I find it so interesting when I hear my friends have such different names for nursing. I imagine we have a huge number of different terms for it here at Mothering where breastfeeding is the norm. We always called it "ninna". What is your word for nursing?
Booby. As in "do you want some booby?" and "we're going upstairs to have booby". Not sure how we got to that, but there it is. Admittedly there have been times when I wished we called it something a little more subtle....like when we're out and about and my breaking-down toddler wails "I want some BOOOOOOOBY!!!!!!"
I guess I'm just really boring. I always just asked them if they wanted to nurse. Sometimes with this babe (DD3) it gets a bit cutesy and I ask her if she wants to nursey. That's about it.
DD1 made a nnnnnn kind of sound before she could talk, and then said nurse pretty clearly once she could. DD2 never had a noise, and it seemed like she could clearly ask to nurse since forever. That can't be true, though. Just a false memory.
My kid adopted "see-sees" as his term. I was calling it "nursies" and he took the last syllable and repeated it. I like it- subtle during those public breakdowns the PP mentioned!
With DS1 I attempted to dub it milky, but DH always referred to it as boobie, and that's what my first 3 all called it. Now with number 4, I'm back to trying for milky or nursie. But he can't talk yet, so we'll see what name he comes up with
"nana" <3 and Iove it. It started with me say nurse - wa" do you want to have a nurse" he started calling it Nana . Ive only heard one other child say that its funny it was this amazing friend (I still have) and we clicked right away so much like eachother it was strange. Then Soren (1 1/2 at the time) said nana and her mouth dropped. her son said that too aweeeee. friends for life
I just call it nursing or mommy milk, but DS (who nursed until 2.5 yo) called it "side" or "mommy side". He picked that up from me saying something about nursing on the other side.
I called it Boo-Bah when I was a nursling, and it was embarrassing to be out in public with a toddler screaming something that sounds so much like boob and pulling on your shirt. So, I called it Milkie from the beginning. She took that and turned it into MeeMee
We've used "bob" since the beginning in anticipation of nursing a talking toddler at some point (14 months now). Kind of like boob but I wouldn't feel weird about her yelling "I need bob" in the middle of a store. Still have to see if she chooses a different word herself.
Most of my kids called it "Nummies" or "Num Num." My youngest had the most words for it, she was very verbal very early (all my kids were) at around 7-9 months, it was "OOOHM- BAH!" at around a year she was calling it, "ONE!" because I would ask her, "Do you want the other one?" Then it became "Nummies" because that's what we all called it. (Capitalized because she usually yelled it.)
My middle one was about 8 months old and called it "Laddle-laddle." I think it was the mouth movement she would make when she nursed. (Try and say the word and you'll understand.) Then it became "Num Num." My oldest called it "Muck" for a while, but we changed it to "Num Num" for privacy's sake.
I remember my nephew was nearly 3, and we were waiting for our food in a restaurant. His food wasn't coming and he finally got upset, looked right at his Mama and yelled, "I want Nummies and I want them right now!" Of course, people thought he was talking about food. His Mama just slipped him under her shirt and he was able to stave off his hunger until our Denny's waitress got around to getting our food to us.
We say boo boos because when we get hurt around the house we say owie...or I just ask her nif she wants milk while I sign for milk. She's only 8 months and can't wait to see what she names it herself
I usually refer to it as milkies. Like when I am pumping, I tell him I am making some milkies for him. We shall see what he calls it. When my DW can't rock him back to sleep, she just says, "We need the boob" or "Boob"! I hope he doesn't pick up on that one.
I feel so boring. We just call it nursing. Even so there are still times when having my nearly four year old ask, "can we nurse?" in a public place can be a little awkward, but I suppose it is better than him asking for boobies.
Each of my 3 children had their own word for nursing. For ds1, it was 'ongi'. For ds2, it was 'nanas', and for dd now 22mths, it is 'lilies'. So i would just say to them, do you want-whichever was their word. When talking with other adults, i usually used the word 'nursing.' Sometimes, in mixed company, i have been known to say, 'dd wants lilies, i'll just be a minute'-only to have them stare at me, baffled...
I've always said milk. My first son called it "nuh" or "nuhs" and my second son said "mi" (like i in igloo) and when he was a bit older said "mi douch" for milk couch because we always nursed in the same spot on the couch. Nuh and mi were among my boys' first words. I thought it was really sweet. I had heard people having toddlers shout out "BOOB" in public places which I knew would embarrass me a ton so I was careful to always call it milk so if they were asking for milk I wouldn't get strange looks
My kids called it side-side because I always talked about moving them to the other breast and called it other side. They are older now and still joke about saying side side.
I nursed DD until she was 3. Without realizing it I guess every time we sat down to nurse I would say eat to her twice for encouragement. Sooo....nursing time became eat eats!
She is 5 now and associates everything having to do with breasts as eat eats. She knows a bra is called a bra but she calls them eat eats! Enjoy your time nursing and think of the word you use for it fondly because it will be over before you know it.
My son called it Neener's. it was the term he came up with and we stuck with it.
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