Breastfeeding till the age of 4 - what do you think?

[lisalisa]

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I think it's really important for mothers to get good, correct info about bf. It dismays me that NurseyJo is clearly a strong advocate and supporter of bf, and I believe her when she says this.

But it is not enough to support it - mothers need good, correct information as well, about how to tackle problems, how and when to wean.

It is absolutely dismaying to read that NurseyJo describes herself as a breastfeeding counsellor. She cannot have trained with one of the 4 volunteer organisations, or if she did, she cannot still be registered with them, and believe some of the stuff she has come out with here. But she uses the title 'breastfeeding counsellor' - unfortunately, this title is not protected and anyone can call themselves a breastfeeding counsellor without ever having undergone any training at all : (

She works across 'several' health authorities, and it seems none of them have managed to ensure she is giving correct info. Worse, they are allowing her to believe she is up to date.

None of this is NurseyJo's fault, especially, though her defensive insistence is within her control, and she could, if she wanted to, acknowledge she got stuff wrong. We all know health professionals who go on about how great bf is and how they support it, but when it comes to actually knowing how it works longer term, they haven't a clue; they also make ill-founded assertions about the effects of long-term bf. So she is not alone.

I do think she might consider calling herself something different from 'breastfeeding counsellor' though!

Two Angels - I have five children

ok apologies ameriscot must of been someone else who did a profile on mn a while back titled childless and not working sorrrrrry

havent manages to read all of thread since I came back on! But trying to read comments straight after i left.
Hercules..I said I was sorry if I offended or miss interpreted what you said..Yet you still go on asking me to justify!
Some of the things I said and you quoted me as having said were not directed at you! So why so defensive!!
I will now try and read a bit more before I start the bedtime routine!!! lol!!1routine who am I trying to kid!!! :0

dont worry about it. I'm not bothered now!

ok read a bit more..I am not being defensive..I have nothing I feel I need to be defensive about. I said you 'came across as' which is how I see you on this thread.. I may come across as an opinionated old bitch to you...how we interpret each other is just the way it is!!
when questions are asked of you you did not answer fully, thus causing misunderstanding! Again I appologise!you said one of yourchildren was bottle fed breast milk or formula (have I got that right)
I actually have no argument with you and think all this has being taken out of context, but if you need me to justify anything more please ask me and I will try and do so!

sorry you posted as I was posting!!!
kiss and make up!!!

can I also add i have a fantastic health visitor and her team and the gp's are excellent too!!!
Its a shame everyone doesnt get such a good 'service'

As many here know I have breastfed my kids well into toddlerhood and I find comments that I have made my children clingy or mummyish very offensive.

Children can be like this but there are a myriad of reasons why. It is all too easy to just point the blame at breastfeeding. For a start a 2 year old is hardly likely to be doing it more than once or twice a day and probably at bedtime so one would need to look for other reasons for the child's behaviour.

This is just one of those very old myths that are continually perpetuated.

No-one outside Mumsnet has a clue that I have breastfed my children for so long because you can't actually tell, they are just normal kids like anyone else - its no big deal.

Okay to clarify. I have a 9 year old ds who was bf till he was 4. He went to nursery fulltime from the age of 3. The only bottles he had were in hospital on the insistence of the mws.
He went to private nursery.

DD is nearly 2 an I went back to work when she was 5 months. To begin with whilst I was at work she had expresssed bm in a bottle and bf when i was at home. After a while she had a mixture of expressed bm and formula. When she was 11 months she just had cows milk occasionaly out of a beaker and bfs when I'm at home.
Dh is not a sahd but works nights full time and looks after dd during the day.

Does that answer all the assumptions made about me?

I still dont know what questions Ive been asked so please, if anyone wishes to state them again please do so. It's hard to answer when you dont know the question.

By skeptic

Don't nannies, maternity nurses, etc. have a vested interest in getting the baby onto the bottle ASAP?

What could possibly make you think that? Nannies and maternity nurses want what is best for mum and baby.

Good post Eulalia. Totally agree. Have very similar experiences. None of mine is 'clingy' either.

