what age did you stop breasfeeding?

[Flumpity]

my daughter is just 7 months and i still breastfeed her in the morning and mid-afternoon with a bottle at bedtime. but i'm getting a lot of people expressing surprise that i'm still breastfeeding. I didn't think 7 months was particularly old or counted as 'extended' breastfeeding, but then, most of my mummy friends i've met since having my baby (she's my first) all stopped at 6 months so i'm feeling unusual. wondering what age anyone else stopped?

footnote - baby still loves it, but she's too distractible to feed anywhere that isn't very quiet anymore so i tend not to be able to feed her easily in a cafe etc like i could when she was tiny! also wondering if anyone else found this?

also, she's on 3 good solid meals a day with sips of water with them.

thanks.

ds is 2.8 i am 38 we have not stopped yet.

bad: not feeding in public through shame and fear of bitty attack
good: not constant attacks for 'milluk' in street. he is keen.

2.8 year olds don't really need to be fed in public though do they.. so you needn't feel guilty. Can see the benefits of continued bf but only as a bedtime (or when poorly) thing.

To about 16 months with the three of them.

Rarely fed in public tbh, had problems with DS2 who was a lazy little darling, and then due to other issues, we rarely took DS3 out.

hmm well i was (am) hoping that bf older babies could become more socially acceptable. just not wishing to be in the front line myself which is cowardly.

ds1 - 18 months, ds2 -13 months, ds3 - 2y 4months, ds4 - nearly 4.
DS3 and 4 self weaned, ds1 a little bit of a puch from me (was 8 months pg with ds2 and didn;t know anyone tandem feeding, or anything about it), ds2 nursing strike which with hindsight should probably have pressed through.

Byt where's the point in exposing your breasts by day and in public^ for a child who is quite old enough to drink out of a cup? You can put expressed milk in it if you insist but really, they don't NEED in during the day and in public.

wow tandem feeding!

can I ask how does that work - doesnt the older child snaffle the calories? xx (sorry being ignorant). I have only ever BF one at a time xx

Somehow all the non supportive people in my life have sort of made me feel creepy for still feeding ds even though he is only one (today ) and we dont publicly feed as if its cos I need to for some reason which is not true

Its simply convenient and we have kept going (and its a chance to rest for a min)

But when do breastfeeding women expose their breasts MulledWino? I know I didn't.

Oh, apart from when I would go into Starbucks, take off my top and bra, neatly fold them on the table, wander over to order my coffee, and then start breastfeeding my baby I suppose.

dd1 2.6

dd2 2.8 and still bfing, mostly just mornings, naptime and evenings. She doesn't often ask to feed in public, but I do occasionally still feed her in public.

To the OP, are you aware of the WHO recommendation to feed up to 2 years and beyond? There are loads of benefits, especially at under a year old when milk is still such a significant part of the diet, so if you want to continue bfing you shouldn't let anyone put you off.

I don't 'expose my breasts' when I bf, in public or otherwise.

At toddler age it's not about 'need'. Hell, I don't need the yummy glass of red wine I'm drinking

DD was 7 months when she decided she preferred not to BF.
DS was 9 months.

Agree with fishie, also like to hope that bf a toddler will become more acceptable yet not don't wish to be in the front line myself either

Wel.. even whacking them out discreetly if not strictly necessary for a 2+ year old is it?

If I'm coming across as anti bf older babies I'm coming across wrong! Just trying to say you don't NEED to do it.. you can keep it for last thing at night, or even give expressed milk in the cup during the day. We all want our children to learn a little relative independence at appropriate ages don't we.. and a 2+ year old does not need mummmy to provide the drink that literally! What is the benefit for laying a toddler across your lap in Starbucks? To the toddler?

But why should it be a problem feeding in public mulledwino?
In cultures where it is socially acceptable to bf a 2 year old a mother would never dream of giving a toddler expressed milk.

MulledWino, what is it about breasts that offend you so much?

Genuine question

But a toddler doesn't need breast milk througout the day. Some cultures do not have readily available alternatives.

MonkeyT, nothing Genuine answer.

I have breast fed in all manner of public places, usually dicreetly, sometimes less than discreetly due to a very prolific milk supply!

What on earth made you think I was offended by breasts, my own or other womens?

MW, could you express much milk when you were feeding your 2yo? I can't. I occasionally express a mouthful or two for DS1 if he's got tonsillitis because he likes it, but to express for a 2.8yo? Why on earth would anybody bother?

Assuming you use a breastpump, you'd have to wash your pump, express, wash your pump up again, then take bmilk out with you. Then would your 2.8yo (who wants to breastfeed) really be all that interested in a cup of milk? My 23mo would say "No, milks" and point at me, if I was trying to fob him off with ebm.

I find "give it in a cup" said in an offhand fashion really, really irritating - bf for a toddler isn't about "the milk" as much as it is about the whole experience of being close to Mum. And yes, I do know about cuddles.

MW, do you only do things for your children that are strictly necessary?

mw you are welcome to come round here and tell ds that he doesn't need milk. perhaps ask him to take it from a cup.
good luck with that.

MW - with the greatest respect, wtf?

Why the emphasis on what's 'strictly necessary'? Should I take my ds's cuddly toys and his beloved ladybird rucksack away from him too because they're not 'necessary'?

As far as 'age-appropriate' goes, the worldwide weaning age is somewhere between 4 and 6, IIRC. Bf, to me, belongs to healthy attachment (disclaimer: I am NOT saying it is always or necessarily a part of health attachment, but in ds1's case it is). He will give it up when he is ready, with his ability to gradually become independent from me possibly all the more intact for having been allowed to take this at his own pace.

FWIW, your use of 'whacking them out' suggests a primary association of breasts with sexuality or even objectification, which seems very common in our society and leads to many people being uncomfortable with bf older children in public. I always see this association at work whenever people express horror that a bf older child pulls its mother's top up. FWIW, I have now introduced ground rules for ds1 when feeding, one of them being that he doesn't pull my top up, but I have that rule for the same reason as we have the rule that he asks nicely - because I think he's old enough to not just demand and to show me and my part in the bf relationship that respect.

I feel funny breast feeding in public cos the wee monkey faffs about and pulls off and may very well expose me unless I am being very on the ball ha ha!

I never see older toddlers BF publicly mine have never wanted to they are way too nosey , is this normal or do some feed away happily for a while?

No I couldn't. I only suggested it because I assumed that the reason some mothers want to publically breast feed a child rather than a baby was because they wanted them to benefit from the extra breast milk.

Do you really need the close bonding experiences gained by feeding, throughout the day, at the cafe, the play centre etc? Don't you find that the time for that is better as quiet mummy/child time last thing a night? First thing in the morning snuggled up in bed?