Mum asked to stop breastfeeding a TWO YEAR OLD in shoe shop.

[GinaDavva]

Mixed feelings with this one. Shaming a mother publicly breastfeeding a small baby is never acceptable but breastfeeding a two year old child in a shop? Surely at that age a bottle is more convenient in the middle of a shop? My first thought was that this was more about attention than the actual principle of the matter. After breastfeeding 3 of my own I can honestly say there has never been a time where it felt necessary to start breastfeeding any of mine in the middle of a shop at two years old. Frankly at that age they wouldn’t find much in mine anyway!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3z31jn7v1o

I can only think you feel inferior to the mothers you deride in some way to be so unnecessarily bitchy. Just let them get on with their lives. Why does it affect you? And I say that as someone who formula fed both of mine after six months!

Maybe because they don't tend to go shoe shopping?

How often do your pets leave the house with their nursing offspring? Never?

Of course mothers have a preferred 'spot' when nursing at home. Personally, I preferred the armchair to the sofa so I had support under both arms.

Cats and dogs breastfeed in front of humans. They must be attention seekers.

hold on, why does it have to stop at 3! When it's about comfort and reassurance, any child (possibly with a devemental issue but not only), any child should be allowed to breastfeed for comfort.

Can't wait to see 16 or 20 year old doing just that in a shop 😂😂

No one can scream bloody murder and being offended when someone declares 2 or 3 is too old, but then put an arbitrary limit themselves, can they! Who are THEY to decide you must stop at 4, 5, ...8, 12, 16...

Attention seekers???

Your poor children having such a judgemental, insulting mother.

I've also breastfed three children until they were two. If we never fed 'in public' we'd never be able to leave the house! God forbid I see anyone having a coffee 'in public' or a bottle of formula 'in public' when we are 'in public' we should refrain from having a drink as an adult or feeding upset/hungry/teething/thirsty/overworked children in case it upsets some judgemental mare on Mumsnet!

Bitty! Bitty! (c) Lil'Britain

It's not possible to breastfeed a child past weaning age. They lose the ability the latch effectively and stimulate milk production around they age they lose their milk teeth... Milk teeth.... Milk teeth. I wonder why we called them that?

Reasons to breastfeed a toddler:

• for their dental health
• to reduce the risk for gastrointestinal, ear and throat infections
• to reduce their lifelong risk of obesity
• to nurture a loving bond
• to comfort them
• because is free and convenient
• to reduce your lifelong risk of breast cancer
• to reduce your lifelong cardiovascular risk

Natural weaning age is between 3-7 years old HTH

most mothers do NOT breastfeed 2 year old to be fair

Grow up

you are confusing your opinion with facts. HTH

Anyone that has breastfed their baby through to toddlerhood wouldn't think anything of giving their two year old a quick feed in public to comfort them. It's second nature and absolutely nothing performative about it.

I breastfed my 16 mo in the pool recently because she was unsettled and was asking for it, I just sat at the side in the shallow end and there was absolutely no issue. I wasn't exactly going to drag my older daughter out to come with us elsewhere for the sake of a two minute feed.

It's so depressing that women judge other women for such completely inconsequential issues. It's bad enough when men are showing their ignorance over this.

You are absolutely right, actually

When my 2yo was ill, the GP was pleased she was still breastfeeding due to the health benefits for her. I honestly can't remember where we were breastfeeding at that point. Cafes maybe? Soft play? The park?

(I did draw the line at swimming pools but that was because the idea of milk and chlorine mixing put me off, plus the inconvenience of getting the swimming costume off!)

To put it simply ITS NOT YOUR BUSINESS

Most mothers know what's best for their own children.
This mother probably did what was right for their own child.
The shoe shop was very unlikely to know what was best for that mother and child! But probably won't be getting their custom again

For what it's worth, not all children are having three meals a day at age 2, and not all children have had bottles!

Completely irrelevant but I breastfed all three. Two naturally went down to one feed a day at 2 and no feeds at 2.5. The other, who was absolutely tiny, went down to 1 feed a day at 3 and no feeds shortly after. Weaning was never straightforward - sometimes they wouldn't eat at all and sometimes they would. Sometimes they were very sick and would eat/drink nothing other than the breast. But they all weaned eventually and all eat absolutely fine now.

I can assure you that when they are teenagers, there will be much bigger issues to worry about than the precise month they stopped feeding. As with all these stages, one day you realise it's just all over!

Let's support mothers. Mothering is hard enough as it is without criticising each other.

Human beings don't need to impose an arbitrary limit on breastfeeding because there is a breastfeeding term between 2-7 years when children will stop of their own accord and/or are no longer physiologically able to stimulate milk production. In all human societies that have ever existed. This is around the time that children lose their "milk teeth" - ever wondered why they're called that?

Maybe you ought to learn something about this topic before you express such strong options. Could get embarrassing.

Humans losing their milk teeth is a big clue.

I agree with all of those. Can you list reasons for breastfeeding in a shop?

That pp might just be older. Attitudes have changed and that is how a lot of generations would have thought. ETA though I agree the fetish comment was most odd!

Each to their own, in terms of how old you wish to breast feed. However, I would feed my two year old at all in a shoe shop. Go to a cafe etc sit down and do it.

Wow what a judgy post....

For what it's worth I breastfed my 3 year old wherever he needed. Why would I want or need anyone's attention for that? On that note why would anyone who breastfed a baby decide there was ever a time when they 'needed' to buy formula and introduce a bottle? That sounds like the most inconvenient thing ever.

I think its the age they objected to, not the act itself

I’m a bit on the fence about this. I did bf all of mine till two but cut it down to just nighttime feeds somewhere between 12-14 months partly as just sick of having boobs out.

in fact they walk about the their nipples visible all the time and never cover up as they surely should do in polite society

https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/28/humans-are-primates-designed-breastfeed-years-not-months