Extended Breastfeeding Programme next week.....!!

[collision]

A mother is still breastfeeding her 8 yr old daughter!

Will try and watch it tho I think it might make me feel ill.

There is also a woman who tandem feeds her 4 yr old twins!

Calling people who bf at 4 freaky is ridiculous.

You might also find that lots of people would think you feeding to 1 is also sick, mud.

Would many people think that bf 8 year olds is anything even approaching 'normal'?

This simply isn't the same as people who have extended bf that fits 'normal' patterns. I can't think of any society where bf 8 year olds is considered normal. Even in those societies where extended bf is routine mothers stop long before 8?

But I'm disputing what mud said about 4 years old.

Fairy Nuff!

But 8 is way too old, and is no advert for the normal parctice of extended bf.

which is why I won't be watching it!

I think BF til 8 is going a little far, but otherwise I think extended breast feeding is a god thing. I wanted to aim for 2 years with ds1 but I got pregnant at 14 months and he stopped by himself.

Whats is the longest anyone on mn has BF for?

yes i did find a lot of people felt breastfeeding to a year was ott. big differernce between 1 and 8

I've fed till 4 and I know there are several other mners who have.

I'm also still feeding dd at 2 and a half.

Mud, I dont dispute what you say about an 8 year old but I do for a 4 year old. I repeat what I said earlier about the average age being 4 for weaning. It's not abnormal but normal.

Anything past 6 months is apparently "extended". What we need is a serious look at a culture that thinks bottle feeding is the best thing to do and where babies b/f past 6 months are in the minority. I don't think that showing a 7 yo b/f is the best approach to this but my god, it's hardly the worst thing you can do to a child - some milk and a mummy cuddle. Like with so many things, it's the attitudes of other people that make it a problem. We live in a society where it is ok to hit a 7 yo but not feed him/her some milk. Er, hello?!

Anyone who thinks you can "make" a child b/f clearly has no idea what they are talking about!!!!

but it is NOT ok to feed a 7 or 8 year old "mumy milk"

My ds still has a bottle of milk at bedtime at nearly 4. (funnily enough he never even had a bottle til 3!! so why he started having one i dont know!!)

I suppose that giving a 4 year old a breast feed is just the same as giving a bottle instead it comes from a different container.

I think that people have a problem with this because they are seeing the breast as a sexual object. No four year old will see a breast and link it to sex!! So the problem is with the people that are sexualisng the breast and the 4 year old not with the feeder!

That doenst make much sense but i know what I mean!

Mud, you said it was the same for a four year old...

Why Mud? Because you don't think so? Is there any evidence for this? And if it so bad why is the average age for weaning 7 yo (around the world that is, not in this stunted country).

I stand corrected on my 4 year thing

I'm an early weaner!

ds shows no sign of being disturbed...

Hey hercules, some b/feeders just aren't committed enough to making other people feel sick!!

yes exactly because I don't think so. that is what I think and I shall express it if I wish to.

Thanks for explaining your reasons so clearly.

Beansprout, don't want to cast doubt, but the average age of weaning at 7? Given that in the west most people stop before 1 I cannot believe that the average is 7....that would mean that millions of mthers were feeding many years past 7.

And don't get me wrong I have no issue with extended bf....but feel that 8 is somewhat excessive

It would have been nice to hear why you think I'm a freak.

pleaes tell me that wasn't to me

No, to mud. Never to you, martianbishop!