To think we should have a separate section for breastfeeding ?

[moonmaker]

As I can understand we used to have one , but formula feeding and breastfeeding have been merged into infant feeding . I understand that lots of people do combination feeding so there should be some fluidity but surely this excludes women who are breastfeeding non infants ? Breastfeeding past infancy is part of parenting for lots of mums so why is this not being considered? Breastfeeding toddlers has lots of unique issues and problems , yet there is nowhere to discuss this here . I’ve had plenty of issues that I would have loved to get support with but it felt odd posting on infant feeding where it is mainly new mums , when I have had an issue with my 18 month old . Am I missing something ? We have forums for niche topics like swine flu and Facebook but nothing for breastfeeding on a parenting site

I’ve wondered about this too, Dd has just turned 2 and I’m not sure where my people are! First time Mum and only person I personally know who has breastfed for this long so don’t have much rl support.

@moonmaker I think you are right! There should be a section devoted to breastfeeding. It should cover all aspects of breastfeeding, newborn, teething babies, under one, over one, toddlers, tandem feeding babies, tandem feeding children of different ages ...

I'm currently feeding my 22 month old DD, I fed her all the way through my second pregnancy, and now I'm tandem feeding her and my newborn (who'll be 4 weeks on Monday!). I could have really used anonymous forum where I could have posted for advice. When I delivered I was told by the midwives to google and do research about tandem feeding. I am already a member of various private breastfeeding groups - so are a lot of my friends - so I don't have an anonymous forum to ask for advice!

Supply and demand isn’t it. If there was that much older child bf traffic there would be a board.

Op you seem to want there to be an issue when there isn’t.

Wearing an 8 year old. Let’s not even go there

I'm not trying to be goady. Please help me understand.

Does the 8 year old go to school? What do they tell their friends about being breastfeed?

I have masses of threads on various parts of mumsnet discussing feeding older children. I have never seen a thread about feeding older children posted in the "feeding" section that was removed or moved or had the slightest reprimand that it was in the wrong place. Indeed, mums eg has got to be one of the least strict forums going when it comes to keeping posts under the correct topic.

I really don't think you are correct that a forum called "breastfeeding" will not be dominated by threads about feeding young babies. And that the absence of such a specific title is silencing people who breastfeed older babies. Why not start a thread called "feeding older children" in that forum and see how you get on?

Oh and for "all aspects of breastfeeding", isn't supplementing with formula just as much an aspect of breastfeeding as the other bits listed? I'd be willing to bet a heck of a lot more women supplement than tandem feed multiples with an older toddler or whatever other scenario might be deemed appropriate for a breastfeeding forum.

Sub dividing forums is ridiculous unless extremely busy, particularly into very similar topics. Like in the "feed the world" section here, there is a topic on "baking" and a topic on "cakes and bakes". Why? To whose advantage? You also forget that many parents might be formula feeding now while an older child had been breastfed, or vice versa. It's not an exclusive identify. One not very busy collective forum is better than tiny silos.

I agree with you OP.

And many women are upset to not be able to continue breastfeeding, so could be upset by posts about extended BFing on infant feeding thread?

BFing can be a method of feeding only, but often it actually is like a way of life and a relationship itself- so much more than just food. So yes I think a breastfeeding topic would be great.

A long-running thread about bfing two and beyond (or whatever) would be fine. You don’t want to create empty sections. I’ve read a lot about feeing older children on here, no idea what section it was in.

Out of interest, what new issues come up this late on?

BFing an 8mo and intend to continue until he self-weans, but since no new problems have come up in the last six months I had rather hoped that I was on the home straight...

Responses here show the need possibly for a separate place to post.

What’s the toddler fb group? I’m breastfeeding a very determined 4 year old and annoyed but happy. Would like to be able to discuss it with people that aren’t backwards twits.

@sashkin going back to work, trying to wean, night weaning but continuing to nurse during the day, dropping feeds without getting engorged, TTC while BF, etc.

"Technically a toddler is still an infant but the forum is dominated by new mums"

Really? I don't think you're right about that.

Infants schools in Britain go up to age 7, btw.

I agree with you op I think it would be useful.

Start a thread called something like "Breastfeeding beyond babies". People can hang out there, chat be supportive etc. Anyone who visits to gawk and criticise can be told to waltz off.

The long running threads on MN are better than the separate sections.

Yes I would definitely join a long running thread, so let's do that as a start! I am onto my second toddler now and have been breastfeeding for six years straight so consider myself to be somewhat a veteran!

I'd support a long running thread too. Fed eldest to 2y9m, currently feeding 1yo.

Agreed that a place to discuss issues as they get older would be good.

I would also join the thread (currently feeding a 3 year old and 10 month old). I agree that it would be nice to have a section where people breastfeeding older children can discuss it without feeling uncomfortable.

The point some of you are missing is that there actually used to be a breastfeeding section which everyone used - New Mums, mums of toddlers and older children . It was called breastfeeding . Granted there was a slightly higher frequency of New Mums posting but still, everyone used it . When it got merged into infant feeding , anyone feeding beyond the first year stopped posting .

How about going on site stuff and asking why it was changed?

moonmaker The truth is that there probably just aren't enough extended breastfeeders out there who need a place to regularly talk about it. I'm sure MN could easily create a ton of niche new areas but it wouldn't benefit the site's users. The more topics there are the more you have to wade through to find the area you're looking for. Niche topics will also get a lot less engagement and can start to look neglected, which in turn puts people off from posting because they think posts won't be seen.

Sorry but bf an 8 year old is just bizarre!

I was thinking YABU, just put it in the feeding section, then I came across a post in the "skiing" section, that's pretty niche for a parenting site?

Yeah start a new topic "breastfeeding junior school aged children"

Feeding your 18 month old isn't such a niche / extended breastfeeding . You're just breastfeeding to the natural term when you're waiting for self weaning . My other dc self weaned at 2.