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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

511 replies

Thisisaname · 10/02/2013 16:33

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.

OP posts:
Absoluteeightiesgirl · 10/02/2013 19:19

snow please see previous comment

Zappo · 10/02/2013 19:23

My 5 yr old is on the brink of giving up. Totally initiated by her. She's gone from suckling to just cuddling 99% of the time. To be honest, I never thought she would give up.

It's all done in private so I've never inflicted the sight on anyone who wouldn't be comfortable with it.

KD0706 · 10/02/2013 19:23

I'm sat here bf ing my almost one year old dd. she is still such a baby that I can't possibly imagine why pp think me feeding her is wrong in any way.

I bf my first till she was 20 months. (she weaned herself when I was five months pregnant with my youngest).

No idea how long I'll feed this dd. as long as she and I want to.

Absolute bollocks to the suggestion that people feed for their own sake rather than child. No way to force an unwilling toddler/child to breastfeed. Heck, there's virtually no way to force my toddler to do i anything!!

I personally don't fancy the idea of my child lifting my top and helping themselves. But that's where nursing manners come in. And very much each to their own.

I continue to be shocked by the prejudice shown towards breastfeeding overall and particular towards breastfeeding any child older than teeny baby

MoreSnowPlease · 10/02/2013 19:26

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request

whathellcall · 10/02/2013 19:26

Grin at bm not being necessary once child is eating a full and varied diet. That would be never then for my ds1, at 2yrs it took him 3 days to taste a smartie ffs.

Antipag · 10/02/2013 19:26

At the end of the day, I don't care what age other people BF till, or even if they BF, but I do care if they have an opinion about ME deciding to EBF.

Startail · 10/02/2013 19:30

I wish people would learn to read!

DD2 BF until she was 9, I'm not always explicit because she's a very socially astute child and she doesn't like me saying anything.

It was her decision not mine not to feed in public from about 2.
I wouldn't have been in the least embarrassed, but it does get difficult to feed except in bed or on a sofa, toddler legs reach a surprisingly long way.

She is now in year 7 and practicing teenage attitude for her and her big sister.

Zappo · 10/02/2013 19:31

Oh and when she first started reception I sometimes brought her home in a pushchair as she was so tired and grumpy. 5yr olds aren't so grown up as people seem to want them to be. They'll spend most of their lives being grown up- I'm not going hurry them.

MoreSnowPlease · 10/02/2013 19:34

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request

Ameybee · 10/02/2013 19:34

Breast feeding a teenager is both ridiculous & wrong IMO! Their friends would think they were weird & I think at that age it is not a relationship they should be having with their mother. I have no problem with extended bf should people choose to do it however I don't wish to hear about it 24/7 like its a million times better than FF - its a choice like everything else!

EauRouge · 10/02/2013 19:37

It would take a brave woman to force her nipple into the toothy mouth of an unwilling child. Also some impressive wrestling moves I would imagine.

Antipag · 10/02/2013 19:38

Ameybee the child in the article is actually only five years old. The teenager part is sensationalist BS from the journalism. If FF is what you choose then that is absolutely your right, but it is fact that BF is better.

Zappo · 10/02/2013 19:39

Just read the article-I don't honestly imagine you'll find any breastfeeding teenagers out there anyway - it was just a headline grabbing statement that completely skewed the article and comments

Ameybee · 10/02/2013 19:40

I agree BF is better for a baby - I breastfed both of mine but at 5 years I doubt very much there is a difference.

Absoluteeightiesgirl · 10/02/2013 19:42

'Media driven crap' is usually driven by the very women who BF older children. They are the ones featured in the articles/documentaries.

If you want to BF until your child is older then do it. That is YOUR choice. If you think that extended BF is ok then again.... That is YOUR opinion
Equally, accept that there are also people who don't think it is right blah blah blah for all the reasons already mentioned. So what! Deal with it and accept that there will be those who think it is weird/odd/wrong. Don't rip them to shreds and ridicule them because they don't agree with it.

Absoluteeightiesgirl · 10/02/2013 19:45

snow
And? Your point being?

Antipag · 10/02/2013 19:46

Can I ask for those that don't like EBF, is it the actual feeding part you don't like? So if the milk were expressed and given in a cup you wouldn't disagree with that? Or do you feel like a child shouldn't be having breast milk at all past a certain age?

Absoluteeightiesgirl · 10/02/2013 19:48

For me it is the actual feeding part. I watched a documentary a few years back. I tried to watch it with an open mind but I found it bizarre to say the least.

SirBoobAlot · 10/02/2013 19:51

It always amuses me when you get the unavoidable ''It's all about the mother past X age'' comments. Yes. Because a sensible woman would certainly force her nipple into a mouth. Naturally. Hmm

DS weaned himself in October, just before he turned three. I always wanted to get to a year. Then I learnt more. And things were going well. It would have been silly to stop when there was nothing but benefits for us both.

I would also breastfeed someone elses baby if I needed to. I don't see the big deal.

Antipag · 10/02/2013 19:52

Absolute, I don't think it's a case of ripping them to shreds but I think if a person has an opinion then they should be prepared to stand by it and defend it in the face of opposition.

MoreSnowPlease · 10/02/2013 19:53

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request

Zappo · 10/02/2013 19:54

Funnily enough although I am a natural term breastfeeder myself, I do find it strange to watch others do it on screen. I have never seen extended breastfeeding in the flesh and I would feel it intrusive to watch.

When I saw a mother feed a 5/6 year old in a documentary, I saw a mother feeding a large who has just come over to sit on her lap and yes it did look almost unnatural.

When I feed my own daughter I'm feeding a child who is just one day older than yesterday so it seems totally natural- maybe that's it.

Zappo · 10/02/2013 19:55

a large child

pigletmania · 10/02/2013 19:55

Antipag it's not th milk but feeding from te breast part. For me is associated with babies and toddlers , seeing an older child feeding from the breast would not sit well with me, seeing a teenager would be Shock

MummytoKatie · 10/02/2013 19:57

The bit that surprised me the most is "and even she and her husband have tried it!!!"

Why is that shocking? You are producing this food - constantly. Sometimes it sprays everywhere. Sooner or later it is going to spray on your hand. Of course you try it!

Seriously though - for those that ask about the benefits? How many people have posted on here that all their 18 month old will eat is green jelly? I see breast milk for toddlers as a bit like carrots. A good healthy food that is cheap and easy to include in a good balanced diet. Would they die without it? No. Is their diet better to include it? Yes. And the big difference is that dd never once refused breast milk. Or insisted it be cut into triangles. (Her current obsession. It's quite hard to make a carrot triangular.)

The other thing I remember about (fairly but not overly - we stopped at 2.3) extended breastfeeding was the time when my mum dropped a glass when dd was 18 months. Suddenly realised that dd's ear was covered in blood. If anyone else has a way they can immediately comfort a child in that situation so that they will keep still enough for dh to clean the blood away, examine the cut and check for any glass still in it then I'd be interested to hear.

If that day is the only benefit we get from the 15 months of breastfeeding past 1 then that day is enough for me.