I hate twiddling.
Twiddling, diddling, fiddling - whatever you want to call it, I hate it.
I am, of course, talking about what older nursing babies love to do more than anything in the world: play with the other nipple. It seems that some are more fanatical than others, and I think mine is right up there with the most eager and persistent of them. One boob is simply not sufficient - he must have them both.
It's a compulsion. He can't help it - he must keep trying no matter how many times I brush his hand away and try to distract him. Anyone remember that cinematic gem Idle Hands? He has no control over it. His particular style is to flip his hand upside down in a manner that is very difficult to convey in words, he sort of twists it so that his fingers are pointing back towards his face, and slips his thumb into my bra and then passes it back and forth over my nipple. Oh, my skin crawls just thinking about it.
It's worst when he's trying to go to sleep. You would think nursing would be enough of a comfort, but if one chi-chi is good, then two must be better.
It's obviously an extreme source of comfort for him, so I hesitate to deny him outright, but this is one thing where my needs come out ahead, because if I allowed it I would hate nursing him, and that wouldn't be fair to either one of us. Every now and then I entertain the idea of just letting him go at it, in the hopes that once it isn't forbidden it will lose its appeal, but I never last. Five seconds into it I've got goosebumps and restless legs like I've got the DTs. The Dreaded Twiddles.
Having just spent twenty minutes shooing away his e'er-wandering hand, I needed to let that out. I don't hate many things about mothering, but I hate that.
I hear you! We went through a serious phase of this and I started putting the other boob away while he nursed so there was nothing to twiddle. It got to the point where DS would put one boob away when finished because he saw me do it all the time. So cute. Then the twiddling ended, phew. Have you tried a nursing necklace? I would definately do so next time around.
ReplyDeleteMine is trying to do it as I type this. It's the most annoying thing ever. It can be painful at times, like when she uses her fingernails. I hate it too! It's a constant battle. I just asked her to please stop and she said, "No, you stop!" Uggggghhh... I wish I could tie her hands behind her back sometimes, of course she'd just us her toes to twiddle though.
ReplyDeleteSo glad we never experienced this -- it sounds maddening! Nora always twirled my hair, which I didn't mind at all. In fact, it was pretty sweet, and she still does it when we're snuggling. This is a different matter, though! I definitely think you're taking the right approach here. If something is making you hate nursing, nip it in the bud. It's a two-way relationship.
ReplyDelete