# What is your word for nursing?



## cynthia mosher (Aug 20, 1999)

I find it so interesting when I hear my friends have such different names for nursing. I imagine we have a huge number of different terms for it here at Mothering where breastfeeding is the norm. We always called it "ninna". What is your word for nursing?


----------



## crayfishgirl (May 26, 2009)

Booby. As in "do you want some booby?" and "we're going upstairs to have booby". Not sure how we got to that, but there it is. Admittedly there have been times when I wished we called it something a little more subtle....like when we're out and about and my breaking-down toddler wails "I want some BOOOOOOOBY!!!!!!"


----------



## gooseberry (Feb 20, 2012)

I guess I'm just really boring. I always just asked them if they wanted to nurse. Sometimes with this babe (DD3) it gets a bit cutesy and I ask her if she wants to nursey. That's about it.

DD1 made a nnnnnn kind of sound before she could talk, and then said nurse pretty clearly once she could. DD2 never had a noise, and it seemed like she could clearly ask to nurse since forever. That can't be true, though. Just a false memory.


----------



## Katie8681 (Dec 29, 2010)

My kid adopted "see-sees" as his term. I was calling it "nursies" and he took the last syllable and repeated it. I like it- subtle during those public breakdowns the PP mentioned!


----------



## katelove (Apr 28, 2009)

My older DD says "mummy milk". I say mummy milk or just milk. Youngest just pulls at my shirt and says "ha! Aha! Aha!" so far.


----------



## 3lilchunklins (Feb 22, 2012)

With DS1 I attempted to dub it milky, but DH always referred to it as boobie, and that's what my first 3 all called it. Now with number 4, I'm back to trying for milky or nursie. But he can't talk yet, so we'll see what name he comes up with


----------



## Sweetsummer (Apr 29, 2011)

We always referred to it as milk so my daughter ended up calling it "mote"


----------



## MichelleZB (Nov 1, 2011)

We just called it "milk". My toddler says "Mom milk, please!"


----------



## vtfiver (May 1, 2012)

"nana" <3 and Iove it. It started with me say nurse - wa" do you want to have a nurse" he started calling it Nana . Ive only heard one other child say that its funny it was this amazing friend (I still have) and we clicked right away so much like eachother it was strange. Then Soren (1 1/2 at the time) said nana and her mouth dropped. her son said that too aweeeee. friends for life


----------



## somegirl99 (Aug 22, 2009)

I just call it nursing or mommy milk, but DS (who nursed until 2.5 yo) called it "side" or "mommy side". He picked that up from me saying something about nursing on the other side.


----------



## Lauran520 (Sep 9, 2011)

My son called me MumMum when he first started talking, and nursing became "MumMum time".


----------



## ShyingViolet (Oct 23, 2011)

I called it Boo-Bah when I was a nursling, and it was embarrassing to be out in public with a toddler screaming something that sounds so much like boob and pulling on your shirt. So, I called it Milkie from the beginning. She took that and turned it into MeeMee


----------



## Wedemire (Apr 23, 2013)

We've used "bob" since the beginning in anticipation of nursing a talking toddler at some point (14 months now). Kind of like boob but I wouldn't feel weird about her yelling "I need bob" in the middle of a store. Still have to see if she chooses a different word herself.


----------



## Katie8681 (Dec 29, 2010)

Ha! The word in my family of origin was "bobbies"


----------



## MaggieLC (Sep 2, 2013)

Most of my kids called it "Nummies" or "Num Num." My youngest had the most words for it, she was very verbal very early (all my kids were) at around 7-9 months, it was "OOOHM- BAH!" at around a year she was calling it, "ONE!" because I would ask her, "Do you want the other one?" Then it became "Nummies" because that's what we all called it. (Capitalized because she usually yelled it.)

My middle one was about 8 months old and called it "Laddle-laddle." I think it was the mouth movement she would make when she nursed. (Try and say the word and you'll understand.) Then it became "Num Num." My oldest called it "Muck" for a while, but we changed it to "Num Num" for privacy's sake.

I remember my nephew was nearly 3, and we were waiting for our food in a restaurant. His food wasn't coming and he finally got upset, looked right at his Mama and yelled, "I want Nummies and I want them right now!" Of course, people thought he was talking about food. His Mama just slipped him under her shirt and he was able to stave off his hunger until our Denny's waitress got around to getting our food to us.


