Educating Children About Breastfeeding

As my family prepares for our newest addition, we have boughten books about babies and been given baby dolls for our daughter to nurture and love. Currently, she is playing an app on my phone where she gets to dress up and feed a baby. While all of these tools are great in helping a toddler learn and comprehend what life will be like with a little baby around, I couldn’t help but notice a trend running through all of these educational tools: none of them taught about breastfeeding a baby.

On Toddler Terms

My daughter is not unique in her creation of a name or term for breastfeeding and boobs. As she has grown and become more verbal, she can say boobs clearly now, but it is her first word choice for breastfeeding that continues to dominate her vocabulary. She calls breastfeeding ‘nanas’ or if she is feeling particularly impatient then she says ‘nanees’. I imagine this came from the word nursing. Friends of mine who say nursing a lot also have toddlers who request nanas. But some children get quite creative with the naming of their beloved boobs.

Spring Volume Sneak Peek!

I’m not going to share anything too juicy with you just yet but I thought maybe a little sample of a poem that I have submitted for the first ever publication of the independent zine Latch might spark some interest. Just so you can nibble and sample and see if you like the flavor. And hey, maybe you will feel inspired to drop a couple of lines whether it be poetry or fiction or a how to or even just a non-fiction narrative about your breastfeeding little one. Deadline is quickly approaching so please don’t miss out on being a part of something awesome and spreading your infinite wisdom and creativity with other breastfeeding mamas! nursingtoddlerstories@gmail.com and please send your work as an attachment not in the body of the email. 

Should I Nurse My Child When They Are Sick?

Many mothers wonder if giving their child anything to eat when they are vomiting is a good idea. So what about breastmilk? You will find that when your child is sick, regardless of if they are a baby or toddler, they will particularly want to breastfeed. Although putting anything in your system when you are vomiting every half an hour can seem to aggravate the symptoms, the benefits of breastmilk go beyond any other food or drink you can offer your child. 

La Leche League

Today I was asked by a friend who is a La Leche League leader if I could step in and be an honorary leader at the weekly meeting. I was excited to take on such a role as I have often thought about becoming a leader, or even going one step further and becoming a lactation consultant. It proved to be a great fit for me and I felt I was actively helping out my new community here in Santa Monica. 

Call for Submissions Deadline Extended

After realizing the brevity of February and the reality that winter doesn’t really end until the end of March, I figured I would extend the deadline for submitting until March 1st. If you haven’t checked out our original call for submissions please do but hopefully this gives you a bit more winter time to get an awesome story together to quickly send over to nursingtoddlerstories@gmail.com.

We look forward to growing this project with you!

Nipple Pinching, Fiddling and Flicking

Babies begin to become more mobile and active as you nurse them. Suddenly they start doing all of these funny and adorable things like grabbing your face, lifting their feet as they nurse and most notably, playing with your opposite nipple as they breastfeed. This is actually very strategic and quite impressive as it helps your body have an increased rush of oxytocin and let down more milk and quickly. At first, it is so sweet and cute and it feels great, as it is designed to do so.

Weaning: One Step Forward, Six Steps Backwards

Stopping anyone from doing something that has become a well formed habit, let alone something that they see as crucial to their every day existence, is a HUGE undertaking. Yet it seems most mothers are surprised by the difficulty they face in beginning the weaning process with toddlers. Its an up and down tussle that you often feel exhausted, overwhelmed and infuriated with. These little people really know how to give you shit if you don’t do everything they ask of you. Particularly around your boobies and their loving fondness of them. I applaud their intensity, their love and commitment to everything boobs, and to their tenacity to stand up for their right to suck all day, every day, oh and night too, don’t forget the night.