breastfeeding at 5 (and above?)

[cleopatracomingatya]

fully expecting to get some extreme opinions here.

www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/7286609/mum-breastfeeds-five-baths-naked-normal-break-stigma/

This is the article (and the bath photo is disturbing enough for me as it is)

interested to see the general consensus on this. AIBU to think this is just... no!!

And many countries think a child needs to stop breastfeeding once the mother is pregnant again

We really should get these countries and experts to produce a list of rules so that us simple women know what instincts are allowed.
God forbid a woman has her own ideas or ideas about feeding her own child! Nope,....governments and strangers know what's best for our babies!

I fed mine to well over a year but I do think that feeding children over two is more about the parent wanting their baby to be dependent on them.... want that special link. Its more about the parent than the child

How do you make a child feed who doesn’t want to?

gottagetmoving I was not agreeing with that. Simply saying the idea that breastfeeding till this age is common in poor countries is simply untrue. Do what you want, but don't claim it is common in poor countries.

Abacucat I'm pretty sure the Koran is giving a recommendation that children ideally get two years of breastmilk, rather than a call to make women stop at 2.
Not sure about you equating "poorer countries" with Muslim ones!

I completely agree with Bf being natural, each to their own about when to wean off etc but I struggle to understand how this is different from giving a 5 year old a bottle of milk at night or a dummy/soother for comfort?
I'm sure many (not all!) would have something to say about a 5 year old coming home from school and having a dummy to comfort them....but jump on the offensive when it's a boob being used to comfort.
Surely the principal of having boob/dummy is the same thing?

Their are different interpretations, but the most common one says Koran says you should not breastfeed beyond two.
And most 5 year olds do not have a bottle.

Ugh... I give up after a while on these. Opinions are fine and totally valid.

But people throwing about random facts with no sources to back those facts up? Anyone dizzy yet from going round in circles?

And many countries think a child needs to stop breastfeeding once the mother is pregnant again

Fortunately for you, researchers have looked into this, and found no such effect

(NOTE: two quotes from both sides of the argument, both need sources if we're going to be making statements instead of expressing opinions)

Some mothers breastfed till 10 or 12 years of age. Is that ok?

The only issue here is that she thought it a good idea to go to the paper. It's not going to mature the debate in any way. Definitely not in the sun. No way is that going to work out for her.
Breast feeding your child to whatever age you like is of course, absolutely fine but courting opinion when you know the subject will get you negative reactions and having you and your child photographed with it is either naive or stupid. Plenty of people breastfeed their older children and no one gives a toss in reality. But ask their opinion on public forum and it gets nasty.

Source below. I dont agree that pregnant women should not breastfeed. But in some countries that is a common belief.

www.hsj.gr/medicine/cultural-views-and-practices-related-to-breastfeeding.pdf

I breastfed my DD for as long as I could face and it is definitely up to the individual. And I know it's all totally natural in the big wide world. But if this is normal I'll be abnormal, thanks.

So, is it the fact that the child is drinking milk from a human, rather than a cow (which, bizarrely, seems to be considered more normal) or that the child is accessing that milk by having a boob in his or her mouth?

I have a feeling that the arguments about the child not needing milk from a human are screening the real discomfort these people feel about the child sucking a boob and the sexual connotations this has in their own heads.

It's madness. Pure and simple... as Hearsay would say.

i dont care - why should this impact me or others really? She's not hurting anyone. I wouldnt do it, simply because i dont want to and i see no point pass 2, my son just turned 2 and im trying to stop. But thats me. I dont know why we have to judge other women. Whats wrong about this is the stupid Sun plastering this all over its paper.

Well I agree drinking from a cows tit isn't normal 😂😂

Nothing wrong with bf as long as her DS wants. Nothing wrong with being naked. My DC are frequently naked at home as an I and DH. We're all comfortable in our bodies. In Mongolia it is considered unusual to stop bf before 7.

But taking a photo of her son and selling it to the Scum is just wrong on every level.

I bf my eldest until 2 years. But... if this woman is just feeding her child and it's a normal thing blah blah blah, then why do both of them need to be naked? Why not have a photo taken of her on the sofa in a shabby dressing gown watching telly while bf-ing? Putting a photo of both of them naked in a national newspaper is downright weird, and I'm surprised they published it. Would the Sun usually publish naked photos of children? I think there will be complaints.

However if in 2010 rates of exclusive breastfeeding of infants till 6 months of age in Mongolia reached 66%, in 2013 this number dropped to 47%,

www.wpro.who.int/mongolia/mediacentre/releases/20160803-world-breastfeeding-week-2016/en/

More about Mongolia.

The main problems revealed from the study
were inappropriate complementary feeding
practices. Exclusive breastfeeding was 71.3%,
continued breastfeeding at 1 year was 74.0%,
and continued breastfeeding at 2 years was
54.6% were decreased. 28.7% of the surveyed
children below 6 months were initiated
complementary feeding too early. Although
more than 50% of 6-23 month-olds received
foods from 4 or more food groups according to
WHO recommendations, the dietary diversity
of complementary food was inadequate for
children aged 6-23 months.

www.mongoliajol.info/index.php/PMAS/article/download/924/1034

WHO has been working to improve infant feeding in Mongolia. To look at Mongolia to support western practices, is to cherry pick.

Nice source @abacucat

I am skimming at the moment granted but can't see anything yet that supports your statement that many countries think a child should stop breastfeeding once the mother is pregnant again.

Is this in your Mongolia sources?

No earlier comment

Now, in the interest of balance, what we need is a source that says breastfeeding beyond the age of 2 is detrimental to a child's psychological well being... that somehow their age makes breastfeeding more sexual as they grow up?

Anyone... ?

I can't find anything yet... I'll keep looking...

Wanting to be taken seriously and then appearing in 'The Sun'

Photo is awful, feel sorry for the dc

I think you'd be hard pushed to find a source saying its actively detrimental to a child's emotional wellbeing to breastfeed that long.

I don't think it's any different to seeing a NT five year old with a dummy, going to bed armed with a bottle of formula or preferring sometimes use a pram when they're capable of walking. None of these things will harm my dc pyschologically if I allowed them to continue, but I'll still make the decision as their parent to encourage them to move on at what I feel is an appropriate age.

In the same way, women who breastfeed for this lenght of time are making a parenting decision which is none of my business, and both they are their dc seem happy with the arrangement.

Precisely @dinosaurkisses

I was being a little flippant in my post. I've often seen comments, when people discuss breastfeeding into the later years, saying "This can't be right?", "This is child abuse", "This is so wrong" etc.

But there's nothing out there that says so... I find it puzzling why some leap to that conclusion.