“Is breast-feeding an 18 month old who eats pasta acceptable?”
Sunday, January 30, 2011Posted in: Extraordinary breastfeeding
I asked this question on Twitter. The question wasn’t actually as random as it seems, it’s just that we had some friends come over with their children, and after seeing the baby eating solids like pasta, bread etc, yet she was also being breast-fed, it made me wonder. I guess I always figured that once a child was eating grown-up foods, the mother would start the process of weaning them off the breast.
I’m aware that breast is best for a child, and that the WHO recommend breast-feeding up till the age of two “and beyond”, but nobody seems to have a handle of what “beyond” means. Should women be breast-feeding 3 year olds, four year olds, five, six, seven year olds?
Anyway, here were some of the responses:
“I know people who’ve done it up to the age of 2. I bailed as soon as teeth became an issue.”
Sarah Tanner
“I’ve had friends BF their kids until they were 2 or so. Me? Never worked out…most I went was 7 mon & that was with DD4.”
Mad
“I think it depends on child and mother. I know children who were using breast as comfort at bedtime for three or more years.”
Kathleen Langley
“no absolutely not -that is all about the mother’s needs not the childs-tho in some cultures breastfeeding 4 longer is normal”.
Vanessa
“I’m of the opinion that once they can ask for it, they don’t need it. But I’ve seen 4 & 5 year-old still on the boob.”
Monica Kaye
“Re breastfeeding, I don’t see that it could be unacceptable? 18 months is still little, many still use bottles?”
Lucy
Inevitably I got a tweeter who instantly took offence at the fact that I asked the question in the first place. It happens.
Here are some of Jenny’s comments:
“Seriously? You think women breastfeed toddlers and pre-schoolers to fulfil their own needs? Which needs exactly?
If you are going to proclaim that you “know best” you need to actually *research* your subject, not just spout your opinions”
I love how original people can be. I must stress that at this point, I hadn’t actually posted my actual thoughts on the matter.
She continues:
“I am always bemused by the “breastfeeding an older child is to fulfil the mothers needs” theory. What needs to they think we are fulfilling?”
Jenny Allen
I did wonder why she was getting so angry over a perfectly reasonable question. Then it all became clear:
“My eldest stopped at the age of 7, my 4.5 yr old nurses first thing in the morning and at bedtime. They want it, not me.”
Jenny Allen
I’m guessing that Jenny’s been the victim of people openly disapproving of her breastfeeding a seven year old?
Anyhow, Jenny linked to this article, by Kathy Dettwyler from the anthropology department at Texas A&m University who writes about a research that she conducted using primates. Here are some excerpts from “The Natural Age of Weaning”:
My research has looked at the various “life-history” variables (such as length of gestation, birth weight, growth rate, age at sexual maturity, age at eruption of teeth, life span, etc.) in non-human primates and then looked at how these variables correlate with age at weaning in these animals. These are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, especially gorillas and chimpanzees, who share more than 98% of their genes with humans.
I came up with a number of predictions for when humans would “naturally” wean their children if they didn’t have a lot of cultural rules about it. This interest stemmed from a reading of the cross-cultural literature on age at weaning, which shows that cultures have very different beliefs about when children should be weaned, from very early in the U.S. to very late in some places.
Here are some of her findings:
1. In a group of 21 species of non-human primates (monkeys and apes) studied by Holly Smith, she found that the offspring were weaned at the same time they were getting their first permanent molars. In humans, that would be: 5.5-6.0 years.
2. It has been common for pediatricians to claim that length of gestation is approximately equal to length of nursing in many species, suggesting a weaning age of 9 months for humans. However, this relationship turns out to be affected by how large the adult animals are — the larger the adults, the longer the length of breastfeeding relative to gestation. For chimpanzees and gorillas, the two primates closest in size to humans and also the most closely genetically related, the relationship is 6 to 1. That is to say, they nurse their offspring for SIX times the length of gestation (actually 6.1 for chimps and 6.4 for gorillas, with humans mid-way in size between these two). In humans, that would be: 4.5 years of nursing (six times the 9 months of gestation).
3. It has been common for pediatricians to claim that most mammals wean their offspring when they have tripled their birth weight, suggesting a weaning age of 1 year in humans. Again though, this is affected by body weight, with larger mammals nursing their offspring until they have quadrupled their birth weight. In humans, quadrupling of birth weight occurs between 2.5 and 3.5 years, usually.
