My almost 11 month old has decided that laying still to nurse is no longer an option. He squirms, gets on his hands and knees, lays flat on his back, tries to slide off the chair, tries to sit up, all while firmly latched. He's got 8 teeth, all that moving is rubbing me raw! Is this a phase or just what I need to get used to? He only nurses 4 times a day now. I planned on nursing until 1 year, but now that he's almost a year I figured we'd go a little longer until he's ready to stop (I'll be honest, I'm not ready to stop). Any suggestions for keeping him from treating my nipple like it's made of rubber??
Time to instill the nursing etiquette. There's no reason you have to put up with it. Stop and unlatch him when he does that.... Then resume when he stops. He will get the hint.
Don't let it discourage the extended breastfeeding, up to 2 years is recommended even though you might get flak for it.
He's old enough to be told no. Try stopping whenever he gets too wiggly, then offer again after he's slowed down a bit. My kids got wiggly, but never quite that bad.
I'd try establishing some "nursing rules"... I had to do that when there was biting.
Good for you for nursing for so long!
When he does crazy things that hurt, tell him "OW!" and unlatch for a bit. Remind him to "be gentle". It can be hard to nurse a kid who wants to eat on the go. Unlatching for a minute or two helped my DD learn not to bite and not to stand on her head.
I managed to nurse my little monkey to 2.5. I think you can work through this phase and meet your goal.
when mine started squirming, bout 6 mo, I ended up pumping till he turned 1 year
My mil said when her babies started doing this ( or biting) she would flick their cheek to get their attention and say "no"... both my sil and I have tried that and ended up with very upset babies...but you can totally unlatch and talk to him, then offer to nurse again...keep doing it until he catches on. He will figure out that you will only allow him to nurse if he fairly still and focused and save the antics for another more appropriate time.
haha this made me laugh so hard! My sister's first baby started doing this around 10 months. We would call it Nursing gone wild! LOL Now I am nursing my 3rd baby (she is almost 11 months) and she has started doing the same thing. I think they start doing it because they are at the age where they just can't sit still. They are starting to wean themselves and don't really need to nurse for that comfort factor anymore. My advise is to nurse in a quiet, dim or dark place. Or you may want to start the weaning process. Cut out 2 feedings in the next 2 weeks or so. Then you'll be down to 2 feedings until he is a year then stop all together. The less nursing my help him to be more still and then you can hold out for this final home stretch for the year mark.
Well, I would suggest one of those nipple shields. Maybe that would help???
