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.

I'm very relieved that I am not Mongolian then Lenin!
Teenagers fling a lot back in your face, but I haven't heard any mention 'you bf me too long or you didn't bf me long enough' as a criticism of parenting!

I am sure curryfreak must be joking. Either that or massively hungup, appalling rude and and ignorant.
Def the first then

that is a great article!

Curryfreak has turned up on these threads before.

I don't think that breastfeeding is the only important thing I do for my son, piscesmoon. But it's important to me, now.

And there are lots of things that happen to toddlers that are important.
We're being accused of doing something wrong here.

Lovely article Lenin.

DS and DD are another two who, despite our best efforts have never taken to a comfort object. DS latched on to (good terminology) a cuddly giraffe when he was old enough to use it in play (usually nappy changing ) and has had it in his bed since about the time I stopped bf him on demand (about 15 months). DD is 9 months and couldn't give a stuff about anything for comfort in general. She did go through a period of hating baths where she had a comfort sticklebrick she used to clutch though
I wonder if there's any link.

I haven't read all this thread but couldn't read and run.

Some of the ill-informed comments from people on this thread have had me in tears laughing and screaming obscenities at the computer screen in equal measure.

As a mummy of a breastfeeding 2.5yr old and LLL trained peer supporter I find it amazing how people can spout such crap on a subject that they appear to know next to nothing about, and yet act as though they are experts on breastfeeding.

Natural term breastfeeding is totally normal and totally healthy.

I find it absurd that people object to toddlers asking for a breastfeed. I'd much rather my 2.5yr old ask for Boobie than chocolate or crisps. You wouldn't dream of stopping a toddler from eating anything else because they are 'too old' so why should breastmilk be any different. It is nutritionally ideal for your baby/toddler/child as it is made to their specifications.

However breastfeeding isn't just about nutrition or milk, it's so much more. It's pain relieving, calming (it is so easy to calm them with boobie ), loving, bonding, provides immunity, masses of health benefits which don't suddenly cease to be when a child turns 6mths/1yr etc.

Gina82 said ''I have met a fair few extended breastfeeders and some of them have been quite strange. The first one I ever met and said she loved it so much she wished she never had to stop!''

I find the above comment so sad.Breastfeeding IS a two way thing. I have no qualms about saying I enjoy it because I do. How can I not enjoy something that makes my DD so happy, content, fulfilled and healthy? How can I not want to carry on?

As someone else said earlier in the thread. I most certainly don't breastfeed for my own benefits. I too have a nipple flicking/squeezing, upside down feeding-whilst-singing toddler and feeding is most definitely for her benefit!

Breastfeeding is a part of my life as much as my DD is. It isn't a chore or a hassle or something I resent. It is something I no longer give a second thought to. But that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy and cherish it. I love that I am giving my DD the best possible start in life and if that means feeding for another 6 mths or another 6 years then so be it and to be quite frank why the hell should it matter to anyone else?

Breastfeeding is an emotive subject and people are entitled to their own opinion on the matter. I just wish that those voicing their opinion in the 'anti-breastfeeding toddlers camp' would take their time to actually research what they are saying!

"Breastfeeding is a part of my life as much as my DD is."

That's a really good way of putting it. I have bf for as long as I've had DS, so it wasn't like I was out partying one night, came home and started having to breastfeed. It's something I see as part of being a mother until breastfeeding stops.

for me! taht is - for me! Not saying if you don't bf you're not a mother

LovingMyNewLife excellent post .

StealthPolarBear - I agree I totally regard Breastfeeding as part of MY role as a mother.

It's such a shame that we are living in a society that puts so much pressure on mums to be everything to everyone rather than being able to cherish the role of mothering

Thanks Slushy06

I've not read the whole thread, I mainly think each to their own. However, I know of some women who are breastfeeding toddlers and to be honest there is something about it (in these cases) where it appears to be more about the mother than the child.

These mothers have children at nursery. There is a room they can use to BF, however they choose not to use this room but instead BF the child in the main room. Why? Also, I have never seen the children ask for a feed, they are not distressed and they are likely not hungry. So again why are they doing it there/then?

ds self weaned at 3 and i can quite honestly say i never gave a rars arse what people said, he was ny ds so i will do whatever i feel is best for HIM

Sausage, the room is there if they want to use it. They clearly don't. And as there's nothing wrong with breastfeeding toddlers in public - ? What's the problem?

Mothers generally have a better understanding of their own children's needs, and will pick up on subtle behavioural clues.

Would you wait for a toddler to become distressed before offering a cup of milk or a slice of banana, or do you recognise that children will have a snack at a certain time?

This thread has actually made me feel my first prick of uncertainty about whether I should carry on bf my 22 month old. I mean, what do my family and friends really think of me bf a toddler? Do they talk about me behind my back? For a moment, I actually considered starting to force the weaning process just in case people think I'm weird.

Then I came to my senses. Fuck 'em. If they think I'm weird, they are the ones with the problem.

I would prefer to remain blissfully unaware of their disapproval. Unfortunately, now I've read this thread I'm always going to be wondering.

good for you sawdust

Breastmilk is so amazing. Children's immune systems don't mature until age 7. If a bfing baby/ child gets ill, they pass some of the germs into their mother's bloodstream through the nipple, then the mother's immune system sets to work creating antibodies, which she then passes back to her child through her milk.

But yes. Of course it's wrong to pass on such health benefits to one's children.

Sawdust - I feel the same way. I would never let other people's opinions stop me from feeding DD, but I do now wonder what people really think of me. A couple of 'friends' have made the 'its more for the mother' comment. They know I still feed 18MO DD but I think they assume I will stop soon. Family/ friends know I feed DD but I don't volunteer the information unless I'm asked, which makes me a little sad. Surely I should want to tell everyone but some of the comments on this thread have reminded me why I don't

Re. Mongolia, I'm not entirely sure if I could cope with grandmas wafting their baps around, or maybe I need to be more open minded

"They choose not to use this room but instead BF the child in the main room. Why?"

Because there's no reason at all not to breastfeed in public?

What do people actually mean when they say 'it's more for the mother than the child'? Do they think a breastfeeding woman finds it sexually gratifying?

IME people who express such fixed, limited views about how one 'ought' to breastfeed do so because they know absolutely nothing about breastfeeding. So until they stick their head in a book and learn something rather than pontificating about hot air, their opinions on the matter are, frankly worthless.

Sausage, because they have every right to feed wherever they want to. By law, as of recently. If it offends you, you leave the room. Simple.

YANBU

Just like men in Saudi Arabia feel discomforted when they see a woman behind the wheel of a car, or Victorians being upset by the sight of a woman's ankle.

It's a cultural thing innit. We have very f*cked up attitudes towards breasts and breastfeeding in the UK. It never surprises me when people get squeamish about the thought of natural term breastfeeding. It's hard to escape our conditioning (but no excuses for not trying!)

But not that hard giveittome, or we'd all still be fainting at ankles.

YABU i fed DS1 til he was 27 months and DS2 (18 months) is latched on as i type, and im not planning on stopping any time soon.