Hanix has been on an eating binge the last two days. He pretty much constantly eats. I'm talking hours on end. It's kind of scary. He'll eat for an hour, fall asleep for five or ten minutes with his belly all disgorged, and wake up ravenous. What gives?
Is he about to have another growth spurt? Is he about to grow another foot in length? Was he just thirsty? Does he have a drinking problem?
So in an effort to get him to nap, I took him out to the highway, where, as I've mentioned, he is soothed by the traffic noise.
I was out there doing my paces with the Eating Machine when Hernan's cousin passed by. She lives next door. She asked to hold him, and then, before I knew it, she's taken him into her house next door. I was left standing alone in the street.
I went back in the house and sat down before realizing I wanted my baby back. Synapses may not be firing like they used to. Have I mentioned my four hours of (interrupted) sleep every night. I'm running on empty, folks.
So I went next door to retrieve my son only to find this cousin nursing my baby.
Shock!
I didn't know what to think.
Who just grabs someone else's baby and then nurses him???
She and I are really not that close.
Maybe this isn't a big deal, but maybe it is. I'm pretty sure she's not taking any medications and hadn't been drinking or anything. But! But! But! Don't nurse my baby!
I question myself about my reaction. Is this some kind of prudish American repulsion?
But! But! Don't nurse my baby!
I've decided it surely did him no harm, but I still don't want it to happen again. If nothing else, it could interfere with my own milk supply, which has to keep up with his (ridiculously high) demand. Is that oversharing? Sorry.
But it really weirded me out.
Seriously. Don't nurse my baby.
I agree with you, I would be totally put-off in this situation!!
ReplyDeleteOk this would totally not be ok with me. At first when you talked about her walking off with your baby Im shaking my head because people do that with mine all the time. And yes I hover. But OMG if I found someone nursing my baby I would deff have to lay down the line right then and there. What did you say... What did you do?
ReplyDeleteomg that's nuts! I love reading about your Mexican adventures, Ember!
ReplyDeleteI found out that cousin's mother, who also lives next door, once tried to nurse my brother-in-law when he was little. He didn't want to. She tried to force him. ... So he bit her nipple. hahaha.
ReplyDeleteApparently nursing other people's kids runs in their family.
I think I would freak out if someone else nursed my baby. You handled the situation well, I think. Did you eventually get Hanix back? No one ever walked off with Niko, though sometimes I used to wish that they would (especially when sleep deprived). But NOT to nurse him!
ReplyDeleteThat's so odd. In romance novels and BBC specials, there are always "wet nurses." I guess maybe you could pretend to be royalty?
ReplyDeleteThat is definitely an awkward situation. I have heard that some women really enjoy nursing--not that that's an excuse, but perhaps it's a reason. It does seem like something you would only do if you had a severely underdeveloped awareness of, and respect for, personal boundaries.
ReplyDeleteThis is too funny and not funny at all. My 40 something mexican mother-in-law likes to randomly nurse babies as well. Any that are small enough. (of course she has nothing to offer them but fallow breasts.) But I'd alredy witnessed this before I had my first baby so was prepared to make sure it didn't happen to my little guy. She hasn't tried yet with the 2nd. It must be cultural.
ReplyDeleteAHH! I would go crazy and I am not even a mother! I have witnessed this mentally ill behavior though, with my mother-in-law and her grandson, my nephew. She occasionally would try to offer her breasts for him to suckle - but only when mommy was gone! I had to excuse myself from her presence to avoid losing my stomach or giving her an angry piece of my mind...she has NO concept of personal space/property/regard for others. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has experienced this and find it completely repulsive. Good thing I witnessed this beforehand as a WARNING not to let her be alone with my future babies.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a cultural thing. I've nursed other people's babies but almost always with their permission.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I guess there are different norms in different states and in different populations within said state, but NO ONE in my husband's family (and like any extended Mexican family, there are dozens and dozens of babies) would ever nurse someone else's baby unless that mother asked them to do so, and I highly doubt that would ever happen either. And eewwwww, old ladies furtively nursing someone else's baby with nothing to offer but a dried-up titty? I would say this is clearly dysfunctional, even pathological.
ReplyDelete