The Joys of Breastfeeding a Toddler #5

May 7th, 2010 by Dionna | 6 Comments
Posted in Breastfeeding/Lactivism, Carnival and Special Series, Compassionate Advocacy, Feed with Love and Respect, Guest Posts, Joys of Breastfeeding Past Infancy, Just for Fun/Miscellaneous, natural parenting

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I am happy to welcome Guru Shakti, who has shared a story about one of her greatest joys in breastfeeding a toddler. Guru Shakti is the mother of three beautiful children and is an author, poet, artist, teacher, and life coach. She blogs occasionally about her journey through motherhood at her own site. Here is her breastfeeding guest post:

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GuruShaktiMy son is a year old, and I love the changes we have experienced in our breastfeeding relationship in the past year.

One of those changes came when my son cut his teeth. Teething can be stressful for new mothers. One mother told me that she planned on weaning as soon as her baby got teeth. Another mother shared that she flicked her baby on his cheek when he bit down – soon after he began teething, he stopped nursing all together. These stories are disheartening. Teething does not have to signal the end of a nursing relationship.

My story today involves my son’s transition to teeth. So many times my son plays little games and laughs as he drinks his milk. In the evening as I lay down with my son, he cuddles up to me to nurse. And every night, like clockwork, he bites down just a little. I guess he figured out he gets a reaction out of me. Once I react he giggles loudly; it has become a funny game. He never hurts me! To be honest I think it’s so adorable that he plays while nursing. After a few times I tell him, “Ok honey it’s time to relax now.” I stop reacting, and he settles in and falls asleep.

If I were to stop nursing when he was a few months old I would have missed out on sharing this with him. I would have missed out on those little giggles that he and I share. I am so glad that I kept nursing him!

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For more on breastfeeding your teething baby and what to do when baby bites, check out these resources from kellymom.com:

Teething

When Baby Bites

Breastfeeding a toddler is full of laughter, joys, and heartbreaking tenderness. I am publishing a series of posts dedicated to the beauty of nursing toddlers in an effort to normalize this healthy and beneficial nursing relationship.

But this isn’t just about me – I want to hear YOUR joys. If you are nursing a toddler (or have in the past), please contact me and tell me about your favorite moments. I will include them in the series and credit you, your site, or post it anonymously if you so desire.

6 Responses to:
"The Joys of Breastfeeding a Toddler #5"

  1. Sarah
    May-7-10 at 10:41 am

    So sweet. : ) The baby – okay toddler – playing is cute. Agatha loves to blow bubbles and sing (Has since birth and at 2 she still does it) but now she has a tune : ) But gotta admit the teeth are getting frustrating. This week it started. During the day is fine, but at night I’ll just fall asleep when suddenly I hear an ear splitting shriek – it’s me! She’ll bite down and won’t let go. It hurts, she never did it before, and I hope it stops soon. But she’s been sick, so actually waking in the night to nurse (a lot).

  2. Janet
    May-7-10 at 6:28 pm

    I’ve been breastfeeding for over six years now, two children with a brief tandem time in the middle. That means I’ve breastfed children with teeth way more than I’ve breastfed babies without. Given the weaning ages of children outside the western early weaning fad zone, it’s obvious that this is the biological norm for humans. All babies go through biting times, some more than others. Both my booby babies have and like all other stuff in parenting, this too shall pass. My nearly four year old is as much in love with breastfeeding now as she was as a baby. And breastfeeding with older babies and children is about the cutest thing ever when they have the language skills to tell you how much they love it!

  3. Liz
    May-7-10 at 9:28 pm

    My son has almost all of his teeth now. It’s funny that I was once so worried about it – now I don’t even think about it! We did have a few brief episodes of biting. I found that if I made sure to pay attention to him while nursing – stroking his hair, talking to him, etc. – that he would not bite.

  4. Dionna   
    May-7-10 at 10:09 pm

    Kieran bit me two times – both time he was in a lot of pain b/c of teething, and he was trying to nurse to sleep. We never had any other problems (but I was nervous too!).

    Thanks again for this post Guru Shakti :)

  5. Maman A Droit   
    May-8-10 at 1:26 pm

    Baby bites sometimes, usually just if something is bothering him like teething or a gassy tummy or if he’s at a weird angle. My mom said she stopped nursing when we got teeth, which I think is too bad. Nursing a baby with teeth, even if they occasionally bite, is totally worth it in my opinion!

  6. Melodie   
    May-10-10 at 11:33 pm

    I remember this kind of behaviour from my youngest. We used to play that game when we were snuggling on the couch. Brings back nice memories.

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