To ask for your thoughts on extended breastfeeding?

[awmamma]

Catching up on Teen Mom UK and watching the bit about Charlie telling Shannon it was weird to still be breastfeeding her 2.5 year old.

Is it really that weird?

Hell

Not help

Yeah I call bollocks on that too. My 20 month old is still breastfeeding on demand and loves cuddling his lion teddy. He doesn't need anything to replace breastfeeding, he chooses to have a soft toy.

Well I never thought I'd do it until I did. After about 18 months it would only happen in the home anyway, don't think the dc exactly chatted about it at nursery so you would never know as I was one of "those" mums and I could pass for completely normal
I did not want to cut either of my dcs off from something that had no negative side for them and lots of positives, and as I was in a position to continue I did until each child wanted to stop. Neither shows any sign of remembering this now at all.

Cressidaduck excellent post

Yes, I think it's weird. No need for it.

Yes, I think it's weird. No need for it.

Oh .

No ‘need’ for cuddles and kisses either, should we discourage them?

It's surely no ones place to tell another mother and child whether they need to continue breastfeeding or not

There is a need for kisses and cuddles...humans need affection for good mental health. There is no need for breastfeeding when the child is a toddler. It's weird.

There is no need for breastfeeding when the child is a toddler

Have you informed the WHO of your dazzling insight?

Ah for fucks sake Tabby you sound like a teenager. Just because it's outside your narrow range of "normal" doesn't make it weird. Maybe you are weird for denying your dc what they wanted?

Why can't breastfeeding be included in showing affection?

The OP asked if its weird. I think its weird. Why do I sound like a teenager uptheduffy, because I've given an opinion you don't like? As fordenying my children what they wanted, I can assure you they would be embarrassed if I told them I breastfed them as toddlers

There is no need for breastfeeding when the child is a toddler. It's weird.

The biological norm is ‘weird’ now?

You sound like a particularly stupid 16 year old.

And we wonder at the disgracefully low bfing rates in this country?

@TabbyMumz, your children will be ‘embarrassed’ that you had sex with their father and then squeezed them out of your vagina. It’s not a reason not to do something.

What do you find so weird about it?

I'll admit I used to think it was weird because before having a baby I thought it was just a way if transferring food and didn't see why you would need to do that for a toddler who could just eat. I didn't appreciate how much comfort it would provide her and I'm happy to continue that for longer.

Breastfeeding a toddler is not a biological norm though is it?

Its just different ideals for different people isnt it. Just because someone thinks different to you doesnt make them a stupid teenager. Thats quite childish to actually think that.

It sounds like hell on earth to me...I'd have lost my mind if I'd breastfed for so long.

I honestly couldn't care less what other women do in regards to breast feeding.

We seem to be forgetting all the maternal benefits of breastfeeding too!
Reduced risk of breast cancer, reduced risk of ovarian cancer, reduced risk of heart disease in mothers who breastfed for at least 24 months, reduced risk of rheumatoid arthritis in mothers who breastfed for at least 24 months. The list goes on and on.

www.tensteps.org/benefits-of-breastfeeding-for-the-mother.shtml

And for those who say “it’s more for the mother than the child”.....have you ever tried to force a toddler to breastfeed if they didn’t want to? Pretty impossible. Same with most things - if a toddler doesn’t want to do it, it’s near on impossible to make them!!

Snuggy...i find it weird and somehow not right to have a child, not a baby, hanging off your breast. There is just something wrong about it. This doesn't happen in the animal world either. I suspect I'm not alone in thinking that as it's not something you see people doing. Other posters have even said if they do it, they do it in the home.

@TabbyMumz of course it is a biological norm.
Human milk is biologically engineered for human consumption.
Cows milk is biologically engineered for baby cows. It is most definitely not a biological norm for human beings to consume the milk of another species.

Of course bfing a toddler is the biological norm. Unless you think the biological norm is to extract milk from cows for your toddler?
I shouldn't be critical actually as the formula companies have done such a number on us all that bfing has become the thing that's weird, instead of the thing that's natural.

NotTonightJosepheen

Exactly that.

My DH is from a country where natural term breastfeeding is most definitely normal. He was breastfed until he started school and vaguely remembers. He’s not embarrassed or squeamish about that because it’s perfectly normal in his culture, and he saw his mother do the same thing with his two younger brothers who are 12 and 13 years younger than him

Great apes breastfeed for several years I think to be fair