# What do you call it? Names for Breastfeeding



## Sarahfina (Oct 17, 2006)

I'm looking for a name to use with my child when we discuss breastfeeding. I want something simple that she will be able to understand, and hopefully say herself sometime soon (she's nearly a year) and I'm not fond of the typical "nursing" or "nursies" or "num nums". I've simply been calling it milk, asking her if she wants milk etc but I can see the problem this will pose when some other friendly adults in her life offer her milk in the future, and she presumes they mean mama milk...so I'm curious what other moms and their babes call breastfeeding, both names mothers have created and ones the babes themselves came up with...thanks for the suggestions!!

Sarahfina


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## boobybunny (Jun 28, 2005)

We say "chi chi" which I believe is spanish for tits.







:

My family has been saying it for three generations now.


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## emma_goldman (May 18, 2005)

We say "chi chis", too, and I switched from using "num nums" after I realized that the former is easier for my babe to say.


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## tigress (Nov 14, 2005)

we call it chichi, booboo, nursey, and sometimes dindins (even though dinner typically only comes once a day as opposed to many times)


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## Bartock (Feb 2, 2006)

nummy boo bahs


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## BetsyS (Nov 8, 2004)

Dinners. My family has always called breasts "dinners", thanks to my great-grandmother. "Lord, child, that woman's dinners are just falling out all over."







So, we figured that it worked for us.

FWIW, we don't eat dinner in our house. We eat supper.


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## mika85 (Aug 9, 2006)

my baby doesn't talk yet, but i just call it "boobie" or "milkies". sometimes "boobie milkies". i'll ask her "want some boobie/milkies?" in a cutesy little voice and she'll smile and squeal.


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## mika85 (Aug 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BetsyS* 
Dinners. My family has always called breasts "dinners", thanks to my great-grandmother. "Lord, child, that woman's dinners are just falling out all over."







So, we figured that it worked for us.

FWIW, we don't eat dinner in our house. We eat supper.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Moo or Mamamoo. And we taught her to sign for it early on also. Worked well.

-Angela


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## pearlgirl (Jun 7, 2006)

We taught DD to sign milk and now she calls them "Ni-ni's". I think it might have come from "night-night". She nurses mostly to go to sleep and I usually ask her when she is tired if she wants to go night-night and she at some point just started asking for "ni-ni's". Now she some time signs and says it or just says that (at any time of day when she wants to nurse.)

Sarah


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## rmzbm (Jul 8, 2005)

Avery calls it "gee." She made that up - I have no clue where it comes from but she uses it consistantly! She also signs milk.


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## Snowdrift (Oct 15, 2005)

DD is not verbal but I call it nursing and always ask her if she wants to nurse with me, if she likes the nursing with me..I dunno why "with" it just seems to work.


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## sewaneecook (Nov 1, 2005)

One of my nephews called it guk. I think it was his way of saying milk.


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## super kitty (Nov 26, 2003)

*


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## runes (Aug 5, 2004)

i call it "nurseys", or i'll say, "let's be milky!" with a big happy smile on my face as i unclip my bra. that usually elicits an exuberant squeal from the wee one.

dd signs milk most of the time.


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## sharon71 (May 27, 2005)

We use nummies with Anna. the older girls said moo moo.


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## InstinctiveMama (Sep 4, 2006)

We call it nursing and my son calls breasts "nurses".


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## ellesmama (Aug 11, 2005)

milkers


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## jakobsmom (Sep 16, 2002)

we call it Nummies!


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## nikisager (Oct 25, 2005)

I have always called them nu nu's. Now if I say it to 7 month old ds, he starts panting like a dog, is so cute.


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## isulari (Feb 18, 2002)

.


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## Penelope (Jul 22, 2003)

We use "na na" with ds. He came up with it on his own. Dd said "nursey nurse".


