Almost Three Year Old Son Seeks Attention While Nursing Newborn

Hi P.!!
You have some advice already that is similar to what I was going to suggest. Maybe you can have a "Nursing Box" that is filled with special things that he can play with ONLY while you are nursing. To ensure no interruptions, you could move your nursing spot to your older son's room and stay in there with him with the door shut while he plays with his nursing box. That way, he wont' be able to get into mischief if he gets bored. Just a thought. :) And I definately agree with the mom that suggested that you DO NOT nurse your baby to sleep. It adds soooo much more time to nursing that your older son may get jealous of. (for good reason!) Good luck. Be sure to let me know what works! I have son number two due in six weeks

My son was younger but when I nursed he sat on my lap while I nursed on the other side. He may regress a bit on potty cause a new sibling is a big change for him. Confining him to his room will make him resent the baby which I know you don't want. Good luck. I know the 2nd can be overwhelming dealing with 2 is much different!

I had a little bit of the same problem. I finally figured out that if I got my daughter to bring a pile of books to the couch before it was time to feed the baby, I could read to her (she turned pages for me) and feed the baby at the same time. We still had times when she wanted more attention and I would just explain to her that Mama couldn't do it right now but would when I finished. If she threw a fit, I just ignored her until she calmed down and then I would suggest books or sing to her. We were also potty training and she would have an accident once in a while but that stopped once I had her "helping" in the clean up. Such as getting her wet clothes off and putting them in the laundry and getting her clean ones on by herself. The less attention I gave to the annoying behavior the less they happened and the more attention I gave to the positive stuff the more it worked.

Congratulations and I wish you the best of luck!
G. G.

have you tried to nurse baby in a sling? then you can still do other things with the older one, or go grocery shopping, or whatever.

Regarding potty training. My oldest now 22 was the easiest out of all three of my boys. He loved snoopy. So I bought snoopy underware and plain white underware. We would start off wearing the snoopy underware and if he went in his pants he had to wear the plain white ones. By the time he was 18 months he was completely potty trained. This also worked on my other two. The middle one took a little longer, but by the time he was 2 1/2 he was potty trained.

I ran a day care for 7 years and one of the boys that I had loved the color green. (his mom wouldn't work with him and he was almost 4 and he was in my care more than he was with mom.) Anyway I would put blue food coloring in the toilet and had my youngest son, who was about 2 year older, show him that if he peed in the toilet it would turn it green. Within a matter of a month I had him potty trained.

hope this gives you some ideas.

Hi P., use a reward system with stickers. When you nurse and he is good put a sticker next to his name then after 5 or more stickers (you can pick how many) then treat him to something nice like a toy or going to get ice cream etc. Someone suggested that to me and I was not for it at all because I didn't think my almost 3 year old would comprehend the fact but kids are smart and love being rewarded for things. Hope this helps!

Your son is a bit older than mine was when my daughter was born, however, this might work for you. I let my son pick out a book to read when it was time to nurse my daughter. He would either sit on my lap or next to me and I would read him the book while I nursed. Of course, I nursed longer than the book was, so we would just sit and talk about the pictures and cuddle. I wanted my son to feel like he was a part of the experience and I also wanted him to know that I loved both of my children just the same. This really worked for us and hopefully it helps. We also made sure that there was no way out of our living room, so that our son stayed with me while I was nursing.

Here is one more idea. Purchase a 'special nursing basket' that you and your son pick out while at the store. Fill it with 'quiet' activities that he can do on the floor while you're nursing and explain to him that he can only play with these toys at 'special' times during the day. What would make this even more special for him, is if you take him to the store alone, without the new sibling. This idea worked for my sister.

P.: My oldest was 3 when my baby was born and I had her sit on the floor while I was nursing and I worked on her color and shape flash cards, and I told her that she has to start using the big potty because she was a BIG SISTER NOW! and she took to the potty and never looked back....she still wears a pull up at night for the occasional accident. But that very rarely is wet in the morning. Another thing you could try is start with the alphabet or numbers. I thought it would be best to start her on colors and shapes at 3 and then we could work on the rest of the " kindergarten needs" later. Personally, I think it was the best thing I have done because she is more than ready for kindergarten in the fall. I hope this is helpful.
~AJ

Keep some books that your son likes by your nursing chair and let him cuddle and read with you while you are nursing. You could keep the TV off the rest of the day and alternate - one nursing read with him, one nursing let him watch a show. Don't let your new baby fall asleep at the breast because not only does this mean the time you are sitting down nursing can last forever, but it also cretes bad habits for your baby. If you let the baby nurse 10 - 20 mintues on each side, then play with the baby (and include your son in the play), then put your baby down for a nap and focus on your son for a while. If you establish a routine of nurse, play, sleep it will help your baby fall asleep easily in his crib and sleep through the night.

Also - when your baby is a little older you can still be mobile if you nurse in a Maya wrap. I nursed my twins (one at a time) all the way around Sea World. The wrap comes with an instructional videp. It is easy on your back and once the baby can grasp the breast a bit it is a great nursing tool.