M is almost 19 months old and still nursing. It is funny that I wanted to nurse my first baby until she was 2 years old, but it took me until my third child to find a willing accomplice.
As in all aspects of parenting, nursing has its phases. At first it takes foreva for a baby to get through a nursing session. As soon as they detach, burp and sleep for 15 minutes, they are ready to go again.
Within a couple months they get faster at nursing, but they are still very boob-centric. Nursing becomes more of a wrestling match once they start to notice that there is a little more to life than nipples and mommy milk. Even if they are not mobile, their little heads are on a swivel.
Once they become mobile, nursing often requires a darkened, quiet room with no distraction so that they can focus on the matter at hand and not jump off momma's lap to crawl or run around.
N weaned at 12 months and G at 14 months, so even though I think I am a fairly seasoned parent, all of this toddler nursing is a new thing for me. Nursing is often about comforting M whenever his big brother steals a toy from him....which means I suckle for comfort ALOT. And that gets kinda tiring. I feel like a pacifier with legs. This is when it feels frustrating.
Despite this, I can't help but get tickled by M's continued nursing as he develops language. He will be latched on, laying in my arms when he decides to detach and say, "Mooooooo," letting me know he was evidently thinking about cows. Or he'll detach and growl, which I can only assume means he is thinking about bears. Sometimes he detaches and just laughs and laughs.
Before bedtime at night, he nurses and does this hip gyrating/pelvic thrust thing while rubbing his crotch through his diaper. I sorta feel like I should give him some privacy, but he is filling his tummy for the night, and this is for him the be-all/end-all in soothing comfort.
As much as I sometimes think I will be really glad when he decides to wean, I am also so glad to have the wonderful and often weird experience of nursing a toddler.
As in all aspects of parenting, nursing has its phases. At first it takes foreva for a baby to get through a nursing session. As soon as they detach, burp and sleep for 15 minutes, they are ready to go again.
Within a couple months they get faster at nursing, but they are still very boob-centric. Nursing becomes more of a wrestling match once they start to notice that there is a little more to life than nipples and mommy milk. Even if they are not mobile, their little heads are on a swivel.
Once they become mobile, nursing often requires a darkened, quiet room with no distraction so that they can focus on the matter at hand and not jump off momma's lap to crawl or run around.
N weaned at 12 months and G at 14 months, so even though I think I am a fairly seasoned parent, all of this toddler nursing is a new thing for me. Nursing is often about comforting M whenever his big brother steals a toy from him....which means I suckle for comfort ALOT. And that gets kinda tiring. I feel like a pacifier with legs. This is when it feels frustrating.
Despite this, I can't help but get tickled by M's continued nursing as he develops language. He will be latched on, laying in my arms when he decides to detach and say, "Mooooooo," letting me know he was evidently thinking about cows. Or he'll detach and growl, which I can only assume means he is thinking about bears. Sometimes he detaches and just laughs and laughs.
Before bedtime at night, he nurses and does this hip gyrating/pelvic thrust thing while rubbing his crotch through his diaper. I sorta feel like I should give him some privacy, but he is filling his tummy for the night, and this is for him the be-all/end-all in soothing comfort.
As much as I sometimes think I will be really glad when he decides to wean, I am also so glad to have the wonderful and often weird experience of nursing a toddler.
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