How To Explain Breastfeeding To A Child?
When you settle down to breastfeed your newborn, are you occasionally barraged with questions by your toddler? Are you unsure how to respond to their questions or confused about how to answer them?
Here is our help in any of these situations. In this piece, we’ll go over some simple ways to explain breastfeeding to your older children. So let’s get started.
Explaining Breastfeeding To Older Kids At Home
It is impossible to breastfeed a baby without telling older children. Although you can nurse them in a different room for a few days, maintaining this practice won’t be effective for very long.
Therefore, it is preferable to educate them about the benefits of breastfeeding and the need for it in their younger baby brother or baby sister. Use the following advice to help you accomplish that.
1. Books for Children on Breastfeeding
Books and images are among the finest methods to teach kids about nursing. Include some exclusive breastfeeding-related books in your family’s collection since kids like reading or being read to.
2. Find Natural Examples
Children enjoy reading and observing animals in the wild. A fun and accessible method to talk to your kids about breastfeeding is by exposing and educating them about the natural process or environment they live in and how other mammals care for and feed their young.
It’s a humorous method to show kids that nursing is a common practice among mammals for rearing their young. You can take the example of monkeys to start with.
3. Model with Dolls
While most dolls sold now come with a bottle, some can come with breastfed babies. When you are nursing your baby, encourage your toddler to play along by acting like you with a doll.
This allows older kids to participate in nursing’s bonding benefits and helps them understand as they grow up that breastfeeding is a normal part of life.
4. Have a Discussion
Sit with your youngster and gently respond to each of their questions. You can tell your children:
Babies require food:
Babies experience hunger just like everyone else. And as you are aware, newborns need to be fed when they are hungry. In its most basic versions, this may undoubtedly be brought up in the dialogue.
You can explain that many newborns eat in this way and that they need to eat when they are hungry just like everyone else. This might be said in answer to a curious question regarding breastfeeding at home or when you encounter a woman nursing in public.
Breastfeeding is a normal thing:
This is one of the most significant breastfeeding discussion issues, especially in today’s environment. For many families who want to pursue it, breastfeeding is just a natural, healthy part of life.
Your youngster can learn that mammals have mammary glands in their breasts that produce breast milk supply that is intended for infants. Because people are animals, this includes nursing moms and infants, much like your own family.
You may go on to say that nursing has existed for thousands of years. It’s how the human body was designed to feed infants. Starting the discussion with nursing, which is the most common and natural way for newborns to obtain a source of nutrition, is essential.
This talk may begin simply by treating breastfeeding like the natural, normal activity it is if your children are on the younger end of the spectrum perhaps not nursing themselves but young enough to be responsive to norms and concepts you set for the family.
As long as it’s comfortable for you, avoid making a huge deal out of it and instead stay hidden or cover up. Just continue to feed your kid regularly.
Breasts are not primarily sexual:
Teenagers and preteens in particular, who are on the older end of the spectrum, may very easily be impacted by their environment. This feature frequently indicates that they pick up new information from their environment and introduce you to fresh concepts.
This can also imply that kids have the chance to pick up harmful views from others. Your children may have picked up the concept that breasts are wrong or immoral someplace, whether from friends trained to objectify women or school clothing guidelines that policed young girls’ bodies.
5. Respond Honestly
When someone is nursing in front of you or your kid, or when they inquire about your breastfeeding, explain to them what is happening between the breastfeeding mom and child. Any inquiries should be addressed honestly and clearly in words and sentences that they can comprehend.
Tips To Breastfeed A Baby With A Toddler Around
After you’ve explained the breastfeeding session to your older children, use the following tips to breastfeed your newborn in front of them:
1. Get Your Oldest Involved As Much As You Can
Your infant may need to be fed several times per day, and your eldest child may become resentful of all the extra “cuddle” time his sibling is receiving. To prevent the eldest from feeling left out, try to concentrate your attention on him while you nurse the breastfed infant. You can talk to them to keep them involved.
2. Seek Assistance
That is, from your toddler. Ask him to offer you your favorite cushion or a burp cloth while you’re breastfeeding, or have him sing you and the baby a song. Then express your gratitude to him for all of his assistance. Feelings of jealousy can be countered by being made to feel valued and capable.
3. Use Quiet Time To Your Advantage
Once you’ve established a routine, make the most of the downtime that comes with breastfeeding by spending time with your older child. If it’s not too tough to juggle, snuggle with your toddler while you’re nursing your baby, read him a book he likes, and do a puzzle together.
Summary
It’s crucial to normalize breastfeeding with your older child, even if they may care less about what you’re doing to feed the baby. It is still necessary to read a book on animal breastfeeding that is appropriate for their age.
An apparent and simple method to standardize the act and impart some knowledge is to leave the cover off when nursing in front of the oldest. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
References
https://www.platypusmedia.com/post/teaching-children-about-breastfeeding
https://babygizmo.com/breastfeeding-explain-prepare-oldest/
https://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-baby-with-toddler-around/