March 11, 2008 by Barbara.

The following was written in response to Sarcastic Mom’s (Breast)feeding Carnival post.

I’m writing about my experience breastfeeding a three-and-a-half year old. If you’re nursing a baby, especially a newborn, it can be mind boggling to think of 3 years of round-the-clock, 3 hour feeds. It doesn’t stay that way, though, Reid nurses only a couple of times a day unless she is sick or upset. If the very idea of a preschooler who nurses bothers you, you may want to read another post - I fond of the ones in the language skills category.

I’ve written before about the early days of nursing Reid and the troubles we had. I’ve written also about nursing her when she started daycare, when the teachers said I should stop nursing in the daytime on the weekend. I don’t think I’ve talked much about the adventures of nursing a toddler who could easily have been a circus acrobat but perhaps I’ll get to that one day.

When I think of our nursing relationship of late, I think of how much Reid loves my breasts, which she calls eee-eees. I know this because she tells them so directly. She has even composed a song in their honour inspired, I believe, by the book Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton. It went something like this:

Eee-eee, eee-eee
Milkies, milkies
I drink them when I’m firsty
Firsty, fir-irsty

Milkies, milkies
Mama milkies
Mama milkies
Eee-eee, eee-eee

Eee-eee, eee-eee
I love who you are
I love everything about you
Eee-eee, eee-eee

Reid will ask for a hug and give my breasts their own special squeeze. It’s not sexual - nothing about breastfeeding is - but it does give us an opportunity to talk about appropriate touching. No one should touch you on the parts that are covered by your bathing suit, that sort of thing. Reid is also fairly proprietary about my breasts, as I’ve mentioned.

Reid is interested in seeing other children nursing. She knows that some other children never nursed, some did but no longer do and that others who do are the same age as her, although the first and last situations are more theoretical than first-hand knowledge. I don’t imagine that she discusses nursing at daycare, though.

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March 11, 2008 by Barbara.

It’s pretty common knowledge that some of the best opportunities to speak with your kids come when you’re semi-engaged with another task, like washing dishes or driving. Reid asked “where do babies come from” question when I was driving her to daycare and we sometimes broach other topics while we’re driving. On Friday, Ken spoke to Reid about going to sleep quickly after swimming lessons. Reid had stayed awake until 9:20 on Thursday night.  She stayed her in her and squiggled and wiggled and worried aloud about not being able to get to sleep. On Friday evening, she said that she was tired and would go straight to sleep. And she did, well, much earlier than Thursday night. I managed only to stay awake until she seemed to have fallen asleep but wasn’t awake enough to go to my own bed until Ken came in.

Reid has asked Ken to open a window while they were driving and as they pulled into the pool parking lot, Ken said that they needed to roll up the window so that no one would take the car or anything that was in it. Reid jumped in and said that the  windows would darken and if anyone came close, a voice would warn, “Stay away. This is Daddy’s and Mama’s and Reidie’s car.” This last was said in Reid’s deepest “baritone” and her speech slows when she uses it. I suppose it’s a fairly accurate mimic of Ken’s voice, in comparison to my higher and more rapid delivery. As far as I know, we don’t have that voice security system but the car and its contents were safe when we returned after class. It may be a feature of which I am unaware.

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