----------



## conroyclanof4 (Jun 11, 2013)

We say boo boos because when we get hurt around the house we say owie...or I just ask her nif she wants milk while I sign for milk. She's only 8 months and can't wait to see what she names it herself


----------



## pokeyac (Apr 1, 2011)

I usually refer to it as milkies. Like when I am pumping, I tell him I am making some milkies for him. We shall see what he calls it. When my DW can't rock him back to sleep, she just says, "We need the boob" or "Boob"! I hope he doesn't pick up on that one.


----------



## edensmama (Jun 1, 2006)

We also use Num nums. I said it one day and it stuck!!


----------



## Catwmandu (Jun 10, 2007)

I remember when my son started signing it around 10 months old. Brought tears to my eyes to know he knew how to better communicate what he wanted.

Now and ever since being able to talk it's "mommy milkies"


----------



## MamadeRumi (Aug 5, 2012)

I feel so boring. We just call it nursing. Even so there are still times when having my nearly four year old ask, "can we nurse?" in a public place can be a little awkward, but I suppose it is better than him asking for boobies.


----------



## contactmaya (Feb 21, 2006)

Each of my 3 children had their own word for nursing. For ds1, it was 'ongi'. For ds2, it was 'nanas', and for dd now 22mths, it is 'lilies'. So i would just say to them, do you want-whichever was their word. When talking with other adults, i usually used the word 'nursing.' Sometimes, in mixed company, i have been known to say, 'dd wants lilies, i'll just be a minute'-only to have them stare at me, baffled...


----------



## AngieWangari (Feb 7, 2013)

We call it "Nyo-nyo" DS is only 7 weeks, but hubby is from Kenya and that's the swahili word for breasts.


----------



## ashleyb87 (Oct 24, 2007)

I've always said milk. My first son called it "nuh" or "nuhs" and my second son said "mi" (like i in igloo) and when he was a bit older said "mi douch" for milk couch because we always nursed in the same spot on the couch. Nuh and mi were among my boys' first words. I thought it was really sweet. I had heard people having toddlers shout out "BOOB" in public places which I knew would embarrass me a ton so I was careful to always call it milk so if they were asking for milk I wouldn't get strange looks


----------



## maurakelly (Dec 5, 2013)

My kids called it side-side because I always talked about moving them to the other breast and called it other side. They are older now and still joke about saying side side.


----------



## foodymama (Feb 5, 2009)

I nursed DD until she was 3. Without realizing it I guess every time we sat down to nurse I would say eat to her twice for encouragement. Sooo....nursing time became eat eats!

She is 5 now and associates everything having to do with breasts as eat eats. She knows a bra is called a bra but she calls them eat eats! Enjoy your time nursing and think of the word you use for it fondly because it will be over before you know it.


----------



## EZTanks_Mom (Oct 19, 2008)

My son called it Neener's. it was the term he came up with and we stuck with it.


----------



## katejwilkinson (Feb 22, 2011)

My daughter called it "nay-nay". And when she wanted to switch, she would say "oh one nay-nay" (oh=other). My friends and I always get a good laugh when we say "oh one nay-nay". Sounds like something to chant.


----------



## MamaRuck (Apr 22, 2011)

In our home it has been called moke, nurse, and switch. Moke was my little one's attempt at saying milk. Nurse is what my older kids call it for my newborn. Switch was because I would always say to my ds, "let's switch" when switching him to the other side. He caught on and called it switch. Of course he pronounced it wich. Having a little one crying out "wich, wich, wich!" was always fun in the store.


----------



## Gem Elizabeth (Dec 5, 2013)

My babe is only 7 weeks. We don't have a word yet. When I talk to her, I ask if she is hungry and wants milk. Haha. I guess I'm boring. Maybe we will find a name for it later. I'm in Ecuador and I have some photos and links about breastfeeding on my blog, if anyone wants to check it out. http://sofiasays.blog.com/archives/28/


----------



## nanaof7 (Sep 25, 2013)

When my 3rd got tired at night I used to ask him, "Do you want to go night-night?" He shortened it to "ni' ni'" and used it for nursing at all times day.

I will say weaning a 3 year old is harder than weaning a 2 year old. I weaned one at 2+ because I was pregnant again, and although it wasn't difficult, I always felt I cheated him. Maybe someone could start another thread on weaning experiences?


----------



## adinanikki (Sep 9, 2009)

My oldest always called in nanas too. Then my second morphed that into "angas"


----------



## CA Country Girl (Aug 13, 2011)

My youngest is 17 months and has said neh- neh since preverbal. She also pats her chest and and says "neh neh bye bye bed" if she is tired and wants to nurse to fall asleep. My now seven year old just made a eh-eh-eh-eh sound until she said nurse. I nursed her until about 2.5. I often ask, "do you want to nurse?" so this one might transition to that too soon.


