Does anyone know what the culture of BFing is like in other countries?

[Allora]

I am currently still feeding 9 month old DD and am considering stopping but realise that half of the motivation to stop comes from the feeling I get from other people that they think that I am a bit of a weirdo, and probably doing it more for myself etc

I know that the recommendation is to BF for a year but wondered if elsewhere in Europe more people heed this advice?

In RL I don't know anyone who has ever BF'ed anyone for a whole year. Most start mix feeding pretty early on saying that the baby still gets all the goodness etc

I thought the WHO guidelines were to try and BF for 2 years?

I know what you mean about the unspoken pressures and feeling like people think you are 'weird' as I was the only one in my group of friends who EBF - the others all mixed feeds/FF (although it was probably my own paranoia rather than them saying anything!) DD was 16 months when she weaned herself off me (I am pregnant) and I continued to feed her in public, including abroad when she was that age. Attitudes in Europe seem to be that it is a good thing.
Don't worry about anyone else, just do what you are happy and comfortable doing.

Is it two? Really? See - I had heard it was one and accepted that.

If it hadn't been for this website I would have thought that what I was doing was a bit wrong somehow. It's such a shame that that's the way it is. Particularly since I like to think that I am my own person. Peer pressure, for want of a better phrase, is amazingly powerful.

Programmes provocatively titled Extreme Breastfeeding don't really help the cause either...

The WHO recommend bf until AT LEAST 2 years old, and then for as long as baby and mother desire.

Re: other countries, I live in Spain and I think it's pretty similar to UK in attitude and general uptake of bf. I'm currently bf 10 mo ds and more and more people are surprised by this, not in a bad way, but in a "oh, that's rather a long time, isn't it?" kind of way.

You're doing great. Don't give up because of what you think people are thinking. You're doing the best thing possible for your dd.

I know plenty of people who EBF, but they don't normally talk about it. I'd guess that out of my NCT group 3 of us EBF and the rest mix-fed, but we all fed until 1 year at least. My older son self-weaned at around 2 years and 9 months, and I will feed his brother until he chooses to stop.

We went to Majorca a few years back and I saw a woman breastfeed her toddler (I'd guess she was around 3) in a restaurant. At the time my older son was around 6 months or so and I was still fairly unconfident about feeding him in public so she gave me a real confidence boost. I don't know whether she was a local or a tourist, but none of the other diners batted an eyelid. The waiters brought over a jug of water for her.

I continue to feed my 18 month old in public, although he asks for it less and less during the day now.

I lived in Berlin for a while, and I'd say bfing up to a year was pretty commonplace, and on several occasions I saw women breastfeeding 1-2 year olds in cafes or playgrounds.

You could move to OZ. hey are fanatical about BFing there. FF, I would say, is actually in the minority and is frowned upon somewhat!

Go to a la leche league meeting if you'd like to meet people who breastfeed older babies and toddlers, or a slingmeet (buggies are welcome too). Hopefully you'll meet people in the same boat.
I did this, and it took a couple of goes but turned out brilliant. I love my old friends dearly but it's such a relief to have some new ones too that don't think I'm a lentil-weaving hippy with 'ishoos' (even if they'd never say it).

tthis is amazing!

Allora, the WHO recommendations is minimum a year and for as long as the mother and baby want to carry on past one year.

I think in the UK the NHS literature recommends at least a year and however long the mother and baby desire. So neither put an upper age limit on breastfeeding.

I think the confusion for you is that people start to think 'it says breastfeed for a year'.

When I was living in the UAE I saw a local woman in full black abaya and headscarf open her abaya and expose an entire breast in a public park and latch on a toddler who was at least 18 months. While there were strangers like myself around they were all women so I think she'd have been more discreet with feeding if unrelated men were around. In the middle east I am quite sure that some women wet nurse within the extended family too. Either as a stop gap measure for a struggling mother or for convenience. The children would then be considered milk siblings so they are careful who is allowed to wetnurse whose child.

Venezuelan woman breastfeeding her toddler in front of Hugo Chavez. Latina Americans are not very squeamish about breastfeeding children in public.

Foxy, it's minimum 2 years that the WHO recommends.

Re the two years thing, I heard on here but have no source, that it is that just because no studies have been done over that age. Studies aopparently do show that bf toddlers get ill less often and it's hard to imagine this stopping at the 2nd birthday.

gosh, I didn't see that mistake in my post. thanks Mavis.

afaik MFM you are right.

