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.

In our case - our child had a serious health condition. While we BF the symptoms were kept to a minimum once child weaned their health deteriorated significantly

OP if your child didn't naturally want to stop themselves, what age would you consider that you should stop, or would it be never?

I understand that completely, and the debate rumbles on, I was just using a common phrase that supported that posters point of view because I think it’s a great phrase.

Commiserations, I suffer from (chronic) back pain.😭

But ur DC wants to keep breastfeeding because you are letting her breastfeed!!!??? Surely your the parent so you control when she stops. What if she wants to breastfeed at 7/8 years old? Are you going to let her? I'd imagine there is literally zero benefit at this age to breastmilk for her growing body. So this is more a selfish psychological need on your part not your child's.

What’s that theory based on?

@ChinneyTits it came across as if you were trying to shut down discussion, due to the fact that it’s no one else’s business. But OP actually invited questions and opinions. If she wanted people to mind their own business, she wouldn’t have started a thread. So don’t tell people that it’s none of their business.

Come on darling, I’m not going to your campus to provide you with a drink. Go the student bar and get yourself a beer instead.

Tbh - world health organisation recommend at least 2 years so stopping at 1 isn’t best practise even if common. We stopped before 3 but the horror at following health guidelines feels a bit unfair.

I'm glad someone has posted who is an adult now who was breastfed until 5.
This is what I was thinking - aren't you worried your dc will feel embarrassed about it as an adult? And having such a clear memory of it.

This is am interesting thread. Thanks.

What's the rationale behind not making your son wean? I'm curious because I gently nudged mine to fully wean at around 2 and a half years, so I breastfed for a good while. It was the biggest non event! He had a little cry the first night we didn't do it at bed time and then he never mentioned it again. It had stopped sending him to sleep a year or more before that point.

I know it’s hard to keep up with the questions OP, but I’m genuinely curious about what you would do if your child was one of the small minority who remain able to latch despite losing milk teeth. Do you have a cut off in your own mind, or would you continue as long as your child wanted to, even if it got as far as secondary school?

No, not at all?! I responded with a phrase I love that matched that posters energy. I have engaged in this thread, I haven’t tried to shut it down at all. I didn’t tell anyone the thread isn’t their business and I haven’t tried to shut it down.

I think you’re reading too much into what I’ve said. It’s a common phrase used with regards to breastfeeding and formula feeding. That’s it. And why are you saying this to me and not the poster I responded to? Or anyone else? I’ve asked people my own questions and I’ve admitted when I am wrong on this thread. Your comments are extremely inaccurate.

It’s an interesting choice and I do question how much this is keeping him in a baby state and discouraging him from (naturally) growing up. I think now that there is a baby sibling it could actually mean your DS wants to prolong it in order to be close to you which again…I’m not sure is helping them mature.

As a parent my way of stopping bullying is raising decent, kind children who don’t bully. Maybe if all the other parents would do the same we wouldn’t have the little oiks. But as so many parents are happy to bully each other and their own children that won’t be possible I suppose.

I think it's ridiculous to assume that bullies don't have good parents. No parent expects their child to be a bully. I have known parents who have done everything right but their child has bullied others. My brother was a bully; I was not. My parents brought us up the same way, did their best with both of us. It's not as simple as, blame the parents.

You're assuming that the breastmilk is all the child gets. That is what you're missing.
I'm sure the OP's child eats from a plate and drinks from a cup.

Nursing at this age is usually only once or twice a day, for a minute or two.

I've only read OP's posts and want to say that she has responded in much the same way I would have done (I also allowed both mine to self-wean - age 3 1/2 and 4 respectively).
I think there are a lot of misunderstandings about BF a 4 or 5 yo and OP has done a good job in explaining.

I have explained it as well as possible.
Forget the breastfeeding and pretend we are talking about wearing a nappy. A baby wears a nappy. Sadly some children of five still do. A child of eight wearing one has been neglected. ( disabilities not included ) A fundamental basic of learning to be clean has been left unattended by the parent. They are still a baby in that sense. And have not moved on from baby behaviour.
And you can relate that to breastfeeding. If someone continued to breastfeed a child into the age of say ten, an aspect of social development would have not occurred. Not for our society. Which is where the child lives. And the parent has a responsibility to ensure these transitions, or change in behaviours happen.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should

Similar situation. He was placed on various immunosuppressants and there’s no question breastfeeding benefitted him tremendously as confirmed by every single HCP he met and all the evidence.

Er no. Not remotely comparable.

Maybe when he’s taking his driving test and the proctor has to sit in the front seat next to him.
In the US that’s 16 - I don’t know about the UK.

I let her feed because there is no harm in her doing it.

I've already mentioned that it's becoming uncomfortable now her milk teeth are coming out so I will be weaning her shortly if she doesn't show signs of weaning herself.i think by her 6th birthday in July, we have stopped.

Breastfeeding has to work for both parties - at the point where one of you feels uncomfortable, that's a sign to stop. Up until the last few weeks, neither of us were uncomfortable, although id very happily have stopped feeding about 2 or 3 years ago. However, now I'm getting uncomfortable, so there's our signal it's time to stop. If she'd shown any signs of wanting to stop, we'd have stopped.

(Apologies for the number of stops and stopped 🤣🤣)

Bullies are exclusively from the households of bullies.

Evidence??