Do you have any opinions on how long is 'too long' to breastfeed your child?

[elephantonacid]

Feeling awfully judged and wondering if anyone has an opinion on this?

How does it benefit the mother after the child turns two?

I was going to ask this as I have no idea either! I definitely didn’t continue for my benefit!

I do think anything over 2 is a bit grim imo. It feels age inappropriate like letting a 4 year old have a dummy or bottle. Fine for a baby not for a toddler. I think once it’s just for comfort rather than food you should transition to other things, cuddles, stories etc. The people I know who breastfed longest I believe did it because it was an easy comfort technique and they didn’t want to hassle of coming up with something more complicated.

Over the age of 7 years. They would loose the ability to as their adult teeth come in and their mouth shape changes. I fed my oldest till 3.5 years. I'm currently feeding my youngest at 18 months and aiming for 2.5 years; not sure if I want to feed any longer than that this time.

I’m scratching my head about how it benefits the mother.

I agrée with “as long as it suits you and the child”

What I do think is that as babies become toddlers, it’s perfectly ok to make it a routine thing and not “on demand”. I don’t think it’s doing your 4 yr any favours for them to be able to walk up to you and open your blouse, as I’ve seen happen.

I definitely don’t let mine just lift up my shirt especially in public. Some mother described their kids screaming for milk in public. I think if mine started doing that I might have to wean her. I could not handle that. Lol. There definitely needs to be healthy boundaries with this as well as everything else. lol. We are very much in a routine. First thing in the morning, after breakfast, before nap time and then before and after dinner and then bedtime.

Yes hugs from colleagues, and I've hugged colleagues when they are having a bad day. We all care about each other and understand that sometimes a person needs a hug.

God I would not want to work somewhere where colleagues hug each other. I think it is inappropriate.

Many mothers enjoy breastfeeding and are sad when it ends.

I’m scratching my head about how it benefits the mother.

Many mothers enjoy breastfeeding and are sad when it ends.

This. Also many people enjoy the very physical nurturing of a baby and wish to prolong it. Plenty of people also like to feel very specifically needed & wanted and enjoy the feeling that they can provide something literally no one else can.

And to me that is really, really sad. Inappropriate to show compassion? Why would it bother you so much to see a colleague who is having a bad day getting a hug?

Why does comfort need to be complicated, though? Hugs aren't terribly complicated, and I'm guessing you think hugging your children is okay even as they progress beyond toddlerhood. I can't see why it's 'grim' in any way. Can you expand?

Everyone has an opinion, some are similar, some aren’t. They’re opinions, by definition neither right nor wrong. Some may be based on mistruths (such as yours), but they’re still opinions personal to the poster. If there were a definitive, unarguable answer to the question the OP has asked (which was a request for opinions, not answers, as it happens) we wouldn’t be here.

Everyone can have an opinion about when it’s ok to breastfeed and why. There is no definitive answer because of the nature of the question. We agree on that.

I suppose everyone can also have an opinion about whether the world is round or whether adults emotional regulate in relation to other people. It’s just that some of those opinions will be objectively false.

Do you believe that two-year-olds need dairy products in their diet?

Just doesn’t feel appropriate for older children to me. I think everyone has an age where they think it’s a bit grim. Some people that might be 15/10/5. For me it’s after 2. Also I’ve noticed everyone I know who’s BF in toddlerhood is a similar personality type (slightly hippyish) and I do wonder feel it’s more about the mum than what’s particularly best for the child (I don’t think it’s harmful, just not really useful either). I think it is harder to cut off BF when they’re a bit older and I think people don’t want to hassle of it when its easier just to carry on. That’s what I mean by complicated.

I thought long and hard about how to reply to this because I can see our views are fundamentally m different on the subject. It does seem kind of sad in my opinion to view it this way but I understand where you are coming from. I do disagree but I will leave it as that.

Yes. And they can have cows or substitute like the rest of the human race. We don’t sell breast milk in cartons or give it to children past a certain age, because it’s for babies. Children don’t need it when they are older.

Toddlers do not need dairy products. Although it is common in the west as part of their diet.

yeah you got me. I do it for myself xuz I’m weak and I love it. Being woken up sometimes twice a day because my son wants me is the best thing of bf and why I don’t stop because why have every night sleep in one go when my sleep can be disrupted

Yes. And they can have cows or substitute like the rest of the human race.
We don’t sell breast milk in cartons or give it to children past a certain age, because it’s for babies. Children don’t need it when they are older.
Stupid argument there. Breastfeeding to natural term is wrong because we don't sell breast milk in cartons 😂.

It might have escaped your attention that there might be a whole load of issues with farming humans and separating them from their offspring. There's also probably not a market for mass produced human breast milk. The absence of a mass human dairy industry isn't a sensible challenge to women nursing their own children to natural term

Not a popular view on here but I’ll be honest…over around 6 months starts to look weird to me and a lot of other people (regardless of what the WHO etc might say about the benefits of breastfeeding). It’s something a lot of people only expect ‘babes in arms’ to do.

So why do it? They don’t need it. You don’t need it. What’s the point? Unless they’re a baby and need it why bother. Comfort/ bonding? Don’t you do that in other ways that might mean they don’t wake you up at night.

I would never ever imagined I'd be someone who would breastfeed for an extended period, thought that was for lentil weaving hippies. I fed my son until he was 3yrs 9 months when he self weaned. It was mostly laziness that kept it going on so long. It would send him to sleep in 5 minutes flat, it just made life easy. I don't think it harmed either of us, he's a happy and normal 5 year-old now.

I don't think lots of people think that, it's a very bizarre view when infants need feeds up to the age of 1. I know a few close-minded people who still wouldn't bat en eyelid at a 7 month old having a feed. 🤷‍♀️