4. One study of primates showed that the offspring were weaned when they had reached about 1/3 their adult weight. This happens in humans at about 5-7 years.
There was a lot more, but this post is already way longer than I had planned, so go over to the site if you want to read on.
I also found this rather interesting article by Emma Cook from The Guardian, entitled Mothers who breastfeed beyond babyhood.
Emma examines the phenomenon of mothers who feed past babyhood, and interviews a lady called Ann Sinnot, who wrote a book about breast-feeding older kids.
Emma writes:
Few mothering habits, it seems, are guaranteed to provoke quite such a reaction as breastfeeding beyond babyhood. When I told anyone who happened to be interested that I was interviewing Ann Sinnott, a mother who had breastfed her daughter for over six years and has now written a book on the subject, reactions ranged from discreet grimaces to outright revulsion. If I’d said I was about to meet someone who believed swearing at children was to be encouraged along with smacking them daily, the disapproval could not have been greater.
I imagine that some of the reactions reported above are similar to the reactions that Jenny has experienced due to her breastfeeding an older than culturally acceptable child.
She continues:
If we find it weird, argues Sinnott, it’s simply because we’re not used to it. When was the last time you noticed a mother breastfeeding her eight-year-old in the local park? In public, at least, it isn’t done. “But children aren’t cultural creatures like us,” says Sinnott. “Their biological imperatives are intact.” Such an imperative is to feed as often β and as long β as possible, whether that be to two years old, eight or well beyond. In other cultures it is completely natural to respond to such needs, Sinnott claims, with three and four-year-olds continuing to breastfeed in Greenland, five-year-olds in Hawaii and seven-year-olds among the Inuit.
I can’t help but find the thought of an eight year old latched onto my breast slightly…weird. If that makes me prudish or not progressive thinking enough, then so be it.
We know from a wealth of research the health advantages of long-term breastfeeding. The World Health Organisation (WHO) now recommends breastfeeding with “appropriate complementary foods” for up to two years or beyond. But what about that key word “beyond”? Physiologically, there is no research, as yet, to suggest that breastfeeding for longer than two years is significantly beneficial. As the WHO says: “We don’t know. There is no evidence either way.”
Sinnott is, however, passionate about the advantages, even though the evidence she cites is overwhelmingly anecdotal, and personal. “A child who has been breastfed to their heart’s content … has a basic sunny aspect to their nature,” she says. “They are amazing; self-confident and outgoing but not in a brash way β the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming.”
At one point she mentions a 16-year-old boy who was regularly fed by his mother and cites examples of even older children. She says breastfeeding adolescents isn’t a practice she would dismiss out of hand.
Breast-feeding at sixteen? Really?
Anyway, if you want to continue reading, surf over to The Guardian.
Although I feel a little sorry for Jenny, and women like her who feel victimised by the masses due to their choices regarding breastfeeding, I can’t help but think that if it was really about the milk, why not just pump the milk out? I know that I don’t live in Hawaii or Greenland, but I just can’t reconcile having my sixteen year old off-spring sucking on my nipple, and telling everybody that it’s for their benefit, not mine.
What say you?
SarahT
January 30
2:12 pm
Your question was not offensive.
My attitude to breastfeeding vs. bottles is “Live and let live”. Women’s experiences vary, and it can be different from baby to baby.
I have two children and I breastfed both — or tried to. In the case of my son, it was a disaster. I was plagued by cracked nipples, blocked milk ducts, infections, and pain. My son rejected the breast, so I had to pump every couple of hours for up to an hour for the first couple of months. I wanted to quit but I let myself be guilted into persevering. (Switzerland is militantly pro breastfeeding. If you don’t breastfeed your child for the first six months, you are a bad mother.) When he wasn’t gaining enough weight, I told my midwife to go fuck herself with a nipple shield and switched to bottles.
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I swore I’d quit breastfeeding as soon as it became problematic. As it happens, she latched on in the delivery room and knew exactly what to do. In contrast to my experience with her brother, I had tons of milk and I didn’t get a single infection. If this had been my first experience of breastfeeding, I probably wouldn’t have believed the women who complain about how difficult it can be.
The other aspect to all this which frequently gets overlooked by extremists on both sides: the mother’s well-being. If you opt to breastfeed your child, it is an enormous commitment, especially at the beginning. Babies usually feed every other hour in the first few weeks and each feed can take UP TO AN HOUR. This is exhausting for mothers because it’s not a task which can be shared with a partner.