I live in Asia and have just fully weaned DD (at 13 months). Most mums i know over here (generally westerners) bf for about a year, but we mostly have the luxury of help at home and no pressure to return to work quickly.

That said, a Malaysian friend is quite matter of fact about wanting to continue until her DS is 2, so I think that's more the norm there.

We're in Thailand now, but relatively new so I don't know what's what (although have seen at least 1 mother bfing whilst walking round the shops and a fair number feeding in public generally), but from our time in Vietnam I know that a lot of mums end up going back to work quite quickly and stopping for that reason. You don't see young babies out much at all in Vietnam, but I was never felt uncomfortable feeding DD is public so I guess it's something everyone is used to seeing.

here is the link to the WHO website fyi.

Here in Italy everyone starts off breastfeeding (some hospitals, including the one I had dd in will not even allow a mother to bring in a bottle to feed- there was a woman crying the first night dd was born saying she wanted a bottle and the nurses just told her she could do what she wanted when she got home but there she was going to bf) (I presume systems were in place for the women who can't physically bf) by first week check-up most are mixed feeding and at 6 mths some paediatricians (like mine) tell you that breastmilk goes off ( wondered what that smell was) at 6 mths and you're to stop.

I know a lot of women who carried on well beyond the 2 yrs recommendations.

In Sweden very high number of bf'ers, but most seem to stop around the year mark. By the time the los are 2, most mums are back at work.

This is all really interesting. Thanks for the links.

I always thought that the recommendation was to do it for at least 6 months but that a year is better. Definitely feel like less of a weirdo now!

Here in Finland most mothers breastfeed, I have hardly seen anyone formula feeding their baby. And I have seen many mothers bfing their toddlers. Women are expected to bf, and I think it would be frowned upon if a woman was bottlefeeding simply because they chose to do so.

The WHO's general guidelines say 'frequently and on demand' for at least 2 years and beyond if desired. The European guidelines say for up to 2 years IIRC.

I think MFM is right on the studies not looking at children over 2. For example, Kellymom quotes info from the American Academy of Pediatrics (IIRC) saying that children who are bf for 2 years have significantly lower rates of illness than those bf'd for shorter times.

I read somewhere (think it might have been WHO info but can't remember now) that the mean age for weaning globally is 4 years and 2 months.

crikey, thanks for the link - I've been looking for a summary of that for ages! :)

OP, it's easy to feel pressured by others, isn't it? Only one of my mummy friends is still purely breastfeeding at 9 months.

What I have found in Sweden is that because breastfeeding is the norm, people are terribly accepting and tolerant if you do bottle feed: they assume that there is some sad and genuine reason why you cannot bottle feed, so do not wish to hurt your feelings. Also, lots of women do actually top up with a bit of mixed feeding; that is not frowned upon.

I know it's not in Europe, but in HK, breastfeeding is even less common that in Europe, especially amongst the local population- more common amongst expats, mainly because the expat population largely comprises the people most likely to breastfeed.

There are a number of reasons

• short maternity leave (10 weeks)and most families have 2 parents working. Long working hours and not a lot of flexibility for parents.

• no support for bf in public hospitals

• Live in Childcare cheap and easily available. A lot of people dont bother with bf because they want to involve the amah on night feeds from Day 1.

• formula still seen as a bit aspirational in some sectors and there's definitely not the "formula is inferior" attitude. Some people dont really have the info and others do but dont think the difference is significant enough to worry about.

Breastfeeding a baby in public is fine, although would be viewed as a bit of a novelty and I use a cover up, but you'd definitely get very strange looks breastfeeding a toddler.

About the UAE booby incident: a friend who works in rural Yemen reports that fully veiled women (even ones who veil from their brothers-in-law who live in the same 3 room house) will happily pop out a breast in public. Breasts are the only parts she's ever seen of some women she knows. Breastfeeding totally not taboo, babies' wellbeing seen as top community priority.

I love this umf and foxy! Just goes to show how absuerd (sp) our sexualised breast culture is. It makes me sad as I have seen not wanting to bf in public cited a a reason for not bfing (on here)and even hostility towards women that do (obv this attitude is not the norm). It saddens me that women feel uncomfortable with something so empowering and for which they have historically been venerated.

I used to live in Dubai and never saw anyone breastfeeding publicly, so although I don't doubt Foxy's story, I'm not sure how typical it is, particularly as most of the local ladies don't do much of their own childcare.