AIBU to be surpised at an almost 7 year old still being breastfed?

[Toomanycuppas]

Met up for lunch with friends we rarely see last week and was not aware she was still b/f. Almost 7 year old came running back from the park, went to the mum and lifted her top up and she said "no, it's not an appropriate time for that".

I can understand that it's normal for the child but wouldn't they be teased by school friends if it's asked for/done in public?

"my children both chose to wean before 4"

Weaning isn't a choice that children can make, it's something they are guided and directed into doing for their own good by the person that cares for them best. Remember you are the grownup, you make the decisions, your children's choices are guided by their desire to please you and please themselves - there's no such thing as a child of four making a real choice in the same way that adults make a choice.

I do find it bizarre that people seem to have this view that anybody who breastfeeds past about a year is some kind of overprotective parent,

But we are not talking about the perfectly normal bfeeding of a DC of a child over a year, OP was talking about the abnormal bfeeding of a 7yr old.(My clip was of a 7.10yr old.)

I will agree wholeheartedly with MamaM's last post-you can't make a DC bfeed if it doesn't want to! This is why we have had only one person bfeeding a DC over 7 and the only person who has said they will answer my questions only has a 6yr old (although they might I suppose get to 7) Most DCs leave it behind.

My child asks for water or juice if he is thirsty, I don't know about others but I imagine it would be the same, it would be pretty inconvenient to have to be tied to your mum for the duration of the drink rather than being able to walk around (with a beaker or sports type bottle) or sit, for example while eating a meal or watching a TV programme, with a cup.

Breastmilk is corrosive if there are food particles in the mouth, but it is not as bad as walking around with juice in a bottle or beaker, as these provide a constant "bathing" for the teeth in sugars and acids which do cause decay.

On clean teeth breastmilk does not cause damage, it actually contains something which kills the bacteria that cause tooth decay so has a protective effect on tooth enamel overall.

Original article with research sources here:
kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html
(I have already stated and linked this earlier in the thread)

Yuk . Poor child .

I find it hilarious that some posters believe that women who haven't breast fed are insecure .

Replace a year then with arbitrary time person thinks is "normal" - my point still stands. It's a strange assumption to make IMO.

Maybe some mothers do encourage/somehow force their children to keep nursing in order to keep them babies, who knows? People have done stranger things in the name of parenting. I just find it bizarre that you're either trying to extrapolate this to everyone who feeds past or, at least, insisting on assuming it is the default position when everyone who has come on the thread who is feeding an older child or knows someone who is has been unable to back that up and in fact gone the opposite way.

You know, you keep asking what I or anyone else would do if our children wished to feed to XYZ age, but you probably won't get an answer, because the answer is, I don't know how I would feel at that point. I (personally) feel it is irrelevant because I fully expect him to self wean at some point before then. If he didn't, then I'd reassess if and when I became uncomfortable with it, but I think that is really the remotest of possibilities, so really not worth worrying about or concocting a plan for now, when he is only 3 and it's quite likely he will wean within the next year or so of his own accord.

I draw from that that you are feeding entirely differently from the DC in the opening post and my TV clip. Your DC has picked up that it isn't normal behaviour and that it is better not to mention it to friends. Therefore if you are both happy with it I can't see a problem.
I see a huge problem where a 7yr old is wanting to be fed in a public place (unless SN) or where a mother is allowing her DC to be interviewed on TV and having it on the internet where some of the comments are so sick I only read a couple. Why do that to a DC?
I also think that your DC is still in an infant class, not year 3 and that they will most likely self wean before they get to the juniors.

insecurity that should say. iPhone...
And as for 'poor child' what a truly twatty statement.

And I don't think whatmeworry is talking crap .

It depends on the mothers milk/ the mothers lifestyle / the mothers health and the baby as to whether breast is best.
In the grand scheme of things whats important is that the child thrives. A content mum makes a content baby .

I, too, see a huge problem with a mother allowing her DC to be filmed for an exploitative TV show such as that one. But I don't think it was the breastfeeding which was at fault, and to be fair, she may have been totally naive to how it was going to be portrayed when she agreed.

I can see lots of things that would make mum content that wouldn't make a baby content.

Of course it is a poor child if she does god forbid start her periods in 2 years !
Emotionally she will have a lot of adjusting to do .
It is very concerning that potentially a DC who will sprouting breasts in the next year is being BF.

It depends on the mothers milk/ the mothers lifestyle / the mothers health and the baby as to whether breast is best.

This is incorrect. Unless the mother is an alcoholic or on certain drugs, or the baby has certain (rare) allergies, breastmilk is always superior from a health point of view. The nutritional content is not affected by the mother's diet or health.

Breastmilk is almost always best

Happy mum/happy child bollocks is usually spouted when a mum can't be bothered to do something that is good for her child

And whatmeworry is talking crap because breastmilk has plenty of benefit after six months - cows milk/formula cannot compare

But, if the fact you didn't breastfeed and you have the need to clutch at straws makes you feel better nannyplum then go for it.

She wasn't naive-she edits a magazine and has also written a book about it. She writes weekly on a blog about her DCs with photos and accounts. She knows what some people think about bfeeding older DCs. She was determined to get her point across regardless.

Well actually I'm referring to a 26 YR old mother feeling more content FF ,rather than trying to breast feed with one breast due to having breast cancer .
In that situation yes a content mother is more important than trying to breast feed .

Exotic - I'm a little curious why this whole thing bothers you so that you have posted and seem to have very strong opinions on it. For me, because I bfed all dc and did so later than is common in this country, I'm finding it interesting to hear other mums experiences. But I don't actually know what you are contributing or gaining for that matter?

Ffs Namnyplum, this really isn't the thread for this. I really hate it when posters jump in and then almost shout out about some desperately sad situation in order to put weight to their POV.

You can bf with one breast, I have seen this done. And all the rubbish you spouted before wasn't about one person with a particular set of circumstances was it (some cases are understandable)

You still spouted a lot of crap before and don't really know much about the benefits of breastmilk beyond six months if you think whatmeworry is talking sense

And bollix breast milk is "best". Breastmilk is NORMAL, it's not the holy grail. It's what we mammals produce for our offspring. Anything else is substandard.