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

[lisalisa]

Message withdrawn

ii intend to feed until two but its so hard when no one else around you is. None of the mums i know breastfed beyond 6 months, and my in laws finf it rather strange that i'm still doing it at 10 months. Why is there so little help to start and so much pressure to stop?

My mother came to visit recently and I was dreading it because I am still BF my 6mth old. She disapproves and has been heard to say that BFing is not natural (I kid you not).

Anyway when asked how long more I was 'feeding her yourself' I replied 'Do you know how much a tin of formula is?' This is a language she understands. Result!!!!

My mother came to visit recently and I was dreading it because I am still BF my 6mth old. She disapproves and has been heard to say that BFing is not natural (I kid you not).

Anyway when asked how long more I was 'feeding her yourself' I replied 'Do you know how much a tin of formula is?' This is a language she understands. Result!!!!

BTW she says 'feeding her yourself' because she can hardly bear to say the word 'breast'.

Go Roxwood, go!

What is truly shocking and is coming out very clearly in this thread, is how many women feel bullied and browbeaten into giving up bf before they or their babies are ready to. That's because of cultural norms that really do need to be challenged wherever we meet them. The more we can keep hammering home the point (ffs, the idea that calves milk is more suitable for a child than human milk! ffs! it's only just struck me on this thread what an absurd proposition that is...) the better.

Caligula, I still believe that formula shouldn't be advertised at all, even follow on. And I'm hardline - I won't buy clothing with bottles on for babies Or adults too, come to think of it - but that would be odd!

Eaney, glad you found a point of view your mother was able to understand!

I've been told by a family member that I am "like the natives" for being able to feed for so long - "usually the milk just goes"!

Reading the recent posts I realise how lucky I've been. I don't think anyone has dispproved of my feeding my kids into toddlerhood and beyond. Certainly my mum has been very supportive. Most of my friends in London did it. I thought it was rather more common than it is and this thread has taken me by surprise.

I remember my dad once asking, 'How long are you going to go on doing THAT?' and I thought, awww! fuddy duddy old dinosaur. Bless him!

It must be harder to continue when you feel judged so hats off to all of you. Let's spread the good news for us, our babies and our daughters in particular.

how did this all happen? that bottle took over from breast in previous generations? I know nestle advertised heavily in developing countries, and probably the west too, but are we all so gullible?

Ruty, several decades ago, formula was "something the scientists had made and they know what they're doing". People just trusted them. Breastfeeding was seen to be what you did if you were poor and couldn't afford formula

It's part of a broader trend of men taking over the women's domaine IMO (childbirth, healing, feeding) Our specialities made them nervous (hence being burnt as witches).

It makes me furious. But women appear to have let it happen to an extent. Anyway, now we can take it all back if we choose.

Totally agree Spidermama. A lot of this is distrust of women and their power to feed their own children from their own bodies. Good old mysogyny again.

funny tho isn't it spidermama, as some of the posts show here it is often women who are saying it is repugnant, disgusting, not necessary, etc.

Scientists are treated like priests used to be when we all believed they were completely infallable and had a direct line to God.

Scientists (in particular medics) appear to have stepped into that role.

Thankfully more and more people seem to be losing their blind faith in science and technology in favour of their own instincts.

But Ruty - that's because men think it's icky women's business which is beneath them!

I love this thread now. I love that I can hear from so many other people still feeding toddlers (under pressure to stop) and maybe encourage them a little.

I know I am REALLY lucky in that I have an incredibly supportive husband who will argue my case for me with anyone if I'm struggling to do so and who believes wholeheartedly that its the right thing to do (though only since our little one was born as he knew nothing about it before then).

It just always seems apparent to me that the people who have a real problem with it are the ones who know nothing about it, and I think this applies to almost every issue in life.
I believe most people having been given all the information will understand a mother choosing to breastfeed her child through toddlerhood and beyond although (totally validly) may not choose to do so themselves.

Pookstermum, Ruty and Eaney, I really hope you continue breastfeeding until you truly believe its time to stop, regardless of what anyone around you thinks. As someone said already, the only way people will change their attitudes is by being exposed to breastfeeding toddlers so if you think about it we have a responsibility to those who come after us to talk about it and (if you can bear to) to feed in public.
I do feed my little one in public still, but I'm beginning to find it uncomfortable at times, and she's still really young. I don't know how long I'll carry on for, but I hope I will have the courage to continue feeding in public for a long time yet.

I was really glad to see a woman walking through the shopping centre in Brighton today carrying and feeding what must've been a 2.5 year old. Good on her. Let's be more visible. It makes sense.

i had funny looks breastfeeding my ds when he was 6 months old in a cafe. Its funny, in Oxford, there are some cafes which state they are 'breastfeeding friendly' . i presume that means all the other cafes are not!

I've had funny looks breastfeeding DS in public. I find pitying the people who are giving me the looks works well

I fed my four babies, big and small, on tubes, in cafes in parks. I can honestly say I don't remember any disaproving looks. I do remember smiles and the odd look of confusion. Perhaps I only saw what I wanted to see.

Don't let it put you off. I mean you're feeding a baby ffs!! Could you BE less offensive?

It's up to us to keep on doing what we know is right and what we've always done. I think we'll pave the way for our daughters to feel far more relaxed about it.

Let's see it not so much as leading the way forward but as leading the way back.

i can just see the look on my inlaws faces if i breastfeed my ds in front of them when we seen them in September!

see them i mean.

Just think how you'll feel in ten years time when everyone's doing it and the benefits are well documented public knowlege.

I was in my dh's shop the other day feeding my 18 m dd. I sat in his chair and had my back to the counter so that she wouldn't be distracted. This woman came in, realised what i was doing and said how lovely it was to see. She had a midwifery background but is a reflexologist now (not that that has anything to do with it)

It made me feel proud (although I don't normally care what people think or say about me bfing)

I would have to say that this thread has proved that bf is a perfectly natural thing to do. I thought I was a long-term bf stopping at 10 and 12 months but am clearly not. I believe it is entirely up to the individual. Our parents generation are just not used to it. My DS feeds his baby doll with a bit of booby and people thing he is strange at the age of 5 but it may became the norm.