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How many of you still nurse toddlers in public ? - Page 3

post #41 of 67
6/7/06 at 4:58pm
My 20 month old still asks in public, and I don't refuse!!! I think partially its because we are always in public running the big kids around!

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post #42 of 67
6/7/06 at 5:08pm
It all depends on the child and the situation. I've been pregnant, nursing, pregnant and nursing, tandem nursing and/or pregnant while tandem nursing for the past 8 years! And I'm still nursing three of the four!

The oldest weaned at 4, which I thought was really old. lol!

Then the next oldest, just turned 6 and is still nursing. I do not nurse her in public. Not ever. She wouldn't want that and I don't want that. And she only nurses hardly ever anyway. Just when she wants some special mom time.

But the 3 yr old would like to NIP and doesn't always get why I sometimes tell him to wait. He is catching on though. Learning that sometimes it's inconvenient. Or sometimes the location is too public. Or sometimes someone else needs moms attention first, etc.

The 'baby' gets fed whenever. Well, almost whenever. She may have to wait a little sometimes. Depends on the circumstance. But there's no place where I wouldn't feed her. She's just over a year. That, in my book, is a young bf baby. :-)

I think though, that nursing, like everything else, is one of the areas of the mother-child relationship that evolves and changes over time. In the beginning, you drop everything to nurse. Then later, children must wait, or take turns or whatever. I consider the nursing relationship to be one of many areas in a child's life where they naturally learn boundaries and limits and socially acceptable behavior and respect for the autonomy of another person, etc. Ykwim?

People always get these weird ideas about how a child who is nursed too long is going to get "spoiled". Why on earth would they be any more spoiled than any other child??? Perhaps these confused people think that mothers of nursing toddlers or preschoolers or older kids still nurse them on demand, everywhere, and treat them in other ways like infants. But obviously that's not the case. Good parenting involves adaptation of our practices to suit the age of the growing child. My breastfeeding practices evolve just as the other areas of parenting evolve.
post #43 of 67
6/7/06 at 5:09pm
I nursed my ds in public up until he weaned at 2 yrs 9 mos.
post #44 of 67
6/7/06 at 5:25pm
At powwows NIP used to be everywhere. A common story, and it even happened to me once, was the toddler who got hurt and would run up to the nearest woman, lift up her shirt and try to get Nii-nii's.

I was 17 when I was just sitting and watching, when this little boy, who was dancing, fell and skinned his knee. I must have been wearing a similar shirt as his mama, because I could tell that is where his eyes homed in on with tears in his eyes. He ran over(less than a foot away) and lifted my shirt and latched on so fast I didn't even have time to realize what he was doing!
Then just as quickly let go, because, obviously I didn't have any milk for him, looked up at me with tears streaming, then got that look on his face that says, "Oh oh, this ain't my mama!" And took off to find his mama.

It was so fast, only my aunt who was sitting next to me even caught what had happened. She leaned over and said, "That's why I keep my shirt tucked in."
post #45 of 67
6/7/06 at 6:31pm
I nursed my dd who is 26 months old in a department store today on the bench right at the entrance. Quite a few people passed by, and I think the only ones who really noticed were a boy who was about 6 or 7 (he gave us a good stare!) and a woman who came up to look at the Father's Day cards that were directly behind us. I have pretty small (OK really small) boobs, and I hold my shirt right to the edge of dd's face. I tend to just look at dd and talk to her while she nurses so I don't really notice if people look at me wierd or not! I've never had any kind of comment while NIP ever. Maybe if I had I would think more of it, but I don't. I just do it. Sometimes I ask her to wait if we're almost done, if my hands are full, whatever, and she is usually OK with it. But I'd rather just nurse her than have her asking over and over for a nursie nursie nu in an increasingly louder voice! She did ask to nurse just the other day at the parade our town was having, and I said no. I felt uncomfortable in that situation because there were strangers sitting less that a foot away from me. That was a little too close for comfort for me. (Though about 9 months ago I nursed her on the plane with a man right beside us, so something has changed for me in the last 9 months I guess) Dd was fine with it because the parade started right away and she was into that.