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## Birth Junky (Jun 14, 2004)

I vote for signing--we started doing it with DD at birth, and this weekend she signed "milk" herself for the first time! She has understood what the sign meant for months--would, in fact, get all excited when I made it for her when she was acting hungry.

We also use the Latvian word for milk, but I think signing would be easier for a family who is NOT speaking Latvian in the home!


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## onediaperinmama (Jan 9, 2002)

We've always used the sign for milk, I confess to using "nums" or "nummies" when not around other people. My grandpa calls them "dinner buckets" and my entire family has always called them titty as in, "oh, does baby want some titty?" which I hate.


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## spughy (Jun 28, 2005)

I call it "boobies". I wish I hadn't, because I feel a little embarrassed asking her if she wants boobies when we're in public, but that's just what came out from day 1. She doesn't say it yet but she sure knows what it means.


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## CAmumma2mygirls (Oct 4, 2006)

Using "boobies" came back to bite me. My dd is 20mos and says BOOBIE ALL the time. Always out in public. It has come to the point that I can't mention the word at all without her wanting to nurse. I'm trying to transition her to the word nurse but she's not picking it up. I'm at a loss...

It's quite embarrassing that she says boobie boobie boobie all the time. She chants it when she sees me getting dressed. She will scream it out in public if I don't nurse her *right then*.







:


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## Susuhound (Jul 5, 2006)

Susu here. It means breastmilk or breastfeed in pigin.


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## JkFelix (May 27, 2005)

I ask my DD if she wants mama's milk. She gets so excited and says "oh yeah oh yeah!!!" She is only one and her little voice sounds so cute!


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## Ell-Bell (Nov 16, 2002)

I say "Mama's Milk" and sign milk. He recognizes the sign, which is cool. When DH hands him over to me to nurse, he says, "Do you want some love? Here comes some love!" I think it's so cute!


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## LilMama23 (Jul 8, 2005)

We say "nursies", but our friend says "neenees".


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## CalBearMama (Sep 23, 2005)

We signed "milk" to DS from the very beginning, and since I would always sign it repeatedly, I got in the habit of saying at the same time, "Would you like some milk milk milk?" So now, DS either says "milk milk milk" (pronounced muk muk muk) or "ni-nite" (when he wants to nurse to sleep).

The funniest development is that he now specifies exactly where he wants to nurse - there's "muk muk muk towch" (couch), "muk muk muk bed," etc. And the other night when we were out to dinner and he was really sleepy, he said, "ni-nite tabow" (table). Apparently, he wanted me to lie down with him on the table in the middle of the restaurant and nurse him to sleep.


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## sarahmae1 (Nov 11, 2002)

My ds calls it "na-na" which somehow evolved from 'num-num'.


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## marymamma (Mar 22, 2004)

We call it "ninny" or "ninny milk"

My sister started that with her kids, but not sure where she got it from. We also call naps "ninny naps" since we usually nurse to sleep.


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## twinvillageiowa (Aug 11, 2006)

Unfortunatly I started calling it Boob. So now when my boyfriend knows one of them is hungry, he says "You want Boob?" and I know the girls know what it is so it is too late to change it.


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## mmskids (Feb 11, 2004)

We use both boobies or num-nums. Though as he gets older, I am trying to remember to call them num-nums. DS nursed until over 2 and I agree, using a better word in public is nice.


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## NameThatMama (Oct 26, 2004)

Nursing, nurse, milk, etc. I ask:
"Are you hungry?"
"Do you want some milk?"
"Would you like to nurse?"
...all the while making the sign for _milk_.


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## Sarahfina (Oct 17, 2006)

Thanks for all the ideas! I like susu, but still nothing really grabs me...chichi is good too..I can see the trouble in using things like boobie, and I'd even like something more discrete than nursies, as I do intend on extended breastfeeding, something that generally isn't done arround here...anyway more ideas are welcome!! Keep them coming!!


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## boobs4milk (Jun 25, 2006)

it's always been ninny here...i don't know why. nats could sign milk at about 5 months, though.


