to have laughed when my fil told my dh

[biddysmama]

that he should stop me from breastfeeding now as dd is too old? (shes 2,ds is 1 and im pg)

do people do what their husbands tell them to? ive got a mind of my own thanks very much

OP YANBU. Actually, I'm quite encouraged by most responses on the thread. The majority are supportive and respectful of people's feeding choices. It wouldn't be mumsnet without the occasional twerp piping up with "weird" or "bitty" or "but they can walk".

It's normal, it's good, it's designed to continue for a few years, not a few weeks, and there is no benefit to a child, only detriment, to stopping it earlier because of social pressure.

Lovely post carrot :)

I would feed your child/children however you wish and I think you are AMAZING.

A post on risk.

If there is a 60% chance of an increase in you having a small black rain cloud following/raining on you all day if you wear one yellow and one red sock it does not mean that there WILL be a cloud following you all day. It means that, if you wear one read and one yellow sock the greater likelihood is that you will be followed by the cloud and the odds are reset every day!

Likewise, just because you FF/BF a baby it doesn't mean that FF babies will get stomach problems or that BF babies will avoid them. It just means you are shifting the odds by following one path or another.

There was a baby raised on beer who had no ill effects from it but that doesn't mean that all babies raised on beer would be ok.

ThinksThePoliticsOfBreastfeedingShouldBeRequiredReadingForAllTiggaxx

ThinksThePoliticsOfBreastfeedingShouldBeRequiredReadingForAllTiggaxx

Amen to that - it seems to have little to do with actual data. This thread has been an eye opener for me!

Another thing to add if it hasn't been said already (apologies if it has).

Before DS1 was born I had give bf very little thought. I certainly would never have considered bf a 3 yo (DS1 weaned at just over 3). If I had, maybe I would have thought it slightly 'weird'. Extended bf just kind of happens. It becomes part of the way you mother and therefore completely intertwined in your day to day life and that of the whole family.

As usual its the pro breastfeeders who label people nutcases/twerps etc when they disagree with them in any way shape or form...again Redsun reading what I haven't even wrote- where the actual frig have I said breastfeeding offends me? You are like a random cliche generator for the cause of breastfeeding! I just dont like it when kids tug at their parents top, try and free their boobs and help themselves, its bad manners imho but hey why should I express this view, its clear I am obviously ANTI BF by doing so

bimbo are you not anti BF older children (age 1yr+)?

On a fast moving thread where emotions understandably run high it is not always possible to read every word and draw the intended impression from each subtle nuance and to be frank you certainly come across as anti.

If you are not you might like to consider that

I think your FIL has avalid point, sorry!

I'm always amazed at the number of people who come onto threads like this insisting that a child who can walk/talk surely doesn't 'need' to be breastfed any more.

Would want to point out to those people that babies don't actually 'need' to be breastfed when they're born, they can be formula fed.

But people breastfeed because it's a) better for babies and b) nicer for babies than the alternative, and this is still true whether the baby is 1 month of 36 months!

interesting point spudulika

bimbo - i also assumed you are anti BF 1 year + from your posts.

"who label people nutcases/twerps etc when they disagree with them in any way shape or form"

Strictly speaking this tends to happen usually because someone thinks another poster is talking ignorant crap, rather than simply disagreeing with them.

And there is an awful lot of shite talked on this subject by people who know very, very little about it.

If you don't like children being breastfed then that is your problem, not that of the family concerned.

"As usual its the pro breastfeeders who label people nutcases/twerps etc when they disagree with them in any way shape or form"

And, as usual, it is the anti breastfeeders who spout unsubstantiated nonsense and vile judgemental comments.

"I just dont like it when kids tug at their parents top, try and free their boobs and help themselves"

Yes - we need to teach tiny children MANNERS!

And a bit of SELF DISCIPLINE!

Look Bimbo - kids who are still shitting their pants and wanting to suckle aren't generally amenable to adult lectures about impropriety. Yes - you can discourage them from trying to free your boobs in public, fair enough. But it's not really that much of a big deal is it? Really? In the scheme of things? It's like telling off a toddler for dribbling or getting mud on their shoes.

porcamiseria, what part of the FILs point do you think is valid?
That his son should tell his wife what to do?

"Thats what I find weird when kids act like their mothers breasts are toys to play with"

Does this video make you come out in a rash?

I suppose you get people who feel like Bimbo does because we live in a society where unselfconscious, natural term breastfeeding is as rare as hens teeth. So when they see it they think it's weird.

By the way - the seemingly random nipple twiddling helps release oxytocin, which encourages faster let-down of milk. Babies are smart!

OP, YANBU. I would also laugh in the face of anybody who spouted such ill informed rubbish, especially at the expense of my children.

Well done on you for BF your children, it is amazing.

I am BFing my nearly 13 month old DD and no plans to stop anytime soon. I just can't see why I should, just cos she can walk or talk etc etc. Breastmilk is better for her than cows milk...end of.

Makes me laugh that this even should me a point of debate. In my country of origin, two thirds of children are BF beyond 2, (not because of the lack of clean water either), because formula advertising has not persuaded health professionals that formula is comparable to breastmilk and doctors acitvely promote BFing. Breastfeeding a toddler is seen as entirely normal thing to do. And so it should be.

Where are you from choceyes, if you don't mind me asking

Where have I said im ANTI breastfeeding? Where have I ever said that? Do you even know IF I bf or how long for? No- assumptions and agressions all over

Im not anti feeding at any age, but I really dont think past the age of 2 its necessary.

Anyway thats my final say on this debate, its pointless trying to converse with the utter zealots this topic attracts, there seems to be very little middle ground, its as if a klaxon goes off in some weirdy beardy commune somewhere and attracts them all

aggressions? to be fair, you're the one using caps, putting faces in, speaking agressively in your posts and double repeating questions.

i would have thought using the term 'pro bitty' probably suggests you are anti-breastfeeding, no?

LOL. Nothing like saying you're leaving and then hurling insults.

I used to think it was weird that dh had been bf till he was 4 and used to smirk when telling friends. However i then went on to bf ds till he was 4 and dd till she was 3. Even mil was against this as she had since been influenced by the whole formula propaganda and dh's sister and other female family members all bottle fed.
I can certainly see how for someone who has no experience of natural term breastfeeding that the whole pulling at the top thing must seem weird but bf an older child comes with it's own set of "norms" and if you're not used to seeing and experiencing it every day then you really have no idea how such a relationship works. It's not the same as wanting a bottle and going to the fridge for one or wanting a favourite teddy and clinging on to it, poking it's eyes, pulling it's ears etc because breasts are obviously part of our bodies and if you don't breastfeed you wont experience a child doing this to your body. I'm not making sense, I know.
Children don't get the whole what's socially acceptable when breastfeeding. THey treat breasts the same way they treat their favourite teddy. It's only older people who have been heavily influenced by our bottle feeding, breasts on page 3 culture who feel that it must be sick and it's for the mother and it's unnecessary.

Ds is now 15 and believe it or not is completely normal. He's just come back from flying to Canada and back on his own, cooks his own meals now and does his own laundry. I've always worked full time. We're not hippies or sick.
No wanting to cling onto babyhood here.