Breastfeeding a toddler or older child can sure be an adventure! My nursling is almost 2, and sometimes I feel like a combination jungle gym/vending machine! Most people in our lives don’t understand it, and I could rattle on about the WHO recommendation of at least 2 years, I could list all the many ways that it benefits her body and mind… but all health reasons for full-term breastfeeding aside, I’m still so glad for this special experience, despite how others may degrade it in their minds.
The way my little one exclaims “Beebees!” with such utter glee, the way she smiles while nursing and pats my breast, the way she can slow down her crazy little life and have a peaceful moment with me now and then, the way she giggles and pushes my husband away if he teases her and starts going after my boob… It’s all so silly, special, comforting, and yes, occasionally irritating, lol. I wouldn’t trade this for the world. Even when I feel literally drained, just seeing how incredibly happy and healthy she is rejuvenates and blesses me like nothing else!
I hope that by sharing this post, moms that are “still” breastfeeding will be able to relate, and hopefully get a smile or giggle from it too. I hope that this may also help others realize that full-term nursing isn’t just something done by “natives” or “hippies” (terms I’ve actually heard people use to describe people who nurse beyond a year, ugh)! It isn’t something we do just for the sake of being weird. It isn’t something that becomes perverted just because your child passes their first birthday. It is still just as healthy and comforting to them as it was when they were little babies, and we do it just because it is NORMAL. I hope you enjoy the following quotes, and please feel free to add your own in a comment! Big thank you to everyone that contributed to this post 
My eldest son, who self-weaned at about nearly 3, came into my bedroom about 6 months later while I was dressing. He saw me with no shirt and exclaimed, “THERE’S my boobies!!!”
My 3 year old said,” mmm, tastes like HONEY!”
My 21 month old son who is still nursing recently called me “mama cup” while patting my chest. Also, when i asked him what my milk tasted like, he said “chotat” which I think meant chocolate! Nursing has been such a blessing for us.
My 5yo sister has called nursing “ump” since she was a baby. When she was old enough to talk, we asked her why. She said, “Oh, that’s how I used to say bumps when I was little.”
My 3 year old tells me all the time he wants to give me booby kisses like sister HayLee does..
I can remember my mother nursing me on demand, and I was at least three, possibly even four. Knowing she was there for me to snuggle up to and comfort nurse was the most… safe… feeling, and it’s almost impossible to recreate as an adult. ♥ Thank you, mom.
My 2.5 yr old just weaned 2 months ago. Sitting on the potty the other day she said “I’m a big girl, I go potty, no more Momma’s milk for me, bye, bye momma’s milk”. So sweet….
My daughter is 5; she self weaned at 37 months. The other day as she watched her little brothers nurse, she said to me “I loved mama milk. It was so warm and sweet.”
My 3yo son and I were in a fabric store and when I picked him up, he put his hand on my breast and said, “I like your boob. I like your milk. I like you.”
My son when he was just over 2-ish, would go up to strangers who had a young crying baby and tell them “that baby need boob. give that baby boob.” lol
My daughter called it “her sleepy drink” one night…that made me remember how comforting it was to her to nurse to sleep.
My, at the time, almost 3 yo son was nursing and he pulled off my breast, he looked at me and said I want booby. I am thinking you were just having that. He says with great expression “The Big Booby right there”. He meant the one he hadn’t already deflated. He would constantly tell me that he loves booby and he still does…..lol
Morgan talks about it all the time, lol. She says “Your milkies taste like ice-cream, Ethan and Abby are lucky”.
This morning my 3 yrs & 5 mths old daughter spontaneously said to me ” Mummy, I like to kiss you sooo much and I like your milky all the time because I love you soooo much.”
“Mom if i knew the milk would go away if i stopped, i would have never stopped!” my son nursed until he was 4, and apparently would have nursed longer had he known he was in charge of the milk supply.
Awhile back my 4 y/o daughter took my bra and smelled it (LOL). I asked her what she was doing and she said, “This smells like your milk and I miss nursing.” Unfortunately our bf’ing journey came to a short end, but I’m still nursing my 19 month old and there is no sight of him self-weaning
According to my 2 year old, my milk tastes like chocolate milk!
My 2.5 y/o daughter says “mommy milk tastes like ice cream”. We also goof around with each other and I will say “my boobies” and she responds “No, my boobies!”
My 3yo (then 2.5), who was planning to tandem nurse, would tell me when I was pregnant, “I have to SHARE the breastmilk. First the baby, then me.”
I’m tandem nursing my 23 month old and newborn. The 23 month old doesn’t say many quotable things yet but if the baby starts to cry she says “baby nine” (her version of nurse). She’ll also try to wake the baby because she knows if I’m nursing the baby I’ll probably let her nurse.
Sometimes when I am nursing JoAnna (18 months), her older brother asks if he can try again…just to see what’s it like. I asked him if he remembers what it was like. (He is 10 now). Nope, he don’t remember breast feeding, well, he remembers doing it, but not the taste. He acts like he misses it and so he lays down beside me while I nurse JoAnna. He has always been very close to me. I had nursed Jay for 2 1/2 years. He would be still nursing today if I would let him. LOL
Daniel says ”boobie is my best friend” he hugs my boobie, then latches on. It’s so cute, he also says he want to go booby night night.
Elyse still is mainly talking in one-two word sentences but she has patted my boob before and said “love”. When I was going through some hormonal pain while nursing and I explained how mommy needed a break she said “boo boos” and kissed my breast. Yesterday she was at the doctor’s office and there were a lot of newborns there. She was pointing them out to my husband and telling him how the babies need ”bubbas” (her word for nursing). She was also saying, “milk milk, yum” with a big smile on her face.
My daughter used to call it “Yummy juice”, but now she only wants me to nurse her baby brother, because, you know, she can eat pizza and stuff.
Sophie has always said such sweet things about it, both when she was still nursing, and now that she has weaned.
Some of my favorites: “I want milk. I love your milk.”, “I love your boobies. They smell like honey!” After latching on for a moment recently: “I’m done nursing!” and walking off happily!
Regarding Cherise: “She needs you to nurse her!” “Aww Sewise! You having your milk?? It’s yummy!”
Just this morning, my 3yo said, “Mamma, is the baby sister in your belly having mommy milk yet?” “Not yet, honey.” “Kai (my 1.5yo) and I love your mommy milk. But, I’m not a baby anymore. So, I’ll share mine with baby sister and then when she’s asleep I’ll drink the rest all up.”
My two year old in the morning (he was recently night weaned): “Is the milk still sleeping?” He also often says, “The milk was yummy” after nursing. If he gets hurt, “I want some milk to make me feel better.”
About Rachele:
I am a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, and a friend. I have views that many people in my “real life” find confusing or downright horrifying, but thanks to the internet I’ve discovered that I am not the only person in the world with these beliefs. Some people would label me as an “Attachment Parent”, and I’m great with that, but I tend to think that following one’s parental instincts is what is truly normal, and everyone else is a “detachment parent”. I practice and advocate full-term breastfeeding, safe co-sleeping, baby wearing, natural birth, the right to home birth, the right of all children to genital integrity, and positive parenting in general. I am a human, and if you met me in real life, you’d have no idea that I am a “freak”. I shop at Wal Mart. I like an occasional cheeseburger. I wear jeans, t-shirts, and flip flops. I even wear make-up and dye my hair, gasp! In most ways, I’m just your average woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother. I am generally a laid back gal that just likes to spend time with my loved ones. I just also happen to believe that many “mainstream” parenting beliefs and practices are unhealthy, either physically, emotionally, or both.
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