Dear Kelly,

It is not uncommon for an older already weaned child to want to take up
nursing again when a new baby arrives. LLL has some wonderful articles about
this-check their site.  Some moms prefer to give the older child a taste on
their finger or from a spoon-and only give this option. Others, ususally
women who breastfeed for normal rather than abbreviated lengths of time are
more comfortable with letting the older child take a taste at the breast if
so requested.  Some of these children really want the closeness to mama that
comes with nursing, (not just the taste of the milk) and "pick it up again".
Some children don't like "that warm milk".

As for remembering how to nurse after being weaned for awhile:

My middle daughter weaned (after tandem nursing for 6 months with her
brother) when she was about 2 1/2. Then, when she was four, she picked up a
razor blade that had fallen out of someone's trash and cut her hand deeply
enough to need stitches. In the ER they wanted to give her morphine and
strap her down. Without thinking about it, I automatically leaned over her
on the stretcher, lifted up my shirt and asked her if she wanted "ummies".
She nodded, her eyes geting big and round. I reminded her not to touch me
with her teeth. She remembered how to nurse without any difficulty.  She
needed no morphine or restraints, and held perfectly still.  Nursing her
helped both of us get through our first ER experience. No one there said a
word to me about it. Of course if they had, they would have had to deal with
a mama grizzly...In today's mixed up society, who knows what the authorities
would say...

With fond memories of my mammary days...that daughter just turned 21.
Diana, just to the north of you



_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html