to wonder why it seems people get increasingly negative about breastfeeding the older baby gets....

[DiplodocusDinosaur]

My ds2 is 9 mths, admittedly he is a very big baby and often mistaken for 1yr to 18mths. I bf on demand and have always happily, discreetly fed in public. Whereas when he was little I.e. under 6 mths I only ever got really positive comments and vibes for bf in public, now he is getting older I'm increasingly noticing negative looks and had the odd comment more than once. Today I took my ds1 and ds2 to a childrens farm, ds2 wanted a feed so I went to feed him and heard two mothers giggling and saying 'bitty, bitty'. And a week or so back another lady stopped in the country park I was in and told me ds2 was far to old for breast milk and it was fine for little babies to be bf in public but my baby was old enough to learn to wait.
Have i just had a couple of bad run ins or have others noticed bf reactions change as babies get older?

The argument that toddlers and older children don't need breastmilk is so silly. Children don't need dummies or special teddies/blankets, they don't need c-beebies or trips to the park. The bare minimum that children need to keep then alive is very little but as parents we want to offer comfort, stimulation, experiences to our children to enrich their life. I choose to offer my toddler comfort by breastfeeding him where and when he wants.

I do not care if a passer by is offended, it is their problem not mine.

don't manage to feed ds subtly, I have large breasts and when he's done he runs off so it takes a few seconds for me to sort out my bra/top.

The WHO and NHS both recommend breastfeeding after one.

I will choose what to do with my body and my child. Other people have the option to choose to look away.

I'm sick of people repeating "don't like it, don't look" but you don't CHOOSE to see what is around you, you will see it regardless. If i wanted to walk around with my cock hanging out could you choose to just not look at it? It's a stupid statement

Yes blah I could because I would be looking at your face not lower than your neck.

Here you go blah, vile isn't it! Look at that small child being comforted by his mother. Utterly disgusting!!

What a gorgeous baby, love the pic where he? Is looking up at the camera, stunning eyes!

Apologies re guessing at the gender of your baby!

There is a cake thread showing of pics of cakes baked, maybe we should do a feeding our babies thread, breast or bottle, snuggly little ones having feeds?!

Breastfeeding women aren't just gratuitously displaying their breasts for fun, they are using them for their intended purpose. Nothing in common with a bloke flashing his dick around for funsies.

Breasts make milk. That is not obscene. It's not shameful, it doesn't need to be hidden away to protect delicate sensibilities. Feeding a baby is not an offensive, unpleasant thing we should only do in private. If you think it is, you can are the one with a problem, and quite frankly you need to get over it or shut up.

There is a big difference between a mother Breastfeeding and a man walking around with his cock out.

What a ridiculous statement.

Would your husband and son not be a bit confused if you started walking around with your cock out, given how distressed they would be by seeing a baby being fed?

There is a cake thread showing of pics of cakes baked, maybe we should do a feeding our babies thread, breast or bottle, snuggly little ones having feeds?! What a lovely idea!

My baby is a boy, I think he has quite a boyish face even though he is so young.

I have the opposite situation to the op, ds has no hair and is quite little so I think people think he is younger than he is, untill he starts running around and chatting.

The difference between you walking about with your cock out and me breastfeeding my child blah is that you would be arested as it is illegal to wonder around with your penis showing.

actually the law on public nudity is much more complex than that, and i would likely be arrested for walking down the high st with my top off! Why do you think i am anti-BF? the pic is of a baby which i think is fine, i am just not comfortable with seeing older kids BF and said i thought it was wrong to do so at 7 which i stand by!

You said up thread 5/6 months,that's a fucked up attitude.

And no the law on public indecency is not complicated at all,it's so uncomplicated that my learning disabled 14 year old understands it

Why are you so rude? What is it to you if i think babies should be weaned at 5/6 months and not BF?

And that's one smart unable to learn 14 year old you have, i'm sure you know that technically you can walk around with your cock out then, in certain circumstances - the same with boobs

I breastfeed my 2.10yr old ds, usually 3 times a day, morning, nap and bedtime. Though if we're out he goes without the naptime one and doesn't demand to feed when out. He also calls it 'feed now' so no one would think hes talking about breastfeeding.

