Breastfeeding Issues: Nursing a Newborn with a 3.5 Year Old in the House
Submitted by brandibell
Hello everyone. I'm a mother of a 3.5-year-old son and 31 weeks preggers with a daughter and I have a breastfeeding issue.
I breastfeed my son until he was 10 months (he got teeth and loved to bite and I couldn't handle that pain), but outside of the pain, it was a very pleasurable experience and I look forward to nursing my daughter.
My issue is this: I am a stay-at-home mom and will have my son home when the baby arrives and I'm not sure how to explain the whole breastfeeding thing to my son. He is a very smart child and we openly communicate with him lots of things, however this is something that I'm not sure how to communicate.
Whenever he asks me what babies drink I often just say milk and occasionally I say mommies milk, but he doesn't understand that, so in his 3 year old mind, he takes that as milk and goes on. The problem is lately he questions what my breasts are. It could be because they've gotten so big with this pregnancy, but he asks me that maybe 2-3 times a week.
There are times when he's laying on my chest or resting his head in my lap that he'll look up and say "what are those?" As I stated before we are pretty open with him so I explain that both men and women have a chest and that girls and women's grow and develop into breasts as they get older and that men's will stay the same as his looks today. I just haven't taken that extra step to say, "And this is where your sister will get her milk from until she gets older."
I think he would understand and I guess I'm just concerned about questions that will follow and then of course how this conversation will take place at some awkward time during a trip to the grocery store or something...kids to say the darndest things when out in public.
So I guess I'm wondering if this is an issue I should prepare him for now or wait until the baby is born and then explain at that time when he actually sees it happening for the first time.
Any suggestions on how to break the ice with this isseu and provide an explanation that can satisfy his 3.5 y/o curiosity without feeling somewhat uneasy about it?
I breastfeed my son until he was 10 months (he got teeth and loved to bite and I couldn't handle that pain), but outside of the pain, it was a very pleasurable experience and I look forward to nursing my daughter.
My issue is this: I am a stay-at-home mom and will have my son home when the baby arrives and I'm not sure how to explain the whole breastfeeding thing to my son. He is a very smart child and we openly communicate with him lots of things, however this is something that I'm not sure how to communicate.
Whenever he asks me what babies drink I often just say milk and occasionally I say mommies milk, but he doesn't understand that, so in his 3 year old mind, he takes that as milk and goes on. The problem is lately he questions what my breasts are. It could be because they've gotten so big with this pregnancy, but he asks me that maybe 2-3 times a week.
There are times when he's laying on my chest or resting his head in my lap that he'll look up and say "what are those?" As I stated before we are pretty open with him so I explain that both men and women have a chest and that girls and women's grow and develop into breasts as they get older and that men's will stay the same as his looks today. I just haven't taken that extra step to say, "And this is where your sister will get her milk from until she gets older."
I think he would understand and I guess I'm just concerned about questions that will follow and then of course how this conversation will take place at some awkward time during a trip to the grocery store or something...kids to say the darndest things when out in public.
So I guess I'm wondering if this is an issue I should prepare him for now or wait until the baby is born and then explain at that time when he actually sees it happening for the first time.
Any suggestions on how to break the ice with this isseu and provide an explanation that can satisfy his 3.5 y/o curiosity without feeling somewhat uneasy about it?
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