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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

What do you think is the UPPER age to be still breastfeeding or bottlefeeding?

102 replies

RTKangaMummy · 10/05/2005 10:59

.

What do you think is the UPPER age to be still breastfeeding or bottlefeeding?

I asked it on the other thread but no one is answering me so thought would ask again on another thread

They are going to be discussing it on THIS MORNING at 12 noon today.

I am surprized if children are still being fed with bottles and breast

AFTER 4 or 5 years

I believe in breast is best but why do they still need it when they are at school?

.

OP posts:
starlover · 10/05/2005 11:01

i agree RTKM. I don't think I would want to remember being breastfed!

I personally think I would stop at around 1... but having said that I have no problem with people who go on further...

marthamoo · 10/05/2005 11:01

Best to stop before they go to University.

fastasleep · 10/05/2005 11:03

I think that breastfeeding beyond toddlerhood is purely for comfort reasons, although I know that the immune system isn't fully developed until the age of 5 and therefore milk may be good for them. I think there comes a point in time where prolonged breastfeeding becomes an unhealthy relationship, and that time is unique to each mother and child.... It's a confusing issue!

tiktok · 10/05/2005 11:04

RT, I think you may not have got replies because this has been done to death fairly recently!

Extended breastfeeding becomes part of the relationship between mother and child, and not primarily a source of food or drink, so they 'need' it in the way they also 'need' cuddles and attention. By toddler age, mothers who want to stop can usually do so, but some don't see why they should, and they prefer to leave it up to the child to set the pace. So what anyone thinks the age 'ought' to be is irrelevant - it's a matter of personal and family preference.

rummum · 10/05/2005 11:07

My children gave up the bottle (of milk) and went on to a beaker cup at just after a year....
Nephew is 5 next month and still has 2 bottles a day!... no he doesn't take it to school though, lol, just morning and night... and yes he can drink out of a normal cup.. When children drink out of a bottle at such an older age, I can't help wondering if its because the parents want to keep them a baby? just my opion, for what its worth

marthamoo · 10/05/2005 11:07

Though if they go to your local University and live at home you could carry on.

starlover · 10/05/2005 11:10

and it'd be cheap student food!

Original poster
RTKangaMummy · 10/05/2005 11:13

Sorry TIKTOK I did look down the list of subjects

BUT I never read or take any notice of the feeding thread normally because I find it hard enough keeping up with other threads

Sorry guys you can forget it and leave this alone

I should have done proper search of archieves rather than going down list

PLEASE IGNORE THIS THREAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OP posts:
piffle · 10/05/2005 11:13

If it's comfort, the thing that really pees me off is that there are lots of children still having bottles at 4 yrs of age, so why should people freak out at breastfeeding to that age or whatever suits their circumstances
Such hypocrisy
That said both of mine stopped breast feeding at 16mths and went on to bottles. If it's comfort then fine, long may it continue in whatever method you choose!

WigWamBam · 10/05/2005 11:14

Actually, I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all answer to the question. It's up to both the mother and the child when to stop, and for some that's after a few months, for others it's after a few years. Each mother is different and each child is different, and I can't really see that it matters. If a 4 or 5 year old were expecting to be breast-fed every two hours like a newborn then there would be something wrong, but that's not generally the case. In most cases of extended breast-feeding and long-term bottle feeding, the feed is more a comfort thing and is generally either first thing in the morning or last thing at night, and hurts no-one.

Gobbledigook · 10/05/2005 11:40

Mine were off bottles by 11 months. Hate seeing children who can self feed holding a bottle.

The recommendation is to bf till 2 yrs isn't it? So I guess 2 yrs for bf for me.

But each to their own!

motherinferior · 10/05/2005 11:44

And you'd probably see more of them as students if you did.

Chandra · 10/05/2005 11:47

A friend once told me that while working in a little town, they overheard a comment form a school child that made them suspect he was still breastfed (at 8yrs old), so the headmaster went to the house of the child to ask about the situation and yes, the boy was still breastfeed, the mother have heard of some legend were she "learned" the bravest king of this country had been breastfed to that age so she thought she was giving her son the best chance of life by breastfeeding until that age. I'm still shocked at that, obviously is up to family preferences but the most that I think about I guess there should be an upper limit, even if its in late childhood, is there?

beansmum · 10/05/2005 11:53

I don't see the point in giving a toddler a bottle, but would be quite happy to bf ds until he is 3-4.

