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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

To find breastfeeding a 2 yr and 3 month old unsettling and slightly repulsive?

326 replies

Thinkingpositively · 31/05/2013 23:23

I am guessing this thread might upset some people but really...? DH and i were shocked to learn someone we know is breastfeeding a child who can walk and speak and self determine...dh wouldn't discuss it over lunch...

OP posts:
amothersplaceisinthewrong · 01/06/2013 12:53

Each to their own. It's hardly shocking though, quite common I thought.

Gruntfuttock · 01/06/2013 13:02

I knew someone who breastfed her son as soon as he got home from school, (she had 2 younger children as well as several older) and although I thought it odd and unusual I certainly didn't think it was repulsive. That's a really peculiar word to use for something like breastfeeding.

aamia · 01/06/2013 13:07

It's a cultural thing. My dad thinks it's odd to bf beyond six months (LO is 9 months now, so I've hardly gone miles beyond that!). I'm not sure when we'll stop. I said when LO is one, and can go onto cow's milk, but I worry that he'll lose the huge advantage of the immunity he gains from anything I catch. I work in a school and catch a lot of bugs, some of which are quite nasty. It seems unfair to leave him open to those with his immature immune system, without the (free, easy) boost that bf gives him.

KatyDid02 · 01/06/2013 13:07

I don't think YABU to think it (your opinions, your choice - though I don't agree with them) but I would say YABVVU if you voiced those opinions to the person concerned.

None of your business really.

SESthebrave · 01/06/2013 13:13

AIBU to be repulsed that you are repulsed?

That was very strong wording to use in your OP but I'm glad you didn't run off and hide and have explained that you are open to listening to different advice and opinions.

I was determined to BF DS and initially set myself the goal of 6mo but in the end he self-weaned at 21mo. I'm now feeding DD who is nearly 12mo. As they eat more solids, they need fewer feeds and so Bfing an older child isn't something you would see so much. Be assured though that it is perfectly "normal".

Oh and MNHQ, please don't delete this thread. I ask this in the hope it will educate many more mothers to be.

TallulahBetty · 01/06/2013 13:13

Hmm. I don't think YABU for simply having that opinion. You're entitled to have that view on it!

DebsMorgan · 01/06/2013 13:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Rainbowinthesky · 01/06/2013 13:28

Dh was bf till he was 4 and pre-children I would tell thus to friends with a knowing look in order to supprt my view that he was a bit if a mummy's boy.
Of course I went on to bf DS till he was 4 and DD till she was 3.
I dont blame the op for being ignorant. I should most people are clueless until they are actually doing it.

neunundneunzigluftballons · 01/06/2013 13:31

I have always been fascinated by bf because I rarely saw it growing up. I can never understand these people who are repulsed by it.

The real value of education is allowing people to live beyond their own personal experiences, that does not mean you would choose to do what others do but it does allow you to consider other possibilities. Open your mind op and who knows that might help to open your husbands mind too.

frissonpink · 01/06/2013 13:32

Hmm. Yes, I said I personally thought it was weird, and not normal as in not that common! (which I don't believe it is or else we'd see loads of 2 yrs olds all attached to mother's breasts! Which we don't) Doesn't mean I particularly have an issue with it though!

I bf, but then had to switch to ff because of medical issues.

The only thing that really bugs me about these types of threads is that the bf zealots then get on the bandwagon and basically make out that because they're bf'ing until the child is 2+, they are by definition some kind of better mother for providing their child with the 'correct' nutrition.

Now, that does annoy me.

Nothing wrong with ff at all in my opinion.

As I said originally though, each to their own Grin

quietlysuggests · 01/06/2013 13:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DiamondDoris · 01/06/2013 14:00

I was unable to bf my two, but I still like my DS to nuzzle against my chest - it's the closest thing I could do to bfing and he's almost 7 (he's globally delayed). Not pervy or odd, just a strong evolutionary instinct. He's also dairy intolerant - not surprising as 75% of the world's population is. A post about the pros and cons may have been more interesting.

TrinityRhino · 01/06/2013 14:03

well you would have positively collapsed in on yourself if I had told you I was still feeding gecko very occasionally (she weaned herself) when she was 5 years 2 months

TrinityRhino · 01/06/2013 14:04

that is just in answer the the op

DiamondDoris · 01/06/2013 14:08

Trinity I read that as "still feeding a gecko" but there not mammals are they?

DiamondDoris · 01/06/2013 14:08

oops they're

TrinityRhino · 01/06/2013 14:10

lol doris

LauraPashley · 01/06/2013 14:11

Pre children I remember wisely saying that it was weird and w

pigletmania · 01/06/2013 14:13

Oh no not another bf thread groan.

IneedAsockamnesty · 01/06/2013 14:15

Frisson.

Just because you don't see things whilst out and about does not mean its not normal.

Undressing and getting into bed is normal but people tend to avoid doing it in shopping centres.( how ever the bed display in John Lewis has fatten seamed very attractive after a no sleep night)

When you have a breast feeding toddler its not the same as with a younger baby up till about 6 months its quite usual for baby's to just have milk breast or formula after 6 months up to about a year comes the most of nutrition from milk but lets play with food stage but obviously the amount of milk does tend to reduce, after about a year any kind of milk is not used instead of solid food so out and about you tend to see over ones eating solid food and getting in some cup practice.

Quite a lot of extended breast feeders tend to breast feed first thing in the morning and last thing at night because baby's do tend to naturally get into this patten.

Its not being hidden (well not all the time,as this thread has shown some mums get quite upset about people's reactions) its just that its more usual to be indoors at the times your child has milk instead of solid food.

We see tiny babies with boobs or bottles loads just because they need loads of it and frequently and nobody wants to hide themselves away whilst that stage happens so they go out and about but we rarely see other families morning or bedtime routines so we just don't see it,and in all fairness its not exactly the most interesting topic so we don't really talk about it in RL unless its to grandparents because for some reason they are interested in all sorts of boring crap.

Its quite normal and it is also quite normal in the uk for children to be given some kind of milk at that age as part of there nutritional needs.

MummyOfSunbeam · 01/06/2013 14:20

OP - YAB completely unreasonable - wow wow wow. Astonished anyone can be this brainwashed by cultural conditioning.

Haven't read rest of thread - will get too incensed at the ignorance of the original post if contemplate too long.

Thank God La Leche league and others are trying to fix these views.

LauraPashley · 01/06/2013 14:22

Ooops

Pre children I remember wisely saying that it was weird and wrong to breastfeed a baby when they were " old enough to ask for it". Where the feck I got that idea from I have no idea. I have now been bf for 5.5 yrs (2 kids), inc a period of feeding a 3yr old when I was pregnant. I think you really have NO clue before you have kids and especially so if you haven't been around kids. Hopefully the op will remember this and cringe!

frissonpink · 01/06/2013 14:26

Can I just reiterate? Normal as in 'common' as in happens a lot!

I really doubt most toddlers are breastfed. Sorry, I just don't!

But, as I said before, each to their own :)

IneedAsockamnesty · 01/06/2013 14:34

Most may not be but it does happen a lot

Chunderella · 01/06/2013 14:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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