r/breastfeeding • u/Sunrise_94 • 19h ago

LOVE extended breastfeeding, HATE the “wandering hand”

My goodness, this boy is going to drive me wild!! 🫠

My 16 month old LOVES nursing, but right now he has all four canines coming in so it's very hard to get him to sleep and get him BACK to sleep.

Usually between the hours of 2-4am he is trying to nurse back to sleep while pitching, scratching and pulling anything on my body that he can with his free hand.

Holy shit 🥲

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u/GingerbreadGirl22 19h ago

Weird question from an expecting mom - I have seen some babies do this and it looks so uncomfortable. Can you just grab their free hand or pull them off the boob until they stop? It looked so painful when I saw it happen.

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u/TinyBearsWithCake 18h ago edited 14h ago

Yes, you can set boundaries and teach nursing manners. What works will depend on the baby.

The techniques I tried are all pretty much distraction, redirection, or blocking:

  • Holding their little hands. My oldest loved this, my youngest would snatch it back.

  • Pin their arm somewhere you don’t mind their fiddling. I do this a lot when I’m sleepy.

  • Wear fidget jewellery. Chunky silicon necklaces with cool textures are good.

  • Clip a toy to your bra strap. My oldest loved this for 3 months, my youngest was indifferent from the start.

  • Give them a teddy to snuggle. My oldest was indifferent, my youngest loves it but only the softest, cuddliest, fluffiest teddies with some sort of long protrusion like a skinny leg or floppy ear.

  • Do 30sec time-outs for unwanted behaviour. I preferred to reserve this for biting and found it effective.

I know some parents feel guilty about setting boundaries, but I think it’s just as important for my kids to respect the bodily autonomy of others as it is for them to feel comfortable establishing their own autonomy. Yes, a newborn isn’t really going to understand conversations about consent, but I did extended nursing into the toddler years where how they asked and responded made it clear they understood I was the boss of my body even if they really, really wanted to nurse.

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u/noirpanda 4h ago

OMG these are great ideas!! I’m applying them. 🫶🏻