AIBU to breastfeed my toddler in public?

[RainbowsFriend]

My 18 month DD still breastfeeds a lot. Day and night, if I'm around and not at work.

I don't have a problem with this, (although I would like more sleep! ) but it's increasingly becoming awkward when out and about, as toddlers don't cuddle in nicely but squirm and pop on and off a lot.

Today we were in a garden centre cafe, and having polished off most of her lunch, half of my sandwiches AND most of a flapjack, DD wanted mummy milk.
So I obliged. As discreetly as possible with one top up/ on top down, DD tucked in under my jumper and facing a wall.

Then all I can hear is the group of mums on the table behind me saying "it shouldn;t be allowed when they're that age - they should be down to morning and evening feeds MAXIMUM - in fact they should be on formula/cows milk by 6 months/a year" etc. There were about 5 mums all loudly discussing it....

I think my daughter should be allowed mummy milk for as long as she wants it personally. She's not still going to be feeding aged 8 - and she's only 18 months now! I am getting VERY fed up with stares when this happens and really don't want to be confined to the house. I could ask her to wait, but she doesn't really understand that yet - and just asks louder and louder

So WIBU to feed her in public?

No, the WHO advice is global.

"As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed1 for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health2. Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond."

Op of course ywnbu! The other oarents were rude!

An 18mth old bfeeding is normal, its the biological norm and its good for her and for you!

If this had happened to me i would have had to say somethinh to them"

Love a good bf dingdong.

Noooo it's not for me. I'd be happy to stop bf-ing my 3.5 yr old tomorrow. He would be devastated. So we continue. If it really bothered me we would stop, both parties need to be happy or it doesn't work.

We did stop for a few months when I was pg. It didn't lessen our bond or anything. But I do think it is a recharging, touching base kind of bonding thing for him. We just did that in different ways when he wasn't bf-ing.

I guess I see it the same way as his drinking cows' milk. Which he also does. It's good for him, it's a healthy part of his diet and he likes it. If he didn't want it any more it would be fine and he'd eat more of something else to make up.

I'm afraid I can't be bothered with the whole code word thing. Kids end up calling things what they call them. Mummy milk is what it is. I think it came to be called that instead of just "milk" when the default milk started to be cows milk. He doesn't want milk from any old breast, he wants it from his mummy. I wasn't planning to bf to this age, if I wanted to train him to use a code word I'd have had to start using it before he learned to talk. At which point I had no idea he'd want to bf so long, so why would I? Anyway the code words I've heard people using generally seem far more twee than a simple mummy milk.

He won't have to deal with the idiots anyway, he wouldn't ask for mummy milk (sic) when I wasn't there, so I'd always be there to deal with idiots if required. We've not met any idiots yet. Or if we did they were polite idiots and didn't pass comment

"So, more a case of what the mother wants then, in my opinion"

yeah, right. lolz.

Oh yes its totally about the mother.

Have you ever battled with a toddler to do something they don't want to do?

Now, imagine trying to persuade them to breastfeed if they didn't want to.

What bollocks.

Has anyone compared BF to urinating yet? That's the only one I'm missing.

Attention seeking behaviour....from the parent

mrskeithrichards said: I'm pretty sure no one said anything.
Many friend in RL complain of peoples nasty comments when their toddlers tantrum in public. I've never experienced that - people either supportive or give us wide birth. I clearly have a fuck of I'm dealing with it aura then.

Even though I knew bf was right for me and my DC having so many disapproving voices, family friends HCP did affect me and my confidence to continue.

If I could have just bf without noticing or having to deal with other people?s issues and ignorance I?d have bf in public longer and possibly overall longer ? who knows.

Op if they had much younger babies ? it might be a case of not considering the 18 month still a baby till they reach that point.

Attention-seeking behaviour from the parent!! This is comedy gold.

Link arms lactivists...

I hope you can carry on feeding in public and don't be put off.

But " mummymilk" does sound horribly precious .

Lactivists! Now call us the breastapo

givemeaclue, are those the things on your bingo card or your opinions?

Oh oh oh have we been called nipple nazis yet?

I like being called 'militant' because then I imagine myself to be a bit like a lactating Rambo.

at lactating Rambo. Now there is an image.

My son self-weaned 2.5. It wasn't about my needs at all, all freedom of choice on his behalf. People who criticise mothers for breastfeeding a toddler are as bad as the 'breastfeeding nazis'. Why not accept people make different parenting choices and leave it at that?

Whichever way you look at it everyone has opinions on something. However these women were point blank rude to shout it loudly enough for the OP to hear.

Op YANBU and keep it up. Breaking the stigma of it will help.

I once squirted my ex in the eye for being critical of breastfeeding. I may have done it by accident or on purpose, he'll never be sure.

"So, more a case of what the mother wants then, in my opinion"

Err, yes actually. It's actually been SAID by some on this thread that it makes them feel more bonded to baby and so don't want to stop.
So, yes, out of the mum's mouths themselves - it's more for what the mum needs, than the baby needs!
Funny how some shove their fingers in their ears to the things that are in black and white on the board, and hear what they want to hear.
So you can put your imaginary bingo cards away, I haven't said anything that hasn't already been said by some of the b/f mums already.

Bingo cards.

The mum may want to do.it but you cant MAKE a baby or toddler feed, so obviously the baby wants it as well, so no its not just about the mother!

My DS never wants to stop, Donkey. He told me last night, as he had hiss evening feed. I imagine I'll carry on until he changes his mind.

My 2.5 year old has a special song and a little dance he does when he wants BM.
'mummy milk' sounds like the very definition of discretion by comparison

I'm amazed how het up people get about this subject. My philosophy is unless you see a mother put a cigarette in their child's mouth and light it, mind your own business.

Oh such jolly japes!