I always envisioned nursing as this sweet tender time between mother and baby. Don't get me wrong, I get those sometimes, like at 4:30am when Maddy is half asleep. But the vast majority of the time I am nursing a wild animal. We are talking crazy-eyed shark-attack latching, squirms, kicks, back arches, at least one flailing arm that now grabs quite effectively, and a number of shrieks and squeels. Most of the time these are happy kinds of activities, like she's celebrating her good fortune. But sometimes you'd think I was torturing the child.
Animal instincts seem to be quite well expressed in my baby.
I am still happy about breastfeeding, don't get me wrong, but I am wondering if this is usual or if indeed my child is more wild animal than human baby.
I think that sounds normal. Sometimes when I take Parker off the nipple when it looks like she is about asleep, she flips out, flailing everywhere and makes tons of noise. Then she acts like she can't find the nipple when it is in her mouth or gags on it. Crazy kid.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, mine too! It's like she's never eaten before and will never eat again- every time! The grunts, squeals, back arching - I seriously wonder sometimes if it's painful for her! It's such an event and it totally makes me laugh. I'm always telling her to calm down, nobody is going anywhere. But she doesn't listen and milk comes out her nose and I laugh. Madonna and child indeed :-)
ReplyDeleteNormal. And mine has gotten to flailing with the nipple still in her mouth, which is ALL kinds of fun. NOT. ;)
ReplyDeleteYup, same here! Eric doesn't seem to think that time spent breastfeeding counts the same as time he spends trying to keep P busy: "All you have to do is lie there!", he says. Ha, right! It's like trying to soothe a wild wolverine, and stuff my boob into it's mouth repeatedly while it gnashes (ow!), flails, and occasionally screams. There's also the distracted breastfeed, where she yanks her head around (ow!, again) to take in everything around her except what she's supposed to be doing. Oh, and then there's good old "titty twisters", where my boob becomes an irresistable plaything, often while I'm asleep! :)
ReplyDelete-Lesley (can't seem to sign in to coment from the road here)
Hi! I followed a link over, so I hope you don't mind talking to a complete stranger about breastfeeding...
ReplyDeleteBut I have to say- my second baby is a complete squirm worm while nursing. She's 21 months old now, and sometimes she even ends up nursing standing up.
My first baby was the complete opposite- she would snuggle in and nurse peacefully.
The really funny thing? The first baby was (and is) a very physical kid in all other respects. Early to hit her motor milestones, always on the go, etc. etc. The second baby is waaaay more mellow. She has been late to meet her motor milestones and is much more likely to sit back and assess a situation before diving in.
So all I can say is kids are weird. I know of at least one other mother of a squirmy nurser- check out Caramama's blog. But her squirmer was also a very active kid.
(Oh, and congrats on the baby. My opinion is that the first 6 months are an incredible roller coaster in which your whole life is twisted into knots and then rearranged. But then it just keeps getting steadily better. Not easier, really, just better. Obviously, since I went and had a second kid. YMMV.)