----------



## herdingkittens (Sep 6, 2008)

"Nee-see". A verb and a noun - as in "I want to nee-see" and "I want to see your nee-sees!"


----------



## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Probably falls into the "not right" category,be we called it "the buffet" Always open and all you can eat  My son weaned before he picked up a word for it.


----------



## kblackstone444 (Jun 17, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *crayfishgirl*
> 
> Booby. As in "do you want some booby?" and "we're going upstairs to have booby". Not sure how we got to that, but there it is. Admittedly there have been times when I wished we called it something a little more subtle....like when we're out and about and my breaking-down toddler wails "I want some BOOOOOOOBY!!!!!!"


With my older son, it was "boobies", but when he was an older nurser (2 1/2?), he told the cashier at the store, "I'm gonna go home and get some boobies.", so I changed the terminology when it came to my second baby.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *3LilChunklins*
> 
> With DS1 I attempted to dub it milky, but DH always referred to it as boobie, and that's what my first 3 all called it. Now with number 4, I'm back to trying for milky or nursie. But he can't talk yet, so we'll see what name he comes up with


With my little one, he calls it milky, or milkies, if he wants plural. He also refers to them as "this one" and "that one", depending on which one he's closest to. lol


----------



## blessed23 (Oct 18, 2013)

Hehe, when I was little, I called it "ni-nee" - kind of like going "nighty-night" I suppose.  My sister and I called breasts "milks" and we still sometimes jokingly call them "our milks" 
For my baby (4.5mos) DH and I just say "milk" but in an embarrassingly babyish voice, so it sounds like we're saying, "meelk" lol! I'll ask, "Do you want some meelk?" while signing milk to him and he'll either fuss and turn his head away or get all happy and excited, pretty cute. 
Sometimes if he's just laying there because he's been popping on and off so many times, I'll ask him again if he wants "meelk" and then tell him that the milk shop is closing when I put my nursing flap back up haha.


----------



## CuddleBug'sMama (Jan 29, 2008)

We say nursie. My first called it 'aa-ee' until she could say nursie. My second called it 'gee gee' (attempting 'nursie') so the rest of the family called it the sameduring his toddlerhood. My youngest is only 6 mon so we'll see what he comes up with. I love how the word means both milk and breast. ' Mommy, he wants to have nursie' or to a friendly stranger at the park, 'My little brother is having milk from Mommy's nursies'. Or when ODS was a toddler and saw my sister nursing his baby cousin, 'My Mommy has gee gees to'


----------



## simonzkedge (Feb 18, 2013)

My oldest weaned before she called it anything. DS1 called it Ninies or sometimes Nii-niis. DS2 called it ging-ging before he could sign or talk, but now calls it Milkies and Side. Will be interesting to se what the new baby will call it, but I'm guessing he'll just copy his brother. Lol


----------



## deedeevarner (Dec 6, 2013)

With my first, I called it NeeNee Soup. But as he learned to talk, picking up words like "orange juice" "apple juice" "grape juice" he began to refer to nursing as "NeeNee Juice" which was just fine by me. So that's what we called it when the others came along.


----------



## craftymcgluestick (Dec 31, 2009)

I always called it nursing to my son and he would give the nursing/milk sign before he started talking. But then he called it "nay" when he started talking, then "nay nay" and it morphed to "nonnie" before we weaned at 27 mos when I was pregnant. He still calls it "nonnies" and he always says to my 4 mos nursling "drink you nonnie, sister!" When she is crying. Ha ha! I am sure DD will have her own term as nonnie morphs...


----------



## bayosgirl87 (Dec 6, 2010)

Nippie. As in, "would you like some nippie?" I've accidentally said it out in public before. No biggie, my pride was left in the hospital room. I'm just waiting for when he starts talking and yells "NIPPPIIIEEEE!" in front of a bunch of people, lol.


----------



## IdentityCrisisMama (May 12, 2003)

DD 1 was "ies" as in "boobies". DD # 2 is "booby". Like the rest of you, there were times where I wished we had chosen a more subtle name.


----------



## monkeyscience (Feb 5, 2008)

We just call it nursing, most of the time - "Do you want to nurse?" But sometimes we ask him if he wants "milks". No idea why/how it became plural. DS has recently taken to wailing/babbling either "mimimimimimimimi" or "mimomimimomimomimo" when he wants to nurse. At first I thought he was just saying mom, but I've since realized he's saying his version of milk. When he actually says mom (a word he only recently learned - he had to figure out "ball", "dog", "blueberry", "book", "daddy", and several other more important words first







), it never has the "ee" sound in it, like milk does.


