Yesterday I was in the same room as several mothers who nurse their school aged children

[Babieseverywhere]

This was the annual LLL social coffee morning for nursing mothers of children over 4 years old !
It was so nice to discuss the good and bad points about nursing older children. :D

Roll on next year :)

I have been around breastfeeding all my life and have never seen anyone give a mid day public feed to a child of that age.

It therefore seems to me that the examples being focussed upon are at the extreme edge of what I would consider normal behaviour around extended breastfeeding.

It is not desperately helpful to have a discussion by finding the most extreme situation you can and extrapolating that to everyone. Most routine behaviours can be made to look unwise if you only discuss the most ardent advocates from exercise, to religion to house cleaning. Not desperately helpful

Why should anyone care enough about what others think to argue on here? It is each mothers choice when to stop BF and it is pathetic that grown women are name calling on here!

Whether r not one particular ebfeeder feeds her child in public is immaterial. I have seen a six year old child with bottles of milk and juice (I vaguely know the family) in public. It hardly makes me judge the average bottle feeder.

I don't understand the persecution complex here tsc. I've been on this thread all along. Just haven't posted in a while. And my point was only that I don't think that someone would judge the average breastfeeder based on a single Dyad who is perhaps more public than others

Tsc
Yes, I probably do.
I particularly agree with the bit about what I chose to do with my child being my business and having niching to do with anyone ekes.
I don't feel the need to justify myself and actually have only had one conversation with anyone in rl about my choices because it never comes up.
But I think I exude ' oh do fuck off and nib your win business' vibes with some aplomb

But I do get why people get evangelical and /or defensive about extended feeding.
Even if you are convinced of your choice it is difficult to be blasé about the very sneery attitudes you can be greeted with.
I particularly , particularly dislike those who try to assert, via nothing but their own weirdness , that there is any sexual element.
If you flip it around try and contemplate someone suggesting that your cuddling your child was inappropriate because it would have burgeoning sexual overtones. It is hard not to feel defensive.

I think I am pretty unrattleable as having a child with sn my 'fuck off' radar works fine and having been abused the sexual connotations to breastfeeding are, to me, quite obviously purile.

But I wouldn't have fed dd in public for the same reasons that were she to be bed wetting at 5, I wouldn't wave her night time nappies around at pick up. Nor would I sing her bedtime song or talk about her nightmares. Just privacy really.

Blimey that was long.

Fookin hell.
Is there are call?

Is there an extended bf lobby?

Have I accidentally found a quiche

pagwatch, you have just had me in absolute stitches with what I can only assume is your phone helpfully "autocorrecting" your typing. I especially like "nib your win" and "quiche". I think I'm going to have to go back and read again when I've calmed down a bit so that I can absorb your point!

It's interesting what a lot of you are saying about TSC's park lady - if she is the extreme of EBF, and shouldn't be used as the norm, then I'd be very interested to hear everyone's opinions on what is the norm, and until what age you all personally would feel comfortable breastfeeding?

Quiche = MNease for clique (probably because no one can spell it correctly anyway

I feel a bit sad that DD1, now 2.5yrs, isn't going to remember breastfeeding (switched to exclusive expressing before she was 1). She will, I hope, at least remember drinking (breast)milk out of a glass, as she does now. I don't have the usual physical comfort-provision reasons for being ... erm, not sure if this is the correct title, an "extended breastmilk provider" since there is not that element of physical proximity and soothing to it. My key reasons for giving her breastmilk are the immune benefits, the fact that it's free, plentiful and designed for humans, the fact that she will drink it and stay hydrated when she feels ill and won't eat anything else and the fact that it helps me feel that I am sharing something special with both her and her younger sister. She loves it to the extent of arriving home from nursery and finding the breastpump from the cupboard and bringing it to me / attaching it to her own tummy button in the hope of finding milk .

I really hope DD2 will remember it, as she has just passed a year and is going strong. She has a tummy bug at the moment and has had nothing but breastmilk for the past 48 hours. I'm particularly grateful that we're still feeding at times like these, for reasons of comfort and of nourishment.

Thank you MBJ that makes far more sense!
FrozenorthPole that's a lovely post

I never thought that I would bf that long. My DD is 28 months and I do not see any signs that she would like to stop anytime soon..;-)
I have read a lot about the benefits. We experience theses advantages especially when she is ill. She is recovering so much quicker than other toddlers who are not breastfeed anymore.
We are all happy the way it is and that includes my husband too and I guess that is the most important thing.

I love my iPad but it makes me even more incomprehensible than usual.

I tried to post about cous cous and got cows cows. Not such a good alternative to pasta...

My three year old (four in two months time) Has only fed on waking,and at bedtime,for quite a while.The only time she's asked to feed outside those times has been when she's been ill,or has really hurt herself .This seems very common for this age-group.