Re-introducing bf'ing to toddler - with unexpected sideeffect..
I have written about this before but appearently my wish to reintroduce breastfeeding to my 20 month old is pretty weird as it seems noone has any experience with it to share. I ask again in the hope that someone will have advice for me..
In short - I have 3 kids ages 3 years, 20 months and 3 months. I was tandemnursing the first two till my oldest turned 3. Then I got pg with my youngest and my 20 month old - who was 12 months old at the time - weaned as my milk disappeared. My 3 year old weaned too.
Now I am having regrets that I didnt work harder to keep a nursing relationship to my daughter and since I now have a supply again I would love to reintroduce bfing to her. I have tried with positive motivation etc and so far we have gotten to the point where she will take the nipple in her mouth (and think it is a hilarious game) - but she just has no idea what to do with it :( She is used to taking a bottle and I have tried using nippleshields to make the nipple feel a bit like a bottle. At first it was a succes - but now she just wants to play with the shield rather than leave it on the nipple so back to scratch..
How can I teach her to latch again. I do think she is motivated - she just doesnt know how :( All suggestions are welcomed..
A strange unexpected sideeffect of this project is that my 3 (soon 4) year old asked to nurse the other day (and he/we weaned almost a year ago) I let him and he looked like it was christmas. He even remembered how to latch and nursed like a champ.. He was so happy about it. He has nursed again twice since. Very weird. Not sure if I am liking this or not.. This was not part of my plan :dizzy:
^_^:
Well I don't know if I have any suggestions for you, just support. I had to wean my 2.5 y o when I was pregnant. When ds was born she asked all the time to nurse. She was definitely motivated. I did let her latch on and nurse, but it totally freaked me out. I let her do it a few more times thinking that I would get over myself. It never has felt right. She is now 4.5 and she still asks on a regular basis. Hope things work out for you. :grouphug
^_^:
No real suggestions for you, I was just wondering if you have tried while she is very sleepy? Maybe have her fall asleep with a bottle then slip the boob in? Good luck!
^_^:
I've wondered about this myself: my adopted twins turned 13 months this week and neither have ever breastfed. They are already taking a cup instead of the bottle, so is it a lost cause?
I REALLY want to induce lactation and teach my twin dd to breastfeed so she can benefit from the breastmilk on account of her large # of food allergies!! (I've been told I cannot induce lactation with just a pump--that baby needs to be involved for that to work, but I'm afraid my learning and her learning at the same time will make it extra stressful/frustrating!) Am I chasing an impossible dream?
Sorry, OP, I'm not much help, just full of my own questions!:dizzy:
^_^:
Maybe wait until the baby has induced letdown then try to tandem? Good luck!
^_^:
Wow, I'm glad I found your post!
I am kind of in a similar boat as you.
My dd is 29 months old and I have a 2 month old. My dd was weaned during a nursing strike at 10 months old, so it has been a looong time since she has nursed. After her early weaning, she didn't tolerate formula or cow's milk so she has been on goat's milk for a year. She is still a very "sucky" kid who is hooked on her binky and often takes two 8oz. bottles at naptime and bedtime and sometimes another bottle in the morning.
She became very aware of nursing around the time that she turned two which was during my pregnancy. She has several playmates her age who she sees nursing, and we were talking about having the new baby living with us and what the baby would do. (Drinking milk from mommy's boo-boos, sleeping a lot, crying sometimes.) DD was really interested in trying to nurse and I tried to let her try it but I was very sensitive and jumpy while I was pregnant and I couldn't stand to have her touching my breasts. It was ticklish.
After my son was born he ended up being admitted to the hospital to monitor his rapid breathing and they kept us for two weeks to test him for everything under the sun and put him on antibiotics because he was a homebirth and 11lbs. So anyway I didn't see my DD for two weeks and when we came home and she wanted to try to nurse again I was kind of grossed out by it because she was so BIG (she is over 3ft. tall and 33lbs. so a big 2yr old) and active and her mouth was so warm and toothy when she tried to latch onto my breast.
After a couple more weeks I was willing to try it again but we both kept busting up laughing at the awkwardness of the situation. Since then I've gotten a fairly decent pump (the Medela Swing) and I'm pumping to get breastmilk to my DD through her bottles. I am not quite pumping enough to meet her intake right now but I am making it work, we ran out of goat's milk last Saturday and haven't purchased anymore yet.
I like the idea of trying to slip her the breast as she is falling asleep and/or when I'm already having a letdown. I'll be trying that sometime this weekend.
I'd love to get her on the breast for health reasons, to save money, to not have to worry about having a bottle and because I am so busy keeping up with her that I am having a hard time pumping often enough. I also think it would calm her and help her to be more attached and in-tune with me because she is a very high-spirited outgoing child.
^_^:
well, the only thing I could contribute is: keep at it, keep trying. Do you have access to a La Leche League support group near you? Maybe they can give you some help.
^_^:
I have succesfully renursed my toddler. He was 2 when ds3 was born. He kept asking, so I asked my LLL leader, and she said to go for it. It was weird for a bit, but when he asked I let him. After about 2 weeks of daily sessions, and me telling and showing him how to latch he is nursing like a champ! I just kept with positive enforcement with the latch and he got it! I told him to make a big fish mouth with his lips out like a fish. It can be done, though I have heard it is pretty rare(probably cause most wouldnt try, as most people who know we have renursed him think i'm weird!:lol )I dont know if any of that helps, but if theres more I can do let me know! Good luck!!!!!!
