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.

maths, you allow non orgnanic processed food to pass your lips?!?!? shocking and outrageous, it could infect your child with a mcdonalds addiction via your breastmilk

I recently met up with my mum friends at a pub, we were sitting in the car park while the toddlers went feral and the mums bf while sipping pints..... EBFers aren't all lentil weavers

Robyn

I didn't mean it was only me taking the happy meals BTW!

we do draw the line at alcohol though I'm afraid!

ok

don't feed a child who is too big/old, but if you must,do it in secrecy away from anyone who might feel creeped out

don't enjoy it, or you are a sicko pervert

but

don't not enjoy it or you are some lentilly martyr

whenever your child seems to want milk, don't give it, they are old enough to wait/be given a dummy/hug a teddy

but also don't give it because let's face it it isn't nutritionally critical

don't bf unless the rest of your parenting is immaculate, or it will cancel out the good (i'm looking at you, bfers who have given maccyd)

don't rub it in people's faces, plenty can't do it you know, who the hell do you think you are, smuggo?

in fact, DON'T DO IT

have i summed it up? it seems like bf is a great thing as long as no one is actually doing it

ffs

chibi ROFL LOL , brilliant .

Hmm!

Toddlers need iron in their diets and as much as its available in many foods its also more digestable from breastmilk.

Ohhh!! don't give you toddlers cows milk give them specially modified uber cows milk with extra iron...............

or don't bother and just give them a boob.

my son is designed to drink breastmilk not some modified 3rd best crap. I accept that some people have not gone the same route and that is their choice, in defending my choices I am percieved as judging others, personally I don't care how other people feed their children, only that I am given the same latitude and not called disgusting.

Think what you like of me, not really bothered,

What kellymom says about iron

what cow and gate says

My boy likes boob in a totally non sexual way, he would be distraught if I took it away. One day he will wean naturally until then I will carry on.

chibi superb
"it seems like bf is a great thing as long as no one is actually doing it"
hah! i think we should end the thread there, that definitely sums it up

thanks !

Chibi, you've summed it up exactly.

When I was b/feeding it felt like everyone wanted me to be doing it, but no one ever wanted to see me doing it.

I don't think coupleofkooks was directing that at you tw1nkley.

I'm coming late to this thread and can't read all the pages.

I think YABVU to say it is more about the mother than the child. I think YANBU to say it makes you feel weird if that is your honest feeling.

Originally I though I'd stop BF as soon as DS got teeth. But when he got his first tooth at 4.5 months and I survived the inital biting, I thought I'd continue offering until he was old enough for cow's milk and I returned to work ie. at 12 months. He's never liked a bottle even for expressed milk. Dropped day feeds then but night feeds continued. I kept thinking he would lose interest given his v healthy appetite for food. HA! Now he is 2 and loves his food and yet he still demands milk from me at night and morning.

If I could have stopped at 18 months I would have done. He loves it and while I am happy I can please him and give him something good for him I'd be delighted to stop now. Or at least just do a single pre-sleep feed. Now he has more understanding and can speak a few words, I am repeating the mantra "Mummy milk is for little babies. You are not a little baby so soon Mummy milk will stop. No more. Finished." He nods and says "bye-bye" to my breasts. I'm determined to give up when on holiday in two weeks' time so that DH and I can deal with the inevitable stress and lack of sleep that will result. THe thing is he WANTS it even if he doesn't NEED it. And honestly I feel rotten for even suggesting that he can't have it anymore. Also he doesn't often sleep through the night partly due to regular ear infections. It is clear that sucking relieves the pain when his ears are infected and soothes him.

The way I see it, it is natural. He may not be a tiny baby but he is still a very very young child. And when he is in pain I have the power to ease it.

You may find that weird. I don't care.

gingerwench sorry ladies hijack

twinkley, sorry, not sure what prompted the , i was just laughing at chibi's resume of the thread

gingerwench, you might be pleasantly surprised at how easy it might be to night wean your DS. I night weaned my DD at his age and literally offered a bottle of water when she woke up. She would drink the water fall back asleep easily and after a couple of nights slept through. My DS night weaned himself at around the same age and we co-sleep ! So certainly night weaning was easily than we thought it would be, not tried day weaning yet mind. Good luck

By thesecondcoming Sun 27-Jun-10 10:56:24
ok, so while i defend my right to hold an opinion that is different to yours (but similar to many many other women) you feel at liberty to say i have a problem or a hang up.is it ok if i say 'you have a problem in wanting to continue to bf a toddler' i wouldn't be so rude-seems you can't extend the same courtesy though eh.
i am happy for you to feed your baby how you want,where you want and when you want-until you want to stop-i can point out that in my opinion,your doing so,does not normalise bf'ing on the whole for the vast majority of mothers-many of whom look around for role models and 'the norm'.
to me,the 'norm' is not 'tandem feeding 3 year olds' i have the confidence and support to know that this is not 'the norm' and enough friends and family (now)who have bf successfully to varying ages.
however,a young mum,with a mum and a partner who has no bf role model and turns up at bf peer support for and finds it's full of women who are ebf is not likely to revise her opinions (or be supported in her decision to bf) by 'ebf'ers and their pre-schoolers' imo...nor is she likely to be encouraged to continue-i don't think her partner\mum would be keen to offer support in this situation either.
For those of us who want to bf our babies without being allied to the lentil weaving earth mothering school of parenting-and you saying that those 'types' do not exist (as the public face of bfing) is disingenous and untrue.

