Alternate names?

[mormontreehugger]

So I want to start teaching my 5 m/o something specific to say when he wants to nurse once he starts talking. I promise to be anatomically correct if he asks me, but while we're in public I'd prefer him to ask for milk or something rather than "boobies" per se... Which unfortunately is what we've been saying because for some reason it makes him giggle hysterically. I'm terrified it's going to be his first word if we can't get a grip on ourselves.

So what are some words being used by you mamas?

[CheriK]

Well, my twins called nursing "nonies", as in "do you want nonies (nursing/milk)?" and "Mama's nonies (breasts)". DS said "nee" when he was learning to talk, and it be No, nee! when I would try to distract/offer something else for whatever reason. Somehow "nonie" stuck and "nee" didn't. Really, I didn't try to distract THAT often!

Current nursling has started saying "biss" (at first, I thought it was "piss" and was pretty unhappy w/ it). Could be her way of saying either breast or nurse. We say nurse, milk/milkies, nonies pretty much interchangeably. I don't really care what we end up with. Biss is fine w/ me. Sort of sounds like "bliss", which is appropriate.

[nelson]

I've noticed for the most part that toddlers make up their own word for nursing. I always have used the word nurse, and for some reason DS, 20 months, says, "mow, mow" (sounds kinda like "now" but with a "m") along with the sign for milk. I think it might be a combo of a couple different words, like "mom" and "more". A friend of mine's daughter would call them "cha, chas", which I think sounds cute.

[zinemama]

I always called it nursing. Not a fan of made-up cutsie names (unless generated by the kid.)

[Kiara.I]

Originally Posted by zinemama

I always called it nursing. Not a fan of made-up cutsie names (unless generated by the kid.)

Me too. Or milk. "Do you want to nurse?" or "Do you want some milk?"

And yes, unless you cure the habit of referring to "boobies" your child will almost certainly pick it up.

[Dar]

Rain always called it baba - it was one her her first words. I guess baba really meant breast, since when she was older she would request "dis baba" the "da udder baba".

Of course, a lot of people just assumed that baba meant bottle... one woman even told me that it did. I gestured to Rain and said, "Uh, not to her." I mean, it's one of the easiest things for babies to say, so it makes sense that she's use it to describe something important to her life then...

[tiffani]

my kids always called it boobie, I never worried too much about it.

I have a friend whose kid called it "moka" which sounds like "mocha" and caused a lot more funny looks when you two year old asks for a mocha.

[prothyraia]

We always called it nursing, or milk. For awhile my oldest called it "nee".

Right now my three year old asks to nurse, or says he wants mommy's milk. My 19 month old just comes up and does the sign for "more", heh.

[paulamc]

We call it "milky" as in "would you like some milky"? He's 16 months old and doesn't say that word yet, though he of course understands it.

Lately it seems like he's occasionally been saying "nana" just as we're about to nurse. Perhaps that will be his word for it.

A friend of mine calls it "Mommy time" which I think is rather brilliant.

[Zimbah]

I stopped calling it 'booby' about six months in because I didn't want DD to say that - although I found it hard so stop as it made me laugh, never mind her . Now I call it 'yummy milk', and 15mo DD has in the past month come up with her own version - she calls it mimi so now often I say mimi too.

[ramama]

DD1 called it nai-nais, which I introduced because it's what my younger brother called nursing. With DD2, I just called it "nurse." Of course, at first, when she said "nurse" it came out more like "nuz".

[dse657]

I didn't use discretion with DS, and "tit" was (thankfully) mispronounced as "tat". I was a little more mature with DD, and started calling it "tee" around 5-6 mos. We differentiate from the kind in a mug, which is "hot tea." Needless to say, DS still talks about it as tat, even though he weaned before two. So, names stick...choose carefully!

[woodchick]

"Do you want to nurse?" or "Would you like some Milks?"

When DD1 was 16 or 18months or so we were in the grocery store and I said to her, "alrighty, now we need some mik." At which point she tried to shove her head up my shirt From then on we started diferentiating between "milks" and "cow milk"

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

nursies here

[crunchy_mommy]

DS says "eat" -- actually "eat-eat-eat" (I guess he's impatient lol!)

Only problem is we now have to refer to table food as "food" because "eat" means breastmilk only lol

[hrsmom]

My daughter calls it "Nueys" (rhymes with Huey) I always said "nursies" or "nursing" or "nurse" but I also would ask her to "be nice to mommie's boobies" while nursing. I must have said that a lot (I'm sure I did, she's always been pretty rough) and so she started by calling them "boo" and then "boo boo boo booie!!!" It was very cute, but I did realize that I didn't want that to turn into boobie. So I said we're going to call it "nursies" and within a day she was saying "nuey." So nueys it is.

[jessafina]

I call it Milks, but ds is too young to call it anything yet. My husband laughs, though, because when he's nursing and the milk is letting down I always say "you get that milks! you get that warm, delicious milks!"
My friend and her daughter always called it "nunus" and by the time her daugher was 3 (and still nursing) she had created the verb to "noon". She would "noon" her dolls; she would discretely pull up one side of her shirt, breastfeed her doll, burp her and carry on when whatever she was doing. So cute!!

[pbjmama]

My ds said "more" so that was pretty easy.
I taught my dd "milk" now the only problem is that if she says milk and I offer a cup of milk when she wants nursing she starts screaming NO NO NO! MAMA MILK!

I agree with the others - you get what you get

[Materfamilias]

I was one of those people who didn't stop saying "boobie" soon enough but oddly DD seems to get that the anatomical structure is a boobie, but when she wants to nurse it's "nursies".

[curiouscanadian]

I wondered for the longest time what DS would start calling nursing. I usually just ask him if he wants milk, sometimes more specifically mom-milk but until very recently he just signed without speaking.

So what did he come up with?? "Side" ... as in "do you want the other side?"

I can't say I saw that one coming!