ST+M's: BFing and your older child(ren)

Re: ST+M's: BFing and your older child(ren)

• Junebug060609 member

  April 2014

  If ds seems curious I probably will just explain it as mommy giving the baby her milk. DS gets milk in a sippy regularly, so i think he will understand that. He is 2.5.

  BFP#2 2.5.11 (EDD 10.15.11) DS born 9.28.11

  BFP#4 8.27.13 (EDD 5.6.14) DD born 4.23.14
  

   

  
  

  
  

   

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• JKTTC1 member

  April 2014

  DS is almost 2.5 and I'm sure he will be curious and telling everyone else baby O get milk from momma's boobies because he's very in tune with what's going on! I'll just explain it to him and hopefully he will brush it off and move onto something else but I'll approach it when the time comes!

  
  
  

  #2-BO 6/6/13 D/C     #3 natural m/c 8/6/13 

  
  

  #4 EDD 5/19/14 It's a boy! 

  
  

  
  

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• MrsT2008 member

  April 2014

  No real plan, I'll just address it as it comes up.  Explaining it beforehand likely won't make any difference with DD.  She's super curious though, so I expect it to be asked (more like, "what you doin mommy?" since that's her favorite question), I'll just tell her I'm feeding the baby.
  

  AVT - 12.2.11
  
  
  LCT - 5.15.14 ~ 9lbs, 22.5 inches
  
  

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• jenb_99 member

  April 2014

  I won't make a big deal of it. Probably just "this is how mommies feed little babies." DS will only be 2.5 when DD gets here, and toddlers are pretty accepting of whatever they're told.

  
   
  

  DS: 11/8/11 | 9 lb 7 oz, 22 in
  DD: 5/22/14 | 9 lb 9 oz, 21.5 in
  

  
  

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• meli1025 member

  April 2014

  I actually tried to explain to DS because I know I'm not going to cover up when it's just us around the house. He's 3.5 and very curious lately about what my boobs are and why I don't have a pee pee (his words). So I told him that my boobs will make milk to feed the baby and he started cracking up and told me that I'm silly. Like he was seriously belly laughing over it. Guess he will find out soon that it's no joke!

  

   

  

  BFP#1 - 11/27/09 EDD 8/5/10, DS1 arrived 7/24/10 via emergency c-section.

  BFP#2 - 6/18/12 EDD 2/23/13, sweet baby girl born sleeping on 10/4/12 at 19 weeks, 3 days.

  BFP #3 - 1/18/13 EDD 10/1/13, natural mc on 2/2/13 at 5 weeks, 4 days.

  BFP #4 - 8/29/13 EDD 5/12/14, our sweet rainbow, DS2 born 4/29/14 via c-section
  

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• MissLadyTay member

  April 2014

  I've been telling my three year old that when the baby comes my breasts will make milk for the baby and I'll have to spend a lot of time sitting and feeding the baby that way. He's interested right now in the differences between male and female bodies ("Mom, do you have a penis?" is a frequent question.) so I just try to explain it simply.

   

  DS - 2 years old

   

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• ksyknelvr73 member

  April 2014

  MissLadyTay said:

  I've been telling my three year old that when the baby comes my breasts will make milk for the baby and I'll have to spend a lot of time sitting and feeding the baby that way. He's interested right now in the differences between male and female bodies ("Mom, do you have a penis?" is a frequent question.) so I just try to explain it simply.

  This is very similar to how my DS currently is....curious about the differences between boys and girls and always pointing out body parts and asking me what I am doing or what is going on.
  

  
  
  BFP # 1 - 12/19/09 EDD 08/27/10 - D&C 1/26/10 @ 9w5d
  
  BFP # 2 - 06/05/10 EDD 02/17/11, DS1 born on 2/14/11
  
  BFP # 3 - 04/10/13 EDD 12/21/13 - D&C 05/15/13 @ 8w4d
  
  BFP # 4 - 07/27/13 EDD 04/08/14 - CP 07/29/13

   

  BFP # 5 - 09/14/13 EDD 05/28/14, DS2 born on 5/22/14 

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• mmks member

  April 2014

  My son was 2.5 when I stopped nursing him, so I know he still remembers doing it. He has also seen other moms bfing their babies, so it is just the normal thing for him.
  I'm more concerned that he will want "mama's milk" again when he sees the baby nursing. And how to keep him occupied while I'm busy nursing the baby.

  
  
  
  
  

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• SMM1986 member

  April 2014

  I just told my kids that I'm feeding the baby with my boobs. They seem to get it (they are 8 and 5).

  

  

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• tjkdlhb member

  April 2014

  My niece was 2.5 when DD was born.  She had only been around bottle fed babies.  I just told her that there were two ways to feed babies milk, with your breasts or with a bottle.  She gave me a funny look, and then wandered off to the kitchen, saying "she needs cookies too".
  
  If your LO has been around any cats or dogs that have been lactating, that might be a way to explain it too.  "---- is a mommy to her puppies, and that's how she feeds them.  It's the same thing"  That's how a cousin of mine explained it, and her son was fine with it.
  
  I'm not expecting DD to question it much.  She'll just be two exactly.  If she does, I'll just tell her that the baby is hungry and that's how they eat.  Like some PPs, I'm just kinda hoping that she doesn't want to try it again.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

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• ckmalone79 member

  April 2014

  DD turns 5 the beginning of June & I realized maybe a month ago that she has never been exposed BFing. She has talked a lot about helping with baby, feeding bottles etc so I realized I'd have some explaining to do before baby arrives! I've searched amazon for a book possibly w illustration but found nothing. I finally explained the best I could & she just looked at me slightly amused & then wanted to take a peek at the current 'bee-boo' situation!