----------



## MaggieLC (Sep 2, 2013)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *monkeyscience*
> 
> We just call it nursing, most of the time - "Do you want to nurse?" But sometimes we ask him if he wants "milks". No idea why/how it became plural.


Because there's two of them!









An embarrassing story. At one point, when my youngest was then around just turning 1 year old she was saying, "Mina Mina!" to nurse, I told my husband, "I think she's trying to say, "nummy" sideways," He immediately corrected me by saying, "No, every time she asks to nurse when you're up and around you say, "in a minute." She's trying to say, "In a minute!"

OMG. I was so ashamed.







My poor toddler put on the back burner because I was cooking or dealing with her siblings. The trials of having to be "the caboose."

All my kids were like Pavlov's dogs when I would get on the phone with a client. I'd answer and they'd be on my lap lifting my shirt in a moment! "She's a captive audience. She can't move, I'll move in and she can't tell me to wait!" I'm sure my kids all thought this, because I tend to move around a lot, but sit still when talking to clients, and they knew that from a young age.


----------



## countrygirl28 (Jan 26, 2008)

We call it either "mama milk," "milkies," or some times just "milk." These all started with my first and we've just stuck with that for the second. DD1 is 3 and self-weaned some time ago. Now she likes to tell me that her 10-month old brother needs "mama milk" and she needs "Avery milk" (cow, almond, soy, coconut, etc). As I'm typing this she asked for "Avery milk." I asked what that meant and was told "it's in the refrigerator." When I asked where her brother's milk was, I was told "in my mom's boobs."


----------



## nstewart (Nov 6, 2010)

DS1 calls my breasts "moots" because they make "mama moot". We (as in DH and I) called it mama milk and when he was a young toddler he pronounced milk "moot". So that stuck and when he wants to nurse he still asks for "moot" or "mama moot". I remember once going into Victoria Secret when he was about maybe 2 years old. He looked around, got this look on his face, and said "mooooots"









He also calls his favored side "the front" and his less favorite side "the back". And, now that I'm tandem nursing sometimes I will give him the empty side if I know his brother will need to nurse soon. When that happens sometimes he will stop nursing, look at me, and say "This one only has bubbles".


----------



## 3lilchunklins (Feb 22, 2012)

Lmbo!!! I got a kick outta that PP


----------



## KathrynK (Dec 9, 2013)

Meimei's (pronounced May-may) My first daughter Ada came up with this name for breastfeeding. As a three year old, she used it as a name for one of our chickens. Our youngest Helen at 2.5 is still nursing and asking for MeiMei's.


----------



## fostermama (Apr 3, 2011)

We call it boobie "do you need some boobie?". My non-biological 4 year old call it milk-things "I think she needs your milk things!!!"


----------



## AshleynJacy (Nov 3, 2006)

My daughter always called it "the boob."


----------



## alexiscampbell (Dec 9, 2013)

My little lady (15 months) calls it "gickies," which is her version of "milkies." She can definitely say "milkies," but she's so used to calling it gickies that it just stuck. I love it!!


----------



## Vivien57 (Feb 20, 2010)

My DD went through a phase where she would yell "I WANT NIPPLE!" Then she graduated to "I want milk".

My DS will just say "I want milk. YOUR Milk! "


----------



## skinnyloveBC (Jan 12, 2012)

We call it "milkies." Sometimes singular or plural, depending on context. DD (14mos) has said "mil" (like MEAL), so that may be what she intends to call it also. I just love when she attacks me, furiously signing "milk" and trying to move my shirt to find the Milkies. She's so intense, it's funny.


----------



## IdentityCrisisMama (May 12, 2003)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nstewart*
> 
> He also calls his favored side "the front" and his less favorite side "the back". And, now that I'm tandem nursing sometimes I will give him the empty side if I know his brother will need to nurse soon. When that happens sometimes he will stop nursing, look at me, and say "This one only has bubbles".


Best thing I've read all day!


----------



## gzornblat (Apr 19, 2011)

DS is almost 2 and he calls it 'millllhh' while signing vigorously, often simultaneously pulling up my shirt. Also, he has learned the word for bra and says, 'bra off, please'. He differentiates by specifying 'cow milk' if he's talking about other kinds of milk. And during nursing after a couple of minutes he always says 'swis sies' and switches to the other side. We easily 'swis sies' six or seven times a nursing session.


----------



## GER611 (Dec 2, 2011)

Before she could speak, she would make a sucking sound, but later on she called it "milk milk".


