Breast feeding at 4? AIBU for my comment?

[crazymicrowave123]

I was asked to baby sit for a friend of my parent's over the weekend and her son is 4 years old (and would have been a bit of extra cash which I could do with). She let me know that she still breastfeeds him every morning, once at lunch and before bed, says it is comforting for him and for her and has no plans to stop any time soon and that she will do so at my house before she leaves. He is turning 5 in a a few weeks time, when I told her my family and I thought it was a bit strange to still be breastfeeding at 5 when he is starting school but that I wouldn't object to her doing so before leaving, she then decided to cancel the babysitting and told me I was no longer needed.

She has now decided she no longer wants to keep in touch with our family due to our 'judgemental and disgusting ways' and says I have deeply offended her. Coincidentally I have come across this article online where Ice T is defending his wife Coco who still breast feeds there daughter at 5. So AIBU and should I extend the olive branch and apologise? I wasn't intending to offend just gave my honest opinion and now I feel a bit guilty.

Article: www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9865267/Ice-T-defends-wife-Coco-Austins-decision-continue-breastfeeding-five-year-old-daughter.html

@VenusSap I’m glad you think u ok de superior to me because I’m an odd ball hippy

Ignore @wincarwoo it’s a troll trying to cause a bun flight. Claimed last night her school has a breastfeeding room for mother’s to go in at lunch time to give the school children ‘pudding’

Vile

If it was so "normal" and so necessary for the child.. out of curiosity, how many kids do you BF at the same time?

Surely you don't stop BF number 1 when their sibling is born if that's such a necessity?

Or are you ONLY BF the youngest and last one until KS2, but not his siblings?

I suppose at least 1 poster will have had only 1 child every 7 years, but others do have more children and closer in age.

You cut out what I replied too 🙄
Huge apols. How does it being the 21st century change historical biological norms? Did everyone’s boobs fall off on the millennium? Are children all robots now?

@eightyfourandahalf

If it was so "normal" and so necessary for the child.. out of curiosity, how many kids do you BF at the same time?

Surely you don't stop BF number 1 when their sibling is born if that's such a necessity?

Or are you ONLY BF the youngest and last one until KS2, but not his siblings?

I suppose at least 1 poster will have had only 1 child every 7 years, but others do have more children and closer in age.

@eightyfourandahalf have you ever heard about tandem feeding ? Because that’s what it’s. Bf more than one child of different / same ages

Winemewhynot

grim...thought the latest comments looked too goady to be genuine.

Surely you don't stop BF number 1 when their sibling is born if that's such a necessity?
Surely you’ve heard of tandem feeding. God gave us two titties for a reason.

I have two children- 2 years apart.
I breastfed one until 4 years and the other until she was 5.

EasterIssland
that applies to BABIES... not 1 primary school child, 1 preschool child, 1 toddler and a baby who actually NEEDS to be fed...

@eightyfourandahalf what sad little lives some people lead!

@Winemewhynot

Ignore *@wincarwoo* it’s a troll trying to cause a bun flight. Claimed last night her school has a breastfeeding room for mother’s to go in at lunch time to give the school children ‘pudding’

Vile

@Winemewhynot @eightyfourandahalf

You two are spectacular. Spectacularly dim. How do you manage in real life?

Lots of babies/toddlers wean themselves during the mother's pregnancy. The milk supply is reduced and the taste often changes. If a child is born rally attached to breastfeeding they will carry on, and the mother can feed the baby and an older sibling.

@eightyfourandahalf

EasterIssland that applies to BABIES... not 1 primary school child, 1 preschool child, 1 toddler and a baby who actually NEEDS to be fed...

@eightyfourandahalf to proof you wrong. Quick search I. Google pics

Btw don’t worry when my son has asked in the cafe he wanted boobie I’ve not offered to the woman next to me some milk for her coffee. Even i know boundaries

@hehehhehe

Who are these people telling me what's acceptable for me and my child?

I simply don't care. They're not in a position to know or dictate. I'm so glad I don't feel under pressure to listen to all these bossy people.

Yes! Good for you! ♥️♥️♥️

@eightyfourandahalf do you have any evidence to support your views, if so I’d be interested in reading.

Does anyone at all have any links to support the fact that it’s not appropriate or ok to feed past a certain age? Or that it’s harmful mentally or physically. If so I would be interested.

@wincarwoo bore off hun, no ones biting, go breastfeed your 9year old or whatever your ridiculous claim to derail the thread is today 🙄

@nevergoesaway Can’t help you there, however:

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) states, “There is no evidence that extended breastfeeding is harmful to mother or child.” And nursing beyond infancy can lead to “better social adjustment” for children.

The Academy of American Pediatrics (AAP) says breastfeeding offers “significant health and developmental benefits for the child” and that there is “no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer.”

Whereas some random on MN shrieks “but I don’t LIKE it!”

[quote Winemewhynot]@wincarwoo bore off hun, no ones biting, go breastfeed your 9year old or whatever your ridiculous claim to derail the thread is today 🙄[/quote]
Aw. Still searching for that elusive evidence?

Rude, insensitive, non of your business. Yes you should apologise if you care about this mum at all. It isn't odd at all to still breastfeed a child that age. But most do it in secret because (as you've made clear) it is something many don't understand, and frown upon. We live in a society that isn't very healthy, and it manifests in small ways, as seen here.

@FallingStar21

Laughing at how many posters are telling you off for voicing a comment. In real life, yes many people will probably ponder and ask her the same. Your comment wasn't cutting or horrible, you just said it was a little strange.

Breastfeeding at the age of 5 is entirely unnecessary and imo creates a pathological dependency/ not healthy for the child. She has no intention to stop anytime soon? So when will she, at the age of 6 or 7? Cant imagine my own DC hanging from my breast at that age.

I don't think you should apologise, she sounds precious and extra sensitive.

Have to agree with this to be honest. I think most people in all walks of life, would find ANYONE still breastfeeding their child - when the child is 5 - a bit odd. I have never met a single woman in real life who has breastfed their child past one year old. Most of them stop at 4 to 6 months.

You see stories in magazines and programmes on TV featuring women who do 'extended breastfeeding,' and the reason why they do 'special features' on it, is because it IS unusual, and MOST people don't do it!

It's like relationships with large age gaps (20+ years;) they are rare. No matter how much people (on here) say it's normal; it's not. THAT subject is often put forward as a 'special feature' on TV or in a magazine too - because it IS unusual. Just like breastfeeding a child when they are 5 years old!

There really is no need to breastfeed a child past a year old, there really isn't. 18 months top. Having a 5 year old hanging off your breast is just bizarre. It really is.

Women still breastfeeding their child when the child is 4 or 5 (or older,) should not be shocked when people raise their eyebrows, or make a negative comment about it, because it IS a bit odd. It really, REALLY is. Also, the extended-breastfeeding brigade seem weirdly defensive about it!

I mean why, just WHY would you still be breastfeeding a child when they are 5 years old? There is absolutely no reason to still be doing it. A child who is 5 years old, does not need its mother's breastmilk!

And that

is the

END of the thread!