Nursing like a newborn again?

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

My son is 15 months old. Until recently, we were nursing maybe 5-7 times per day. Just the past week or so, he has really ramped up the nursing. I work during the week, but over the weekend I was home with him and I swear I could barely put my boobs away before he was 'asking' to nurse again. It's been like this for about a week, anytime I'm home, the only thing he wants is to nurse. Last week, he wouldn't even eat his dinner at the table with us, he kept motioning that he wanted to get out and then he'd come to me and want to nurse. Usually he's a great eater and I'm not sure what's going on. Yesterday he was also really fussy. I do think it may be teething-related; he's getting two teeth on the bottom next to the center ones (he's a late teether) and I can see bumps on his gums where his molars will come in.

I love nursing him but the non-stop thing is getting a tiring. I know if it's teething related it will eventually stop and if he needs this right now while he's teething then I guess I want to give it to him. I'm not sure if it is teething related, though. I'll stick it out another week or two but I could use some advice on how to begin to set nursing limits in case he doesn't stop this on his own. Reassurance that this is temporary and that other toddlers do this too would also be helpful. Right now, anytime I refuse to nurse him the moment he wants he gets very upset with me. I try to tell him 'later' but I don't think he understands that concept, at 15 months. Any suggestions? Distract him and offer a snack I guess? I'm just a bit worn out by having my 15 month old attached to my boob more than when he was a newborn! DH is concerned we're 'going backward' with weaning since he's been refusing to eat dinner and only wants to nurse. We're both happy to have him keep nursing awhile longer but just not this often!

[@llli*mommal]

Oh gosh, it is so crazy when a toddler all of a sudden goes back in time to the newborn nursing pattern...! At least with a newborn you know to expect the nonstop nursing, but with a toddler it's a huge, out-of-the-blue surprise.

I'm sure that teething is at least in part to blame, and the nursing will taper off a lot when those teeth pop through. But if your LO just learned how to communicate his nursing needs, he could also be practicing that new skill. Both my girls ramped up their frequency a lot when they could suddenly ask to nurse.

I think you have a good plan- roll with it for bother couple weeks and if nothing changes, then reassess your needs and your toddler's needs and decide what you want to do about finding a happy medium.

This will pass, I promise!!!

[@llli*zaynethepain]

Ds did this a few m onths ago. I waited and waited for teeth but nothing. What he did do was start talking! I really think he needed the extra bm boost to help with the milestone. Someone on here mentioned a book called The Wonder Weeks (i think, it's close if not, google it) which explains ten different weeks of high fussiness. The last occurs around 74 weeks and is related to language development. It fit my situation. Later doesn't work I think bc young toddlers really have no concept of time. Telling ds we would nurse but only for one verse of twinkle, twinkle little star worked better for us. keeping him distracted and out of the house for an hour or two also helped my sanity.

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

Thanks for the replies. I definitely think teeth have something to do with it as his sleep has been disrupted, as well, and he just got the third tooth on the bottom a couple days ago. He's been communicating when he wants to nurse for a couple months now so I don't think it's that he's 'practicing' this new skill. Maybe it is related to a developmental leap, he's the right age for Wonder Week 9 and has certainly been more fussy/more needy than normal. Oh well. Whatever it is, I will just try to ride it out, and wait on setting nursing limits until he's a little older.