Explaining BF to a 4 y/o

valerieanne9015 · May 2012

Any advice about this? We're all going on the big family vacation next week. We rent out a big house and all 20 of us stay there. DH's 4 y/o niece is my shadow, love her to death! She was FF and so was her little brother. I'm not sure if she has ever seen/heard about BFing. What do I tell her if she happens to see me nursing DD? (The trip is with all of DH's dads side. I will be going in another room to nurse because I'm just not really comfortable nursing infront of most people, but knowing little niece, she will just come in the room because she knows I'm in there.)

Jsthomas618 · May 2012

I just kept it simple with DD1...Sometimes babies get milk or formula from bottles and sometimes thet can get "mommy milk" straight from Mommy. Pumping is how I can make mommy milk to put in a bottle. If she does get curious, you might just mention to her parents because from my experience little girls love to breastfeed their dolls and they might just wonder whats she doing.

Jenny952 · May 2012

I've had to explain it to my nephew or friends' kids, and I just say that the baby gets milk from mommy. Then I say that all she needs right now is milk because she doesn't have any teeth yet... what do you like to eat? That usually gets them talking about their favorite foods and then the subject is changed. Or sometimes if I'm nursing her under a blanket, like I do at friends' houses, I just tell the kids that the baby is sleeping.

valerieanne9015 · May 2012

Jenny952:

I've had to explain it to my nephew or friends' kids, and I just say that the baby gets milk from mommy. Then I say that all she needs right now is milk because she doesn't have any teeth yet... what do you like to eat? That usually gets them talking about their favorite foods and then the subject is changed. Or sometimes if I'm nursing her under a blanket, like I do at friends' houses, I just tell the kids that the baby is sleeping.

LOL I like that!

gracefulruby33 · May 2012

You could always compare yourself to other animals that babies get mommy's milk from. *shrug* GL! :-)

Mrs.Greeko · May 2012

My 3 year old and 6 year old are pretty comfortable with nursing. I just say the baby is eating. My three year old is well aware that baby milk comes from mommy's boobies. My 6 year old has known for a few years that mammals are animals that feed their babies milk and the milk comes from the mom and humans are animals. I think you are overthinking it. If you don't want to really explain just say the baby is eating and getting milk from you. Most little kids are happy with a more simple explanation than adults think they would be.

epopp85 · May 2012

When DS was born, my nephews (who were both FF) were 5yo and 8mo. The 5yo was confused about why I was nursing DS and his brother didn't nurse. My SIL told him that even though she fed his brother milk out of bottle, Aunt Emily fed his cousin milk out of boobie. He said, "huh" and went on. Kids don't really care.

Although he did proceed to tell the entire family about it Christmas when he saw me head into the other room. "Aunt Emily is going to feed Baby Hayden out of a boobie!!" Thanks kid. Lol.

RedCamaro · May 2012

Everyone is right. I compare myself to a "mommy" animal that DD knows and she understands that it's normal. I also second talking to her parents, they might not want to venture down that road with her yet. But it didn't take long for my DD to be desensitized to it.

adri77 · May 2012

My boys are 3 and 5. I just told them this is how the baby drinks her milk. They asked questions like, "from your boobs? Does it hurt? Do my boobs have milk? (haha)" They got over it very, very quickly.

littlewinnie15 · May 2012

Honestly, since she's not your own child, if I were in your shoes I'd ask the parents what they wanted me to say first. I think all of the suggestions above are great, but I wouldn't feel comfortable talking about it unless the parents knew what I was saying to their child. Even though I believe it's natural and shouldn't be shielded from a child's knowledge, you just never know how some parents may react and people can get very territorial about exposing their kids to "topics" like these.

vlong4 · May 2012

My sister in law described it to my twin nieces with the animal analogy. She said that the way a kitten gets milk from it's mommy, my DD was getting milk from me. I was the first one to EVER bf in dh's family (my MIL was going insane and didn't understand why and was so confused by it). My sister's kids didn't even ask.

Children do not need to know more than what they ask. For example, if you niece asks what you're doing, just say feeding the baby. If she asks for a further explanation, then give it (with parents approval), but otherwise, don't. Change the topic and start asking her about her favorite foods or something.

cmb0118 · May 2012

my 3 yr old nephew saw my LO under the nursing cover and asked what he was doing. I asked his mom to explain so I didnt interfere or describe anything that would make her uncomfortable. She looked at my nephew and said, "Tyler is hiding and eating." My nephew looked at her and walked away.

Want a personalized experience?

Explaining BF to a 4 y/o

Re: Explaining BF to a 4 y/o

Choose Another Board

Search Boards