To think their is NOTHING wrong with extended breastfeeding or wet nursing?

[Thisisaname]

Look at the comments below

I was researching extended breastfeeding and came across this.
I see nothing wrong with this, I wouldn't be 'scared' for life if I could remember being breast fed or found out I was given someone else's milk.
I think the only 'scarring' would come from going from the natural environment of being fed from something to then finding out a large majority find it sexual, not the actual feeding itself.

Yes eau I agree Wth you, easily yes we are entitled to an opinion on bf its a democratic country, yes people will challenge our view whether it's extended bf or not agreeing with it. How boring it would be if everyone agreed with each other

Well AIBU would be a bit shit if everyone agreed with each other, that's for sure

Yes it would

*more independent adults.

Seriously though, it would be nice to hear things like 'extended breastfeeding isn't for me, I don't like the idea of it' rather than 'extended breastfeeding is sick/wrong/abusive/disgusting etc etc'.

You can have your opinion, but that doesn't mean you aren't completely wrong.

Zigzag
Many thanks for the kind appraisal of my character. Well done.
Luckily there are those on here who, while disagreeing with me have at least made the effort to engage rather than resorting to infantile name calling

Calling breastfeeding disgusting and gross and saying how uncomfortable you are with it is more infantile, surely? Akin to a bunh of squealing school girls being grossed out by a worm. Get. A. Grip.

Eau I don't think I've been nasty just said I personally don't agree with it, wouldn't be for me. Easily that is objective, it might not be sparing for you but for another oerson and culturally it's not normal

Meant wrong doh silly predictive text

Easilybored
If you have read the entire thread you will find I have not called it disgusting/ gross or said it makes me feel uncomfortable. As I have said I am expressing MY opinion on EBF. If you have difficulty accepting a different opinion then perhaps it is you who needs to 'get a grip'.

No easily that's your opinion, i admit some of the language on here is nasty

But there are no legitimate reasons for thinking that it's gross or disgusting. None.

Piglet, you did say that older children should be 'moving on'- this is not your call to make for other families. And no culturally it isn't normal but that doesn't mean that it's wrong for everyone. You weren't rude but this kind of comment chips away at the confidence of mothers who are just trying to do what they feel is the best thing for their family.

Maybe there's a misconception that women who breastfeed older children are militant, in-your-face lactivist types that are not affected by what anyone else thinks- we're just normal mothers, that's all.

Easily you are putting words into my mouth nowhere have I said its gross or disgusting. I have only voiced my opinions on here but noway would I tell a mother URL my feelings. On a forum like this especially in Aibu you will expect differing opinions if a mother needed that kind of support breast or bottlefeeding section would be better!

Eau
I spent some time looking online re: comment you made about last night abiut sexualisation of breasts and EBF etc etc. There were a few interesting articles although they tended to focus on women as a whole rather than just boobs. Definitely a cultural thing. One interesting slant was the powerful influences/control that men have had on the sexualisation of women and it wasn't just taking about the obvious porn/page 3 etc etc.

Yes Absolute, I'm sorry about that. I have reported myself. I was being harsh.

I do think you should consider how any bf woman would take your comments very personally, with the feeling sick when you see it etc.
Made me quite angry actually (hence the little outburst).

I shall leave this thread now.

zigzag
I understand your angst but at no point have I said it makes me feel sick.

Been lurking avidly (if there is such a thing!) on here, and I'm delurking to thank Absolute for reading those links.
I was an extended bf-er...DS 2.5 yrs, DD almost 3. The way your bf-ing relationship evolves over time means it just fits into your daily life and you don't really notice or think about it.
You're not feeding a 2yo round the clock, like you are with a newborn; by the end if bf-ing both DC, it had tailed off to a morning and night feed, then an increasingly brief bedtime feed. Both decided for themselves when to stop, but as DS stopped a few weeks before DD was born, I think he was pushed rather than jumped!
I'd have been happy to tandem feed, though.

I think the feeling of not liking walking talking bf-ing comes from the sexualisation of boobs. People feel it's ok for an infant, as the infant doesn't know it's a breast, doesn't know about page 3 and so on. Cut to a child asking for a feed, we can see the child is aware of its surroundings, and its mother's body. It's aware it's a breast, and maybe people think that the child should be avoiding a SEXUAL part of its mum's body. However, bf-ing is the primary purpose of a breast, and even at two, three, four, is nothing but a comforting squishy source of milk! Most deffo NOT a devil's dumpling!!!

absolute you are dead right. There is also a lot of pressure for women to give up breastfeeding early so that their husbands can 'have their breasts back'! As if they never even belonged to the woman This is a really good blog post about breastfeeding as a feminist issue.

You can find a feminist with a view on everything from any side

French feminist Elisabeth Badinter argues that breastfeeding ? along with natural labour, co-sleeping and giving up work ? all amount to an ideal of motherhood that effectively subjugates a woman's professional, sexual, spousal, adult identity. "If 24 hours a day the woman is reduced to her role as a nursing animal,

dont listen to French feminists.........

ah but her views are just as valid as anyone else's.
They just dont match the feminist party line you want.

cantspel
But ultimately we ARE animals.
Perhaps it has more to do with the ongoing perceived battle that women ' want to have it all' and it is inevitable that they have to/ are forced to make a choice as to what their priotities are as BF/EBF does not tend to fit in with being a working mum (god I hate that term) Could it be argued that it is the constraints placed on women by the working environment has meant that it is inevitable BF stops sooner rather than later so women who EBF are a minority. Because of this it is not seen as 'normal' or a common practice and as such generates a real polarisation of opinion.