She's still feeding Alot at 2, do I need to be worried?

[Adorabelle]

Happy to still be be Bf her but alot of friends &
family have been commenting on how much she still
feeds.

She's 2 on June 16th & still feeds on demand throught the day. Sometimes twice a day, sometimes 10 times a day. I like the fact that
we are still bfeeding but have been getting a few
odd looks that shes now "big" & still feeding.

Anyone got a 2 or over bfeeder? whatcome backs
should I give to a disaproving aunt/mate. Don't feel I should have to justify myself but I do

dd3 is still b/f at 16months. she shows no signs of giving up. tho she will slurp a bit of cows milk from an open cup.

Logic would dictate that for as long as a child needs milk, his or her mother's milk is what nature intended.

I'd be interested to learn what other people think is the optimum age for stopping long-term breastfeeding. When do children no longer need mother's milk? This is a calcium issue? Perhaps at the age of, say, five, they are old enough to get enough calcium from their food to stop drinking mother's milk? (This is in theory – I know we all give cow's milk to children for many years.)

I'm just trying to get an idea of a good 'natural' age to stop breastfeeding.

Any other 'long-term breastfeeders' have any annecdotes about the age of their child/children when they stopped, and what made them stop?

It's all gone quiet! No takers? Someone must have a story about when they stopped breastfeeding and why?

Roshni I think that bf is so much more than a nutrition issue - comfort, closeness, security etc so child-led weaning is all mixed in with these things as well as the nutrition and antibodies they get from the milk. I intend to let my DS (23 months) wean himself naturally from breastfeeding whether that will be at 2, 3, 4...even 7 or 8 is he still needs it. He still needs me to be nearby and if I go out without him does affect him quite badly still so I know that by waiting until he is ready is the best thing for him.

I am aware that things I do may mean that he does wean earlier though - me refusing or delaying feeds because I am busy lots, being away from him if I need to be somewhere child un-friendly, getting pg & my supply dwindling & changing to colustrum (we are ttc for #2 atm). Of course theses are all maybes and he could carry on despite them or they might never happen! True child-led weaning imo is very hard because you can never always be there for them, but as I am a SAHM and we intend to HE DS then I know that I will do all that I can to help him wean naturally and let him bf whenever he wants until then.

Cows milk I am not sure should even come into the issue - its is not meant for our species so why should we drink it to get nutrition - a lot of the worlds population manage just fine without it!

What a lovely post shazhig, you have a beautiful
attitude towards weaning your LO.

Couldn't agree more about the cows milk, have
never given it to my dd, why on earth would I
when my own milk is so much better for her?

Shazhig,

I found your post really reassuring. Last week I had a bit of a health scare (so far seems to be nothing after all), and my doctor told me I might have to stop breastfeeding. I almost burst into tears at the thought of my little boy wanting to feed and me turning him away. Him luckily being a good eater, the nutrition thing takes care of itself and feeding is much more about the intimacy between us. I feel he needs this from me, and so I need to give it to him. I always feel a bit alone in this ? most people I know with babies his age and younger have long-since stopped bfeeding, and don't seem to get this emotional aspect of it at all. So it's wonderful to read about how I feel from someone else.

I feel he'll need it for a long time, and the idea of just relaxing and letting weaning happen naturally is reassuring. You've made me smile. Thank you.

You don't have to justify yourself to anyone. If the feeding works for both of you, then that's fine. And it's nobody else's business!

I fed dd until 23m, dropped a couple of feeds earlier because it felt right even though she was reluctant, but for the rest of the feed-dropping I followed her lead. Gentle.

hi roshni, sorry to hear you had a scare and worrying advice from your doctor. It seems to me that many medics suggest mums stop breastfeeding simply because they don't know enough about it - and can't control it either.

When ds2 was in hospital after a serious infection the nurses had obviously been told to measure how much he was taking in, and kept popping in to ask me when I last fed him, and how long he had fed for (as if that is a good indication). It appeared to be a problem for them that they couldn't say 'at a certain time he had x ml of milk'. I also had dietitians and doctors suggesting that I should try him on hypoallergenic formula (we have food sensitivities in the family) when I was perfectly happy to avoid foods in my own diet rather than feed him what is by definition an artificial food.

Anyway, this doesn't directly relate to your questions, but I believe - and La Leche League would probably have more information - that there are extremely few situations when you really need to stop breastfeeding. I used to think that two of those were when the baby has phenylketoneurea (PKU) or the mum has HIV. The information on the La Leche League International site seems to say that even in these situations, it is not clear that stopping breastfeeding is the best course of action to take.

If, now or in the future, you are worried about the effect of any drugs you may have to take, the Breastfeeding Network has a helpline called drugline specifically dealing with drugs and breastfeeding.

Also, it might help you to find a La Leche League group near you. I only occasionally go to the meetings, and I find their set-up a little strange to be honest, but when I do, it is hugely encouraging to sit in a room with perhaps 20 other mums all breastfeeding children of various ages (from a few weeks up to about 2 1/2 yrs old last meeting I went to) and to talk about the day-to-day realities of breastfeeding with people who are definitely not following the recommendations found in so much of the books and other media aimed at mums nowadays. Plus I have found their helpline truly helpful, particularly at the time when we had pressure to wean ds2 onto solids early (again, despite food sensitivities) and when he was in hospital, as I mentioned above.

Sazhig, it has made me feel so much better to hear that your ds also needs you 'nearby' all the time. My ds is 14mths and I spent the longest time I've ever spent away from him a few weeks ago. He didn't react too well so I know he's still not ready to be apart from me and his milk for too long yet. I think a lot of people just don't seem to understand this at all, or they think it is me not wanting to let him out of my sight...

Mummypig, thanks for your very supportive post. Your experience with medical people monitoring your ds2 sounds horrible at worst, tedious at best. Well done for resisting the pressure they put on you. When my doctor said I may have to stop breastfeeding, he asked me how old my baby was. I think he was a bit surprised to hear 16 months, and said 'so you can stop feeding him then.' It's just about the nutrition for him. I don't think he even gave the emotional impact suddenly stopping breastfeeding would have on my ds. Not on his radar. I think I will try and find a la leche league group. As my ds gets older and shows no signs of losing interest, a bit of regular support and advice would probably be really helpful.

Tatties, I know several other babies like yours, so sod what others think. Only mums know what's going on with thier babies.