How old is too old?

[midori1999]

Breast milk is designed for humans. People have slow growing bodies and lareg brains relatively. Cows have fast growing bodies and relatively small brains and their milk is designed to feed calves, but no one questions children or adults of any age drinking cows milk.

There are benefits, both nutritionally and in terms of health, from a child drinking breast milk at any age. In fact, breastmilk is now being investigated with regard to treating cancer, because it has been found to contain stem cells.

Once a baby reaches a year, breast milk contains even more protein and fat, just as a child of over a year needs more protein and fat. How cool is that? Not only is breast milk designed for humans, it's tailored to the human that is drinking it too!!!

Evidence shows that there are no known disadvantages to extended breastfeeding. None. so for me, how long someone wants to breastfeed is up to them, the age limit is only set for each individual mother/child BF relationship and what is right for them both, it has nothing to do with anyone else.

 

[Blah11]

Why is it necessarily better for a child to wean themselves as a pp said? I see nothing wrong with the parent making decisions on these things. No harm in that.

weaning a child can be very distressing for them. i watched a program about a woman of twins and she weaned them. there was LOTS of crying. I had zero with amelie. why anyone would want to unnessecarily cause their child distress is beyond me

& from an attachment parenting POV why force them to grow up when not ready? how many older children and teenagers still bf? yes, you hear of the odd case in the media but its in the media bc its very, very rare. IMO letting them grow and make their own decisions makes for more independant children/teens then adults in the long run.

 

[feedindy]

Why is it necessarily better for a child to wean themselves as a pp said? I see nothing wrong with the parent making decisions on these things. No harm in that.

weaning a child can be very distressing for them. i watched a program about a woman of twins and she weaned them. there was LOTS of crying. I had zero with amelie. why anyone would want to unnessecarily cause their child distress is beyond me

& from an attachment parenting POV why force them to grow up when not ready? how many older children and teenagers still bf? yes, you hear of the odd case in the media but its in the media bc its very, very rare. IMO letting them grow and make their own decisions makes for more independant children/teens then adults in the long run.

I really don't like how this suggests anyone who doesn't let their baby wean themselves is causing their child distress on purpose. That is completely incorrect.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

I don't think Blah meant it like that. There are gentle weaning techniques. She was meaning in the attachment parent sense. I think maybe the post was read into a bit. I don't think she was implying moms that wean as opposed to letting the child self wean are causing undue distress.

 

[Celesse]

I don't think my 2 year old is even aware that when she nurses liquid comes out. I've asked her if the boobies have "juice" in them and she looks puzzled. To her nursing is pure comfort. Its the place where she collects her thoughts and switches off from the toddler world. Nursing a toddler is much much more than giving them a milk drink and has benefits to them way beyond having human milk over cows milk.

 

[Blah11]

Why is it necessarily better for a child to wean themselves as a pp said? I see nothing wrong with the parent making decisions on these things. No harm in that.

weaning a child can be very distressing for them. i watched a program about a woman of twins and she weaned them. there was LOTS of crying. I had zero with amelie. why anyone would want to unnessecarily cause their child distress is beyond me

& from an attachment parenting POV why force them to grow up when not ready? how many older children and teenagers still bf? yes, you hear of the odd case in the media but its in the media bc its very, very rare. IMO letting them grow and make their own decisions makes for more independant children/teens then adults in the long run.

I really don't like how this suggests anyone who doesn't let their baby wean themselves is causing their child distress on purpose. That is completely incorrect.

No, but if I had the choice to force them to wean when not ready or to let them continue until theyre finished then personally, I pick the latter. You asked why it was better, I'm just answering your question.
Mothers wean for all sorts of reasons but if mum and baby are still happy then why stop just cos soceity frowns on it?

 

[Lauki]

I don't think my 2 year old is even aware that when she nurses liquid comes out. I've asked her if the boobies have "juice" in them and she looks puzzled. To her nursing is pure comfort. Its the place where she collects her thoughts and switches off from the toddler world. Nursing a toddler is much much more than giving them a milk drink and has benefits to them way beyond having human milk over cows milk.

That sounds so lovely . I like how you say she can collect her thoughts and switch off. I feel like this is what Sophie does already. Being a toddler must be very hard work and getting this form of comfort must be very welcome to them!