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## ExuberantDaffodil (May 22, 2005)

DS started out calling it "other side"









Now he says "nurse"


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## lyttlewon (Mar 7, 2006)

We call it milk.


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## AutumnMama (Jan 2, 2004)

I've always just called it nursing.
Though DS1 ended up saying "eece" (rhymes with peace), and that ended up sticking till he weaned


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## heamae (Nov 9, 2005)

I called it milkies and she would drink cows milk and knew the diff. and about two months ago she came up wit her own name for it and now asks for memes. I love that she has her own name for it.


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## look11 (Mar 21, 2006)

I always said "Nursey-Nurse" as in, "ready for a nursey-nurse?" I don't remember my dd ever having a word for it or asking for it, but then, she stopped nursing at 14 months.


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## vanessab23 (Nov 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BetsyS* 
Dinners. My family has always called breasts "dinners", thanks to my great-grandmother. "Lord, child, that woman's dinners are just falling out all over."







So, we figured that it worked for us.

FWIW, we don't eat dinner in our house. We eat supper.

OMG-- I am dying with that one









Quote:


Originally Posted by *boobybunny* 
We say "chi chi" which I believe is spanish for tits.







:

My family has been saying it for three generations now.









glad to hear there are more chi chi's out there!!!!

DS is famous for "ordering" his milk and then deciding he doesn't want it-- drives me nuts b/c let down is still pretty uncomfortable for me, especially when it doesn't get sucked out!-- so I say "here comes your milk! you ordered, now you get to drink it!!!"


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## Sailmom (Sep 23, 2004)

I always called it milk, but dd has been calling it "Guk" since she could talk. I find it interesting that kids come up with the same name for it randomly. She is very verbal now (26 months) and still calls it Guk. This morning, I was sitting down to pump (building a stash for the freezer for returning to work) and she said "Mommy, are you going to pump guk for Booker?" So cute. And no one else knows what it is!


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## musemor (Mar 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NameThatMama* 
Nursing, nurse, milk, etc. I ask:
"Are you hungry?"
"Do you want some milk?"
"Would you like to nurse?"
...all the while making the sign for _milk_.


That's exactly what we do, too. J has developed her own sign for nursing that she uses when I'm holding her, which is patting me (firmly!) on the breast.


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## Phiababy (Oct 17, 2006)

Mama's Baba's!! Woohoo!


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## Mooky (Feb 7, 2005)

Mooky originally which has now become Moo Moo and that seems to be sticking although my 2 year old dd thinks that nursing pads are called boobs


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## NameThatMama (Oct 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *musemor* 
That's exactly what we do, too. J has developed her own sign for nursing that she uses when I'm holding her, which is patting me (firmly!) on the breast.

Yup. Same here. And your kid is two days older than mine. Funny coincidence!


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## tallmomma (May 10, 2006)

my family has always called it "ninny"


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## megamom (Jan 15, 2006)

We use sign. It's discreet and I always know just what he wants.


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## Sarahfina (Oct 17, 2006)

Interesting...we also use the sign (which she just started to do herself in the last couple days!!) and of course she communicates her desire to breastfeed quite clearly...I'd just like her first word for it to be something less obvious and crude (For lack of a better word) than booby!!


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## steph66 (Jul 7, 2005)

we call it milkies or booby milks. i think that booby will come back to bite me in the a$$ when she gets older so i might just call it milkies or mamas milkies! lol!


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## joeysmom1729 (Sep 12, 2006)

nurseys


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## huggingmama (Oct 17, 2005)

We use "bitte, bitte"... means "please" in German, I believe, but DS started using it because I used to always sing a song about my "itty bitty (bitt-uh) baby" when I would nurse him. So now he'll run up to me, frantically yelping "bitt-uh, bitt-uh" when he wants to nurse.


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## quietserena (Apr 24, 2006)

Can you guys point me to resources on the signing? I love how discreet it can be - especially for extended nursing.


