Good or Bad? (Nursing as a way to calm 4 month old down) - Page 3

[hotharmony]

Your doing a great job, for me 4 months was a time that I started questioning what I was doing as a parent a this was also a question i asked myself.

But after reading Breastfeeding in the land of Genghis Khan, http://drmomma.blogspot.com/2009/07/...ghis-khan.html. Originally from Mothering magazine helped me to know I was doing the right thing.

[FrugalGranolaMom]

Nurse away! My LO is nearly 4 months and a total comfort nurser. He has started teething and there are times when nothing else will soothe him.

[melodyka]

i totally got a lot of slack from family when I would let my baby "use me as a pacifier". now that she is almost 3 years old and such a happy, funny, independent, and sweet child they are so in love with her personality and of course no one wants to credit my less conventional parenting methods, but I KNOW that wearing her all the time & nursing her on demand for 2 years helped shape her personality. also, I too wondered if using food to soothe her would affect her as she got older. she is such a sensible eater now and so good at self-regulating her options (if we give her the option of sugar or junk, she will eat very little before moving on to something else).

ultimately you have to follow your instincts, but they can often get jumbled with everyone's advice and other's opinions sometimes come out as our own fears.

[JMJ]

It may seem counterintuitive, but the truth is that kids whose need for comfort is "indulged" at the breast as often as they need are more independent and have fewer issues with obesity later in life. A child who knows that you're always there for him to meet his needs can move on to bigger and better things when he is ready, not having to worry about if he has your support. A child who is allowed to regulate when and how much he eats is more able to follow his body's cues to get him the calories that he needs than one who is forced to follow outside cues.

My mom held me all the time, breastfed me every time I cried, coslept with me, and nursed me to sleep every time. I consider myself independent, though I still love calling my mom and having long conversations with her. I also have the craziest ability to listen to my body when it comes to food. The only time I ever gained weight over the Holidays was when I was pregnant, and I can tell that my nursling is on a growth spurt because I'm eating us out of house and home. Nobody ever argued with me as a child if I said I was hungry or full.