutes for months on end.

I thought 3 yr olds were supposed to only nurse a couple of times a day not 4-5 times an hour!

[lanswyfte]

I'm so sorry you're having problems! My 3-year-old DS nurses to sleep (bad habit I'm trying to break! *^_^*), nurses extensively when he wakes, and 2-3 times during the day. I try to encourage him to drink milk, juice or water from a cup instead, but if he insists, I allow him to nurse. He was born with moderate-to-severe Aortic Valve Stenosis and deformity, which was somewhat corrected when he was 4 months old, so I do tend to baby him where nursing is concerned. But unless he's sick, he doesn't nurse much more than I described above. (Two weeks ago he was so sick that his stools became just as they were before he started solid foods! Talk about startling, since it's been 2.5 years since we last saw those!) Good luck!

[hedgehogs4]

My DS will be 3 on saturday - he's allowed to nurse in the morning, before naptime and at bedtime - sometimes his dad puts him to bed and sometimes i'm at work... I'll also let him nurse when I get home in the morning or when we get home from picking them up from daycare (about 2x a week). He knows the rules and he's fine with it, he understands his baby sister needs to nurse more often because she's still little and when he was that age he could nurse all he wanted, too. Occasionally I'll nurse him if he's really hurt, but not for little hurts or he'd be taking prat falls all the time He also knows we only nurse (he and I) at home or grandma's house - he'll ask once in a while but just to be funny and hear me say "No, Silly!, etc." Also, he only nurses for 5-10 minutes and then I stop because his front teeth will start to dig in and bother me. I realized this post makes me seem kind of mean but he really is fine with all of these rules and when he can't nurse we "touch bellies" and lift up our shirts and touch our bare bellies to eachother for a while.

[Mysonrocks]

I am with you in feeling of late that the nursing is more one-demand than I would like. When I'm calm enough to think of it, I consider what phase of life he may be going through that precipitates the extra nursing. Since he's 3 1/2, I clearly am trusting that he will wean on his own. However, the more reticence I show towards nursing or reluctance, I think he wants it more. He wants me to be relaxed so he can. I know it may sound silly, but is there any way to build in a "not in public" kind of rule or expectation and take more walks or head outside more? What role does the other parent take? My little one has recently taken to suckers (I buy the organic, sugar-free kind) and I think that helps with the oral need. I wish you the best and wish I had better answers. La LEche in your area?

[Satori]

Originally Posted by Mysonrocks

I am with you in feeling of late that the nursing is more one-demand than I would like. When I'm calm enough to think of it, I consider what phase of life he may be going through that precipitates the extra nursing. Since he's 3 1/2, I clearly am trusting that he will wean on his own. However, the more reticence I show towards nursing or reluctance, I think he wants it more. He wants me to be relaxed so he can. I know it may sound silly, but is there any way to build in a "not in public" kind of rule or expectation and take more walks or head outside more? What role does the other parent take? My little one has recently taken to suckers (I buy the organic, sugar-free kind) and I think that helps with the oral need. I wish you the best and wish I had better answers. La LEche in your area?

She's just a mama milk addict in general. I've tried the whole we only nurse when at home thing. It doesn't go over well There is no other parent and candy does not distract her from wanting mama milk, she says it tastes way better then candy.

[kiwiva]

That sounds really challenging. DD, just turned 3, nurses about 4-7 times per day. I know that she will ask out of boredome sometimes or when I am off doing my own thing for too long so she's looking for connection. I think at 3 it is totally reasonable to set limits. I usually don't NIP anymore (other than friends houses and LLL meetings) and DD will keep asking sometimes but I put her off.

At home if she keeps asking, I offer a drink or food or try a new, distracting activity. I try to be matter-of-fact about it. As another poster said, if you get too insistent about no that can make them that much more insistent. I think the matter-of-fact can help that sometimes.

I would try discussing it with her before she is asking, or while she is nursing. Let her know that she can have milk again at whatever time or after whatver event but she just can't do it constantly. As it is stressing you out, things need to change so you won't begin resenting the nursing relationship. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.