I cannot stop thinking about this - "Bfing too long" in recent Sunday Times Magazine...

[PacificDogwood]

...is there such a thing??

Stop sniggering at the back, please, I do not mean Little Britain type szenarios [stern look over pince nez]

Apologies if this has been discussed here already.
I read the headline and was appalled, then read the actual piece and found myself agreeing with the slightly drugged state of mind the authoress found herself in as long as she breastfed.

I have never BF my kids particularly long (the longest was to 14 months) and current DS4 is only almost 6 months old - but: I cannot concentrate on anything, I have no drive or interest in anything much (sex, what's sex??) and I remember the clarity of mind and body after I stopped BFing DS3 1 year or so ago.

So, is it just me (and the author of the piece) or do others feel the same?
And how do we feel about negative press about BFing?? Tis true, but does it need spelling out?

See, there I go, rambling, unfocused post.
Feel free to ignore whilst I sit here and get boobis out yet again....

I didn't see the article, I'm afraid. I think the clarity of mind and body you describe post 12m is possibly a lot to do with being recovered from the birth, having a baby who sleeps a bit longer and is less reliant on you providing breastmilk (and the accompanying extra sleep that would potentially afford)?

Certainly as someone who breastfed for four times that long, I definitely felt noticeably more "together" post 12m, but that was more about having a baby who slept (a bit) longer, (a bit) more reliably, etc, rather than any "drain" bfing was placing on me.

I don't mind negative things written about breastfeeding - I think having a happy, happy, joy, joy attitude to it At All Times can be very unrealistic for many women. But placing the "blame" on breastfeeding for things that may well not be connected - as on the babble.com/colic thread in bfing at the moment - that's not so good.

So, I guess where you say "tis true" - I would say, "Tis true - for some people, possibly, but there may be other reasons for it anyway".

Oh, yes, it would have positively helped me first time round if someone had said "yes, it can be hard." Hate the lovely cutesy pie image of the beautifully made-up mother smiling at the bonny, dimply baby contentedly feeding away in her arms...

Sorry I cannot link to the article; they seem to want money for that now, grr...

Sleep, or lack thereof, does of course come into it...
I don't think a drain was suggested more of a hormonal oxytocin related haze.

Oh well, maybe just me then

Agree that if the pro-bfing literature explained that yes, it can be hard, yes, it can be exhausting etc it would be better for new mums and not make them feel like failures when they struggle with it.

I bf'ed perfectly successfully for 9mo with DD but I had heard 'if it hurts you're not doing it right' which frankly IMO is utter bolleaux. Sometimes it hurts because you've never done it before and having someone sucking furiously at your nipples for up to 8 hours a day is a new and alien experience for your body (well, it was for me anyway, maybe not for people in other lines of work ).

I'm not sure if the lifting of the new mother fog coincided with DD sleeping through the night or with giving up bf-ing, but I did feel much more human and back to normal when my body wasn't constantly at the beck and call of another human being.

The topic was being discussed here

Unfortunately I haven't read the article, but I do tend to find that any possible problem will be blamed on bfing.

Ah, thanks, belgo, I am off to have a look.