Ds suddenly wants to nurse again!

[leighi123]

Ds self weaned at 2.5 in december, 100% his choice (I was kinda sad actually!), and now for the past couple weeks he has been asking for 'ning' and frequently looking down my shirt, putting his hands in there, etc.

Its a little anoying b/c he is doing it ALL the time, and Im not sure what to tell him! I dont want to tell him he is 'too big' for 'ning' (he has several friends who are still nursing, one who just turned 5, and a couple the same age as him), but I do want him to quit it.

Im not sure what it is... I still give him PLENTY of mommy time/cuddling/attention, and there have been no changes to anything in his life that I can think of that would set this off.

He told me he wants me to have another baby so he can have ning again! (Im a single mommy so not going to happen any time soon). He frequently nurses his own baby doll and other toys (so cute!)

[Starflower]

My DD has been doing this a bit too and she is almost 7. She quit on her own at about 6. We have a friend who has a new baby and her older son, DD's friend, still nurses and gets milk.

I think DD is sad because she misses that type of closeness. She says she is jealous of her friend a bit.

Did you ask him what makes him want to nurse again?

[Llyra]

My DS did that. I let him try a few times, and he discovered there was nothing there, and that he'd really forgotten how to latch, and he gave up after only trying twice. Now he just pats my shirt and says to himself, "these are all done now," and then kisses me and moves on to something else. Are you against the idea of letting him try? Because it's possible he may just lose interest after trying a few times-- he may just be curious, especially if he frequently sees other LOs nursing.

If you really don't want to let him try, though, I would go with a firm, but gentle, "no, hon, you don't do that anymore," and then move him onto to some other activity. He may also want to reminisce a little about what it was like when he was still nursing, and about when he was very small-- a few good talks about the things he used to do, with some amusing stories about himself as a baby, might satisfy whatever urge he's feeling. I do that with my kids-- tell them stories about the funny things they did as babies, and what it was like.

[leighi123]

Originally Posted by Starflower

Did you ask him what makes him want to nurse again?

"Because I like ning mommy"

Thats what he always says - he is very verbal, but thats all I can get as an explination!

[leighi123]

Originally Posted by Llyra

My DS did that. I let him try a few times, and he discovered there was nothing there, and that he'd really forgotten how to latch, and he gave up after only trying twice. Now he just pats my shirt and says to himself, "these are all done now," and then kisses me and moves on to something else. Are you against the idea of letting him try? Because it's possible he may just lose interest after trying a few times-- he may just be curious, especially if he frequently sees other LOs nursing.

If you really don't want to let him try, though, I would go with a firm, but gentle, "no, hon, you don't do that anymore," and then move him onto to some other activity. He may also want to reminisce a little about what it was like when he was still nursing, and about when he was very small-- a few good talks about the things he used to do, with some amusing stories about himself as a baby, might satisfy whatever urge he's feeling. I do that with my kids-- tell them stories about the funny things they did as babies, and what it was like.

I have let him try, and thats when he got kinda mad and told me to have another baby so I could make more ning! There is for sure nothing comming out of there!
I'd been using re-direction, but its been going on for a while now and isnt working. And sometimes he is doing it when he is tired, sometimes is just him being silly, but other times its just random.
He used to like to pretend he was a baby, and I would swaddle him up and carry him around pretending with him, and he would pretend to cry and crawl instead of walk... pretty cute!
Now he always says 'Im a mama' and not a little mama, he is 'big' and has his own baby doll he carries, as well as imaginary babies that live in his pockets. He has a huge imagination!

But yeah it makes sense that seeing his freinds nurse makes him want to try it again too. He does get left out with the eating thing as well b/c he has soooo many food allergies.