Maybe they don't NEED it at that age but the closeness and the attention can only be good for them. Also long term bfing, past 2yrs, reduces the mother's risk of certain cancers so from a purely selfish point of view I would like to continue for as long as me and bean are both happy with it. I would wean him if he was still feeding when he was about to start school, but until then I'll just leave it up to him.

piffle · 10/05/2005 18:09

Well if you maintain sucking is comfort then using a bottle or breast is normal for as long as you and your child wish, I am an ardent pro breastfeeder and fed for as long as both my kids wanted it for which was 16 mths in both cases.
Certainly in our case our dd was on a liquid supplement which she need 500mls of a day and the only way to get that amount into her was to use a bottle, the same runs for milk now, she depends on it for comfort and it aids us in getting the required nutrients into her. Given a cup she would only take a tenth of what she needed to.

My ds had one because it helped him sleep and trust me, had anyone been in a house with him, they would truly never say anything about putting kids to bed with bottles if not you may have been tempted to pop him over the head with it....

chipmonkey · 11/05/2005 03:42

I think 30 is a bit old.

Fennel · 11/05/2005 15:44

the point in giving a toddler a bottle is if that's the only way they will drink milk and you think that drinking milk is good for them. dd1 had bottles til 3.5, whenever we removed them in exchange for a cup she just stopped drinking milk. and as she was smallish and also we were concerned about her fluid intake - she had a lot of UTIs - it seemed better to give milk in a bottle than not at all. then at 3.5 I thought she was old enough for it not to matter if she never drank milk.

not saying i like toddlers with bottles but that's the reason mine had one. not just laziness.

Caligula · 11/05/2005 15:47

Whenever either party wants it to end.

busyalexsmummy · 11/05/2005 16:01

I dont really think it matters to have a upper age for either b/f or f/f, i think that seeing a baby in the street still drinking out of a bottle at say 3+ would disgust me, i would never allow it, the same as if i saw someone b/f in the street a child over 3 yrs i dont think thats really nescessary.
at that age most children should be able to drink out of a cup/beaker and should not nescessarily need milk in the day.
what people do in there own homes however is a different matter, i couldnt care a less if people are f/f or b/f to adulthood (lol) as long as it not around me, thats fine!

Caligula · 11/05/2005 16:05

I would get very angry if a child were wielding a knife around me at the age of 4, but breastfeeding? ... well, how on earth does that affect me? I think if mother and child are both happy with it and the family as a whole is happy with it, it really is nobody else's business and nobody has the right to object to it.

Allyco · 11/05/2005 16:06

I stopped BFing my eldest DD when she was two and a half. By then it was just a last thing at night comfort thing, certainly I don't think she could've got anything from it nutritionally (or could she??). I was by then fed-up with being the only one who could put her to bed and she was quite happy to stop. DD2 was 2 when gave up and DD3 17 months. She weaned herself one Christmas Eve by biting me and refusing to let go until I bled (mut've tasted funny) and then pointed to her cot until I put her in. She's nearly eight now and I still get upset thinking about that!!

DD4 is 8 months and still going strong. I say go for it until one of you wants to give up (although I feel a bit odd about four and five year olds doing it).

triceratops · 11/05/2005 16:10

As long as they want to. And if there is no safe alternative source of drinking water - as long as they possibly can.

busyalexsmummy · 11/05/2005 16:11

I think thats correct but i really see no reason for b/f or f/f a child over 3 yrs in public, they are not babies any more, they do not need the feed so i would expect the mum to do it at home not in public. I am not against b/feeding or f/feeding but at 3+ i think theres a time and a place

hunkermunker · 11/05/2005 18:23

I don't mind if people hold opinions I don't agree with, just not around me, OK?

Mud · 11/05/2005 18:24

should I answer hunkermunker, should I? [girn]