Mum asked to stop breastfeeding a TWO YEAR OLD in shoe shop.

Why is it weird and icky? You realise it's totally biologically normal don't you? You find it weird and icky because society has sexualised breasts.

What utterly pathetic people the pair of you are. Imagine being so truly uptight and miserable the sight of a human breast doing the thing it's designed to do is offensive and uncivilised to you.

99% of the time when a woman is breastfeeding in public you don't even see the breast FGS.

So you just have a problem with extended breastfeeding in public? At what age is someone allowed to breastfeed in public in your view?
Or do you need to find out the reason first? Nutrition acceptable but comfort not? Do we need to ask the baby what their primary purpose is before each feed? Genuinely interested.

I’m not and have never said a baby should be weaned before 2, I don’t have a problem with extended BF! If you have read my posts that is not the argument I’m making. I wouldn’t give a 2 year old a dummy either….they shouldn’t be used after the age of 12 mths.

I think some people do sort of do this out if principal, in a slightly performative way. A two year old can be given a drink or snack if hungry or thirsty, or given a hug if upset, and does not need to suckle as their only means of comfort, nutrition or fluid, so they can just wait a few mins until you are somewhere more appropriate. I wouldn't give my child a snack or drink in a shop either I'd expect them to wait until we were outside.

I find it a bit weird/icky when someone opts to breastfeed their child into the toddler years but ultimately it's their choice and women have an absolute right to breastfeed in public regardless of how old their child is.

So you've made a comparison with a dummy, but it's a poor one.

Breastfeeding facilitates a moment of closeness and connection with the mother.

Breastfeeding is discrete event. It starts and then it finishes, the child moving onto something else.

Breastfeeding for a toddler cannot be conducted at the same time as going for a walk, playing with toys, exploring, interacting with others etc

Whereas a dummy can sit in a child's mouth, indefinitely, preventing them from using speech whilst they engage in a wide variety of activities completely ignored by their parent.

And I'm not trying to demonise dummy use, I'm sure there are times that using a dummy is totally fine and a helpful comfort tool, but worst case scenario is above which can negative and is linked to poor speech development. Which I expect is why you are trying to liken breastfeeding a toddler to sticking a dummy in.

And yes actually, far from being hypothetical researchers in several countries have already measured a modest positive correlation between duration of breastfeeding and increased educational attainment and IQ. Why don't you Google it?

(Can't attach the image unfortunately but here's a link: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(15)70002-1/fulltext)

This graph is from a prospective study carried out in Brazil, published in the Lancet, for instance.

You are right that this is a topic meriting further investigation - but who will fund it?

You know a dummy was used to imitate the breast and not the other way round right?
As in the breast was a natural form of comfort designed to feed and comfort a baby well into toddlerhood.
The natural weaning age for 95% of human history was a 2.5-4.5, older in some cultures. Definitely not before 2. So it's entirely natural to use it as a source of comfort and entirely natural for a baby to not want to wean before this age. It's actually you that's odd for thinking they are too old and should use something else.

Breastfeeding a 2 year old is quite reasonable, we need to get rid of this idea that breastfeeding is something that needs to be done in private.

Of course it's about the mother, not about the child at that age, at least be honest about it.

It's ok for children to grow up you know, now that's natural!

@Daaaaahling it makes me laugh that you think my argument is because of the sexualisation of breasts! It’s a surprise to leap to that when my argument is solely that a 2 year old is at a developmental stage when a parent has other means to comfort that child and that some mothers use the breast as they might use a dummy. If you took a sample of 1000 uk children who were social group matched and divided them into children who were BF for 6 weeks, children who were BF for 6 months, those who were breastfed for 1 year and those who were BF for 2 years do you honestly think we would find measurable cognitive/ emotional developmental differences?

Having seen this influencer/content creators social media I now feel completely different about this story. The child she parades about on social media looks much older than two. 100% publicity.

I breastfeed my 15 month old anywhere she needs it, I will continue until she weans herself and will continue doing it on demand wherever i am whatever age that may be, I'm not going to allow her to cry because someone might not want to see me breastfeeding.

It's not the only option. It might be the best one, depending on the situation. Why does it need to be a last resort? What's wrong with it?

2 year olds adapt their behaviour to the person they're with. They don't expect people who aren't their mother to breastfeed them. It's as simple as that. It doesn't cause problems with their behaviour in other contexts any more than having one bedtime routine at home causes children problems having naps a different way at nursery.

