Daily Mail article on extended breastfeeding

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Here. But you know what it says, and you already know what the comments say too....

See this, this is me yawning this is

doris I don't think you need to express for your 17 month old! I stopped pumping for DD1 when she was 13 months and DD2 when she was about 18 months. I only did it at all because I returned to work when they were 6 months old, and neither of them ate huge amounts of solids so both were still very boob-dependant for food.

As for the misconceptions surrounding how breastfeeding children (as opposed to babies or toddlers) behave, well, my DD1 is now 6½, and would happily nurse 4 or 5 times a day, she just loves breastfeeding, she loves the milk, she loves the cuddling and she loves the act of suckling, she just loves all of it. However, she doesn't dash out of school and rip my top off in her hurry to get to my boobs, in fact, she only really feeds first thing in the morning, when she's snuggling in our bed before we all get up. She knows that she's "a bit old" to be doing it now, so she doesn't often try to ask for it except in bed, first thing. She stopped the bedtime feed over a year ago, and will happily go and sleep over at my folks house, has been on an over-night trip with her school and is unconcerned that I am going to be away for three nights in a couple of weeks.

As for the immune "benefits" of breastfeeding, well, she picked up every bug going as a baby when she was in nursery, but was never really seriously poorly, and now is practically bullet-proof. DD2 currently has a nasty cold, DD1 has only got a slightly bunged up nose. The difference in her immune development was not really noticeable when she was tiny, but now that she's school age it's fairly clear to me that her immune system is fantastic, and I think this is down to her natural term breastfeeding.

And clingy? Clingy?? She is confident, independent, secure, healthy, cuddly, loving and affectionate. I don't think I know many other 6 year olds who still love to curl up on their mum/dad's laps and just cuddle for the sake of cuddling.

So many misconceptions surround Natural Term Breastfeeding, and articles like this one in the Daily Mail only serve to cement these misconceptions into the collective mind of our breastfeeding-unfriendly child-training culture.

It's quite sad really.

Oh, and I read rainbow's message as ironic too. Although...... both my girls stopped wearing nappies in the day at the age of 21 months. We sat them on the potty once a day from the age of 7 months or so, and they both transitioned gently to using the potty more and more, and at 21 months decided to stop wearing nappies (literally said "no nappy mummy!" and that was it) in the day time. Both wore a nappy at night for around a year, but they were in full control of their bladder and bowel when awake at the age of 2 years.

Oh my Gosh! They haven't printed my comment.

I am so surprised.........

NOT

GreenMonkies said:

"As for the immune "benefits" of breastfeeding, well, she picked up every bug going as a baby when she was in nursery, but was never really seriously poorly, and now is practically bullet-proof. DD2 currently has a nasty cold, DD1 has only got a slightly bunged up nose. The difference in her immune development was not really noticeable when she was tiny, but now that she's school age it's fairly clear to me that her immune system is fantastic, and I think this is down to her natural term breastfeeding.

A lot of children who were never breastfed, or who were breastfed for only a relatively short period of time are like this too you know GreenMonkies.

It is possible to be fit and healthy without being breastfed.

My DS is a case in point - brastfed only colostrum for about a week and as fit as a butcher's dog and shrugs off whatever illness he does contract (which are relatively few) very easily.

I was exactly the same too as a child - and I was never breastfed.

There are undoubted benefits to breastfeeding - of that there is no question - but breasfed children are not the only ones who enjoy robust health, and it is certainly ofers no cast iron guarantee of it.

At no point did I say it was cast iron. But it is noticable that DD1 deals with infections quicker and easier than her peers, and this anecdote is backed up by large scale studies. As a whole, as a group, those who are not breastfed, or only breastfed for a short time, are sick more often and for longer.

Congratulations on the good health of your son, he, and you, are very lucky.

But, as I was saying, the Daily Mail didn't publish my comment, I can't think why the moderator didn't pass it. It wasn't rude or offensive, it just pointed out that I do work outside my home and was interviewed for the piece......