Is it just a societal norm? (Breastfeeding related)

I’m not sure why it’s such an issue in the uk maybe because of the big push on formula over the last 50 years. It’s seen as weird/obscene to bfreast feed an older child. I bf ds until 15m and it was his choice to ween. A friend bf her son until he has 2 (21 months corrected) a doctor said she should stop at 18 m as he didn’t need it anymore.

Yes I was the same I cut dairy out for 18m surprisingly ds didn’t want the milk that smelt like rotting fish.

Humans are very good at putting down anyone who sets foot outside of the box of conformity. Thus, if the vast majority of the population drinks cows' milk, that is what you should do, and you're an oddball for preferring goats' milk or vegan versions.

Cows' breasts are called udders. They also produce a lot more milk than the average breastfeeding mother... like, up to 40 litres a day (depending on their stages of lactation and subsequent pregnancies), for years on end. They are believed to produce colostrum for the first 3 days (which is fed to their calf/calves), and then it is accepted as normal milk. Also, I read (in a book about dairy animals) that milk is the best thing that you can have, as it contains traces of virtually all vitamins and minerals, with the exceptions of things like iron and B12.

Furthermore, a lot of families can't afford to have one parent stay at home up until their child goes to full-time nursery or school, and I imagine that it's easier for nurseries to give everyone cows' milk rather than sorting through a vast array of breastmilk in bottles labelled with the children's names!

My DC’s are perfectly healthy so nothing negative about the decision. Hopefully you will be as lucky that your children grow up as healthy as mine.

Both my kids when to nursery at 9mo as I went back to work. Me and partner work full time and I couldn't express either. I still carried on breastfeeding when babies were with me, they just had water when at nursery. Just to say that you don't have to be a SAHM to carry on bf, you can make it work anyway it suits you - and stopping when it suits you is perfectly valid too. This is not a dig at all - just that often, when mothers say they bf for long, a lot of people just assume theyre SAHM and that's the only way to make it work.

I know what I did was the best thing for my DC’s, me and our family. DC’s are now in their mid 20’s so I have the advantage of seeing how well it worked.
You make lots of decisions as parents but have no regrets of how we decided to feed our babies.
I feel sorry that you have so little consideration for decisions others make.

I tried bf my son. I gave it my best shot, but it just didn’t happen.

I didn’t beat myself up about it.

In nature mammals aim to get their offspring to be independent so they can get on with having more offspring. So I'm guessing there is a strong natural tendancy to follow nature. Pre contraception most mums would be unable to feed 2 or 3 at a time you wean the older ones to feed the new.

Yea sure! Because deep down you know breastfeeding is better …. which it is.

I’ve only read to the bottom of the first page yet I can’t believe nobody has pointed out that the advice is that you need to give formula up until age 1 in place of breastfeeding. It’s only after the first year that it can be replaced with cow’s milk.

I never tried to breast feed as I didn’t want to - why would I need to try and make myself feel better when I did things the way I wanted to? What am I supposed to try and make myself feel better about?
Healthy and happy babies = happy parents.

I see SO many threads on here from posters who say they’re “exclusively breastfeeding,” but then their posts almost inevitably go on to say they give a bottle of formula every evening! 😂

The poster who first stated it has an interesting posting history. Suffice to say, she doesn’t have children, and doesn’t understand the weaning process.

I think your assertion that children are mainly at home with mum until they are 3 is wrong. I BF until just over a year at which point I went back to work and ds went to nursery and was also looked after by grandparents. Most families in our area have two working parents. I was also unable to successfully express I could do it but it took ages for a very small amount, I don't think I could've pumped enough for 4 days a week.

He was also using an open flow sippy cup by then and eating 3 square meals a day plus snacks. He grew disinterested before I did.

I know someone who BF until child was 3. They did a whole thing as he could actually understand it. I say go for it, I really wish I could've BF and if you're able to do it for that long then that's amazing!

I don’t know what thread posters are referring to but there were comments yesterday that you are selfish using formula as you aren’t putting your baby first and that you shouldn’t work at all if your baby is under the age of one and only part time until the age of three - some posters are totally odd and don’t live in the real world!

I always think it’s the people who are the least secure in their decisions that have the most to say.

Apart from the awful thread yesterday I find mumsnet full of breast feeding mums more than formula mums. Perhaps that’s because my child was formula fed and I just notice the difference more? I think I see the same things about people claiming teacher bashing is the only opinion about schools or that everyone is pro sleep training? We might just notice the people who disagree with us more?

@Parker231 of course it doesn't, I completely agree and I'm afraid I don't have a perfect answer for you. My response was that judgement is just as stupid and illogical as someone setting a time frame on how long breastfeeding is acceptable for.

You are publicly sharing that you’re judgemental of those of us who don’t try to breast fed. Why - it doesn’t make you a better mother.

No different than you can’t be positive about using formula? Many on Mn are judgemental on anyone doing something different than they do.

@PothasProblemsums it all up very well. I breastfed my DS until he was three and a half, I would of personally done it until he was ready to stop but unfortunately I weakened and the pressure of comments from others got to me. I'm proud of the positive feeding relationship I had with my son though and he's said he remembers how cuddly and warm he felt.

Personally I find people who don't even want to try breastfeeding odd, but that's me being judgemental about things that don't concern me. I accept that and wouldn't publicly share that thought as I understand how much it may hurt someone. I haven't always been so breastfeeding positive either I didn't even really want children but when I fell pregnant decided I'd do it as I kept being told 'it's best'. I then found it incredibly easy and getting my son to eat solids incredibly hard so we continued, it genuinely seemed to fix every baby/toddler illness/sleepless night/tantrum.

I find mumsnet very anti breastfeeding so I suppose I wasn't shocked seeing all those comments.