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## loudmama (Mar 12, 2005)

DD called them Mama Nummies. Trying to do the same with DS.

A friend's DS just called it Nur.

L


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## mamabadger (Apr 21, 2006)

My DD called it Nuknuk at first, then when she got older switched to calling it Little Bits.
DS1 called it Tea, originating from the time I drank a cup of tea while he nursed.
DS2 called it Yaya.


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## bigislandmama (Apr 13, 2006)

DS calls it "mamas" and does his sign for nurse. He has been doing the sign and calling them "mamas" since he was 9 months. I love it because it is really sweet and very discreet. No one turns their heads when he asks for "mamas"


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## momsmyjob (Oct 7, 2003)

My now 4 yo started calling it noogie..then my last ds called it milkies, now he calls it silkies. My girls just called it boobie when they were babies.


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## simplemama (Aug 8, 2006)

my dd called it 'other side'










because she'd hear me talk about moving her to the other side. It was great as we were the only ones who knew what she was talking about.









now she helps me give her little brother other side too


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## 2 in August (Jan 6, 2006)

Right now we say num-nums or nummies. I think it's interesting the names that kids make up themselves.


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## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

i say "milk" alice says "muh"


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## Aletheia (Oct 20, 2005)

OP, great thread! I for some reason had already made the decision not to use the ASL milk sign (it makes me feel a bit too much like a cow, and when you are showering infrequently, spending all day on the couch, and everything you own has pee/poo/milk/spit-up on it, your self-esteem can use a boost, KWIM?) We use the sign for "eat" instead.

Of course DS is still too young to use it, and we don't use it consistently. But we do talk about "The Boob" and "Boob One" and "Boob Two" all the time. This makes me think I might want to adopt some new lingo for that point two years down the road when I'm already getting strange looks for having a toddler asking to BF anyway.


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## ktarsha (Jul 30, 2006)

In the past couple of week, I've started saying "nursy-time," and I have no idea why. Before that, I wasn't using any special term. My son isn't talking yet, so he doesn't call it anything, he just nuzzles his head against my chest when he's hungry.


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## HannahsMomma (Oct 2, 2006)

Dd calls it drink.


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## moonfirefaery (Jul 21, 2006)

Na na and nursing


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## chandasz (Apr 13, 2005)

DD learned to sign for it first (used the sign for more). Now she still calls it "mursies". She refers to my breasts and her breasts as "mursies" as well.

My friend's son calls it "milky sides"


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## Zoeanne (Dec 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *marymamma* 
We call it "ninny" or "ninny milk"

My sister started that with her kids, but not sure where she got it from. We also call naps "ninny naps" since we usually nurse to sleep.

We say "ninny" too, and I swear my 3-mo old has been saying "nee" or "nee-nee" for a couple months now, when he wants it. My mom and aunt used ninny, which is why my cousin and I do, and my mom thinks it came from Maharaji (Prem Rawat)--an Indian guru type dude

yikes, this is from the "urban dictionary":

1. ninny milk

Short for ********** milk, also known as chocolate milk


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## spu (Dec 6, 2002)

I nursed my twins for 3 years - well into the ages where they could speak clearly... they started calling it "having mama" or they would say "I want to have you" and it was great because we all knew what it meant, but in public, it was a little more elegant than saying something babyish for a 3-year old.

Now that new baby is here, the girls totally understand when he is having mama, or having mama's milk. It's honest and easy. Sometimes they say "Mama, I think he wants to eat you" when he wants to nurse. makes me chuckle.


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## cro (Nov 2, 2006)

Here it's "boop-boop." DS1 came up w/ that as his way of saying boobie. So now boop-boop can mean the actual breast, the milk, or the act of nursing.


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## aja-belly (Oct 7, 2004)

we call it "milk snacks".


