Last week’s post got me thinking about how nursing past the first six months brings with it a unique set of challenges. We always hear about the challenges of nursing in the first six months (getting a good latch, dealing with supply issues, having a baby who nurses constantly, etc.), but rarely hear about what it’s like to nurse during the second half of the first year.
In a way, nursing past month six is the reward for those first few months of hard work. Baby usually latches well on his own, supply issues are worked out, leaking has usually stopped, and baby is (hopefully) sleeping for longer stretches. This is the time that you can really enjoy breastfeeding. It can be like you always imagined breastfeeding would be. Babies this age love nursing and they look so darn cute all cuddled up with mom!
Any mom nursing into the second half of the first year should consider making up a name for breastfeeding that baby can start to learn. This way if you continue to nurse when baby starts to talk, then you won’t find yourself red-faced in the middle of Dominion with a cartful of food and an angry toddler yelling “I WANT BOOBIES!”
I tried many different names with my firstborn. None of the ones I invented stuck. In the end, around 12 months, she made up her own name: “nana”. I wasn’t sure of its effectiveness until one night while waiting to get my winter tires put on, she started crying for “nana”.
Not wanting to discuss the politics of breastfeeding a toddler with the mechanic on duty, I wasn’t sure what to do. Luckily, the mechanic just thought she was asking for her nanny and said “She sure wants her grandmother!” The name stuck and got passed on to my youngest daughter who now politely asks for “Utter side nana peas”.
Another thing is that any mom nursing past six months should come armed with responses to the “You’re not still nursing, are you?” and “When are you going to wean?” questions.
I think the response to these questions depends on who is asking. If it’s a grandmother or older aunt, for instance, your answer should probably be pretty carefully thought out and caring. On the other hand, if the person is a stranger, your answer can be a little more flippant.
My favourite response to “You’re not still nursing, are you?” question is “I’m not, but my baby still is!” Here’s a link to some other responses you can use. I also like the idea of simply saying “Sure I am, why wouldn’t I be?” All jokes aside, though, I think sometimes people ask because they honestly don’t understand. In that case, it’s great to be able to provide a calm, well thought out response about why you are still nursing an older baby. It’s okay to educate people. After all, we live in a world where formula feeding is the norm.
A final challenge with nursing into the second six months of your baby’s life is dealing with teeth. I could probably devote an entire post to this topic and maybe I will next week. The bottom line is that a baby cannot bite you while he or she is nursing. They only bite when they are hanging out on the boob and not drinking. The most effective technique I’ve found in order to not get bitten is to be ready to break the seal and pop baby off the moment she stops nursing and starts to bite.
I spent ages, when my oldest was between 9 and 10 months old, with my finger poised by my nipple just in case she decided to bite down. Also, a loud “NO!” seems to teach an older baby pretty quickly that biting is not an option. If you’re into this period now, don’t worry… it’s a passing phase and will be over before you know it. Check out this link for some tips to help you survive.
For more tips on how long to continue nursing and how to deal with things like biting, see pages 76-79 in the Breastfeeding Handbook
Any other advice on enjoying the second six months of breastfeeding?
Felicie is a teacher turned work at home mama to two busy little angels, aged 22 months and 4 and a half years. She is a proud member of La Leche League Canada and has helped to organize three World B[..]
if you haven’t got a good chair, rocking or otherwise, buy one! We found one that works, has good back support and is fairly comfortable for the nursery. It helps for night, and early morning and nap time feedings.
I found what worked with the wee tiny newborn to 6 months baby, doesn’t work for the longer child. Now that mine is 14 months, she tends to wiggle and move a lot so we nurse a lot more in bed or in the lazy boy so she can’t fall off.
So another suggestion is to be prepared to change up the positions and relearn new positions.
We also have come to try sign language for a few every day things. So far, she’s learned the sign for breast milk-which kind of looks like she’s waving except she’ll point to my chest and laugh really funny. If I ask, do you want milk–she squeals and races over to me.
In public she’s learned to simply do the milk sign & look at me with a whimpery look. It works for us so far.
Teeth aren’t much of an issue, I also did the slide my finger into her mouth & the 2 times she really bit me, I freaked! It scared her so much she didn’t do it since. Since then I’ve been nipped a few times but she’s always sorry and immediately looks upset–this is usually because of the wrong position or lack of milk or something.
Awesome, Jenn! Thanks for the tips! I found that they get over the biting thing pretty quickly too (thankfully!).
Bahaha! That’s my Dominion story! We changed it up with baby number 2. We’re signing from the get-go and just calling it “milk.”
As for biting, the only thing that worked with my first was pulling him in to my boob so he had to unlatch to breathe. Saying “no” was funny to him and made him want to bite more.
Amber- glad you could relate to the Dominion story! LOL Interesting technique too, thanks for sharing!Has anyone else tried this?