Oliver was never a comfort nurser. He pretty much nursed just enough to get by and then pushed off. I attributed it to an unrecognized dairy sensitivity. He didn't bat an eyelash when we stopped nursing or when we transitioned from bottle to cup.
Since Duncan was over 3 months I've nursed him away from Oliver because he is so distractable. Only recently have I nursed him in front of Oliver and its only been maybe three times. All of a sudden Oliver wants mamas milk. He's crawling in my arms assuming the position. The whole nine yards. It's kind of sweet but also a little sad.
My husband was like... Why not??
For me it's not an option because Duncan and I have thrush. I also feel like its going backwards.
Anyone else experiencing nursing or bottle envy? How do you address it?
Re: Nursing envy?
Ah :-(
Okay, well, obviously I don't have another LO, but C sometimes wants to act a like a baby. He asks that DH or usually me wrap him in a blanket, cradle and rock him. He calls it "Rockababy". I recall reading a long time ago somewhere that toddlers/preschoolers regress a bit and get nostalgic-almost for "baby time". The article said it was okay to indulge it for a few minutes a day but then make a point to getting back to "big boy time". So, this is what we do and he's definitely slowing down with it now that we tried to not make it a big deal.
So, maybe this is just Oliver's way of doing the same? If you're not comfortable going back to nursing him, I wouldn't certainly, thrush aside. But maybe see if there is some other "baby" type outlet he might be interested in for a few minutes? Just a thought!
This was my husbands reasoning. While I don't want him to feel left out...and it would be nice for him to come to the conclusion on his own... I think I'd be scared of the teeth!
I wouldn't let him with the thrush going on, but I remember reading somewhere too to just let them try to nurse again. Nate still comes up if I'm bra-less and pretends to latch on sometimes, but then he runs away giggling.
I really doubt he would/could start nursing again (although eek if he did!) Maybe keep a sippy next to you while you nurse and offer that and some snuggle time instead?
I think that I would let him try once your thrush is cleared up. More than likely he won't really go for it like the pp's said.
Ugh! I am so worried about this. I don't even have a second baby yet, and Avery still asks to nurse whenever she wakes up early from a nap or gets really upset for some other reason. I actually did let her a few times since weaning, thinking that she would quickly lose interest because there's no real milk left, and it backfired. She had no problem latching on and using me as a pacifier. I'm afraid she's going to get really upset when I'm nursing the new baby and I'm going to eventually give in and start nursing her too.