I really hate nursing

[Honey693]

DD is 13 months and I'm determined to at least get through cold and flu season, but I just hate nursing so much. She wiggles all over, sticks her in my armpits, claws at them (I don't know what it is with my pits and her) and sometimes it just makes my skin crawl. I've been trying to cut down the feedings from 12 to around 6-8 including night nurses, but she is not happy about it. She's always been fed on demand and does not like this no boobs, have some real food or cuddles thing. I just don't know what to do. Keep trying to cut the nursing sessions down to what I feel like I can handle and have a crabby baby or let her nurse whenever she wants and sit there hating it?

[mckennasmomma]

nursing a toddler does have its challenges, doesn't it?

i wonder if you could find ways to entertain/distract her while she is nursing? my dd does a lot of kicking while nursing too, and it is tough to take (in fact she chipped my tooth last week by kicking my metal water bottle while i was drinking!). but sometimes it helps if i look her in the eye and talk to her lovingly while she is nursing, rub her feet if she starts kicking, or even nibble her toes (that usually makes her laugh!).

she used to have this horrible habit of pinching the backs of my arms. i was totally defenseless and it hurt. i just consistently removed her hand from my arm, and if i could i would place a pillow by my arm so she couldn't get to it. eventually she stopped doing it. For the armpit thing, could you try gently holding her hand with your's, maybe playing with her fingers a bit?

it basically sounds to me like she is a busy little girl and needs some additional interaction while nursing. if you give her that interaction, you might find you love nursing again!

[Letitia]

My daughter will be 3 in January. She's actually very calm now, but has had a number of really annoying habits, at least annoying to me. Fondling the fat on my lower belly bothered me the most, but there's a list. I did two things. First, I only asked her to stop one thing at a time. Then, whatever it was, I just consistently physically stopped her (for example, unwrapped her fingers from the belly and removed her hand, gently of course) and told her "I don't like that" or "that doesn't feel good."

[Sheryl1678]

We practiced infant pottying from birth and I find that during breastfeeding, dd (11 mo) will "attack" me relentlessly when she has to potty. I can hold her hands so she wont dig her nails in me and still try to nurse but in the end she usually has to pee and isn't hungry anyway.

If you are not ready to try pottying, you might try taking a break from feeding until you know she went. No matter what you do, I wouldn't let her nurse 24.7 if it is making you crazy and you are hating it.

[bobandjess99]

oh, i feel your pain. Ithappened with dd, and i stuck it out, gritting my teeth and hating it more and more and eventually..hating HER more and more. it ended up being a bad situation all around, and this time, with ds, I knew better than to let it happen again. And suyre enough, after my AF returned at a year, the icky nasty feelings returned and started to grow...and at 18 months, I knew it had to stop. We weaned over a 3 month period starting at 18 moths, and he was done by 21 months. i honestly hadn't meant to completely wean, I was willing to keep nursing a *cople* times epr day, but he was very angry at me, and would get so upset the times i would say no, that then HE started refusing to nurse, and so it just ended. I'm not necesarily thrilled with how it worked out, but i know that it was the best decision overall, and MUCH better than what ended up happening with dd. I really had wanted to make the 2 year mark, but really, 1.75 isn't that bad.

[nudhistbudhist]

Originally Posted by Sheryl1678

We practiced infant pottying from birth and I find that during breastfeeding, dd (11 mo) will "attack" me relentlessly when she has to potty. I can hold her hands so she wont dig her nails in me and still try to nurse but in the end she usually has to pee and isn't hungry anyway.

If you are not ready to try pottying, you might try taking a break from feeding until you know she went. No matter what you do, I wouldn't let her nurse 24.7 if it is making you crazy and you are hating it.

My ds does this too! Also EC'd from birth, and he's 14 mos right now. Took me a while to catch on. It's strange to me because he's been speaking and signing since 8 months, says Pssssss AND potty, but sometimes, he asks for boos instead (and then scratches and doesn't really nurse). Weird!

I'm 7 months PG and have major breastfeeding agitation. To the point where I felt like hitting or running away as soon as he started flutter nursing. To the point where I was so anxious and creeped out by him touching me so much that I give him a soother as soon as he settles on the breast in bed It was either that or wean/night wean, which I really dont want to do. I hate soother's hate the way they look and that they are plastic, and not natural, but I really needed to use one because we are not even close to being ready to wean. It has given me my sanity back, and I no longer fear letting him nurse. Sometimes its worse than other times... Not quite sure why yet...

Maybe look up breastfeeding agitation? At least you will feel less alone. I did Hugs!

[TeaLeaf]

My LO was active, I give him his lovey or a nursing necklace to handle while he nurses so he doesn't grab around. I also cover what's not "in use."

Originally Posted by Crystal_R

DD is 13 months and I'm determined to at least get through cold and flu season, but I just hate nursing so much. She wiggles all over, sticks her in my armpits, claws at them (I don't know what it is with my pits and her) and sometimes it just makes my skin crawl. I've been trying to cut down the feedings from 12 to around 6-8 including night nurses, but she is not happy about it. She's always been fed on demand and does not like this no boobs, have some real food or cuddles thing. I just don't know what to do. Keep trying to cut the nursing sessions down to what I feel like I can handle and have a crabby baby or let her nurse whenever she wants and sit there hating it?