Nursing Antics of my Older Baby

Erik is now 1 year old and is still a milk monster.  I can say that he is really a BOY compared to my first born N who was a gentle nurser.  Even when he was younger, he was a little piranha - finishing our sessions in about 6 minutes compared to N who took her sweet time and sometimes nursed up to an hour!
As a busy toddler, E has gotten into the habit of pulling when distracted - ouch! Lately, it has been happening quite often.  So when it's time to nurse, E and I shut ourselves inside the bedroom. Then in 5 minutes, N comes in and starts distracting him!  I've actually come to the point of anchoring his head just so he won't suddenly pull away.


One phase I'm glad is over is his teething stage.  E now has 8 teeth. While those teeth were growing, it was a major breastfeeding challenge!  Biting while nursing was quickly nipped at the bud when I refused to nurse him whenever he bit me.  What was difficult was the unintentional biting - sometimes when we were in a hurry, his teeth would scrape my nipples and yes, I definitely still got bleeding nipples even with a good latch.  Solution: push in more of the areola and encourage E to get a deeper latch.

From the Badass Breastfeeder.com. Photo from HERE. 

More challenges came from E's acrobatic nursing and hurried latch.  This resulted in him not hitting the bull's eye and instead nursing at the underside of the breast - which led to hickeys. I realized how strong a baby's suction is but surprisingly, I couldn't feel any pain when he was properly latched at the breast.  I've learned to position him properly and not let him hurriedly latch and we are now hickey-free.

I'm still dealing with his acrobatic nursing plus busy hands.  Unlike N, he is not into twiddling the other breast.  Rather, he is into poking his finger in all the holes of my face - my eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc. etc.  I sometimes wear my Mommy Necklace or hand him a toy to distract him.  But often, I just hold his hand and talk to him.  I did notice that his hands become busier when I am focused elsewhere - talking to N, to Stan or checking my phone.

The joys of toddler nursing!  How about you? What are the antics of your nursing toddler?