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• Hallil member

  April 2014

  DD nursed until 2.5 so she knows what it is, the hardest thing for her is going to be understanding that it's baby's turn now, not hers. I do anticipate her wanting to be TOO involved or wanting to nurse again. I think just explaining that this milk is for the new baby and she gets "big girl milk" will hopefully keep things as conflict free as possible.

  

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• Themetastic member

  April 2014

  I literally got this kid off my tits the day I got k/u with this one.. he is 2.5 and he knows what nursing is.  I will be lucky if we can just get through it without him wanting to go back to it himself! 

  

  
  

  
  

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• rona118 member

  April 2014

  Glad I saw this because I have been thinking about lately also. DD talks about feeding her baby sister with a bottle..... and thinking when she first sees BFing it might blow her mind. I decided to wait until baby arrives and field questions from there. Thanks ladies!

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• ksyknelvr73 member

  April 2014

  Thanks for all the input ladies. I am really impressed with how many of you managed to BF for quite a while, to the point that your kids remember BFing. My DS does not remember it and so hopefully won't ask to do it either - I only made it about 6 weeks with him. I was hoping to have a better experience this time around and he is super curious and asks lots of questions. I will probably mention it to him before DS2 comes and then field questions/concerns as we go on.

  
  
  BFP # 1 - 12/19/09 EDD 08/27/10 - D&C 1/26/10 @ 9w5d
  
  BFP # 2 - 06/05/10 EDD 02/17/11, DS1 born on 2/14/11
  
  BFP # 3 - 04/10/13 EDD 12/21/13 - D&C 05/15/13 @ 8w4d
  
  BFP # 4 - 07/27/13 EDD 04/08/14 - CP 07/29/13

   

  BFP # 5 - 09/14/13 EDD 05/28/14, DS2 born on 5/22/14 

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• ns1 member

  April 2014

  MrsT2008 said:

  No real plan, I'll just address it as it comes up.  Explaining it beforehand likely won't make any difference with DD.  She's super curious though, so I expect it to be asked (more like, "what you doin mommy?" since that's her favorite question), I'll just tell her I'm feeding the baby.
  

  This is DD. She loves to ask everyone what they're doing. We also won't do much before hand. I think it's a little too abstract for her to get before, and a little explanation when baby gets here should suffice.
  
  

   

  

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• Sarac2288 member

  April 2014

  @ksyknelvr73 just noticed your son and my daughter have the same birthday and are the same age!! But about the bf I was just going to wait and see how she reacts and explainit from there

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• Kageer member

  April 2014

  My oldest son was a little older than two when his little brother was born. He didn't seemed phased at all by me breastfeeding. We just told him that little babies get milk from their moms it from bottles. Now he is 5 and keeps telling me with this baby that nipples are for milk and wants to know if his nipples make milk. A whole new level of explaining around here:).

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• danabsd member

  April 2014

  Mine will be 20 months so I won't even attempt to explain anything to her. I imagine she'll attempt to mimick my actions since she mimics everything I do.

  If she was older I wouldn't make a big deal out explaining anything to her. I would rather her see it as the natural way things are done and answer her questions if she had anything. 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

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• ksyknelvr73 member

  April 2014

  Sarac2288 said:

  @ksyknelvr73 just noticed your son and my daughter have the same birthday and are the same age!! But about the bf I was just going to wait and see how she reacts and explainit from there

  @Sarac2288 that is such a crazy coincidence! And when are you due with this LO?
  

  
  
  BFP # 1 - 12/19/09 EDD 08/27/10 - D&C 1/26/10 @ 9w5d
  
  BFP # 2 - 06/05/10 EDD 02/17/11, DS1 born on 2/14/11
  
  BFP # 3 - 04/10/13 EDD 12/21/13 - D&C 05/15/13 @ 8w4d
  
  BFP # 4 - 07/27/13 EDD 04/08/14 - CP 07/29/13

   

  BFP # 5 - 09/14/13 EDD 05/28/14, DS2 born on 5/22/14 

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• Jillzy86 member

  April 2014

  Amazon has childrens books on nursing. My nephew has a few books and it seemed to put things in perspective when his sister came and started to nurse.

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• ksyknelvr73 member

  April 2014

  kitchencolors said:

  I have images of small children walking up to a woman feeding her baby from a bottle and saying "why isn't your baby eating from a booby?"  Maybe because it happened to me.  Interestingly enough it was the ONLY time someone commented about how I fed my child.  Seems prudent to mention that some babies eat each way if you're going to have a talk about it.
  

  Aboslutely! With DS, I was never able to EBF so he took bottles from day one, and he nursed as well. I have no idea what's going to happen this time, but so far DS has only seen babies eating from bottles. I talked to him a little last night b/c one of the books we got for him has a mom BFing a baby but who knows if he really gets it. I assume he will end up seeing both ways. I've already got plenty of bottles and formula ready in case BFing doesn't work out again.
  

  
  
  BFP # 1 - 12/19/09 EDD 08/27/10 - D&C 1/26/10 @ 9w5d
  
  BFP # 2 - 06/05/10 EDD 02/17/11, DS1 born on 2/14/11
  
  BFP # 3 - 04/10/13 EDD 12/21/13 - D&C 05/15/13 @ 8w4d
  
  BFP # 4 - 07/27/13 EDD 04/08/14 - CP 07/29/13

   

  BFP # 5 - 09/14/13 EDD 05/28/14, DS2 born on 5/22/14 

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• ModishMom member

  April 2014

  This book is pretty simple, but it does show a mom nursing instead of bottle feeding.  https://www.amazon.com/My-New-Baby-Rachel-Fuller/dp/1846432766/ref=la_B0034NB54A_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397032865&sr=1-1

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

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