----------



## Katie8681 (Dec 29, 2010)

Oh, the sucking sound! I guess that's what it would be called... DS began making that noise to signal that he wanted to nurse when he was preverbal. He would move his tongue the same way he does when nursing, and it made the funniest clicky kind of noise. I forgot about that. He did it involuntarily when he was very small and just about to latch on, but a few months later it seemed pretty clear to me he was doing it on purpose to tell me he wanted to nurse.


----------



## willfulmama (Mar 23, 2012)

The very first time my son mentioned nursing, he called it "bob." Now, though, he calls them the "boofs." "Boof, please!"


----------



## jdmeyer (Jun 13, 2006)

My son called nursing "snacky". It was subtle enough that we would ask him in public and no one truly knew what a special request it was. It makes my heart melt to think back on it now.


----------



## monkeyscience (Feb 5, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nstewart*
> He also calls his favored side "the front" and his less favorite side "the back". And, now that I'm tandem nursing sometimes I will give him the empty side if I know his brother will need to nurse soon. When that happens sometimes he will stop nursing, look at me, and say "This one only has bubbles".










I have a "chocolate" and "vanilla" side, due some skin pigmentation changes that occurred during pregnancy (and which the doctor informed me yesterday are most likely permanent







). But that's really a joke for dh and me, ds is still too young to have any clue.

And yes, similar to what someone else mentioned, he also comes, looks me right in the eye, and starts curling and moving his tongue in his open mouth, like he's already so excited about nursing he can't help but pretend he's already doing it!


----------



## 3lilchunklins (Feb 22, 2012)

That makes me remember when DS1 was weaned but DD was still nursing, ,he would ask me to squirt some in his mouth, he told me one side was apple juice, and the other was grape juice..


----------



## mommymomo (Oct 18, 2013)

I'll say do you want some "milky"?


----------



## LeslieintheKeys (Dec 4, 2007)

My husband and I lived in Am. Samoa (pre-kids) and I took a Samoan language course and picked up the word, "susu" which means milk or breast. I knew that when we had children, I wanted to extend breastfeeding beyond the norm (in the US), so I wanted a word that my kids could say in public that would be private between me and them.


----------



## nstewart (Nov 6, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *monkeyscience*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Haha, I asked DS what mama moot tastes like once, and he got this goofy little grin on his face and told me "It tastes like chocolate and candy." So having a chocolate side totally makes sense!


----------



## rebbecky (Oct 16, 2011)

At first DS signed for milk, then we called it "nah-nahs" and he would say it sometimes. Then as he got older he started calling it sides; I would ask him if he wanted to switch sides and at first he only said it when he wanted to switch. Then it just became "sides, sides" as he would reach down my shirt. He is 21 months old and still says it, and now it's "I want sidesssssss"! LOL


----------



## jodieanneanton (Apr 8, 2010)

We call it "mama" over here. I sorta pushed the term on them, i guess. When I started nursing, I wanted to avoid any scenarios of my child yelling BOOB! in a public place. It would have totally mortified me at the time. I could care less about that now (I guess that is what having 3 kids will do to you) and openly nurse in public!


----------



## mamazee73 (Dec 17, 2013)

i taught most of my littles to click their mouth when they wanted to nurse - it was so sweet! But this little baby (number eight) says "Num Numpssss! BoobBoobssss" <sigh>  - it's still fun!


----------



## 3lilchunklins (Feb 22, 2012)

Current nursling is 9.5 months, and just started saying "Boo" over and over while he anxiously waits for me to whip it out for him. Its super adorable!


----------



## HSaunders (Dec 18, 2010)

Both my kids have asked to "nur-nur." When I'm trying to be subtle I ask if they want to snuggle with me. Our less-than-subtle moments involve me getting dressed or bending over to pick something up. These moments incite delighted squealing. "I see the nursies!!" or "I got the nursies out!!"

Last night on a cross-country car trip my DS came down with the flu. We spent two hours alternating puking, cleaning and nursing in an unfortunate fast food restaurant. So many strangers were helpful and kind. Thankful none of them made me feel bad about nursing my 2 year old! At that point I would have nursed him at the 50 yard line of the Superbowl to help him feel better.


----------



## Nenya (Apr 29, 2011)

My LO is only 3.5 months but I usually say "do you want some milkies?" before nursing him. It's my effort to counteract my husband always saying "he wants the boob" !


----------



## mrsbrauchli (Mar 19, 2012)

I say "milk" because we did sign language before my daughter was verbal. She now says, "mirrrhhh! miihhhh!!" (She's 20 months) which sounds way too much like "moooo" to me. lol. So basically, I'm a cow.


----------

