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?

I think people get mixed up when they pull the 4 years average stat out. It's not the worldwide age for stopping breastfeeding.

I don't have a link or anything at the moment but I'm pretty sure the worldwide average age for natural weaning off the breast (where the child weans off the breast themselves) is around 4 years old.

Like I said it is up to you, your body and your child how long you will continue breastfeeding, but majority of women in the world do not go much further beyond 12 months. These are just the facts.

What a pile of shit! Millions of women around the world feed for much longer than 12 months - in many societies, it is absolutely the norm to carry on for 3 or 4 years. And I suspect that many more women in this country feed beyond a year - just that not all choose to admit it, for fear of being accused of having a psychological need to do so!

As for it being impossible for women to keep feeding after they return to work, bollocks. I went back full time when dd was 6 months, and went on feeding for a good two years after that.

chund oh dear....I am totally guilty of stupid double think....I thought both that everybody in Africa would be BFing till self weaning AND that Nestle are a bunch of bastards for destroying BF rates in amongst other places...Africa.

DUH.

I am not sure I even believe that 4 years could be the average age of self- weaning...although again other pressures are always present as well as the child's desire. Only Bfing at home because you don't want coffee chucked over you may well signal to your child that you are not entirely happy with them carrying on Bfing even at home...they are perceptive when they want to be!