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## newlywaaz (Oct 19, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *simplemama* 
my dd called it 'other side'










because she'd hear me talk about moving her to the other side. It was great as we were the only ones who knew what she was talking about.









now she helps me give her little brother other side too









I can see my ds doing this when he's old enough to talk, because I always ask him if he wants the other side. I'm trying to remember to use the sign language, but it's more hit than miss at this point. He does do the dirty old man laugh sometimes when he hears my bra unclick, it's quite amusing.


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## BakingMama (Oct 18, 2005)

how about mama milk? that's what i usually say.


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## Avarie (Sep 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Zoeanne* 
We say "ninny" too, and I swear my 3-mo old has been saying "nee" or "nee-nee" for a couple months now, when he wants it. My mom and aunt used ninny, which is why my cousin and I do, and my mom thinks it came from *Maharaji (Prem Rawat)--an Indian guru type dude*


So THAT'S where my mom got "ninny" from! My parents were premmies ... my dad still is, but my mom's a born-again Baptist (they've been divorced for a long time).

I tend to say "nursies" or "boobie juice." Maybe I'll stick to "nursies" so he doesn't start using "boobie juice" in public!


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## Sarahfina (Oct 17, 2006)

Wow I'm really impressed with all the responce my thread got!! So just a little update, my DD came up with her own term, which solved all the debating of names!! She started saying "me me" which I addapted to meemees, as in "do you want meemees?" Probably her version of my pervious name which was just "milk". She only used the meemee name a few times before I made it stick by using it myself and now its a familiar term in our household!! Interesting hey??

Sarahfina


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## magentamomma (Mar 18, 2004)

I have read that the word ninny is an African word that came over with slavery. We called it titty and boy do I regret that but my girls don't want to change it for this baby. I am voting for chi chi thistime and hav been working on it for months getting the girls used to the hange in terms when the new baby gets here


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## VeezieTG (Nov 10, 2006)

we say booba. my dh says, "want bobba-booba?" and we sign it too. the two problems with this:

1. my bff has a 14 month old who's fav show is boobah, so it confuses it a little when we're over there.

2. in serbian booba is bug. in the future this might cause a problem, since we speak both languages at home...

in the meantime, it works.


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## NotTheOnlyOne (Oct 23, 2006)

My dh started calling it a "booby snack" while we were still in the hospital. Thats what we call it, but of course my ds doesnt talk yet. Sometimes I ask him (ds) if he is "jonesin' for a booby fix"


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## Thystle (Feb 7, 2006)

My second called it "Boo".

Everyone now tells my 3rd that it's "Boo" or "Boo-ey".

Ofcourse my 5 yeard old sometimes tells people his brother just wants/needs some "boobie".


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## mamadeJacob (Nov 24, 2005)

My sister's kids all called it nanas so I thought that would work but at 2 my son chose to call it "that". So now he has that!!!!!


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## littlemizflava (Oct 8, 2006)

well we are simple in this house i just say do u need breast my dd said brah then breast my ds makes a sound with his tounge for now he is 3 weeks old


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## Sarahfina (Oct 17, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *VeezieTG* 
we say booba. my dh says, "want bobba-booba?" and we sign it too. the two problems with this:

1. my bff has a 14 month old who's fav show is boobah, so it confuses it a little when we're over there.

2. in serbian booba is bug. in the future this might cause a problem, since we speak both languages at home...

in the meantime, it works.









Interesting. In Hebrew, Booba means doll.


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## mamak05 (Mar 20, 2006)

I ask:
do you want to nurse"
do you want some milk?
or say "yum, yum, yum?"

And she says:
num, na (yum, yum)
or signs for it
or both!

cute thread!


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## georgiegirl1974 (Sep 20, 2006)

I had been calling it "boobie" (you want some boobie), but now that she's getting a bit older and I don't want her shouting "boobie" in public, I've shortened it to "boo" or "boo boo." Also, my in-laws are staying with us for a while, and I guess I'm a little embarrassed about using the term boobie in front of them.


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