funny/strange nursing behaviors?

[Peace+Hope]

i'm trying to get in my thread ideas before we lose our forum!

charlie has started pushing on my breast while he eats. he does it on both sides. while he's eating on the left side, for instance, he balls up his left hand and puts consistent pressure on my breast an inch or so from the nipple.

at first i thought it was just cute, but he's been doing it so firmly that it stretches my nipple waaaay out. ouch!

also, if i ever think he's hungry but he's not, he'll grin up at me and put his thumb in his mouth, along with my nipple...

[rhiOrion]

L has been doing both of those things, too. Though, more than balling her hand she spreads it out, puts it on my breast, and then squeezes.

But, mostly she's become a very very squirmy nurser and it's driving me crazy. Daycare has actually started swaddling her to take her bottles sometimes, because she's so squirmy.

[ivymae]

Breast compression is actually an instinctual thing. A LC came to our mama's group a few years ago and was talking about how breastfeeding is seen in and treated in different cultures, and she had a list of things babies do everywhere, and one of them was press on the breast to get more milk. I guess it's also common for mamas to grab their breasts and squeeze towards the end of a feed.

My girls have all played with my moles. Ugh. i have a few small ones that are within baby arms reach, and they have all wanted to pick and poke them. it drives me insane.
Better than a friend of mine though - her son would reach up and play with her eyebrows, and it became his 'thing', so even at 5 now, he'll walk up to her while we are out to coffee, take off her glasses, and fiddle her eyebrow when he is uncomfortable. She is a much more patient woman than I.

Becky is a sweet nurser. She likes to eat and look at me while I sing. She's such a joyful little person.

[rhiOrion]

Ugh, I have a big mole on my neck that L picks at and I hate it. I would have it removed, but who wants some stranger going at their neck with a knife?!

[Carita]

mine very much prefers to nurse laying down still. not great when we are out and about, but kind of a good excuse to lay down after work LOL.

my kids have always done the breast compression thing. I even say the animals at the state fair do it the other day, but they compress with their nose and massage the boob. Their mamas looked rather annoyed LOL

I can't wait for boobie milk smiles - yes, they hurt a bit, but they are so endearing!

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

Originally Posted by ivymae

My girls have all played with my moles. Ugh. i have a few small ones that are within baby arms reach, and they have all wanted to pick and poke them. it drives me insane.
Better than a friend of mine though - her son would reach up and play with her eyebrows, and it became his 'thing', so even at 5 now, he'll walk up to her while we are out to coffee, take off her glasses, and fiddle her eyebrow when he is uncomfortable. She is a much more patient woman than I.

DD did that, too. I really did NOT like it. I would always gently remove her hand and/or hold her hand if moving it was not effective, and generally I would just tell her she couldn't nurse anymore if she kept doing it (she was 18 mos or so-- old enough to talk about it!)

That eyebrow thing is really interesting! Yeah, I am definitely not that patient.

[sew_crafty_girl]

Anna smacks me with her free hand and kneads the breast she's on by bobbing her head. If I'm topless , she twists and kneads my free nipple...unless I put down the iPhone and hold her hand . When she's tired she's pretty still.
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[loveneverfails]

Mercy's pretty conventional now, but she was pretty funny as a newborn. Like, smarter than I expected a newbie to be. She'd just gum my nipple and flick it back and forth between her gums maybe 3-5 times, and then adjust her latch and wait for letdown.

[Peace+Hope]

so cool, didn't know the kneeding was instinctual! my mom was reminding me how little antelope babies butt their heads into their mama's teats to make the milk come in

[Pepper44]

Ada kneads too!

She also tries to shove her fingers in her mouth with my nipple if her gums are hurting or she's not that hungry.

She is sometimes very squirmy and it drives me crazy. She arches her back and fusses, pops on and off. I think it's teething pain?

If she's sleepy I *have* to put my opposite hand under her legs and hold them up or she freaks out. If I let go once she's asleep in my arms she'll arch back and fuss! I can only sneak my arm out when she's very sound asleep. If she's nursing laying down in bed then her feet must be propped up on my leg. For some reason she likes her feet up LOL.

She mostly loves to nurse upright in the mei tai. That's her favorite thing ever. I usually wear her like that for at least one nap a day.

[GreenTeaGinger61]

We have the kneading her as well...like a kitten R also likes to have her feet up when I nurse lying down. Her latest thing is that she lets her mouth get filled with milk...so full that it starts to leak out! Then she swallows it one big gulp. Crazy. But my favorite thing is that she grunts at me when she wants me looking into her eyes all without unlatching.

[loveneverfails]

Ginger, that is so sweet!!!!

[GreenTeaGinger61]

I think so

[crazyeight]

r is reaching the stages that the other didn't until they were much older (the reasons i stopped bfing too). pulling on my nipple, popping on and off so much they hardly eat, arching backs.

along with kneading (OUCH!) he does it so hard he'll pull the nipple out while sucking on it....really i don't want 10 ft long nipples thank you very much. he also "pets" my breast...which is usually much better...until he uses his nails. grrr.

[jsh7809]

We nurse sidelying a lot (cause I'm laaaaazy) and now when I put her on the bed, she starts freaking out and whining and crying because there's not a nipple in her mouth instantly. Sigh. It's frustrating because she does it even when she's not hungry, if she just wants to suck on my fingers (i.e., always).

But she also puts her hand right next to my boob when she's nursing, I think because she's trying to get her fingers her mouth simultaneously.

I am pleased that today for the first time I noticed that she took herself off the boob and relatched when the initial latch wasn't correct... as opposed to just sucking on the side of the breast in a way that hurts and gives me a strange hickey!