Does nursing a baby have different meanings?

[Babysafari]

Basically a family member was holding my baby and was on the phone. She told the person on the other end of the phone that she was just nursing the baby.

I thought it an odd thing to say as and looked a bit like this I understood it to mean breastfeeding, or possibly even comforting when upset.

Or does nursing also mean holding/cuddling a baby?

Iv always took it to mean breastfeeding. Don't know if there are other meanings!

I would take nursing to mean breastfeeding too

I guess it can also mean general baby care eg nursery, nursery nurse.

There are regional variatipns for this one - I know in Northern Ireland 'nursing' is used to mean holding/cuddling a baby.

*variations

Not just breastfeeding. It means you've got the baby and are giving him/her a cuddle.

Yep, nursing a baby means cuddling it in Yorkshire too.

I always thought it meant just holding them and being occupied with them but have realised that some people mean breastfeeding.

Yes, in Ireland it means having a wee cuddle.

It can just mean holding.
Also heard:
"Drink up, you've been nursing that pint all night"

Means bf to me.

It can mean both holding a baby or breastfeeding, but I think in the US it definitely means breastfeeding.

In NI it means having the baby on your knee. Never breastfeeding

To me it means bf, but also cuddling, rocking etc - Scottish

Yep in Ireland it means either a cuddle of a BF.

Could possibly be a generational thing too. My Nan thanked me for letting her nurse my baby after she'd just had a cuddle. Haven't heard anyone else say it.

It's only on line I've found it to mean BFing. In Scotland nursing means hugs, rocking, holding, comforting. Particularly with the very old generation

Weird - I'm known to utter the phrase 'DP, stop nursing that pint and get your round in, I'm out of wine' but in the context of a baby would always think breastfeeding. Thank you for making me aware!

I think Americans used nursing to mean breastfeeding and it has caught on here. When I was little, nursing just meant cuddling/rocking a baby.

Londoner - means giving a cuddle or bf to me.

Yes can def just been holding/cuddling a baby, not just breastfeeding. Infact, most people I know would just say "feeding a baby' if breastfeeding (or bottle-feeding for that matter) rather than nursing a baby.

Right so now we need to know where OP's friend is from.

Lots of peripheral round here call holding a baby 'nursing'.

My mum is Irish and we live in Yorkshire. Breast feeding is just called feeding.