I still breastfeed my 5 year-old

[TandemFeeder]

I’ve had another baby too so am now a tandem feeder. Happy to answer any questions.

Now you are being insulting and rude to people. And not very nice. Just because they hold an alternative opinion. There is no need. Accept people have different views. We are not going to persuade people on here to change them. But just to air them. Be polite. Or your children might pick up on it. And be rude outside your home. You never know.

Children do not naturally move out of nappies. A potty / loo with toddler seat needs to be offered during potty training.

Similarly, most breastfed children are weaned by being offered meals and also milk from a sippy cup / normal cup when age appropriate.

It makes sense that a child is weaned before a new baby comes along.

I didn’t know this

so are you saying big teeth get in The way ?

Surely the child so then 7/10 depending when get all their 2nd teeth - would still be able to put a nipple in their mouth and suck ?

Exactly. Plus I know for a fact my child who was also fed until 5 wasn’t the only one in her year so the thing about a child being bullied is a joke because plenty of them are. The ignorance on this thread is embarrassing .

It’s not bullying to say a 5 year old with a dummy or breastfeeding is baby like, which is a likely comment from another 5 year old.

That poster said she was five years older so I presume it was the older children who bullied a small child for being breastfed and apparently other posters, like @Lorlorlorikeet, think it’s funny when children are bullied. Which explains a fair bit to be honest.

Thank you for responding. It’s interesting to hear your perspective. I genuinely don’t think this is the case for us but it’s something to keep in mind. My own preference would be for DS to wean now (especially as I have a baby as well) and have been more focused on not wanting him to feel rejected by trying to force that.

Nasty people will always be nasty people. Perhaps if they came from a loving household they would be a bit kinder.

Always find these conversations amusing when individuals are outraged/offended/calling safeguard concerns at human mothers providing human breast milk milk to their human children at a natural pre-weaning age but then happy to provide the breast milk from another species entirely-and even continue to drink it as adults!

‘Societal norms’ have definitely made us weird.

Absolutely, people are so ignorant and arrogant they assume their way is the only way and that the majority agree.

No, you shouldn't. It's a reflection on how shitty people can be. And quite possibly those health issues were part of the reason for the extended breastfeeding.

What a weird reply! Have you ever breastfed? Doesn’t sound like it. The baby/child doesn’t suck the nipple, but the areola.

When you say you’ll stop when they lose their milk teeth, is this when they lose one or all of them (or somewhere in between)?

Nope, that’s coming from parents. Children ask questions at that age, they don’t make judgements. And the appropriate response to those questions is that it’s not.

This is not true. Not everything entered into a CPOMS system, used as a safeguarding system by many schools, needs to be reported to parents. This is not a requirement. Parents can request information held about them, if they wish.

If a child has disclosed something to us it would not be a ‘false claim’ - it would be a statement of what a child had said.

I think you are mistaking a school safeguarding and reporting system to reporting something much higher up the system.

sadly some of the responses are awful here. I am medical and have done a lot of research on extended breastfeeding, which is also referred to as full term breastfeeding. It is only our culture that is repulsed by extended breastfeeding. This has all been influenced by the formula companies pushing something on society that has always been free when the woman breastfeeds. Studies in primates (who we have evolved from) suggest that many species of primate lose baby teeth at around the age that weaning would naturally occur from mum. This equates to around 6 years in humans when the baby teeth start to shed. In many cultures all over the world breastfeeding older children is deemed as the norm. It’s so sad that people are so judgemental.

Also there are so many other benefits to breastfeeding than nutrition alone. Breast milk adapts to your child’s needs as they grow. For example at times of increased brain development milk contains higher amounts of omega 3, breastmilk contains natural analgesic benefits and there is also the huge impact of socialising children through breastfeeding. Breastfed children probably do spend more time at the breast than bottle fed do and that eye contact and mentalisation process going on is far more increased. There are studies suggesting breastfed children have higher IQs. The list of benefits is endless. There is something so natural about it that it upsets me that people can be so ignorant when science literally backs that it is perfectly fine to continue. To say it’s self indulgent is just weird. Why? It’s a lovely bonding process and if you want to feed for longer you should.

Mine is not a great eater. We provide good food but it doesn’t always get eaten up as I’d like. Hence still getting some breast milk does feel like a nice insurance policy to have.

But that’s not how breastfeeding works.

from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK153490/#:~:text=The%20large%20ducts%20that%20lie,are%20inside%20the%20baby's%20mouth.&text=The%20baby's%20tongue%20reaches%20forward,This%20is%20called%20suckling.&text=When%20a%20baby%20takes%20the,can%20easily%20get%20the%20milk.:

-The nipple and areola are stretched out to form a long “teat” in the baby’s mouth.

-The large ducts that lie beneath the areola are inside the baby’s mouth.

-The baby’s tongue reaches forward over the lower gum, so that it can press the milk out of the breast. This is called suckling.

-When a baby takes the breast into his or her mouth in this way, the baby is well attached and can easily get the milk.

Really! That's what a teenage boy would say!

She said she fed him in public at Disney land when he cried so presumably would have no issues whipping a boob out at school pick up and breast feeding him in front of his classmates if he was upset..

But potty training doesn’t involve a toddler screaming for long periods of time and unable to sleep. And if it does, then that’s not normal and is a sign they aren’t ready.

I’m a DSL. I am mistaking nothing.

You are now back peddling. Are you recording this as a safeguarding concern as you first stated in which case parents must contacted (see KCSIE) or are you just writing it down for fun? In which case why? And again on what basis are you recording something that is not deemed a risk and has no downsides? Or are you just making up policy based on nothing?

David Walliams comes into my head.. biteee..
Seriously I don't believe it?
What they peers say? That's Y2??

A "norm", by definition, isn't something you do that most people don't. That is the literal opposite of a norm.

OP: When are you planning to stop? And presumably you don't breastfeed your five-year-old when you're out and about?