Nursing Necklaces

A nursing necklace is a necklace, usually with pretty beads, that a mom wears, and it is just the right length for a nursling to play with while nursing. This can really help a lot with issues like twiddling- that's when a baby insists on playing with Mom's other nipple while nursing, and it's very common and very annoying! If you provide a nursing neckalce the baby has something to "twiddle" besides mom's nipple! Nursing necklaces also can keep a distractable child focused on the breast.

As far as when they came into being, I would bet that they are a very old idea- probably ancient, since it's such a simple idea, and women have always breastfed and babies have always twiddled! But I don't have any info to back that up. I first heard of a nursing neckalce when my son was a baby, before I got onto the Internet, back in the mid-90s.

As far as making one, I don't think it would be hard at all. Why not have a look at some of the sites selling them, and get some ideas? I got my nursing necklace from Lori:

http://LorisNursingNecklaces.com

Thanks Lili!

There are many kinds of nursing necklaces, many are designed for the mom to wear and have them fit in with what she is wearing and not stand out. Mine are not like that. Mine stand out so the baby will play with them, but are in attractive colors so if you do forget and dont take it off, it wont be a big deal. I do not make my necklaces generally for the moms who want to be fashion conscious, but more for the ones who need something to keep their baby's attention on nursing and the bright beads work very well.

I was told to try to find one by my LC when my son was getting distractable. I imagine they have been around for years.

The ones I make are designed to hold up to being played with, pulled, and sucked on by infants and toddlers. A good nursing necklace will be made from a strong string, I use nylon. Also I double knot between every three beads to make it stronger and if it should break, which none have so far, then only 3 beads are lost. Or if a toddler gets a hold of a pair of scissors and cuts it. My dh pulled one once and was able to break it but only after using a lot of force and said he would be surprised if a toddler had that much strength. Also it should not be made from a biodegradable string that would break down when the baby chews on it. It also needs to be attractive to the baby's eyes and fingers, keeping them occupied while he nurses. I use a drop of super glue on the ends that I tie together to help keep it secure.

They are not hard to make, but I do have literally tens of thousands of beads so that people can order a custom made necklace and I can get it out within a few days. I also have an enormous variety of shapes and colors for people to chose from.

If you have any more questions, please let me know.