every two minutes - exercising control?

[quantumleap]

DD is nearly one, and she seems to have just recently realized that this crazy "nurse" sign I make whenever I feed her actually means that we will nurse. She makes it/asks to nurse every four seconds as of a few days ago. Not quite, but she asks a lot. She then proceeds to nurse for, at the most, 3 minutes 99% of the time. I want to encourage her communication, and to respect one of the few requests she can clearly make without sceaming and pointing, but I don't want to nurse her every five minutes either. Is it likely to be a shortish phase? Suggestions for respecting both of our needs/wishes?
Thanks.

[madeleines_mom]

No you don't have to give in everytime she asks. It's just like anything else... as she gets older she will learn more signs and then learn words, and we as parents can't give in everytime they ask for something. I know she's still young, but just explain to her if she's doing the sign minutes after you've just nursed her that she can't have it again right now. Use whatever way you're comfortable with (i.e. Boobies are sleeping right now; no more milk right now, need to wait). She's probably just really excited that she has found a way to communicate and wants to keep doing it. My DD just learned the word "Hi" and says it all day long (and even wakes up at night saying it, lol).

[Ruthla]

It's fine to decline a request to nurse for no other reason than "I just don't feel like nursing this minute." Declining a request because it's been 5 minutes since the last nursing session is certainly appropriate!

[dallasslynn]

I don't think there's anything wrong with saying, "soon" or "later." When your daughter asks to nurse. She's learning what the sign means, and you are reinforcing it-even when you don't plop down right then and there to nurse.

Also, a side note: My son used the sign "milk" for nursing-but also used it for anything he wanted. He might sign "milk" when he wanted to be held, have a toy, or drink from a cup. His sign came to mean "I want" more than nurse. But I could always tell when he did actually want to nurse!

Hang in there, this communication is so good!!

[3girls1boy]

At this age, I found it helpful to make sure I offered a snack and drink every couple of hours.