Breastfeeding a SIX year old - aibu?

I thought the science is that once stomach acid develops properly, it kills any of the immunity benefits of breastmilk. So after about age 2-3 kids don't get benefit from it, but very young babies have underdeveloped stomachs and do. I'm sure I've read that somewhere

I have a 6 year old son and can’t even imagine putting my nipple in his mouth. Possibly more my problem than anyone else’s! I breastfed both my kids but only as babies, I think there is a cut off in our society that is long before 6.

The twin prongs of the porn and formula industries have done a real number on some of you. But thankfully that’s not the mum in question’s problem. Good for her.

The weaning age for hunter gatherer societies has always been between age 2-4. Six is older than kids would be breastfeeding in nature

I don’t know, it just doesn’t sit right with me in the sense that I wouldn’t want those memories.

Saying that though, in some cultures and tribes, it is the norm to breastfeed up to around 7 years old. Perhaps it comes down to what is considered socially acceptable in a particular culture or society.

I suppose that depends on what kind of environment the children are bought up in, I.e an home environment that thinks breastfeeding is disgusting, or an environment where breastfeeding is advocated as being beneficial for a baby’s health and development.

Both my children remember being breastfed and neither of them are embarrassed about it.

OK to think about it another way…among the different ways you can comfort a child, which others offer nutritional and immunity benefit? None that I can think of. So why not provide a method of comfort that has extra benefits?

TBH main issue is that we sexualise breasts. I don’t think people would find it weird otherwise.

As someone who really struggled to breastfeed (breast shape, long story) and only managed to get to 3m with both her kids (because I couldn’t do it without being fully topless and lying down, so I had to basically stay indoors for 3m both times) I’m actually quite jealous. I’d have loved to have given my kids the health benefits, emotional benefits, and all the other benefits that come from breastfeeding for a long time.

The only thing I can criticise the mum in this case for (and I use the term very mildly) is telling people, because the world can be very cruel.

I tandem breastfeed - a 6 year old and a two year old. Eldest is a girl before anyone chooses to assume. Don't see what's wierd about it, there are two other children in my eldests class that still breastfeed and nobody pays any mind to it because its none of their business

It's not like a 6 year old is constantly on the boob, it's a nighttime thing as part of the bed routine

As for the benefits

For the child: comfort, immune support (a childs immune system isnt mature until well into the 6th year of life) emotional regulation, bonding, hydration and nutrition during episodes of illness (breatmilk counts as a clear fluid if a child is going into surgery and is easily digested so when they have stomach bugs it is often the only thing that stays down)

For the mum: lower risk of breast cancer (risk halves each year you breastfeed for), lower risk of osteoporosis as you age

So yeah mainly benefits for the child, but some useful benefits for mums health too

None of who's business? OP has asked an opinion thereby making it our business.

I think it’s none of your business

I come from a family where breastfeeding is normal. I remember (30 years ago) watching my little cousins (aged around 4) tucking their dolls under their clothes & clutching them to their chests in order to 'feed them.

What could be more natural & precious? 😍

Each to their own but I think her child will be super embarrassed about this in years to come. I don’t think breastfeeding is gross, it is beautiful, but I also think breastfeeding past a certain age is mainly for the mother not the child. There are so many other ways to bond with your kids past the age of 3 or 4.

You don’t suddenly start feeding a 4 year old. They were a baby and then a 1 year old and so on, it’s part of your relationship and you plan you’ll stop when one of you wants to - but it hasn’t reached that point for either of you. Some ND children it’s a regulating tool.

Really? Like you actually really truly don’t see how gross it is to remember sucking milk from your mother’s breast?

I’m curious why? They’re not sexualised to the kids, it’s a cuddle & milk, why would remembering closeness be weird?

Sexualised by a 6yo? What education are the 6yos you know getting?!

They also drink too, some of them will drink cows milk.

I just can't get worked up about a human child drinking human milk.

Natural weaning for humans is between 2 and 7 years, we’ve been conditioned by formula companies to believe anything beyond infancy is abnormal. Nearly every portrayal of infant feeding in the media involves a bottle (even Peppa Pig’s new sibling is bottle-fed!) this has skewed our perception of what’s biologically normal across the mammal world.

Extended breastfeeding is not only for the mother’s benefit, it’s so much more than just nutrition for the child. It offers comfort, emotional security, bonding, immune support, and a safe space for regulation during early development. Continuing for years is often a sacrifice for mothers, not a personal indulgence. It’s an act of love not self-interest.

I definitely wouldn’t want memories of drinking milk from my mums breast. I’m not sure anyone would.

maternal indulgence such as?

Children benefit greatly from being taught age-appropriate independence and bodily autonomy. Correct. However you are implying the mother referenced in this OP forces the child to BF, and that the 6yo has no choice. So, if the child asks to BF and the mother agrees to, whose bodily autonomy boundary is not being respected?

It really isn’t. Four year olds have three meals a day like everyone else, and a large majority of them are at school.

This grosses me out. Yes I know it’s what breasts are for but we can’t pretend they’re not sexualised. Pretending they aren’t doesn’t make it go away. I’d be worried about bullying. I’d not want my 6 year old hanging off a boob.. they have lots of teeth, it’s weird!

Benefits to a child’s immune system, brain development, less risk of obesity to name a few