Attitudes towards breastfeeding a toddler

[Jaffaroo]

My baby is 6 months old and is exclusively breastfed. She was premature and it was quite a struggle to establish feeding but we got there in the end. I’ve had so many positive comments regarding breastfeeding my baby and my husbands family especially have been very supportive of this.

Yesterday, we were at a family party with my husbands family and I had a few people ask when I was planning on stopping, which surprised me. They said that my baby is too grown up now to be breastfeeding. Later on, an aunt asked me how long I planned on breastfeeding for. I said that I have no plans and will take it as it comes and said that the world health organisation recommend breastfeeding for up to 2 years and beyond.

This was met with gasps of horror, laughs and shocked comments from some family members. Even my husband chimed in ‘you can’t breastfeed a 2 year old, that’s just weird’ which really surprised me! His aunts all joined in, echoing how ridiculous it would be to breastfeed a 2 year old.

I find it interesting that breastfeeding is celebrated until they deem the baby is getting too big or too old for it.

AIBU to be quite shocked at the change in attitude towards breastfeeding all of a sudden now that my baby is a bit older?

I agree OP, I found the same.

I am still breastfeeding my 2yo, although ideally I'd like to try and stop soon. Not because I think she's too old but just because I'm getting a bit fed up of it now 😂

How many adults on this thread saying breastfeeding toddlers is weird still drink cow breastmilk?

@IkeaMeatballGravy nobody is drinking cows milk straight from the teet!

FWIW in my opinion a toddler breastfeeding is fine but a child of 4 or 5 is where I draw the line but would also draw the line at them drinking from a bottle or having a soother at that age too! But if people want to do it, work away. Not my body, not my child, not my business!

😂

I milked a cat once in my youth, if that counts??? 😁

People are odd for finding it odd tbf

It amazes me too. Both ways as well, I formula feed from birth and have had so many opinions thrown my way. Especially on here.

I bloody love this.

I wish everyone had this mentality

Oh jeez, it’s 2024 are people really still THIS clueless about Breastfeeding?!

I love it when people state opinion as fact, despite evidence to the contrary

Its not awful at all lol

No. I said if a woman wants to stop breastfeeding they can use any reason they want. Same as if a woman wants to carry on breastfeeding beyond a certain age then they can use any reason they want also.

I’ve just got no interest in worrying about other peoples lives or what they do.

What would I think if someone sat down next to me and started breastfeeding thier 4 year old? Fuck all. Not my life, not my business.

A 2 year old is one thing, but the posters on here who are bragging(?) about still BFing 4/5 year olds are strange in my opinion.

Bragging 🤣🤣🤣🤣

No one is bragging by pointing out that they do something completely natural.

Sometimeswinning · Yesterday 22:48

wigsonthegreenandhatsforthelifting · Yesterday 22:44
Nope, you just teach them not to bite!! Mine got teeth from 5 months and I wasn't stopping then!!
Show quote history
No nope about it. If a woman decides that’s her cut off then that’s her cutoff.

It was another poster who said that breastfeeding mums in her circle stopped when they got teeth but you implied your agreement.

Of course any woman can decide when she wants to stop - I don't believe anyone has questioned that?

Getting teeth isn't a 'good' reason imho but do what you want!

You have a very strange notion as to what constitutes "bragging".

I don't think anyone practices extended breastfeeding to impress the punters on Mumsnet really....

Of course I implied my agreement. Because I agreed 🤦‍♀️

I don’t think any woman has to give a good reason. It’s a choice for them to make. Remember this conversation started with the op being judged by people like you who thought they had a say in how the op fed her baby.

Just try and remember, if they’re not your breasts it’s not your business.

This is so tedious not to mention patronising.

Perhaps it would serve you well to remember the same.

I bf DD until 22 months - I was at that point 12 weeks pregnant and it got too painful/I had quite a strong aversion to it! Luckily we were down to one feed a day, so DD has taken it really well. I was thinking I would stop at 2 anyway so we nearly got there. Baby due May 2025 so I'm hoping she doesn't feel pushed out.

I say if it's still working for both of you, stop when you're ready. Don't listen to anyone else.

I think you’re confused again. I don’t care when or why women choose to stop breastfeeding. It can be 3 days, 3 months or 3 years. They can stop because they just don’t like it, when teeth come through or when the child starts school.

You deserve a bit of patronising. You’ve done a fair bit on this thread.

If you say so... 🙄

Not weird at all, if anything, their reactions are weird. I breastfed my DS til he was about 3 and a half.
(Tbh, I was intending to stop about 3 but he was very ill and in hospital for 6 months just before so it was about the only thing keeping him going for a while.)

@yip I breastfed both my children as toddlers but never debated with anyone that breast is best. I did what worked for my family and others did what worked for them and everyone respected that.

Breastfeeding isn't 'best' for toddlers nutritionally, of course my children still ate normal food but had some breastmilk morning and night as well. They both self weened and all is good.

I don't think anyone on the thread has said it's a necessity to breastfeed toddlers have they? You seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about it.

It annoys me when people say this about breastfeeding a toddler! It is recommended for 2 years and some people even do it for longer! 1-2 year olds are still babies and need lots of comfort. I breastfed my first for 28 months and am still feeding my 14 month old!

if any of you ladies fancy some support, company and a laugh, my sister and I recently launched a podcast especially for exclusively breastfeeding mums, to tackle topics exactly like this one!

our podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, podbean and Spotify. Check it out and well done to all the women on here for breastfeeding for so long!

https://open.spotify.com/show/5lPL21TgLZGzUGKA32vJqI?si=DL-9fyTIQK63bCvktAA2Yg

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-laughing-cows-podcast/id1813624012