Is it just a societal norm? (Breastfeeding related)

Your kids and your cousins kids are not the population so, yes, they are irrelevant to this conversation.

Anthropologically children are supposed to be breastfed much longer than they usually are these days. Not just for health and nutrition but for ideal spacing of pregnancies - in cave dwelling times the older child would need to be able to walk well enough to keep up with the mother who would be carrying the new baby.

In these times it matters a lot less because formula is very good nutrition for babies and we have reliable contraception. There are some additional health benefits to breastfeeding but these are now thought to be much more marginal. It's also very convenient in the early weeks when feeds are so frequent. Overall though people can do what they want and like and what suits their family set up.

Breastfeeding worked fairly well for me so I did that in the early months. I then introduced some bottle feeds in preparation for going back to work. Planned to BF in morning and evening once I returned but once they were on mostly bottles they preferred that as the milk comes out faster when they are hungry! (I never let them just comfort suck as i didn't want to be a human dummy so they didn't have that association with the breast, though that in itself is a personal preference.) I pretty much gave up by 6 months and all was fine.

It really doesn't need to be controversial at all. Mothers should do what works best, that's it really. A very substantial proportion of the population was reared on formula milk and are perfectly healthy, you'd never guess who was and wasn't.

YANBU

I enjoy milk and I also nursed my children and weaned them off at 2 but I do side eye people who have an issue with women nursing their children with human milk and think they should swap to another mammal’s milk because it’s weird to them or they have their own personal issues around breastfeeding.

How does that make sense? How is the milk made from cow’s superior to the milk made from the mother’s?

Besides, over half the world’s population (65-68%) is lactose-intolerant.

Yes I do know what you mean! I’m only going on what the research shows. Only 1% of babies are exclusively breastfed to six months so I would imagine that supplementing with formula or pumping would affect ovulation and that may explain it?

@jannierno one is attacking anyone. However you cannot argue with the huge mounds of evidence that show that, at a population level, breastfeeding is healthier than formula.

I have nothing against formula. If a baby cannot be breastfed then formula is a wonderful invention that keeps babies alive and growing. If I couldn’t breastfeed then of course I would be giving formula!

It is relevant - the only babies health I’m concerned about are my own.

But how many mothers do you know who relied on that form of contraception and had two under 1? I know at least 2 ....so although it suppresses it doesn't do so reliability let alone for years.

@CommissarySushiI don’t think we’re going to get very far here 😂

I don't think it's fair to attack or guilt trip mothers for any method used to feed a baby. Do you know the medical history of every Bottle fed baby or mother, do they know yours?

Studies show that women would naturally have a baby every 3-4 years as breastfeeding suppresses ovulation. From an evolutionary perspective, it would make more sense for a mother to have only one small baby to look after and protect rather than several small children

Good lord. Population level! Anecdotal "evidence" is irrelevant.

That’s because it’s at a population level not an individual level!

I am not saying I disagree with BF after a year but possing it as a hypothesis.....as we have a gestation period of 9 months it is very possible that are ancestors had new borns alongside under 1s alongside an under 2 and an under 3 if they were to bf every child to 5 women wouldn't have survived...their inborn motivation would have been reproduce and get each child to independence especially given mortality rates. So is it really natural to BF every child for years? It's to debate nothing else.

I care that those who use formula are supported and not made to feel guilty about their choices. You aren’t a better mother by breastfeeding or in any way selfish by using formula.

DC’s as babies and toddlers were actually healthier than their breast fed cousins. They had allergies, mine didn’t.

@Parker231you seem to care otherwise you wouldn’t be commenting on a thread about breastfeeding!

@Parker231 But ultimately, not as healthy as breastfed ones. There is no arguing that.

Same as I would never make a decision to breast feed but don’t care whether you do.

Breastfeeding is pushed at you as soon as you’re pregnant. Everyone is perfectly capable of researching feeding their babies in the same way as you research which cot to buy, which nursery to visit, which school to attend. Formula fed babies are perfectly healthy.

@Parker231I don’t personally care whether a particular woman (a friend or a stranger) breastfeeds or not. But it is important at a population level. There is so much research and data surrounding the health benefits to both the child and the mother. You’re right in that you can’t tell from looking at a child how they were fed and, like you said, your children are perfectly healthy. But that data is at a population level, not an individual level

@CommissarySushi And also the reduced risk of certain cancers in mum (if breastfeeding over a certain time) also helps society as a whole?

@Parker231 That's what I said? I don't care how you feed your own baby, even if it's not a decision I would ever make personally.

It matters on a population level. No, you can't tell the difference between formula fed and breastfed children by looking at them, but increased breastfeeding rates does mean an overall healthier population. Breastfeeding should be encouraged.

Many of us choose not to breastfeed - it’s a positive decision, not something we’re ashamed or guilty about. It’s only on Mn that posters are obsessed with how others feed their babies. In real life no one is interested as it doesn’t matter to anyone else.

That sounds like so thing for the author to work on in therapy? Not a reason to curtail breastfeeding earlier than one party wants.
(I dont intend to still be BFing by 3 but im not relishing the prospect of forcing him to wean, I can't see him doing it naturally any time soon and he's nearly 18m)