More Topical:
In short - I have 3 kids ages 3 years, 20 months and 3 months. I was tandemnursing the first two till my oldest turned 3. Then I got pg with my youngest and my 20 month old - who was 12 months old at the time - weaned as my milk disappeared. My 3 year old weaned too.
Now I am having regrets that I didnt work harder to keep a nursing relationship to my daughter and since I now have a supply again I would love to reintroduce bfing to her. I have tried with positive motivation etc and so far we have gotten to the point where she will take the nipple in her mouth (and think it is a hilarious game) - but she just has no idea what to do with it :( She is used to taking a bottle and I have tried using nippleshields to make the nipple feel a bit like a bottle. At first it was a succes - but now she just wants to play with the shield rather than leave it on the nipple so back to scratch..
How can I teach her to latch again. I do think she is motivated - she just doesnt know how :( All suggestions are welcomed..
A strange unexpected sideeffect of this project is that my 3 (soon 4) year old asked to nurse the other day (and he/we weaned almost a year ago) I let him and he looked like it was christmas. He even remembered how to latch and nursed like a champ.. He was so happy about it. He has nursed again twice since. Very weird. Not sure if I am liking this or not.. This was not part of my plan :dizzy:
^_^:
Well I don't know if I have any suggestions for you, just support. I had to wean my 2.5 y o when I was pregnant. When ds was born she asked all the time to nurse. She was definitely motivated. I did let her latch on and nurse, but it totally freaked me out. I let her do it a few more times thinking that I would get over myself. It never has felt right. She is now 4.5 and she still asks on a regular basis. Hope things work out for you. :grouphug
^_^:
No real suggestions for you, I was just wondering if you have tried while she is very sleepy? Maybe have her fall asleep with a bottle then slip the boob in? Good luck!
^_^:
I've wondered about this myself: my adopted twins turned 13 months this week and neither have ever breastfed. They are already taking a cup instead of the bottle, so is it a lost cause?
I REALLY want to induce lactation and teach my twin dd to breastfeed so she can benefit from the breastmilk on account of her large # of food allergies!! (I've been told I cannot induce lactation with just a pump--that baby needs to be involved for that to work, but I'm afraid my learning and her learning at the same time will make it extra stressful/frustrating!) Am I chasing an impossible dream?
Sorry, OP, I'm not much help, just full of my own questions!:dizzy:
^_^:
Maybe wait until the baby has induced letdown then try to tandem? Good luck!
^_^:
Wow, I'm glad I found your post!
I am kind of in a similar boat as you.
My dd is 29 months old and I have a 2 month old. My dd was weaned during a nursing strike at 10 months old, so it has been a looong time since she has nursed. After her early weaning, she didn't tolerate formula or cow's milk so she has been on goat's milk for a year. She is still a very "sucky" kid who is hooked on her binky and often takes two 8oz. bottles at naptime and bedtime and sometimes another bottle in the morning.
She became very aware of nursing around the time that she turned two which was during my pregnancy. She has several playmates her age who she sees nursing, and we were talking about having the new baby living with us and what the baby would do. (Drinking milk from mommy's boo-boos, sleeping a lot, crying sometimes.) DD was really interested in trying to nurse and I tried to let her try it but I was very sensitive and jumpy while I was pregnant and I couldn't stand to have her touching my breasts. It was ticklish.
After my son was born he ended up being admitted to the hospital to monitor his rapid breathing and they kept us for two weeks to test him for everything under the sun and put him on antibiotics because he was a homebirth and 11lbs. So anyway I didn't see my DD for two weeks and when we came home and she wanted to try to nurse again I was kind of grossed out by it because she was so BIG (she is over 3ft. tall and 33lbs. so a big 2yr old) and active and her mouth was so warm and toothy when she tried to latch onto my breast.
After a couple more weeks I was willing to try it again but we both kept busting up laughing at the awkwardness of the situation. Since then I've gotten a fairly decent pump (the Medela Swing) and I'm pumping to get breastmilk to my DD through her bottles. I am not quite pumping enough to meet her intake right now but I am making it work, we ran out of goat's milk last Saturday and haven't purchased anymore yet.
I like the idea of trying to slip her the breast as she is falling asleep and/or when I'm already having a letdown. I'll be trying that sometime this weekend.
I'd love to get her on the breast for health reasons, to save money, to not have to worry about having a bottle and because I am so busy keeping up with her that I am having a hard time pumping often enough. I also think it would calm her and help her to be more attached and in-tune with me because she is a very high-spirited outgoing child.
^_^:
well, the only thing I could contribute is: keep at it, keep trying. Do you have access to a La Leche League support group near you? Maybe they can give you some help.
^_^:
I have succesfully renursed my toddler. He was 2 when ds3 was born. He kept asking, so I asked my LLL leader, and she said to go for it. It was weird for a bit, but when he asked I let him. After about 2 weeks of daily sessions, and me telling and showing him how to latch he is nursing like a champ! I just kept with positive enforcement with the latch and he got it! I told him to make a big fish mouth with his lips out like a fish. It can be done, though I have heard it is pretty rare(probably cause most wouldnt try, as most people who know we have renursed him think i'm weird!:lol )I dont know if any of that helps, but if theres more I can do let me know! Good luck!!!!!!
More Topical: