Breast milk - It’s like dessert

August 17, 2008 by Barbara.

Reid asked to nurse on Tuesday night for the first time in days. I’d been thinking earlier that I should write down when she had last nursed since it might be the last time she *ever* nursed. That time isn’t far off, I think. While she nursed, we had a conversation that went something like this:

Reid: What are breastses?
Me: They’re glands, skin and fat. They make milk. (Guess who didn’t take human biology, or any science class, after grade 10)
Reid: Milkies are like dessert.
Me: Oh? Milkies have lots of good things in them for you.
Reid: (continuing as though I hadn’t spoken) For babies, they’re not dessert. They’re food. (Wistful smile) For toddlers and juniors and seniors (meaning kids 18 months and older), milkies are like dessert. Not like a popsicle. Like juice.*
Me: You know, milkies are good for you. They’re milk. (I didn’t say as good as cows milk but I think even my extended nursling thinks of it as “regular” milk.)
Reid: But milkies are different. Like E’s milk. (E is a little boy at day care who drinks soy milk.)
Me: Okay. Now you need to go to sleep. I think you’re talking so that you don’t have to fall asleep.
Reid: I LOVE to talk.

Truer words have never been spoken!

* I limit the amount of juice Reid has because of the sugar in it, even though it has vitamins and other good things.

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