> When my daughter was a baby, I was also nursing her older brother and had
> TONS of milk and rapid let-down. She would nurse until full, then still want
> something to suck on, so I would keep her in my arms (or in a sling or
> carrier) and let her suck on my finger.


When my daughter (now 21 months almost!) was a tiny newborn, and I
couldn't put her to the breast (in the car) I offered her a finger to
suck on.  My mother and husband also offered her a finger if I was in
the shower and things got REALLY urgent (all the while calling me to say
it was time for another feed).  She was one of those babies that was
latched on most of the time.  Feedings were about 20 minutes apart.  I
think she was latched on all night long the first night, and most of the
time other than that.  a 2 hour break was very rare...a 5 hour one was
unheard of, practically.  By about 2-3 months she didn't accept my
finger anymore, even in the car.  I guess she realized nothing was
coming out of it, and it wasn't the same shape/feel as a breast.

We had a lot of oversupply/overactive letdown problems and when she was
3.5-4 mos old she found her own fingers.  They're the pointer and middle
finger on her right hand.  I'm sure she took to sucking them because
nursing was unpleasant given the high volume of milk coming quickly. 
Later on, around 4.5-8 mos or so she would refuse to nurse, only wanting
to suck on her fingers, all the while making "humming" noises as in to
say "why is nothing coming out of these?".  I think she was "finger
confused" and this lasted a long time...I was only really able to
consistantly get her to nurse while she was asleep.  If I tried while
she was awake, 99% of the time it was a nightmare and impossible unless
she was VERY VERY hungry (i.e. more than 8 hours had passed since the
last time she'd nursed).  Therefore, she nursed little during the day,
and she nursed a bit during naptime, but nursed a lot at night.

She has turned around a bit, though she still nurses a lot at
night...but at least she nurses with pleasure now during the day too. 
She also has picked up a security blanket which I think helps her
realize that she wants to nurse, not suck on her fingers,
interestingly.  She sucks on her fingers now when coming up to me to
indicate she wants to nurse, and also at night.  I'm partly glad that
she has that comfort that she can call on at night so she is not latched
on ALL NIGHT long, but I also wish I had been able to meet her sucking
needs WITHOUT producing so much milk to begin with.

Fio.
ressource person with Allaitement Québec
Mama to Sandrine Leïlou, 13/03/00, still nursing

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