At the end of the day, as long as the baby is getting enough to eat, that’s all that counts, right? Oh, and as for the propaganda regarding breastfeeding as a way to prevent allergies: I breastfed my son for four months, then switched to bottles. He has no allergies. I breastfed his sister for eleven months and she’s riddled with them. π
Zuleika
January 30
3:13 pm
This is a touchy subject for women who breastfeed beyond the “norm” length of time.
I have 3 kids and didn’t get to breastfeed any of them. My first attempt ended with lots of pain, bleeding and tears. My 2nd son was absolutely starving when he was born. His eagerness prevented him from latching on, no matter how many nurses fondled my boobs and tried to stuff my nipples in his mouth. So he ended up on a bottle. For my 3rd son I didn’t even produce milk until he was a week old. By that time he was used to formula and thought breast milk tasted like shit. lol So, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. π
I personally feel that your child should be weaned off milk after they’re eating solid food. If you pay attention to their needs, they pretty much follow their own schedules. All my kids were off milk by 18 mths at the latest. The more solid food your child eats, the less need to top them up with milk. I’ve yet to come across life altering proof that breast feeding for several years is somehow beneficial to your child.
I understand what they mean when people say maybe it’s the mother who is benefiting more than the child. Maybe she enjoys the close bond they’re sharing and is in no hurry to give up breastfeeding. Maybe she doesn’t want her baby to grow up too fast, so is prolonging the inevitable. Maybe she really does believe she’s doing right by her child.
Admittedly, if I see some big kid sucking their mothers boobs I find it very disturbing. There’s really no need for it after they’ve moved on to solid foods. If you’re going to breastfeed for an extended length of time, atleast have them weaned off it by school age! Or, atleast put the boob milk in a cup.
Anyway, to each her own. π
Mireya
January 30
3:38 pm
All I am going to say is that a child of sixteen, is sexually mature, not to mention the fact that sex is very much part of a teen’s life with all its implications. There is something incredibly sick in that picture (mother offering her breast to her 16 old, no matter what sex the 16 year old is). Breast are not only mammary glands, they are also erogenous zones.
KB/KTGrant
January 30
4:14 pm
A 16 year old still breastfeeding? A true WTFckery right there!
Indida
January 30
5:43 pm
I was on breast milk until I was almost 4 but I was off the breast as soon as I started teething. My mom pumped into a bottle.
If they really feel breast milk is that beneficial, there is another way to feed a child breast milk rather than having a grown child on the boob.
I think that’s where the controversy comes in. The kids don’t have to get it directly from the breast, which also leads me to lean toward the opinion that it’s more for the mother’s needs than the child’s.
A 16 yr old on the boob? That’s just an extreme case of ridiculousness! That soon-to-be young adult is now ruined. But I bet the mother is quite pleased with herself that he may never leave her side.
Las
January 30
7:10 pm
It might make me raise by brows just because it’s so uncommon, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with nursing up to 4 years old. But if you’re breastfeeding a seven year old, you’re doing if for you, not your child. Come on now. You’re getting some kind of satisfaction from being your ideal of the perfect self-sacrificing mother, your identity is all about your “parenting philosophy” because anything that veers from that path means that your child will be TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE OMG!!!!11!!!! I mean, SEVEN YEARS OLD?!
Mad
January 30
8:46 pm
I’m slightly squeaked out at the thought of a 16 year old still being breastfed. :X
I tried BF’ing all my girls. With my oldest, it was only 3 weeks. She was constantly crying in hunger and we finally stopped and started using formula milk. With my second daughter it was about 7 weeks. With my third daughter it was about 3 months and with my youngest, I was able to go 7 months before I had to have a minor procedure done because of complications and was told I wouldn’t be able to BF anymore. It was never that I didn’t *want* to BF them, it just never worked out for me, no matter what I did, to make it last. I would have rather been able to BF as long as I could have because I’ve always heard it’s better to BF at first then switch to formula, if needed.
SamG
January 30
9:06 pm
My twins were 8 weeks early. They got the bottles with nipples that were *very easy* to suckle/use (the holes were extra big or something). Anyway, by the time I got them home at 4 weeks, they didn’t want to work for it. I tried to get them to latch, but it didn’t work. I did pump and bottle-feed them breast milk until they were 7 1/2 – 8 months old.
Anyway, I did have a cousin that nursed until she was 4-ish. She was the youngest. I guess one day she said ‘my mmm is broken’ and never tried again. I admit my family thought my aunt rather nuts.