He doesn't 'need' it as such, he eats just fine and has lots of goats milk and he has a daily multivit and whatnot. However, breastmilk - like raw cows, goat, sheep or any milk - is a live biologically active product - sometimes referred to as 'white blood'. Unless you give your child raw animal milk, there is no food comparison. Food does not contain antibodies (breastmilk for toddlers actually contains a very high concentration), hormones, enzymes, 100% biologically available vitamins and minerals and much more - all in one sterile, convenient, always readily available package. I don't always enjoy breastfeeding, I find it annoying sometimes, however I will continue as long as he wants it for the benefits mentioned.

Blahblahblah the level of arrogance you display in assuming that anyone gives a fuck what you think about breastfeeding older children is astonishing. You don't get a say. For you, or anyone, to even think yourself entitled to have an opinion on what women do with their tits is bad enough. To feel the need to share it with us is beyond the pale. Mind your own fucking business. And I say this as someone who's about as likely to breastfeed a toddler as to go to the moon

I do get a say actually - That's why there is a debate on BF older children - But i am being harrassed for say actually no, i don't agree?? Don't join a debate if all you have to offer is rude remarks and goady snide comments

Below is my favourite article on extended breastfeeding, from Mongolia, where breastfeeding until 6/7yrs is commonplace, where they contribute duration of breastfeeding to what a fine wrestler the child will become!

Breastfeeding in the Land of Genghis Khan

You can say whatever I'll informed things about breastfeeding pop into your head, but a woman's right to breastfeed her baby wherever they have a legal right to be is written in law.

Being a offended by a toddler breastfeeding in public is as ridiculous as being a offended by someone drinking coffee in a cafe.

the pic is of a baby which i think is fine I'm glad to have your approval.

Ds may look like a baby but he is very much a toddler/little boy, he chats, runs around, feeds himself with a fork, tantrums, has a sense of humour.

I don't understand how the age of the child can make a breast more or less offensive. If anything my nipples were much more obvious when ds was tiny, my nipples were really dark and my breasts were huge, now my nipples are lighter and breasts are slightly smaller.

A nipple isn't more offensive when in the mouth of an 18 month or an 8 year old child than when it is in the mouth of an 8 week old baby. It is just a nipple. You may not agree that feeding an older child is the best parenting decision but that is your opinion and it shouldn't make a situation offensive just because you wouldn't choose to do it with your own children.

I personally wouldn't give my child a dummy when in a social situation, I personally wouldn't pierce my baby's ears when I see children with a dummy or pierced ears it doesn't offend me, it doesn't effect me or my child in the slightest. I don't think the parents are wrong I just wouldn't choose to do those things myself. Surely breastfeeding is the same, you don't have to think it is a great idea, but you have no right to take offence at something that doesn't effect you in the slightest.

What is it to me?

Well to start with,I want to live in a world where the laws that are there to protect people are enough to do so,where people doing perfectly normal things that have no impact at all on anybody else can go about their daily life doing so with out having to deal with people like you and your nasty attitude.
So people doing normal things like feeding a baby or toddler don't have to worry about other people's reactions or fret about misplaced shame.

You are the one that needs to feel shame about your attitudes (and whilst I'm at it your twisted language) because YOU are the one with the problem.

You talk about wanting to protect your husband and child from the misfortune of witnessing breastfeeding a baby over 5 months old, most people reading that will think they need to be protected from your outrageous attitude it's unpleasant.

Your viewpoints and people like you are the ones making more people uncomfortable when all they want to do is get on with their own life,yet you are bleating about your poor offended sensitivities and comparing a normal legally protected thing to waving your cock about.(incidentally only an offence if it causes alarm or distress)

Most people by the time they hit adulthood are sensible enough to work out that if they are being unreasonable then they cannot be selfish enough to expect everybody else to accept and accommodate it,you appear to have missed that life lesson.

Perhaps if more people in real life pointed that out to you,then you wouldn't think someone challenging your attitude was being rude.

Well apparently i'm not allowed to say i don't agree in an AIBU debate.....really? I am not, and never will agree, that older children need to be BF - I think having older kids sucking on boobs is just plain wrong, of no benefit and is mentally scarring - How can you think it's ok for 7 year olds to do so? How would YOU react if you walked into a playground and saw a 7+ year old on a womans lap BF? I bet the other kids would have something to say about that surely. There is no need to BF older kids, and if you feel the need to do so, do it in the privacy of your own home. It's not the same for small babies, they NEED to eat and dont have other options