No clingyness here either.

owe shall i respond. Yes. I wish to thank Hercules for opening up and finally letting us know her situation. And i do know it is none of my business. But it is nice to be more open sometimes. WOw it sounds as though you have a really busy family life going on there. I really mean it when i say that i think you and your partner are doing a wounderful job juggling your children like that, expecially as he does nights. I hope he gets some sleep in though. My partner also does nights and days. But he finishes at7am. So still can not get a part time job. Well done for carrying on breast feeding even when you are working. You are a real credit in my book, as to how it can be done if you have the support of everyone around you. I really do mean it, well done. I am sorry if our posters got heated at ay time. But this was all i and other people wanted from you and i know it is none of our business. Ireally hope you will post on my threads soon. That reminds me i am on others now, so i better go... x

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none of mine are clingy...quite the opposite actually!!! of course they went through the phase at 8 to 10 months when they realise you have walked out of the room!!!!! But they are quite happy to be left if needs be I suppose because they know i will always be there for them!!!

Blimey - just caught up with today's posts...

Glad Herc, Louise and Mandy are all friends again

Tiktok, Moondog hit the nail on the head re your posts - eloquent, sensible, informative and reasoned.

NurseyJo, would be very interested to know whether you read the link to the World Health Organisation information that I posted. I honestly don't believe that you were unfairly treated - you did set yourself up as a fount of knowledge re all things breastfeeding (a professional one at that), and since you weren't accurate in your information, you cannot expect people to pat you on the head and say well done.

Flounce if you must, but I do hope you have left with some better information to pass on to the health professionals you work with.

Hunkermunker: Well put! I haven't had the courage to post on here for the last few days because I knew that I could not be so eloquent!

My children are NOT clingy either.

"A maternity nurse is someone who takes care of a new mum and new baby, right? I find it difficult to picture how someone can help much with this picture (babies don't need anything other than their mother, IMV) - which means, to me that your typical "maternity nurse" is a glorified cleaner/housekeeper, who would do everything that the new birth prevents the mum from doing."
That just shows how much you know Ameriscot2005
I can not belive that you actually belive this rubbish you wrote

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I'm not trying to kick anything off, but I just found that comment quite unbelivable
Ameriscot2005 might be the the natural born mother, but not all women are. Some women have hard time adjusting to motherhood and need a helping hand. Now, not all maternity jobs are like that, but certainly the few that I did were for new mothers who didn't know what to do.

Well...worrying sign of the times eh cronanny that we have to pay strangers to show/tell us what our nearest and dearest used to do for free.....?

I have a request. Could the people who have claimed that breastfed children are more "clingy" provide us with references to scientific research that proves this claim ? I would be very interested to read the research on it if any, as I intend to "extend" BF as long as my child wants to and would be interested to know if there are any negative consequences to BF a child for say 3 years or longer. As far as I am aware there are no negative consequences, only positive ones.

Research shows that breastfed babies are healthier (judging by my own DS, it seems that healthier children are less clingy, he only clings to DH and I when he is teething or otherwise in pain which is not very often) more intelligent, do better in the their first years at school, are better socially, adjusted, etc than formula fed babies. There is also a strong correlation, again based on scientific research, that the LONGER a child is breastfed, the MORE likley it is that he or she will have these attributes.

There is masses of research done on this, all of it properly referenced by Dr Jack Newman here on the good old internet - any one interested please let me know and I will happily give you the references.

Excuse the anecdotal evidence, but DS "clings" to DH and I in equal amounts only when he is sick which is very rare - i.e. his clinginess only happens when he is in pain and uncomfortable and DH and I get EQUAL doses of it - interesting as one of us has breasts that produce milk and the other only has nipples and no milk !!

i.e. I do NOT attribute the clinginess to breastmilk but to my child's physical and emotional needs to be held, stroked, etc.

I used to nanny for a lady that had a maternity nurse. the maternity nurse looked after baby 24/7 only taking it to mum for a feed!!!
Personally I didnt like the idea,but thats how they lived!!! I looked after the other 3.