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?

Personally I think it’s odd past the age the child is using it for comfort only - about 2, maybe 2 and a half. For me it feels more like the mother doesn’t want to let go of her little baby and the closeness it brings, or hasn’t developed other methods of comfort.

I think it’s supremely odd to breastfeed a child that will likely remember it. Those in places where food is scarce excepted of course.

I suspect (as has happened before) that I’ll be called a handmaiden who thinks boobs are for men not babies - actually I breast fed all my kids, but there comes a point when there’s no benefit from breastfeeding that cannot be got from a cuddle.

That's a tautology though not an explanation. Obviously if they don't need it it's not necessary. But that doesn't mean it ought to stop.

I think part of the problem is people think breastfeeding is all about food. Yes the milk changes to meet the growing needs but it's not all about food or comfort. It does other jobs like take a bug from a kid, mum makes antibodies to help fight it and passes them on through breast milk. Nothing else does that. The stuff is bloody amazing. Personally I'd like a shed load of research into the stuff done for other reasons than nutrition.

We only think it's weird because it's not the norm and it's still nobody else's business, ultimately.

Absolutely gamerchick. I carried on for so long because DC had neutropenia. It felt like one small thing I could do to help.

🥱

@Shutthegatepeter you’re just a nasty person lashing out at people because someone offended you in the past.
I didn’t even say bfing past 12 months was wrong so I don’t appreciate being called stupid when you are the one who can’t read.

That is extreme. You should educate yourself about colostrum, as a minimum. Planning to FF from birth is so infinitely “weirder” than BFing a child past babyhood.

This! 👏

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Why do all the very many, countless benefits of breast milk (literally countless, as there are still benefits that have not yet been fully studied or understood) suddenly and magically disappear at the two year mark?

Surely when the child or mother wants to stop? It’s nobody else’s business.