My personal opinion would be ‘if they can form full sentences, they should be done’.
Sam
Lo
January 30
9:56 pm
Nyxie will be 17 months in a few days and we’re still nursing at naptime and bedtime. My husband and I have had the weaning discussion but agreed we’d wait until after cold/flu season. Even though our kiddo’s heart is mostly mended, we don’t want to tempt fate with a nasty cold or RSV. Breastmilk makes lovely antibodies for babies, especially when mommy and baby experience all the infection risks.
Before I had a baby, I used to think extended breastfeeding was weird. Now I kind of get it. People do it for a lot of reasons. Cultural, contraception, personal choice, medical or nutritional. It’s really none of my business what another mommy wants to do with her bobies.
I know how hard it is to let that closeness go, especially if you’ve gone through what we went through with Nyx. Infertility, threatened miscarriage, multiple severe heart defects, open heart surgeries. I pumped, used breast shields and shells, gritted my teeth through the painful let down and basically just gutted it out until it got easier because I knew my kiddo really needed that breastmilk.
Nyx would never take a bottle so I used to kneel on a chair and lean over the side of her isolette to nurse her when she was in the CVICU recovering from her first heart surgery. At the second open heart procedure, I requested an adult bed and would sleep next to her in the CVICU so she could nurse.
I figure after going through all that, I may as well see this booby milk thing through to the end. I may never have another bio baby or the chance to breastfeed. Plus Nyx enjoys the closeness and snuggles so why not?
So, in our case, we’re taking the Don’t Offer/Don’t Refue route. Most likely, Nyx will finish self-weaning in the next month or two. Yes, I’m going to be sad but that’s okay. I’m sure we’ll still have our nap and night-night snuggles. π
Jill Sorenson
January 30
10:19 pm
I breastfed both of my girls until about 18 months and I didn’t think anything of it. I probably wouldn’t have nursed them in public at that age, though. Moms get enough flak for feeding *newborns* openly, let alone older babies. Public nursing was something I only did when I had no other choice because I felt self-conscious.
I remember attending a wedding with my first baby and sneaking out to the parking lot to feed her in my husband’s truck. She was about 7 months. One of the guests commented “isn’t her baby a little old for that?” and I got annoyed. Seriously, it’s nobody’s business how long a mom nurses her baby/toddler, especially when they’re in private.
AztecLady
January 30
11:07 pm
It is not an offensive question, IMNSHO, but it’s likely that people who have been questioned and/or criticized often for long nursing may find it offensive.
For me, once there were teeth and the kid was eating plenty of solid food, that was that. Yes, to this day I miss the closeness of nursing and the certainty that the baby needed me to survive, but from the very beginning I was quite aware that even that certainty was an illusion. After all, many people of my generation were never breastfed and they thrived.
Now, I confess that thinking about a fully verbal child still nursing makes me uncomfortable–because of personal experience. A relative insisted on breastfeeding her (perfectly healthy) only child past age 5, stopping when the child refused, repeatedly, to nurse. In that specific case, the need to, and the ‘benefits’ from, nurse past infancy/toddlerhood was all the mother’s: she needed* to be essential to her child’s wellbeing.
Obviously, this discomfort increases exponentially when we are talking of offspring past puberty, regardless of gender.
–
–
*needed: an emotional and psychological need–yes, there were underlying issues there. No, I don’t think it’s the case in all instances of prolonged breastfeeding, just explaining why I feel uncomfortable with the idea.
ME2
January 30
11:49 pm
Jenny is a freak, period. If they are old enough to ask for the breast, they’re too old. @@ SHE wants it, not the kids.
Shiloh Walker
January 31
12:21 am
Um… seriously? Okay, when do they stop being CHILDREN? Yes, our babies are always our babies in our eyes. But at some point, we need to cut the cord. For their sake, if not our own.
Me, I stopped with two of mine at 6 & 9 months… why? They bit me.
The youngest went until she was just under 13 months…I’d planned to stop at 12 months and it took a couple of weeks to wean her fully.
Lori
January 31
2:44 am
I wanted to breastfeed, but couldn’t because of some of my asthma medication. Off topic, but my husband ended up being really glad because he got the opportunity to bond in the exact same way I did. However, I would have done it if the medication wasn’t an issue.
