12mo pulling the shirt down when wanting to BF! help!

hollandmama

We have made it to the 1-year mark but we're nowhere near ready to wean. DS has started to pull down my shirt (sometimes even the bra comes along) when he is ready to eat, luckily he only does it if I take too long to start feeding him after he is in my lap. I am afraid that he will start doing this in public, he looks older than he is and I already get the side-eyes about NIP a huge baby... this would just add to the list.

If you LO did this, how did you teach him/her to stop? is it a phase?

Coconuthead

No advice but my almost one year old is doing this too. It's amusing right now but I can definitely see it being one of those things that is funny until it isn't.

hollandmama

Coconuthead said:

No advice but my almost one year old is doing this too. It's amusing right now but I can definitely see it being one of those things that is funny until it isn't.

I know, I also laughed the first few times but now I am starting to worry

vvvvvfee

i would just gently remove his hand, and say, "not right now, DS. we'll nurse when [we get home, we get in the car, whatever]." he may not understand at this age, but he will get it soon. or just shift the way you're carrying him to get his hands out of range. you'll always have advance warning when his hands are starting to creep in there, so you can take evasive maneuvers. i would also not worry so much about what other people think. so someone sees part of a boob! big whoop. 

here's a good article about setting limits with your BF toddler:
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-boundaries-its-okay-to-say-no-to-your-toddler#.U8_OVWP4ayc

camedowncrushing

I had hoped this was just a phase with DD1, and by 18 months I was so overwhelmed with her demands!  She loved nursing, and wanted to nurse everywhere.  I had to set limits with her.  It was hard, but she got the hang of it. 

andrea0418

casey78 said:

Just commiseration, @Hollandmama.  Leah has started doing this too.  I'm just trying redirecting and distracting.

Same here! Ty does this scoop move with his hands. He can pull a boob out effortlessly! Not so amusing in public.

RDK24

No advice, just more commiseration. It's cute now … but man, it's not going to be funny soon. Well, maybe a tiny bit of advice: I can usually keep my 1-year-old from getting handsy by "talking" about nursing instead of reaching for it. She calls it "nam nam" so we sort of repeat that back to each other. Again, cute for now.

mcgeeva

Ha just the age. I don't bf DS#1 anymore but now that I have DS#2 he seems to want to know all the time what is going on with my boobs. Besides attempting to get to mine I have caught him straddling my 4 month old with his shirt up trying to feed him haha

DezignedByFaith

My 8 month old has been doing this since she was about 6.5 months old. When it comes to BF, I get the side eye anyways; yet, I'm being discreet as much as I can. Could you perhaps take a sippy cup with you?

hollandmama

@DezignedByFaith it's not being a huge issue now, so I just start BF when I can, if I can't then I just distract him. LO is going through a phase now, some days he doesn't BF in the whole day, others he BF every 3 hours...