When does extended breastfeeding become weird....

toomanyshoesfortwofeet

blabberwort wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear from any mother that chooses bf purely for the convenience. I always assumed that the main reason was because it's meant to be best for your child. Hence the whole debate about how long is too long to bf a child. I think (yet again) i should mention i have no problem with women bf, I do feel however think that once the child can drink from a cup it is unnecessary.

Well at the moment I guess that I would fall in this camp. I chose to breastfeed because I was convinced by the short and long term benefits espoused by the 'breast is best' brigade but I have continued to breastfeed (my ds is 2.5 years) because it's massively convenient.

I feed him on the morning in a desperate attempt to delay a painfully early wake up time and to soothe him to sleep for naps and at bedtime.
I'm not sure why we have to carry on like breastfeeding is tantamount to martyrdom. When it works, it is a pleasure and it is easy.

poet123

Re cancer protection this was the verdict by a cancer specialist on a study which was trumpeted by breastfeeding sites as proving their contentions, again, demographic, lifestyle and affluence could be the reasons for the differences, not breastfeeding.


But there was no greater benefit if women breast-fed exclusively or for longer periods of time, raising questions about the study’s conclusions, said Dr. Louise Brinton, chief of the National Cancer Institute’s hormonal and reproductive epidemiology branch.
“I would be cautious in interpreting this,” Dr. Brinton said. “You would expect to see a dose-response relationship with breast-feeding if it is a really causal protective factor.”

poet123

To take this back OT!! Could it be that some mums who breastfeed children (as opposed to babies) simply want to carry on having the experience as they enjoy it so much?

No implied criticism here, I have a friend who carried on feeding herself past what many would consider the "norm" because she really loved doing it, and it was her last baby and she knew she wouldn't be doing it again. It would be interesting to know if last babies are fed later than first ones, although that could be down to mechanics and age gap between babies.

FatVonD

Since children need calcium throughout childhood I presume bottle feeding mothers still give their toddlers milk once they are past the bottle feeding stage. BF mothers (for whatever reasons) decided that they preferred breast milk for their children over formula and they too are continuing to provide their child with the calcium they need. I really don't see why anyone else should have a problem with it.

I'd actually be interested to know if the people that find the sight of a woman breastfeeding a toddler abhorent would feel the same if the milk was delivered via, say, a finger or whether their distaste is due to their own perception of breasts as being sexual objects that shouldn't be exposed in public.

Lotus-eater

FatVonD wrote: »

I'd actually be interested to know if the people that find the sight of a woman breastfeeding a toddler abhorent would feel the same if the milk was delivered via, say, a finger or whether their distaste is due to their own perception of breasts as being sexual objects that shouldn't be exposed in public.

I think you might have to change your wording there, to get an answer.
Abhorrent (I presume you mean) is a strong word and I don't think anyone has said anything like that.

POPPYOSCAR

Very interesting debate going on here.

What would be the cut off point age wise, would age 11 still be ok for instance and if not why not?

Lotus-eater

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

Very interesting debate going on here.

What would be the cut off point age wise, would age 11 still be ok for instance and if not why not?

Must be a cut off age somewhere, I've tried sucking on loads and loads of nipples and never got a drop out yet!

POPPYOSCAR

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Must be a cut off age somewhere, I've tried sucking on loads and loads of nipples and never got a drop out yet!

Now, now Lotus please try to keep it clean!!

FatVonD

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I think you might have to change your wording there, to get an answer.
Abhorrent (I presume you mean) is a strong word and I don't think anyone has said anything like that.

Yes, that was the word I meant, I did start out with the word distasteful but couldn't spell that either

lostinrates

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

Very interesting debate going on here.

What would be the cut off point age wise, would age 11 still be ok for instance and if not why not?

I'm really glad someone else is asking this question, because I asked that and got no answer and I think it's interesting.

It's interesting onitself this became a brest v bottle question really, when the poor op who has disappeared, didn't ask that at all. The same question could be applied to the bottle really, if you'd let an able child drink out of bottle and sippy cup as they enter secondary school, if it isn't holding them back and they are healthy and happy....

And thumb sucking....is there an age where that is really no longer acceptable in public? I've seen middle Aged people have a quick thumb suck on the tube before and the first thing I thought was how dirty my hands are when I wash them in London.....:eek: not that they were abhorrent.

Also, I think it's very easy to get overly upset if people disagree. It's possible to think something is not ideal without thinking its as emotive to be described as abhorrent!