However, I know some people who are militantly pro-breastfeeding, and while I usually subscribe to live and let live, when I saw my cousin’s son walk over one day after second grade (age 7) and lift mom’s shirt to get a ‘snack’ before DOING HOMEWORK, I thought it was a bit too far. He had his snack, let go of mom’s shirt, and walked away to start his homework. {{{shudder}}}
If you’re doing your homework, I’d say enough is enough.
Side note: Cousin’s parter (same mom as above) told me I should have stopped my asthma medication so I could breastfeed. To which I replied, “Great – I can breastfeed for the month it takes me TO DIE.”
eggs
January 31
2:49 am
Either breastfeeding is a perfectly natural thing to do, in which case it’s perfectly OK to ask questions about it OR breastfeeding is a weird embarrassing thing to do, in which case it’s insensitive to ask questions about it. She can’t have it both ways!
FWIW, I breastfed one for 18 months, one for three years and another for two years. People who know this usually assume I’m some kind of breastfeeding martinet, but in fact my attitude is ‘whatever works best for you is what’s best for you’. It’s just food. I don’t care if you feed your kid apples or bananas, so why would I care if you feed them cows milk or human milk? As long as you feed them well, who cares?
I do think that openly breastfeeding the average school aged child in our society is quite cruel. I have school aged children and right from the very first day of kindergarten, children are singled out for harassment and bullying if they are too far outside the cultural norms. A child who unknowingly reveals that they are still being breastfed will be subject to bullying because of it. And what’s the alternative to revealing it? Teaching your child that the thing that makes them feel all warm and happy and loved is actually a shameful secret that they must keep hidden? Way to set them up for serious psychological issues down the road! For that reason, I do think that the mother of a school aged child who still breastfeeds is putting her psychological needs ahead of the child’s.
Eve Vaughn
January 31
3:53 am
I’m breastfeeding my little one now. As soon as she gets teeth, the nursing will end.
Angelia Sparrow
January 31
7:59 am
I have 4 kids. All but one went past a year, and he had to quit because I was ill and on long-term medicine. None of them went past 2, usually because I was pregnant again.
Teeth were never an issue, especially since my oldest boy got them at 2 1/2 months. He was still very much a baby, and still entirely on milk at that age. But he cut 2 teeth while we were camping out.
It worked well, and was good in its time. But that time was over by toddlerhood for us. Some women take it longer. In some cultures it goes to three or even five.
Shiloh Walker
January 31
1:17 pm
ya know… that’s a very good way to break it down, eggs.
In the end, it’s going to single that child out. Either they hide it, or they get ridiculed. And it will happen at some point. Why do that your child? Kids have enough to deal with. Why add to it? There are other ways of letting that child they are warm, happy and loved.
Karen Scott
January 31
1:54 pm
@Eggs I just wanted to say that I love how much sense you always make. Carry on.
Tweets that mention Karen Knows Best Β» βIs breast-feeding an 18 month old who eats pasta acceptable?β -- Topsy.com
January 31
2:46 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Karen Scott, Karen Scott. Karen Scott said: KKB Post of The Day is about breastfeeding older kids. How could I not blog abt it? Some of ur quotes included: http://tinyurl.com/64m5qhw […]
sallahdog
January 31
5:32 pm
My kids went from breast feeding to eating real food (around 15 months old for both).. I was never militant about it, frankly I did it because we were not rich, I wanted to stay home, and there was money for formula, or disposable diapers, but not both, and I didnt want to wash diapers.
The thing that makes me nuts about the militant la leche leaguer types is that they talk about the bonding(as one of the benefits), how it makes them so close to their kids, yet when someone wonders if a child at 5 is being breast fed for his needs, or his mothers, is somehow just so much crazy talk.
As far as a parent saying they still breastfeed because a child “asks” for it… well… My kids asked for a lot of stuff that I said no to…
The baby years were a wonderful time in my life, and I still treasure the memories, but I think it would be living in the past to not treasure also the following stages of my kids also, and not continue to put them in the baby box…
Eggs also brought up an excellent point about harassment when kids start school… My cousin was a thumb sucker and that really only quit, when she started school and was harassed, I can’t even imagine the harassment over still breast feeding..
Anon76
January 31
9:33 pm
Okay, I’ll be up front and honest and state that I have never had kids myself. Have always been a stepmom.
However, as an outside observer who thought long and hard on this post, I’ve formed a loose opinion. 5-6-7 is far to old to still be suckling. As eggs pointed out, there are repercussions far beyond the “benefits” of the mother-child bond.