 

[Cupkake.Luver]

All I can say is to each their own. I don't cosleep or breastfeed. But thats a personal choice. I do however have an upmost fear about daycare.

Every mom is different. We can't really judge.

 

[buddyIV]

I think ALL parenting 'styles' can be detrimental to a child if a parent is insistent on pursuing it without following their baby's lead. Some babies hate co-sleeping, some hate sleeping alone, some babies demand independence, some babies won't settle without being held - every baby is totally different and I think if you respond to your child in the way that they are asking you to then you are doing things perfectly.

For that reason I think it's really impossible to judge whether someone is doing something right or wrong... only a parent really knows their child, so it's best to respect their decisions even though you know they wouldn't work for your own child.

Amen to this!! I've read interviews with the author (one on a site called evolutionary parenting...or something like that!), and she presents a really interesting perspective; but, it's only her perspective, and the reasons that support it.

I generally have an 'attachment' approach to things, but only because it's what my LO wants from me. I think that provided you are responding with love to your child's needs, you're generally doing something good. That means different things to different parent/child relationships, and if it means extended BF, then that's great for them! I honestly cannot fathom why it'd be an issue, provided it's an enjoyable thing for both Mother and child.

 

[SerenityNow]

To her nursing is pure comfort. Its the place where she collects her thoughts and switches off from the toddler world. Nursing a toddler is much much more than giving them a milk drink and has benefits to them way beyond having human milk over cows milk.

Beautifully put!


I weaned my 1st daughter at 2 before we went to visit family at Christmas because I was self-concious about still nursing her. I honestly think that for her it was a little early and if I could do it again I would have waited. Which doesn't mean that I think 2 is too young to wean, but it was a hard transition for her and I did it for the wrong reason.
My 2nd daughter I nursed until she was almost 3. She mostly self weaned, but we had have a few talks about it to come up with other ways of having down time.

I think that prior to having kids that age I would have thought it strange to nurse a 3 year old, but it really seems natural to me now. I remember when my 1st started school the 10 and 11 year olds seemed like teenagers!

 

[babyhopes2010]

i wouldnt feel comfortable about nursing my lo when shes going around and can walk up to my breast but each to their own

 

[summer rain]

In response to the OPs question I see nothing wrong with any of the stuff Mayim does, OH and I sleep on a big mattress on the floor, at first it was because our bed broke (flipping ikea!) and we couldn't afford to fork out for a new bed right away, but after a while we came to prefer floor sleeping, it is more comfortable for us and safer for my youngest as he does co-sleep with us for part of the night and due to the way our room is we cannot have our bed against the wall. Also when it comes to BF I don't see a problem with BF a 3.5 year old at all, we hope to let LO self wean if that's around 2 to 2.5 years old, older than that I would look to gently wean him myself. As for toys, we don't buy many toys for the kids anymore, as we have found they almost all get broken and trashed as they get bored with them, instead we buy a very select few toys and they are much better appreciated. My youngest who has probably had the smallest selection of toys out of all of them, has been far ahead in many aspects of his development, and besides which he loves to play with ordinary household objects and gadgets far more (especially if he knows it's something he isn't really meant to play with, like the computer or iPhone!) xx

 

[MrsHedgehog]

Why is it necessarily better for a child to wean themselves as a pp said? I see nothing wrong with the parent making decisions on these things. No harm in that.

I think it can be a joint thing, a parent can decide to start weaning based on her child's cues. This is my first LO so I can't really tell yet how it will work or when. I can't say now that I'll wean LO when she's 2 or when she's 3 because I've no idea really. I'm hoping that she'll give me some kind of sign when it's time to stop. I always ask myself in these situations, how would we know what to do if there were no books / internet / doctors telling us when to do things? I'm guessing nature has figured out a way and I prefer to follow that way.

 

[Blah11]

Once we got past 18m or so, we did the dont offer dont refuse thing. Once day she didnt ask, then the next day she had a feed, the next not.. went on for a week or so then totally stopped.

 

[Blah11]

forgot to say earlier, i asked amelie where milk comes from. she said mummys boobies and not a cow !