To think BF-ing a 2yr old is, um, weird?

[Lucy85]

Well what do you think? I know it's a very emotive subject, but I've seen it a couple of times and it makes me come over all strange.
I BFed my baby exclusively until 7 months when I went back to work, but the thought of doing it now is just plain odd, - not wrong, it's just I can't imagine doing it to someone who can walk, talk, get their own drinks, eats proper food and is too big to lie sideways on my lap.

TSC, breastfeeding conveys plenty of health and emotional benefits for mother and child, certainly after one year, and presumably for as long as they wish to continue (not a great deal of research done on this after 2 years AFAIK)
so to encourage a nursing strike baby to continue, via the methods you mention, would be for the benefit of BOTH mother and baby
if the mother wants to stop bfing and this co-incides with a nursing strike then this can be an easy gentle way to stop
however for other mothers who have no problem continuing, the benefits are clear and it doesn't seem hard to understand why it would be recommended to try to find ways round the nursing strike in order to continue

and i don't know of any diet in this country that doesn't recommend giving some form of milk throughout childhood - breastmilk, formula, cow's milk or dairy substitutes eg soya, oat, rice milk
they are all recommended drinks for children and i would say usually regarded as fairly essential - not supplementary to a balanced diet at all

OhyesIshipthat you've made me laugh.As I said earlier in quoting my daughter,she loves her time breastfeeding and it is very sweet to see,in some ways it is particularly special having fed a toddler because they tell you how much they are enjoying it.And even though I am a bit tired and worn out from five and half years of feeding DD1 and DD2 in succession,and all through my pregnancy,I don't want to take it away from her,I want to let her be what she is and not be in a hurry to move her on.
there is a region in India where there is a very rare endangered deer,and sometimes they get killed by hunters.The village women breastfeed the orphaned deer,how touching is that?

In the great scheme of things I don't think it matters! They stop eventually and by the time they reach their teens they couldn't care less either way. I'm not sure why anyone else cares either way!

So they literally told you to force them in a headlock?

It's weird, and is about the needs of the mother, not the child!

And presumably the breastfeeding helplines believe that breastfeeding is good for babies.

So not for your benefit.

Curryfreak, have you read any of this thread, or just cut and pasted from the last time this topic caught your eye?

It is not the social norm therefore, regardless of any benefits or problems, it is 'weird'.

So YANBU.

"i was told to offer breast rather than solids (so that's food reduction) to go back to bed and do skin to skin"
Sounds like perfectly reasonable options to be looked at, alongside the weaning choice.

Offering the breast instead of solids is not food reduction it is food replacement It is making sure that the baby gets the majority of calories from breastmilk instead of solids. This is relatively easy to do as breastmilk is a relatively high source of calories compared to say a carrot stick or other food commonly offered to weaning babies.

So the 'headlock' comment was just what you felt would happen if you tried skin to skin, not what was suggested to you via the helpline ?

"It's weird, and is about the needs of the mother, not the child! "

oh curryfreak thank god you are here, we've all been wasting time debating the finer points of this for HOURS
and here you are to sum it up so succintly for us, and with such rigorous scientific proof to back up your assertions as well

and TheCoalitionNeedsYou, my 7 y o understands that 'weird' is a negative and insulting word, that shouldn't be used when what you actually mean is 'unusual', because it hurts people's feelings
i am sure you are older than 7

Missmodular, listen to her! She is spot on.

can't be arsed to involve myself in this one.... its getting waay too heated and i have important messages in bottles to send/receive

but i had to say that i am still laughing from ShirleyKnot's whoooosh on page 2 (small minds and all that)

biscuit with your milk anyone?

thesecondcoming, I do believe you. I am starting to wonder if the expert you saw was properly trained. It is unusual for a NCT counsellor to lay hands on a mother and any position which 'locked' the child's head is unlikely to be good for breastfeeding purposes.

From reading your posts it sounds like you have strong conflicting feelings about feeding your children

This is from an abstract on why humans are weaned earlier than other similar species. It is worth noting that they are considering the average human weaning age of 2.5 years (with supplementary food at 1 year) to be early.

'Although humans have a longer period of infant dependency than other hominoids, human infants, in natural fertility societies, are weaned far earlier than any of the great apes: chimps and orangutans wean, on average, at about 5 and 7.7 years, respectively, while humans wean, on average, at about 2.5 years. Assuming that living great apes demonstrate the ancestral weaning pattern, modern humans display a derived pattern that requires explanation, particularly since earlier weaning may result in significant hazards for a child. Clearly, if selection had favored the survival of the child, humans
would wean later like other hominoids; selection, then, favored some trait other than the child?s survival. It is argued here that our unique pattern of prolonged, early brain growth, the neurological basis for human intellectual ability cannot be sustained much beyond one year by a human mother?s milk alone, and thus early weaning, when accompanied by supplementation with more nutritious adult foods, is vital to the ontogeny of our larger brain, despite the associated dangers. Therefore, the child?s intellectual development, rather than its survival, is the primary focus of selection.'

Sorry to people who have no idea why I have posted that. I am responding to the earlier comments about apes.

thesecondcoming Sounds like you have you head screwed on right and have made a considered decision on DC3 feeding. I also sign up to the lazy and disorganised camp of breastfeeding and am expecting my DC3 in 5 weeks (OMG that is SO soon and I haven't done anything yet)

Good luck with DC3, we'll probably be both posting at silly'o'clock on here feeding our new babies around the clock

Think you're stalking me thesecondcoming. glad i interest you so much(smile)

MillyR, Interesting quote, is there any chance of a link to the full article ?

Actually curryfreak it is I who stalk you.

Put that daily mail down and stop doing that with that