I used to mash up a banana in the cereal. I’d say if you’re both okay with him comfort nursing, go for it. I think he’ll eventually wean as you give him more baby food.
As for sucking food off his hands, I have a video of an exhausted Ivygirl, asleep in her carrier, covered head to toe in cereal. I have no idea how she go so messy. She had it on her eyelids!
Lies lies lies!
If he would ‘expect’ it all the time, you’d know by now. Clearly he can fall asleep without the breast, both at home and at day care. There is no problem then. Period. There won’t be a problem later on. Period.
Do what is best for your family. Screw everyone else. Seriously. Breastfeeding is super-political these days. You know what is best, and you know when there is a problem. Trust your instincts and let the kid have his boobs.
I’ll add my voice to the choir in support of comfort nursing. I think people, even peds who are supposed to know better, lose sight of the infant’s perspective in all this. You’re it for him and while your breast is a haven of warmth, comfort, safety and nutrition, you can bet that he’s not considering the transfer of calories while he’s nursing.
I don’t use the term breastfeeding anymore. “Why yes. I am still nursing my 20 month old son. His brother nursed until age 3. That’s right, I’ve been nursing for nearly 5 years straight.” I believe the term *breastfeeding perpetuates the fiction that this is all about eating, and encourages us to abandon the practice once the baby can eat other foods. We adults may think it’s about the food, but the baby thinks it’s all about the nursing.
However, sleep is more about association and habit. Velma baby has clearly learned to associate sleep with things other than the breast at night when he goes down and at daycare naps. He’s also learned to go to sleep quietly and by himself when he wakes in the night. It probably wouldn’t take him too long to learn to nurse at 3 AM every morning if you encourage the practice.
Both my sons slept in our bed and nursed on demand until around age 1, so I don’t know that I have any advice for a 6 month old, but the night wakings were numerous until each child learned to adopt new sleep habits and associate non-nursing cues with sleep.
Room temp water in a bottle seems to do the trick for us. It gives him the same feeling as a warm nursing session, but he’ll soon realize it’s not a satisfying enough experience to make him wake up every night.
Keep up the great nursing!
This is cracking me up. I am making it our new motto.
Farmwoman I think you are right that people associate breastfeeding just with nutrition. I think my mother-in-law, as an example, believes that when I comfort nurse I am placating him with food, and it is the same thing as giving a cranky toddler an Oreo. She expressed suprise at how often I nurse him sometimes, like at Christmas (it was a very exciting and over-stimulating day for him, so he didn’t nap much and I nursed him more than usual to give him some quiet moments). It’s true he probably didn’t need to eat that often, but he did need to nurse. I think people are hyper-aware of issues like child obesity and maybe she and other people think I am setting us up for using food as a comfort?
I have noticed that many people who are quick to say they would not let a child comfort nurse are not opposed to giving a child a pacifier every time they fuss.
(Note I am not opposed to pacifiers, just that some people don’t seem to make the connection that a pacifier is just a substitute for a breast!)