You might know the answers to these questions if you'd ever breastfed a 2 year old. Breastfeeding a toddler isn't easy on the mother. It doesn't always easily fit around work or around other people's expectations. You might find yourself thrown out of a shop for instance. Or leered at by a creep. Or chastised by other women online (who ought to know better). That's why so few women do it (in our culture). It's something to choose as a child led way of parenting which is completely developmentally appropriate... Which is why children and their mothers are perfectly adapted to do so well into toddlerhood. Do you think evolution got this wrong and it's modern consumerism that has shown us the light?

The guidance is to breastfeed for a minimum of 2 years, in other words, yes to carry on beyond that as you wish. There hasn't been a lot of research into extended breastfeeding, because research has to be funded, and this often comes from companies who are setting out to sell a product. Breast milk isn't a product that can be sold. There is good anthropological evidence to suggest that extended breastfeeding is our evolutionary norm. So what evidence do you have to support discouraging, shaming and/or penalising this entirely normal human behaviour?

Why do you think breastfeeding a child now is setting them up for distress? Do you have anything to back this up? There are lots of things we do to comfort young children which they gradually move away from. We don't need to force very small children to grow up. They grow up whether we want them to or not.

Are you going to move onto cuddling next? Comfort toys? Did you decide at what age you were going to wean these activities? Have you ever said "Darling you're 4 now, so mummy's not going to sing twinkle twinkle any more, it's not appropriate and what would people think when you go to secondary school?"

What this comes down to is patriarchal sexualization of women's breasts. They are an organ whose primary purpose is to feed and comfort infants and children. End of. If you find breastfeeding children too sexy to comfortable with it, that's really a you problem.

Exactly so why is BF the only option at age 2?

Nearly all 2 year olds are permanently with an attachment figure. Maybe not their primary one. Most of whom will comfort them in some way if they are distressed - they should not be being forced to tolerate distress. This could be a nursery worker or a dad for example.

How ridiculously judgmental! Some babies feel more comfortable breastfeeding will refuse a bottle, so it is utterly disgusting to shame the mother. If your child is hungry, then you're going to feed them because otherwise they will kick up a fuss and not feeding them is neglect! As part of the equality act, mothers breastfeeding is something they have a right to do anywhere when it's needed. World health organization actually recommend breastfeeding until two years and beyond, so that mother is doing the best for her child! Breastfeeding also provides anti-bodies to stop them getting sick! Do you want to get a child sick?!

Perhaps if you read the quotes I was replying to when you quoted my message. I am arguing that a 2 year old doesn’t need on demand BF and that parenting a distressed 2 year old involves developing other skills seeing as a 2 year old is not attached to its mum 24/7.

I always find comments like this the worst when it comes to this debate. Firstly this post is about a toddler who is 2, not 5 or 6. I couldn't possibly comment on the woman that you were quietly judging whilst she fed her own child peacefully at the bus stop.
I breastfed all my children to two, but I know many people who breastfeed beyond that. I have never known a mother breastfeed this long because she wants her child to still be a baby. A breastfed toddler is usually very attached to breastfeeding. Taking away a very natural form of comfort can be difficult for them. There are lots of women wanting to stop but finding it very hard and there are plenty who want to continue as it feels right for their child they believe in the benefits.
What truly irritates me about comments like these it is confirms that there are people out there watching and judging these mothers, thinking they are selfish or gross ot that they've developed some weird and damaging desire to babyify their child. It's this attitude that confines mothers to their homes or makes them feel ashamed. Sometimes it makes women force wean children and cause them distress. How someone can look at a toddler breastfeeding and think it is weird is totally beyond me.

There is plenty of evidence for extended breastfeeding. You’re being totally reductive. Nobody is saying that bf a toddler is the only way to comfort them. But is is an easy, quick and guaranteed way to do it. You are advocating “teaching” a child to self soothe. So presumably not offering comfort when they are distressed but making them tolerate the discomfort. There is plenty of evidence that this is not optimal for a child and can cause trauma if done repeatedly. No I won’t provide links because I’m off to collect my 14 year old (who is incidentally not still breastfeeding) from school.

Where did you get that idea from?

But you are happy to perpetuate the idea that mothers who can’t or don’t do extended BF are somehow traumatising their child or not nurturing them properly?

the getting the breasts out in public is odd as you can’t see anything anyway!! It’s not like the woman sits there topless!

It isn't 'getting your breasts out'. Its feeding a child.