to hate it when people offer to "nurse" my child, when they mean hold?

[bohemianbint]

I know, it's an old people thing, and I am probably being a tad unreasonable, but it's a phrase I hate in that context.

I nurse (breastfeed) mY child, and everyone else can just hold him.

AIBU?

Where are you all from (or where are your MILs who say it from)? I've never heard this expression before and wonder if it's regional?

"Nurse" meaning "breastfeed" sets my teeth on edge slightly because it always sounds like it's a euphemism to avoid saying the er you know women's chests word.

DiscoDizzy, I would have had less than no idea what your friend was on about!

Agree about nurse being euphemistic for breastfeeding. But my parents always used to nurse us when we were children. Even my Dad.

I don't see it as a euphemism either! oh I am being argumentative on here tonight aren't i lol?

I think that a lot of people prefer it to breastfeeding because they feel that it isn't just about the feeding.
for me, breastfeeding ds2 is a lot more about comforting him than it is about getting milk down his neck, and so breastfeeding just doe4sn't seem "right"
nursing doesn't have the connotation with feeding per se... just a kind of cuddling and booby and all being happy and snuggly iyswim?

Then there's always 'nursing a cold'...

or a beer... lol

....and of course "nursing a hangover"

Nursing in both breastfeeding and nurturing/tending contexts has been in use since the Middle Ages. My mum uses it, and I don't have a problem with it. However, I have irrational dislikes for words - "boobs" for example, so it's fair enough to personally dislike a word, without assuming someone saying it is wrong.

quite! for example. I really, really, really, really hate the word "gifting"
it makes me just want to kill people for saying it.

thisisyesterday -I once started a thread about a sign in M&S that said "Gifting".

It really wound me up and still does everytime I walk past it

yes,m there is one in sainsburys and I feel like tearing it down.

I don't think I have ever heard "nurse" used in the context of just holding a Baby...
I have only ever heard it used as in breastfeeding or as in looking after a poorly child....

I don't think it's an older person's thing, I think it's a Yorkshire thing! My dp's family all say things like "Ohh, can I have a nurse?" or"Doesn't she love being nursed?"

Now, AIBU to hate "nurse" meaning breastfeed? ISn't it an Americanism?

I think it may be more commonly used in Northern areas. My friend is from Yorkshire and always uses the word "nurse" to mean "cuddle" a baby. When she was b/feeding she said she was b/feeding. If she was comforting/cuddling her baby (or mine) this was referred to as "nursing"

Definitely agree it is a northern thing, my friend(a Mackem) 'nurses' her f/f baby, meaning she cuddles him.
I think it is sweet!
I'm originally a southerner, and I wouldn't use nurse at all - I 'feed' my baby (who is bf) or I 'cuddle him'. Or, I give him a love

Yabu I think, I like it, my nana says it (she is 90 and we are northern)

My Australian friends say it when we would say 'cuddle' or 'hold'. I was scared stiff when I first heard it (was not at all maternal in the 90s) as I thought they wanted me to either (a) feed it or (b) mend it. Neither of which was attractive.

It's a v common turn of phrase round here, especially among the older generation. I see nothing wrong with it, it reminds me of my gran and old ladies cooing over babies as I was growing up, it has nice associations for me.

My Mum says it to mean a long cuddle to get the baby off to sleep - not just a quick hold.
When the kids are sick she would say 'all they want is nursing' to mean being comfoted and touched all day.
When you 'nurse' someone you make them feel better and what could be better for a child than being held?
Who care what someone calls it if they're offering to do something fantastic?

But if you know what it means, why let it bother you?

i would just be confused as to why somebody wanted to breastfeed my child!

I am over 40, a northerner and a children's nurse so probably my opinion won't count, but if I came on duty in the morning and somebody said baby A had had to be nursed all night I would think (in this order!)
a)The baby had had to be held and cuddled all night.
b)The baby had needed nursing intervention all night.
c)(although this probably wouldn't enter my head)The baby's mother had had to breastfeed him/her all night.

nursing just means cuddling and holding to me. Grandad's very good at it. having said that he might have made a better job of breastfeeding than my sorry attempt.

the euphemism around here for breastfeeding is 'feeding her/him yourself". As oppose to the out-of-body experience that is bottle-feeding I suppose

i think its sweet

Interesting it seems to be northern - I'm a Mackem (though my Geordie dad hates to admit it) and I've never ever heard it before.

You learn something new every day.

Seeker - I first heard it from one of the mws at York hospital when I had my dd, which would support your Yorkshire theory.

LOL @ Arabica 'b. mend it'!