I stopped breastfeeding my daughter when she was 17 months old. This was almost a year ago. For the past week she has been all over my breasts. Wanting to hold them, kiss them, and she keeps tugging at my shirt. There have been no life changes, nothing different in our lives. She did have an ear infection, but has had one before and did not do this. I am just wondering how she even remembers they are there (HAHA) and why does she want to see them all the time? Hope someone can help.
Hi E.,
With both of my kids they became much more affectionate and aware of my breasts before they made a big leap emotionally (and became much more independent). Kids often regress right before they make a developmental leap. Take the snuggling while you can get it! :-) Soon she'll be running away and you'll want her close!
D.
Are you pregenant? Kids know this before we do.
Sometimes it's just a matter of she has noticed them.
Kids always want what they can't have.......lol good luck
I don't think it has anything to do with breastfeeding. She's just at a curious age and has "rediscovered" them. Maybe she just noticed them one time when you were changing or something. Just explain to her that it is a private area and we are not supposed to be touching each other in our private areas like that. All 3 of mine did something similar. It's a good time, if you haven't already, to start teaching about good touching and bad touching.
I don't know why-but my son did the same thing when he was about 2, also. This fascination lasted maybe a month, six weeks (Only to rear its ugly little head again when he turned 12- thankfully, not my breasts he was interested in...) He was also really interested in bras. I just kinda ignored it and it went away.
I would say its just beacuse she is two...at the age of two they are curious about everything...my daughter has done the same thing with me from time to time and i breastfeed her to 16 months!
If she had/has an ear infection she may be regressing a little because she was comforted when she breastfed. The other part may just be curiousity. My son liked to put his hand down my shirt when I would carry him on my hip and this was long after I stopped breastfeeding. I would just pull his hand out and place it on my shoulder or elsewhere. Sometimes I thought it was just out of habit or they were somewhere to put his hand while I carried him. It didn't happen all the time and after telling him a couple of times that he shouldn't do that he stopped. There wasn't even any crying or anything. Sometimes I didn't think that he realized he was doing it. I'm sure she'll stop soon.
I had a different thought: Has your daughter seen your husband "playing"? If not then I would say it's a curious stage also.
Hello.
I think it is a true connection to what she had from birth. My daughter is 6 and is still in AAhh of my breasts. If I am changing clothes, she will inspect them, ask questions, touch my nipples. Of course, she does not put her mouth on them. She just has a ton of questions about them.
Just an FYI, hope this helps.
Danabeth S.
because she loves you and she probably misses the emotional attachment. My baby does the same thing. she likes to sniff them and (gently!!) tug them. She will eventually get over it like my son did. my older daughter actually cried and would bury her face in my breast for almost a year after nursing.
My daughter is 3 1/2 and she still occasionally likes to "pat" my bosoms. Then she smiles. It's like a "secret" we share, but it's understood that they're "Mommies bosoms" and not hers anymore. I think it's perfectly normal, and will pass.
A little after she turned 2.5, my daughter started "to romanticize" all things related to her being a baby. I doubt your daughter remembers nursing. She may have recently seen someone nursing a baby; the idea of milk in boobies is odd and funny to her... or she probably is just more aware that you have different anatomy than daddy AND HER (remember, she looks down at herself and notices that she doesn't have them either)... Only mama has those fun squishy jiggly pillows... And hey, they're even better than her stuffed animals because as long as she's holding on to them, you can't go anywhere!!! You have to stay there with her! (Smart girl!)
When my daughter started this phase, I responded consistently (although not with anger), that "its not nice to mama to grab/touch her boobies", "its not nice to pull on mama's shirt (especially out in public)", "that's not nice behavior", etc, and you casually move out of her reach. She'll grow out of it.
Has she maybe seen a friend or relative nursing? A commercial that may have reminded her of nursing? It could be that she is just curious. Maybe this ear infection bothered her more and she remembers nursing as being comforting. Has she accomplished a huge milestone lately? Wish I could help more. I'm sure it will pass.
