Comfort Nursing

I think it is a grave mistake to withhold things that our children need because of our fear of what their future behavior might be.

Substituting my judgment for my child's teaches him not to trust himself...after all, he thought he needed to nurse, but he was clearly mistaken...Mommy knew it was a bad idea.

I think the idea that meeting an expressed need leads to dysfunction is complete crap. The opposite is true.

In my opinion, continuum parenting is about meeting our childrens' needs, not about meeting their needs only when we think it will get them to behave in a certain way.

I do not think that infants, toddlers, or young children regard nursing as food at all. My daughter told me that when she thinks about nursing she feels completely safe and surrounded in my love. That is from the memory of nursing, not even the actual act. She has never said, "Mom, I miss nursing because it was good food."

I don't think it is a good idea to offer food to an upset child as a way of calming him. "Oh, honey bunny, you scraped your knee, have a cookie." In my mind, however, that is a completely different thing than nursing a child at his request.

There are times when I do think it is appropriate to feed an upset child....at least at my house, sometimes my kids have meltdowns because they're hungry. Feeding them seems like the most appropriate solution.

I wouldn't worry about it much with a child under the age of 3 or so. After that, it could be useful to support a child in exploring whether or not he is actually hungry, or is he not fully releasing his breath or is he holding his energy in his chest or head and that's why he feels a need to fill up.

TCCMaven

Comfort Nursing