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Another milestone this week- 30 months of breastfeeding my toddler! I seriously can’t believe I’ve made it this far. Well, then again it’s not that unbelievable if you’ve ever met my little boob obsessed munchkin. His persistence and determination is unmatched.
What’s it like to breastfeed a 30-month old toddler?
Overall, breastfeeding hasn’t changed much since he became mobile. I still feed on demand, for the most part. And he still squirms, wiggles, and twiddles (cringe).
But the one big change is his communication skills. He understands what it means to have to wait a minute, and I can understand him when he asks for a “quick milk for 1 minute.”
Quick breastfeeding mom tip:
- A “quick milk” is super useful tool to teach your little one for when you’re short on time, or feeling touched out. I’ll do a little countdown, or set a two minute timer. It’s a really great little trick, because most of the time a “quick milk” is all our littles need- just a little reconnect with mom.
I want to share with you what a regular day looks like for a breastfeeding toddler. If there is such a thing as a regular day with a toddler (ha!).
So, this is how often he still nurses, and how long, and also what else he eats throughout the day. Each day of the week looks a little bit different for us, because of my older two kids’ schedules and activities. But I do try to keep our routines, because they definitely help keep the peace. I won’t list all our routines, or every little boring thing we did today, just the stuff pertaining to feeding. (Although, let me know if our routines are something you’d be interested in! Maybe I’ll consider that for a future post.)
*Obviously, everyone’s experience breastfeeding is different, and there’s no right or wrong way breastfeed your toddler. So even though this a “regular” day for us, you have to figure out what works best for you.
A Day in the Life of a Breastfeeding Toddler
6:30am Wake up & nurse in bed for 15 minutes.
6:45 Go downstairs with mommy to help get big sis ready for school.
6:50 Lots of crying because he wants nurse in bed again, and wants to be held, but I couldn’t because I was doing big sis’s hair.
7:00 Nurse 10 minutes on the couch.
7:15 Ate several bites of uncooked homemade granola as I mixed ingredients.
7:30 Granola finished cooking, but wasn’t interested since he already ate a lot before it went in the oven.
8:00 Got dressed and ready for the day. Then went to the park.
10:30 Back home for snack time- apples and cheese. He ate one apple slice and 2-3 cheese curds.
11:00 Nurse 20 minutes and fell asleep for nap time.
1:30pm What?! He never naps this long! On most days, he’ll nap about an hour. Wake up & nurse in bed for 20 minutes.
2:30 Snack/lunch in the car while we pick up the big kids from their schools. This isn’t ideal, obviously, but it’s usually how it goes because of the timing of everything. And since my kids are at different schools and need driven to different after school activities, it takes about an hour of drive time. Today’s lunch/snack was sugar snap peas, hummus and pretzels. I bought these butternut squash pretzels this week, and they are so good! Toddler loves them too. (Even though this works for us, I do not recommend giving toddlers food in the car, and it may not be safe for every toddler.)
3:15 “Quick milk” 5 minute nursing session back at home.
3:45 More outside time at the park.
5:00 Early dinner tonight before big brother had to leave for a school activity. Ate a small bowl of veggie stir fry- maybe 1/4 cup? I’m not exactly sure. By the way, veggie stir fry is one of my easy go-to weeknight dinners- rice, with whatever veggies I have on hand (tonight it was cabbage, carrots, & edamame), and a mix of soy sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar for the sauce.
7:00 Bath time.
7:30 More nursing, about 10 minutes. Somehow nursing after bath time has turned into a routine for him.
8:00 A little pre-bed snack – popcorn, his latest favorite snack. (Be careful feeding popcorn at this age because of choking.)
8:30 Bed time routine.
8:45 Nurse in bed until he fell asleep. It took about 20 minutes.
12:45, 3:00, 5:20am Night wakings, nursed around 5-10 minutes each time, and fell back asleep.
6:45 Nurse around 15 minutes, and up for the day.
To recap: My 2 1/2 year old breastfed 10 times in one day!
I know, It’s a lot. But even at this age breastfeeding is still:
- Normal (today.com)
- Natural (this links to the badassbreastfeeder.com – such an amazing blog!)
- Healthy (lalecheleague.com)
- Immune building (mayoclinic.com)
- Mother/child bond building (mother.ly)
Plus, we’re both still happy!
Of course, there are times I get touched out and bothered, especially from the twiddling. But for now, I look past it and just appreciate this special bond I have with my son.
So, let me know what you think! Any other extended breastfeeding moms out there who can relate? Tell me about your feeding routines/schedule.
I hope you found this helpful. Have a beautiful day!
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