FANTASTIC article on extended breastfeeding in today's Guardian

[emkana]

here

Lol at that! DD is behind other babies with her speech at 18 months yet is bf!

Blimey

Cross-posted, Hercules - was a non-confrontational "blimey " in reply to Mud

the 'militant' is a direct quote from the article

Is it beter to give milk from another species than rather than human milk designed for them rather than a cow??? Just to fit in with this societys view of what is "bitty"?

yes

No

I am not militant about bf and hate it when people use this about people who think bf is great. Why does that make them militant?????

There are also militant formula-feeders.

Thanks, but I'd rather bring my child up they way I think best rather than according to what society dictates as okay.

It is because of attitudes like yours mud that make lots of mothers feel they have cant bf an older child in public because there will be people like you there and why people join organisiations like le leche so they feel supported.

Maybe I don't understand the meaning of militant.....but I thought it meant someone prepared to use aggression or force to try to make other people behave/believe as they do. I don't get it in relation to feeding at all.

I think it's used in the Guardian article to mean 'women who are doing something unusual despite some people's disapproval and feel there are benefits to it.'

Which is a new definition!

A two year old is only two years old!!

I get fed up of hearing at school about parents wanting to treat their child like an adult and then wonder why their child goes off the rails as they are still children and cant handle adult freedom and need boundaries.

My 18 months old is completely independant on me although I go to work. I shall not be forcing her until she is ready to become independant.

When i think of the word, militant, I imagine soldiers with guns forcing people to do things against their will. It is really sad that people who support bf are seen in the same way.
Formula companies arent seen in this way and yet do far more pushing......

Mud, you think there's something 'wrong' with people for referring to a 2 year old as 24 months old???

Blimey.

I have heard of judgmentalism, but that takes the biscuit!

I have just assumed that people do this to distinguish between the 2 year old who is 2 years 11 months and the one who has just had his second birthday.

Maybe you will enlighten me as to why someone who does this has something wrong with them

tiktok, I was wondering that too - I talk of DS as one or 13mo interchangeably - I like to distinguish him from all these 23mo elderly children who are so horribly dependent on their mummies breasts

Mud ? Hercules asked ?Is it beter to give milk from another species than rather than human milk designed for them rather than a cow??? Just to fit in with this societys view of what is "bitty"?? and you said ?Yes?

Why?

You also say ?I think it is important healthwise (if possible) to breastfeed to 6 months. But the extended bf, ie the past 6 months no, I do not think it does make that big a difference in terms of health or development to a baby.?

How can you prove this?

good for you hercules, you bring up your child the way you see fit, which is exactly what I said

and maybe if it is because of 'people like me' that people don't breastfeed older children in public - well good, no child needs to be drinking milk all day and they certainly don't need to be breastfeeding all day

I've read loads of these threads and you very rarely get people willing to express (pardon the pun ) their view if it isn't in line with extending breastfeeding, and boy do they get ganged up on by the small amount of posters who are very much pro it. Seems to remove the possibility of discussion which is a shame. Gotta go shopping I'm afraid will check back later

tiktok its semantics, but 24 months harks back to 'oh my ickly bitty (sic ) baby' whereas 2 years old reflects the toddler s/he has become.

that's why we say 2 and a quarter, 2 and a half, 2 and three quarters to differentiate

No older child needs to be drinking milk all day or breastfeeding all day, of course they don't.

Nobody's suggesting that - you've taken it to an extreme to prove your point, but by taking it to that extreme, you point is no longer valid, IME.

sorry HM then replace all day with 'comfort breastfeeding during the day'

We aren?t supposed to give cows milk at 6 months so according to mud it would actually be better to give formula milk which has no antibodies in it to your baby?. And of coruse babies at 6 months have fully developed immune systems according to Mud too?.. hmmmm

You personally may dislike b/feeding a toddler. I have no problem with that. But please don?t tell me I am wasting my time as I know that I am providing my child after 6 months with food that is still nutritionally excellent, contains antibodies and comforts him ? and all this at the same time ? perfect bit of multitasking there.

omg - so breastfeeding a 6mth old baby is wrong??? why? this is nuts.

Should an older child have any kind of milk at all during the day, Mud?

A comfort cup of milk, perhaps?

nothing wrong with giving cow's milk after 9 months though eulalia

have got to get to sainsburys argh am really up for a heated discussion too