Anyone else made to feel like a paedophile for breastfeeding past 6 months!

[cruisemum1]

getting miffed at peoples attitudes to bf past the 'required' 6 months. ds is only 7 mths ffs! makes me feel they think i'm a freak! grrrrrrr

yeah, my mum kept saying I didnt have enough milk for my DS & that is why he is small & he must be starving!!! She told my DH not to be stupid when he talked to her about ex bfing!!!
Anyhow as an aside, my DH works in the military & has a lot of people work for him, many having children. He gives them all a little chat about the benefits of bfing & how to supoprt their DP through it & to encourage them to bfeed as long as possible!!! ( maybe I've been brainwashing him) He even gave his new boss the talk yesterday while they where at lunch!!

ahh, mush, for your dh

mush - that warms my little heart . my dh said "when you gonna stop bf? you'll be liuke that one from little britain!" he was joking...... i hope

cruise, sorry for change of subject, but how are the nights going now? ds still sleepin thru?

love to mush!

my hubby is now convinced that breastfeeding is brilliant, especially as baby and me are happy. luckily he's not worried about when we're giving up (baby now being a robust 21 mth old!).

he hasn't been banding leaflets on breastfeeding, but is very proud of his ultra-white cloth nappies (he's a house-husband) and loves to encourage others to use the same!

: )

hi tibs - nights still great! . mind you ds woke at 12 last night and had to be rsettled. 5 mins later he was asleep till 6:35am. hope you are ok. i visit siftw and skim the posts daily so i am still loitering....

am really chuffed for you cruise, you bloody well deserve it we're ok ta, nights much better altho still not as good as yours! naps have improved too, dd slept for 2 1/2 hrs this a.m catch you on siftw.....oh, and great thread btw!

I am still bf baby aged 18mths although usually just at night. Wouldn't worry if I had to do it in public.... it's the most wonderful and natural thing... however BEWARE! I am pregnant with number 6 and was on pill and bf .......

scottishsusan - thanks fo rhe warning . no. 6 WOW!!!and congrats of course...

its half the battle when the men are opn board & supportive!!

hello, i'd like to join this thread. my LO is just 4 months, but i'd like to breastfed him as long as he continues to want it.
people's negative attitudes really bug me. i remember a friend commenting that bf-ing once a child could talk was a bit weird.
also my DP was worried about LO not accepting a bottle as "what will we do when breastmilk is not enough?"

Amberjee a friend said that to me as well. I never did ask what she thought, when he could not only ask for it but spell it

here we go cruise!

Hi Cruise. Glad to see your nights are going well. I have just seen this thread. My DD is 8 months and I am just beginning to get some comments about feeding. Mainly from women of our mothers' generation who think I should stop. Strangely I also got some comments from my NCT group today. One girl told me she thought it was weird as DD now grabs my top and pulls it up to get my breast. I could not believe it. I thought NCT parents would be supportive. i actually think it is quite advanced of DD to know to pull up my top. She also says Mama when she wants the breast. i think my NCt friend was just jealous that my DD has advanced motor and language skills . There is a lot of misinfo out their. One NCT mum told me they need formula after 6 months for the iron [hmmm]. I suggested DD's love of red meat and spinach might cater for her iron needs.

I actually meant to give up at 6 months but DD has allergies to formula and all dairy so I am likely to have to keep feeding for a while.

I think bf past a year is a bit strange because your child isn't a baby anymore, they are a toddler and milk is not a main part of their diet anymore if you know what i mean. But in the first year it's perfectly normal.

Well I just clicked on this thread against my better judgement, read your post IcingontheCake, and know straight away that I better leave verrrrrrrrrry quickly...

with a great big SIGH

Why??

Oh dear IOTC

Because in that short post you sum up so many of the misconceptions and prejudices about b/feeding past 12 months, and I find it really sad that these kind of thoughts are still so widespread.

If you're interested in finding out why there are in fact a lot of very very good reasons to continue breastfeeding after 12 months, try www.kellymom.com

(Having said that, I skim-read the rest of the thread and it's quite civil really isn't it?)

Why is everyone saying oh dear?

I know children need milk, maybe that came across wrong. I meant in the first 6 months of babies life, milk is all they need and they still really need it up to 12 months with a varied diet of solids. After a year they can drink cows milk as a main drink and will get all they need from solid food. Thats what i ment.

Fair enough IOTC but explain to me why I should switch to cow's milk when my son turns one when I'm perfectly capable of producing high-quality milk myself, which comes with a whole range of additional health benefits, which cow's milk doesn't?

Yes, but here are other reasons why maternal milk is great for toddlers. I second the advice to have a look at www.kellymom.com

Xposted emkana - my message was aimed at IOTC.

Icing, I really think you're displaying your own prejudices here. To begin with, if a toddler is drinking any milk (which most of them are) then why is it better and less "strange" that they get it from a cow than from their own mother?

And I don't really "know what you mean" about milk not being a main part of their diet after 1. Calorifically it's not a huge component, but even 100ml of breastmilk in the second year provides

10% of the child's daily protein requirements
17% of the child's daily vitamin A requirements
17% of the child's daily folate requirements
21% of the child's daily vitamin B12 requirements
13% of the child's daily vitamin C requirements

so in terms of overall nutrition it's still important.

Also some immune factors in breastmilk increase in concentration during the second year. Nursing toddlers between the ages of 16 and 30 months have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers.