My blood is boiling at this thread

[chaosisawayoflife]

Warning: contains link to a website full of selfish bridezillas worrying about how a woman breastfeeding at their wedding will ruin the day for them.
here

Jude...how do you feel about cowsmilk....because, you know that is breastmilk, only for calves...we should feel even weirder about this really...I mean, drinking the breastmilk of another species...but people aren't overly concerned abotu this...oh, yes, hang on, it is cultural norm, therefore that is fine than...

"Ahh so it's lack of breastfeeding till teens that accounts for porky kids is it?"

Apparently so - in part any way.

(BTW - I don't think anyone here is making a case for breastfeeding adolescents, so not sure what your reference to teens is all about).

I've thought about this, whether it's because children these days are more likely to satisfy their oral fixation with food and sweets, because they haven't had the suckling time at their mothers breast that other mammals have and that nature intended for them.

Or whether it's the milk itself or the control relationship involved in bottlefeeding that plays a part.

Children under the age of 5 are most susceptible to contagious diseases. Largely because they still have an underdeveloped immune system (till around the age of 5 or 6).

This little fact dovetails nicely with the fact that children start to lose their sucking reflex about the time that their permanent teeth start to appear. (5 or 6 I am led to believe). Around this time children begin lose their sucking reflex.

Survival of the fittest has a way of preserving the species.

Even in this country with its 'widely available and varied diet', it is still an advantageous to allow children to self wean.

Coming home this morning and listening to the radio the news was about the recent flu outbreak and 'children under the age of 5'.

These things do not exist in isolation.

[the is because many children in this country still suffer malnourishment in the presence of plenty. Witness the diet of crap that has led to the obesity epidemic.]

I feel like I am wasting my time here but here is hoping that it gives a few people food for thought.

"if you pardon the pun, I think when babies start "titting around and biting it's their way of sayinG they're bored with the whole bfing gig. Mine did exactly the same at 6 and 7 months..."

Jude, so when my one year old faffs around with his food, chucks it on the ground, puts it on his hair, he is bored with whole solid food thing?? And I should stop giving him solid food?

Congrats sleepycat!
I told my HV at DS's 2 year check last week that he was still bf (at night) - silence. No comment. No "well done for actually doing what we recommended you do in those leaflets/baby clinics". Funny that!

Hi Sleepy shall we get some t-shirts printed up

I know

'I know what me tits are for'

or

'This bitch suckles'

naughty

Yeah - I know what it would make them think too!

Mind you, shove some crystals on it and make it in baby pink - it'd go a bomb!

I wonder why more women don't breast feed for longer. I know lots of mums (I mix in middle class organic-mummy circles) yet I know no one, not one person who has bf beyond 12/15 months.
These are reusable nappy mothers, not hurrying back to work mums, the sort that do not feed their kids junk food....why did they all stop at the time they did?
Because bfing a child as opposed to a baby is f**king weird and unless you are living in the 3rd world with no access to decent food, totally unnecessary.
Who here is still bfing a 3 yr old? Can you really say, hand on heart it's for their nutritional benefit and NOT because you get as much if nor more out of it than our kid does?

Gosh Jude, you really have big problem with this don't you? If anyone's "f**king weird" around here as far as breastfeeding goes I have to say you get the prize.

wierd jude!

Thecrackfox, are you always so rude?

To everyone else, can any of you explain why there are not more toddlers being bf?

I mean if you can all access all this pro-bfing forever stuff, why aren't my friends (who all support fully and love, love love bfing all stop when they're kids are toddlers?)doing it till their kids start school?
Perhaps because they realise they do not have to shove mcdonalds down their throats to provide them with a healthy and balanced diet WITHOUT breast milk AND they can eat it without sitting goggle eyed in fron of the telly-box.
Right, leaving it here because i shouldn't have got involved in this in the first place...militant bfers bore me more than having to watch CBeebies for longer than 20 minutes.
Goodnight. That was the final word so do your worst....I'm no longer listening.
night night all!

Bugger - that was a quick deletion. What did I miss?

I am feeding a 3 year old. For her emotional and nutritional benefit. She loves it.

I am unfussed but prepared to go along with it as I did for her sister until past 4.

Don't care what others think it is our family's choice.

So, Jude, are you asking a question or no longer listening? A little pointless to do both, no?

One of the main reasons relatively few toddlers are breastfed is because it can be a pain in the arse for the mother, particularly when they have to deal with bigots spouting vile opinionated bullshit about it being "f**king weird" etc etc.

Some carry on despite this because their toddlers keep demanding it and they don't think the the bigotry of others is sufficient reason to refuse their children an entirely beneficial form of comfort. And because they feel that their own child (and not said bigots) is probably in the best position to judge when he or she has "grown out of it"

I am so going to regret posting this but ah well.

I am still bfing DS at 19.5m and will keep going for a while yet but aim to stop by the time he is 2. Probably. (I was originally going to stop when he got teeth - that didn't happen!)

However, I can see the bride-in-question's initial point - it might make other guests a tad uncomfortable to have one guest bfing small children in public without any attempt to cover herself up. I have no issue with her bfing her children - but why be so blatant about it? Why is it so hard to be discreet, and why does she get to be so inconsiderate of other people's feelings?

Anyway, I didn't read more than the first few posts of that other thread because I don't have the energy for it so I probably shouldn't be posting here either.

If I am still bfing Ds at 3 or 4, I won't be doing it in full view of others, especially if they are likely to be uncomfortable with it - that's just good manners.

I didn't breastfeed a toddler because they weren't babies-they could sit down at the table as a family and have a balanced diet. I might have done if they wanted it, but they had moved on.

Thumbwitch - at somepoint i am not sure when I stopped feeding my children when out. My three year old is a morning snuggle time and tbh I probably could instigate her dropping it but when you have got to this stage you kind of think well, why?

That's interesting Zephin.bla blah blah....the general agreement from all the extended bfers on another well-known parenting website was that the actual bfing of their child took place in private at home, such as the nature of the "comfort" feed being just before bedtime or first thing in the morning..where are all the bigots? Lurking behind the Peppa Pig curtains?

I maintain (and this is of course only MY opinion) that any mother that wishes to quit bfing can do so quite easily without dining out on what a selfless earth-mother they're kid is 3/4/5/6/7/8....

Jude68, the bigotry doesn't have to happen in front of the mother while she's actually feeding the child for it to have an impact on her, does it? You can't be so thick skinned as to be unable to grasp that.

As for your opinion that any mother can quit perfectly easily whenever she wants to, I would take the trouble to dispute that, but it's not really relevant is it? The point is, if your child wants to carry on, you need a good reason to say no. What good reason do you think there is?

A good reason for me would be "you've had 2 years of my mammory glands, you can eat and drink a whole arrsy of nutritous and wholesome foodstuffs, I will still give you lots of kisses and cuddles but it's getting silly now...listen kid, the mamma milk car is CLOSED until further notice!"

OK, now we're getting somewhere. So your reason is "it's silly" after 2 years. Fair enough. Presumably you accept that this is an arbitrary cut off but one that works for you. So what exactly is the problem if others only consider it "silly" at 3 or 4 years, or in fact, whenever their child no longer wants it?