Do your older kids tell their friends they nurse?

[KSLaura]

My 4YO frequently tells her friends how she has her 'mother's milk'. Is this normal? We don't know anyone else who has nursed passed the age of 1, so I don't think they believe her. I only nurse her at night now, and never in public or in front of friends. I don't want her to be made fun of or to have any bad memories associated with nursing as an older child.

[Starflower]

My DD nursed until she was almost 6. When she was 4, she went to a co-op preschool and we nursed in a big chair at the back of the classroom every day after class. She was the only one who did this, and the other kids who were waiting to be picked up often came over to watch because they didn't remember nursing. She never seemed bothered by their curiosity - it was just normal to her. And they never teased her about it. It was just something DD did.

I wouldn't worry about it.

[ewe+lamb]

DD never told anyone, but ds's best friend still nurses too so they can talk together about it!! It's really cute actually they way they discuss that sort of thing together, they didn't know each other at all until they went to nursery and became bfs immediately - I like to think that the bfing brings them together - lol, but I wouldn't bother about it personally - ds is 4.5 in a couple of months

[TiredX2]

It never seemed to come up when my kids were older nurslings. They didn't hide it, they also just didn't bring it up. I think, though, that DS probably would have actively avoided telling people he nursed when he was in kindergarten.

[Kay11]

No, I don't think she's that specific about it. I think my 4 year old phrases it differently, I think she says "Mummy gives me milk". She has specified to other adults and has received some prett uncalled for out of line responses, but my daycare provider deals with it really effectively (the only situations where that's happened is when I've been at work) so I don't think it's caused any lasting damage.

[merrybee]

Mine don't. They are 6 and 7 and in school. They never really talked about it though, at least not to anyone outside the family.

[jendodd]

I've heard my daughter mention to people about how she gets her mommy's milk when she sees other kids drinking milk!

[mother_sunshine]

My daughter told our neighbors at 4yrs and her best friend at 6yrs. Their responses were "really?", "still?", and "I breastfed too!". We had no problems.

[JMJ]

My only child is still under a year, so I don't have any experiences with this yet, but when she's old enough that she's the only one in her age group nursing round (except other LLL kids), I would love it if she could talk freely about it if she wished. There's no reason to be ashamed of it. I know we all eventually learn that certain topics of conversation don't go well with certain people, but I wouldn't be the one to impose this.

[noobmom]

DS (3 yo) has never mentioned it to his friends, as far as I know. But it doesn't really come up in conversation either. Most of our close friends know anyway, so the parents would not be surprised.

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

My son just turned 5 and we are still nursing (morning, night and occasionally for comfort during the day)

I have explained to him not to mention it and I feel really sad about having to do that
I told him it was mommy/son time, a special time for just us and no one else.

[Ellien C]

My 4 yo insisted to her daycare teacher that she was still nursing. The teacher then asked me about it in a "I have a funny story" kind of way. Other than that, I don't think it really came up. There was a context in the daycare. They were looking at pictures of nursing animals and the teacher said something about some of them having done that when they were little babies and DD saying "I still do!"

Recently we had a "sibling attended childbirth class" which I noticed was taught by an IBLC. After the doll had the baby she put it to the breast and asked if the new baby would BF, I told her that my now almost 7 yo could tell her ALL ABOUT breastfeeding, where in DD volunteered that she nursed until she was 4. But again, it was contextual and I prompted it. I also mommy-led weaned her at 4.5. I think she'd still be nursing now at 7 and she has some idea that once milk comes back she'll get some!

[gaudynight]

DD1 nursed until she was six, but she was (and is) a very anxious and introverted young lady so she never talked about it and we never did it in front of anyway outside the family. DD2 once told a friend that Annie still drank mummy's milk and I gritted my teeth all ready with explanations about how it was okay... but they assumed she meant DD3! (who is not called Annie, go figure).

[RedPony]

My oldest isn't quite four and hasn't said anything yet that I know. But really, I think the only people she'd tell would be her grandparents, and all four of them know. I think her teacher's would tend to think she was making it up or remembering and her friends wouldn't get it, unless they too are still nursing.

[proudmamanow]

My dd is 4.75 and still nurses every night & morning too. She doesn't usually talk about it. When it has come up with friends, the main issue is that though many of our friends nursed for a long time, none of them are CLW, so their kids are a bit confused (along the lines of...but you told me I was too big to nurse when I turned 3 or 4 or whatever)....but it hasn't caused any major problems that I know of...

[AAK]

My nearly 4 yr old mentions it to friends, no biggie. But, I had to laugh when she told her uncle. She only nurses at home now, usually before bed. She said "I will get boobies at home". I don't think he can even conceptualize nursing someone this "old" so his response was that he didn't think she would have boobies for a few years. I laughed to myself, but didn't bother explaining.

Amy

Amy

[mother_sunshine]

Originally Posted by AAK

My nearly 4 yr old mentions it to friends, no biggie. But, I had to laugh when she told her uncle. She only nurses at home now, usually before bed. She said "I will get boobies at home". I don't think he can even conceptualize nursing someone this "old" so his response was that he didn't think she would have boobies for a few years. I laughed to myself, but didn't bother explaining.

Amy

Amy

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

Originally Posted by Ellien C

They were looking at pictures of nursing animals and the teacher said something about some of them having done that when they were little babies and DD saying "I still do!"

that is so cute

[MoonStarFalling]

I don't think ds ever mentioned it to his friends. Simply because it was so normal why would he. One day I told him that his friend didn't get mommy milk and ds's jaw hit the floor. He looked at me like I was nuts. He refused to believe me. I guess he thought all other 5 year olds nursed.

[knee_deep_with_1]

Hi, this is my first post to this board. My daughter will be 7 in April and still nurses at night and the morning and when she is feeling "yucky" according yo her during the day. I am SOO glad to see I am not the only one with an older child. My daughter used to be open about it but when my family started making comments to me in front of her, she has not brought it up with ANYONE. It mad me so mad when my family would make comments like that in front of her. I have had talks with them about it and they dont comment anymore in front of her but when they did, it caused my daughter to feel embarrassed because of it. I do have kind of a funny question though if thats OK. What do your kids call them. My daughter calls them her NUM NUM's! LOL How she came up with that I have no idea. Thank you everyone!

Mary