[kisagotami]

My Ds is 16 mo old and lately he won't eat hardly any solid food, all he wants to do is nurse, nurse, nurse and I am slowly loosing my mind. He wakes up to nurse about 3-5 times at night, he nurses almost every hour during the day and sometimes he acts like he wants to nurse, but then I take the boob out for him and he takes one drink and starts messing around, but if I go to put the boob away he FREAKS out! He just wants me to keep it out at all times. He also rips away at my shirt when ever he wants to nurse and if I dare tell him to wait a minute he throws a huge red faced shreiking fit. I wanted to nurse him untill he was at least 2, maybe even let him self ween but I am about 2 seconds away from weening him now. I hate to be selfish but I cannot take this any more! What should I do?

 

[kati6110]

Could he be teething? Try some Tylenol.

As far as wanting to nurse and then just playing around, I would try distracting him. When he asks to nurse, you can suggest a toy, a snack, a story, make a funny face, or whatever. Avoid sitting down in places he associates with nursing.

Its easy to feel used and resentful when the kid wants nothing but booby all the time. But remember, with bf or without, kids go through difficult phases when growing up. Phases where you wonder, "who are you and what did you do with my sweet angel?" All that gets us through is patience and perspective - this too shall pass.

 

[lactivist]

I could have written that exact post a month ago. My ds is now just over 17 months and its starting to calm down a tiny bit. I did start getting firmer about telling him that he needed to lie still and nurse or I would put my boob away. He does freak out but I can easily distract him. Also at the time that was going on he was getting 8 teeth at the same time. Since they have broken through and come in a bit he has eased up so much. I would check yoru baby's mouth and see if teeth aren't the culprit. Of course we are still nursing a ton and he is up right now and still wakes throughout the night but the fevered pitch that was last month has calmed down again. I also really started working on nursing manners and allowed a few red faced tantrums for the sake of consistency. I am in charge of pulling up my own shirt. My hubby would take him for long walks in the stroller during this time to give me a break. I don't know if you have that option or not but it sure helped. Hang in there mama. I have nursed a baby a lot longer than this and it gets way way better later on. The teething times are the roughest and this is a hard age for nursing but I think it get much better really soon.

Wendi

 

[kisagotami]

He's not teething, his mouth seems to be on a little break rght now since he grew 8 teeth n about 2 months. Some how that trying time wasn't qute as bad as this is.

How exactly do you teach breast manners? Because it really gets to me when he starts ripping my shirt off. I tried to teach him to sign for nurse but the sign is actually pulling at the fron of my shirt, so that sends a mixed message. He doesn't really say a lot yet, mama, boo, hi, dat and ball, and meow when the cat walks by.

I've also thought about maybe making him a little be right next to ours so that maybe he won't wake up quite as often and I can get a little more rest, but I'll make it high enough so he can still crawl in with us if he wants to.

 

[Mrs.BlackFrancis]

Don't beat your self up too bad, breast feeding is a very personnal thing, I'd say hang in there if you can but if you are really getting frustrated with him and its making your relation ship with your son strained then maybe you should consider weaning, just remember once you wean him, theres no going back, and that part of your relationship with your son will be over.

Also, are you a stay at home mom? Because if you are maybe what you really need is a little time away, to gan perspective.

 

[lactivist]

I taught my son the sign for milk instead because I didn't think pulling on my shirt was a good idea. He comes and makes the sign and if I dont' respond he does start pulling on my shirt. I gently move his hands away and say "do you want to nurse?" and always try to nurse him right away so he gets the point that we talk and ask about nursing instead of just doing it. Our nursing sessions sound a lot like this "please lie down, please don't kick me, I don't want your foot in my face, please lie down, ow you are hurting me, do you want to nurse or get down, if you don't lie down and nurse I am going to put you down." etc etc etc. After a warning I do put him down and sometimes he is easy to distract and sometimes he flips out and I say "oh did you want to nurse? Okay well lie down on my lap" I also realized that he is so long that he is fairly uncomfortable across my lap and is much nicer about staying focused on nursing if we lie down together so now I do that at least a couple times per day. About 6 weeks ago I was saying that I was actively weaning him and couldn't take anymore. (this is from someone that nursed the last child for six years) I started saying no to some nursings and using distraction, food and drinks. Just eliminating a few nursings during the day completely changed my attitude and now I am happily nursing again. I think he also realized that it was a free for all and that he had to do a little participating or nursing would go away. I would never refuse if he were really upset and couldn't be distracted. I just couldn't take anymore and got to the point where I had to say no occasionally. It really helped change the dynamic for us and got us back on an even keel. This too shall pass! Hang in there!
Wendi

 

[kisagotami]

Our nursing sessions sound a lot like this "please lie down, please don't kick me, I don't want your foot in my face, please lie down, ow you are hurting me, do you want to nurse or get down, if you don't lie down and nurse I am going to put you down." etc etc etc.

Oh boy, does that sound familiar!