I don't know if or when I'll start to feel uncomfortable nursing dd in public. Guess we'll just keep doing what we are doing and see what happens!
post #46 of 67
6/7/06 at 11:47pm
I nurse my 26 mo. old ds pretty much wherever he wants. Except today, in line at the grocery store when he asked, I told him that he had to wait. It wasn't because we were in public, but rather that I just had my hands full trying to advance the cart and watch my dd I think.
post #47 of 67
6/8/06 at 6:22pm

I still do.

My ds will be 4 this month and rarely wants to nurse in public ( too busy) but if he needs it I have no problem with it!
post #48 of 67
6/9/06 at 1:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MamaInTheBoonies
At powwows NIP used to be everywhere. A common story, and it even happened to me once, was the toddler who got hurt and would run up to the nearest woman, lift up her shirt and try to get Nii-nii's.


DD is now 28 months old and I can't even remember the last time that she nursed in public, it's been more than a few months. She rarely ever asks, usually it's not a convenient time for me, like we're walking in a store. I would probably still let her nurse in public though.
post #49 of 67
6/9/06 at 7:04pm
I nurse my 21-month-old whenever she asks for it (unless I am in the middle of doing something like paying the cashier, driving a car, etc.). I am in Northern Cal. and have never had negative responses.

The only semi-odd thing was that a mainstream friend once commented: "DH saw you nursing Halsea in a restaurant." I just said, "Yes, that was us."
post #50 of 67
6/9/06 at 7:36pm
My ds (who recently weaned at almost 5 yrs) stopped wanting to nurse in public when he was 3 maybe 3 and half.
post #51 of 67
6/11/06 at 8:01pm
I nursed my 26 month old (who LOOKS like a 4 yo) in the mall food court this week.
post #52 of 67
6/14/06 at 4:13pm
I nurse my 2.5 year old, who is regularly mistaken for a 4 year old, all the time in public. She rarely goes more than an hour or so w/o asking to nurse no matter what we are doing. I would far rather deal with the stares of strangers than the melt down of my dd.
post #53 of 67
6/16/06 at 3:12pm
I pretty much nurse my 2.5 year old anywhere still. But I do makes some adjustments. I make him lay across my lap, while I cradle him when he NIP. Most of our nursing at home he is standing while I'm sitting in a chair or we are laying on the bed.
post #54 of 67
6/16/06 at 6:25pm
34 month old, but doesn't NIP much but I don't refuse. Most nursing done at home.
post #55 of 67
6/16/06 at 11:42pm
I do and dd will be 3 the 1st of july. I think I do get weird looks, but I am so used to it that I don't notice, besides, I'm always WAYYYYYY to busy keeping her from pinching my nipples, but that's another story...
post #56 of 67
6/17/06 at 11:52am
My son is only 19 months but we do NIP. I stopped NIP around 2 -2.5 yrs qith my others. I imagine I might follow suit again.
post #57 of 67
6/17/06 at 12:08pm
32 months and going strong...
post #58 of 67
6/17/06 at 10:47pm
whenever I can, I like to thank mothers who are nursing in public for doing it -- tell them how it makes it easier for me to do it.

--Heather
post #59 of 67
6/17/06 at 11:12pm

Definitely!

I'm w/PPs, I feel like the more people who NIP, the more that it will become "norm".

Their both full-on toddlers now...I nurse pretty much whenever they want barring something that doesn't work for me (like no place to sit).

When DD was about 6mos old, I actually nursed them BOTH at the same time during church once. No one even noticed.
post #60 of 67
6/18/06 at 12:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MamaInTheBoonies
: Same here. Wonder why that is? Maybe because I was raised to respect the rules of another person's home, kwim?
I still nurse my 15 month old anywhere though like pps said its getting more rare, now its usually only at night unless she is really tired, really hungry or really uncomfortable. But i ahve a much easier time nursing in public then at a friends house. None of my friends nursed for very long and so it seems weird to me. They all know I still do it, I dont' hide the fact and they always joke and call me the wet nurse But I feel weird about it and that bothers me that I do.
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Breastfeeding › Child-Led Weaning › How many of you still nurse toddlers in public ?