Extended Nursing

wow! i wish i could help...trying to think since it didn't happen with us...ask her if she really wants the milk, if she does just tell her to drink it or else she can't "nurse" because it is hurting mommy. explain that you have to feed baby so you have to make milk. boy i feel for ya...but i can use my toddler to aleviate the fullness/engorgement. (boy is he happy to oblige!) good luck and let me know how it ends up...just in case i ever get into the situation the next time around! will be thinking about ya!

laura

Don't know what to suggest. Mine was 26mos at the birth and he had not forgotten how to swallow. I have had to talk to him about different nursing behaviors. I basically have stopped nursing and told him what to do. He was/is old enough to talk about it. Is yours?

Heather

Hi! Congratulations on Baby #2! :-)

It's a tough road doing the tandem nursing thing, so hats off to you for giving it a chance and making it work! Good for you! :-D

My son (now almost 3, but was 21 mos when baby sister was born) never forgot how to nurse... though the whole milk depletion happened during my pregnancy, too. What I remember about that time is that his understanding of things was so amazing. I say this because I think your daughter would really understand if you explained to her how it all works as well as how you feel about it. If you don't like her licking up your milk, then simply tell her "That doesn't feel nice for Mommy." Ask her if she remembers how to nurse like Baby Sister. And if you have to "teach" her how to latch on and nurse, I'm sure she'd be a willing student and pick it up very easily. (Be sure she gets that deep latch on like Baby #2 has... I find that my son likes to nurse slide down on the nipple, not stay on the areola, so I'm constantly having to remind him and re-attach/correct the latch-on.)

In the meantime, it may be that she hasn't forgotten how to nurse so much as she's so tickled pink with the milk overflowing after the drought that she's beside herself. Also, she's likely more curious at this point to watch how your milk comes out whereas when she was younger it was really all about GETTING the milk rather than how the milk GOT there, kwim? So perhaps you let her be curious for a minute or so (if you're okay with it), then direct her to make the choice to either nurse with a proper latch-on or not at all.

Truthfully, she'll probably pick it up on her own just fine, but if it bothers you in the meantime, then by all means, speak up. If you tell her matter-of-factly & kindly, then she'll be happy to oblige or to stop, depending on her mood.

I hope this helps. Good luck! :-)

Meridith
TN to Ethan & Cori (33 mos & 11 mos)