I completely agree. BF a baby is beyond most young women/teen mothers and if convincing them includes showing women ebf then that would make most of their reservations very real.

'I completely agree. BF a baby is beyond most young women/teen mothers and if convincing them includes showing women ebf then that would make most of their reservations very real.' hello I was a teen mother saw a ebf and thought wow and preceded to ask her for advice. I also went on to feed for 2.9 yrs. Seeing another person bf made me a lot more confidant I wasn't sure I would bf that long but the extended bf I knew gave me loads of really great advice that probably helped me feed.

YABU

so we are coming back to this - mothers who ebf are PUTTING OTHER MOTHERS OFF bfing

TSC i do admire you for at least putting your money where your mouth is and training in bfing support
other posters who think ebfing weirdoes are damaging bfing support, perhaps you could follow suit
because i know when i was struggling to feed ds2, when ds2 was HOSPITALISED for 10 days due to poor feeding, i could not find ANYONE in that entire NHS hospital to come and help me with breastfeeding

nobody would even try - no midwife, no health visitor, the breastfeeding support workers in that hospital were unavailable and did not get in touch until a week after ds2 had been discharged
i asked every day - several times a day - for help with bfing
i phoned all the numbers on the little NHS list to try to get someone to help me

the person who finally came out and helped me make some progress with ds2's feeding was a La Leche League leader - she is a weirdo extended breast feeding lentil weaving earth mother hippie
and she came in her own time, unpaid, to help me in hospital

so it makes me VERY ANGRY to hear that what she did was not good enough, that she might put off young mothers, that she is going to discourage people

because there WAS no-one else - i am a confident and educated experienced second time mother, and i could not get ANY support from anybody else to help me breastfeed my sick infant
and she was BRILLIANT

slushy, it is well documented that most very young mothers do not breastfeed, those women that I have met find the whole thng 'icky', 'breasts are sexual' etc...

posie how is it helping young women who feel breasts are sexual, to hide away our breastfeeding toddlers like a dirty secret
you blame EBF mothers for young women not breastfeeding?
what about the blinking media and the whole soft porn industry and all the people who want to make money out of our breasts?
you don't think they might be SLIGHTLY more responsible than a woman who wants to use her breasts for the purpose for which they are designed?

But that's no reason not to do it, I hope I haven't come across like that?! Perhaps I have not read enough posts but what I understood by TSC is that some bf groups are full of ebf and that image is too far removed from what may be encouraging for a young mother.

My dd was only bf for a few days, mainly due to lack of support, though prompted by v cracked nipples!

I think that if new mums-to-be are put off by seeing ebfers then that's very sad, and needs to be changed.

I'm shocked to read on a modern, open-minded place for mums so many comments about how ebf is weird, icky and the cryptic "more about the mother". It seems like it's the last parenting taboo. It used to be thought that toddlers should be potty trained asap, should be out of the cot asap, should be eating steak asap, and it seems that this is now the last remaining element of the old "babies should grow up asap" school of thought.

Some of the comments on this thread are soo ridiculous. I mean, no one would complain about a mother giving her toddler a banana, hug, or a cup of milk. No-one would say:

She should give that child the banana in private, in a different room to me.
Why not wait to give the child the banana at home?
The child only takes a minute to eat the banana, so it's obv not necessary.
It's not necessary to give children bananas on demand.
She's flaunting that banana, she thinks she's a better mother than me the bitch

Now I have virtually no experience of bf and even I think those attitudes are ridiculous, ignorant, prejudiced and sad.

Disclaimer: I am talking about attitudes, opinions, not people, and I am not addressing this at anyone in particular.

slushy, it is well documented that most very young mothers do not breastfeed, those women that I have met find the whole thng 'icky', 'breasts are sexual' etc... I am sadly aware of that view as I have been in newspaper articles and asked by a lot of mws to speak to other teen mothers but as a teen mother who did try to bf I can honestly say that seeing older more experienced women ebf made it seem more normal for me.

lol @ petisa and the controversial bananas

LOL @ "she's flaunting that banana"
these threads do always bring out a lot of good, I am very glad i read this one