And I’m not sure if the cut off should be when the child is able to eat solid foods. All children are different and have different needs. For me, maybe it falls in the line of, if your child can drink from a sippy cup, or any cup, it’s time to wean entirely. Even from a bottle. (Though I do know this totally depends on the child and sometimes that bottle at night is so reassuring.)
My probably worthless two cents.
kerry
February 1
12:33 am
I had a very rough start breastfeeding my daughter, but feel blessed that we ended up breastfeeding until she was 2. At that point, she mostly nursed before bed and in the mornings, and on weekends (I stopped pumping at work after she turned 1). I didn’t think it was weird and in my conservative rural area of VA, I didn’t get any comments. However, we usually didn’t breastfeed while out somewhere when she was past one.
Teeth weren’t a problem for us but after she turned two I was ready to have my boobs back.
Nora
February 8
4:11 am
Oh, is this version of the mommy wars still being waged? I think there are cultural differences in the average weaning age and that it’s important to keep that in mind when you’re breastfeeding a child.
Breastfeeding school-aged children isn’t for the children — not really. “They want it” is not an excuse, reason or justification. My kids, in their twenties, would love me to give them Porsches for Christmas, but it’s not happening, ya know? Just because your kids want something doesn’t mean you give in and claim it’s “for them”. Saying “no” to your kids is really and truly for them, not caving to their every want (which isn’t the same as “need”).
Older children who are using breastfeeding for comfort (because it sure isn’t even remotely appropriate nutrition any longer) are emotionally stunted. They haven’t been encouraged to comfort themselves, a necessary adaptation as children get older. This is going to hold the child back academically and socially in the long run.
Mothers who give in to these older children are also emotionally “off”, IMO. It’s repellent, in this culture, to breast feed a seven year old, and borders on the age of abuse. It’s decidedly inappropriate and the mother and child will have to do it in secret, which adds another problematic dimension to the practice.
Breasts _are_ sexual in our culture, whether people want to admit it or not. This is not an issue when mothers are breast feeding age-appropriate children — we are capable to emotionally and mentally separate the sexual aspects of breasts when the child is that young. Not so much when the kid is getting off the school bus, slamming his backpack on the hall floor, and then walking up to Mom and opening her blouse and grabbing her breast and then suckling it. That’s just creepy and when other families find out it’s going on they’re going to distance themselves. I wouldn’t want my seven year old hanging out with a seven year old who was sucking on his mommy’s breasts. Heck, _I_ would be totally squicked out around a seven year old who was still at the breast.
Steve McPhail
April 21
8:02 pm
As a VERY STRONG supporter of extended breastfeeding I honestly believe that there’s NOTHING absolutely wrong with an older child still wanting to continue his/her breastfeeding; Besides, the mother is only giving her child the very best milk in all the world… her breastmilk! Who cares if the child is beyond 3 or 4 years of age? If the mother and child are comfortable with their continued breastfeeding relationship; then…
LEAVE THEM ALONE! The child will let the mother know when he/she is ready to be weaned from the breast; I’m almost 100% sure that the nursing mother doesn’t need anyone to put in their 2 cents!!
Rita
May 28
7:45 pm
Breastfeeding has more benefits than the medical field is aware of. But if you want to know according to the “experts” breastfeeding lowers risks of getting all kinds of illnesses and diseases for both mother and child in the future. It can only make sense then that the more you do it the better it is for both. For me, I cannot afford not to, I suffer with severe FMS and I have no doubt that at this stage had I not been doing this I would be in a much worse situation health wise, it is more than worth the effort. In this western world the real issue is all about image and some perverse thought that it looks bad, I think people who think that there is something wrong with breastfeeding at any age have this perverseness in them and they should be called petifiles instead of women who are doing the right thing having to deal with the perverse opinion of these people because I just can’t understand what other problem these people who even question whether it should be done or not have with it. And I wish there was some way of protecting the children from being exposed to this jading opinion to protect their innocence. We should be ENCOURAGED TO DO THIS NOT HAVE TO EXPLAIN OURSELVES FOR GODS SAKE TO SOME SICK TWISTED PERVERTS WHO CAN”T GET PAST THEIR SEXUAL THOUGHTS MOM IS FIRST
Anon 76
May 28
8:02 pm
I’ve read the reasons why and not.
But I still go back to natural again.
Most any creature, dog, cat, etc. knows when to wean. It’s instinctive.
Sadly, the human race has none of those natural instincts any more. We follow whatever dogma spouted by some guru of the moment.