I apologise, in advance, for the rant that's about to erupt!!

I am SO SO proud of myself that we made it to a year of EBF (well, almost..only 11 days away

But I never bring it up in conversation nor do I go on about it, but if asked if I am still feeding my lo, then I reply with "Yes, of course" or something along those lines. Then I can almost predict what will happen next. The usual response I get is "Yuck! You're STILL breastfeeding at a year?! That isn't normal!". Now this is the number one response that get's my goat. ISN'T NORMAL?!?! Then if the most natural thing in the world isn't normal, what the eff is?!

Don't get me wrong, I am not against any other form of feeding, seeing as I hardly BF my first, but it's the pure fact people can be so rude about it!!

I always have an answer usually along the lines of "a human drinking cows milk is normal?". Again I do drink cows milk, and so will Amelia when she decided to wean off of me, but for now I am doing what I want to do. Not what YOU think I should do! (YOU being the person critisicing my choice!)

Sorry to get on my soapbox, I am just sick to death of the comments and god forbid I feed my daughter in public. She is very tall so looks like a long toddler on my lap but I ALWAYS get a snide comment.
When LO was a baby, I always got nice remarks and friendly smiles but now it is horrifying lol Even some members of my extended family made comments recently.

What am I going to do? Carry on feeding her myself and let the, think their thoughts as I sure as hell won't let it affect me!!

(Sorry for the full on rant. I found breastfeeding incredibly hard the first couple of months and for us to get this far is incredible, as I never thought we would! Thankyou for still reading, if you got this far!)

Anyone else receive comments now you BF an older baby/toddler?

Yep he's 7 months tomorrow and I get a lot of questions about quitting (as if it were a bad habit tho break) and using follow on milk, I think the in in laws have finally realised i'm not stopping anytime soon as they've not mentioned it for a while now.
X

The only person to keep bringing up me stopping is my mum, all teh way up to a year she kept saying oh youll have stopped by a year blah blah, your milk will dry up.
But we are well past a year now and not stopping and i think she is getting bored of mentioning it now.
I dont see what difference it makes to other people how we feed our babies, do people go yuck when toddlers are still having cows milk er no so leave us alone.

Honestly, I am grateful for you're replies. Makes me feel mad when it happens!

We're at 7 months, and no plans on stopping, I haven't had any people commenting at all, not to my face anyway.. Lol
I'm the same though I don't mention it, if people don't ask.

Hi Jakesmummy i managed to breastfeed my second child for 18 months and only stopped because he started biting me lol.
Most people that had made comments to me when i was feeding my baby was sickening as if bbs where given to us for our sex lives or something not for the most natural thing of all feeding our young!!!! lol i think people don't know what is natural is anymore it is so sad. Won't let that put me off breastfeeding this one though as it will be my last

We're at a similar stage to you and although I'll be cutting down as I'm starting work tomorrow I have no plans to stop completely. My family have been asking for months if I'm still feeding her myself and when am I going to top her up with formula 'because she'll need it soon'. No one has actually said I should stop but it's implied IYKWIM?

I'm dreading the comments I'll get at work, so far I haven't spoke about BFing with them other than to tell my boss I want short breaks and to leave early for the first month so I can get home to feed her, no one else knows so I'm sure they'll have some smart comments when they find out

I wish people would be a bit more encouraging, it's not always easy to BF a wriggling 11 month old who thinks pinching and biting is perfectly fine, then to be made to feel like you're doing something wrong by people who should butt out is the icing on the cake

Ugh, I hate this attitude! The people who say it are well meaning, but they're just ignorant, they don't realise the benefits of it and don't realise how natural it is.
You've done fantastically well JakesMummy, you should be proud of yourself and I only hope that I can keep going as long as you have too. My goal is at least two years, and I've already had family members saying that's not natural. Uh, yes, it is!!!!! Why don't people let US decide what's best for OUR babies!!? xxx

Firstly, big hugs and well done you for bfing this long xx

I'm hoping to bf my dd till she's at least 1, nearly 5 months now. My in laws, specially MIL, always seems very surprised that dd is still breastfed and that I still produce enough milk (doh!!)

Like you I dont go preaching about the benefits of breastfeeding as I understand that for some it's just not possible. But I really dont understand why when I can give the best for my child people are questioning me!

Bite my tongue so much that it often hurts.

Our next challenge is weaning, and the inlaws already assuming that weaning means off the boobies. Ermmmm.... No!

How horrible of them! Unfortunately though, I guess they are technically correct. In our society, it isn't really 'normal' to feed for very long at all even though it is entirely natural and ideal. Just think though, for all those people saying it isn't normal, you are starting to normalise it for them. Without you, they might never have known someone nurse that long, and they may be more understanding of the next person they meet who does the same.

I'm very fortunate to know lots of people who nurse for years rather than weeks. I was also lucky enough to be breastfed until I was 18 months, so I guess it's always been 'normal' for me. On the rare occasions I nurse my 2 and a half year old in public, I haven't had any negative comments, although I think I get a few glances, especially with my big pregnant belly! I know my in laws are a little curious as to how long I'll keep going, as are some childless friends, but nobody has ever criticised, thankfully.

Congratulations on your (nearly) 1 year milestone. I hope your LO has a lovely birthday (and lots of mummy milk!)