People Magazine Article about Breastfeeding after 12 Months

[alicat8]

If every woman in your circle of friends claims they breastfed into the preschool years, somebody is smudging the truth.

The body will make milk until you stop expressing. We can give men and women hormones and make them lactate, regardless of whether there is a child to nurse. The body's continued production of milk does not mean that your child needs the nutrition, it just means nobody told it to stop. That's how mammary glands work. For more examples see dairy cows and dairy goats. Similar story.

1. I've seen it myself. No one is lying to me, and despite your warped beliefs, we're not in competition. So I see no reason for anyone to "smudge" any truth.

2. It's cool though. The people I get to be around in real life aren't ridiculously closed minded. It's a sweet, bare-boobed life round here.

 

[Disneylover99]

1. I've seen it myself. No one is lying to me, and despite your warped beliefs, we're not in competition. So I see no reason for anyone to "smudge" any truth.

2. It's cool though. The people I get to be around in real life aren't ridiculously closed minded. It's a sweet, bare-boobed life round here.

So in your sweet, bare-boobed opinion, what age is too old to breastfeed? Do you think there is an age? I'm genuinely curious.

 

[alicat8]

So in your sweet, bare-boobed opinion, what age is too old to breastfeed? Do you think there is an age? I'm genuinely curious.

My daughter self weaned at 2.5. I planned to stop at 1 and it didn't happen. It's not my job or place to choose an age for other people to stop nursing their children. I know I nursed til 3 and my cousins til 4. We're all college educated functioning adults-no therapy or head shrinking or anything!

 

[Disneylover99]

My daughter self weaned at 2.5. I planned to stop at 1 and it didn't happen. It's not my job or place to choose an age for other people to stop nursing their children. I know I nursed til 3 and my cousins til 4. We're all college educated functioning adults-no therapy or head shrinking or anything!

I guess my question is, what if your daughter didn't self wean. Would you have cut her off at some point? I still have images of that eight year old breastfeeding from earlier in the thread.

 

[alicat8]

I guess my question is, what if your daughter didn't self wean. Would you have cut her off at some point? I still have images of that eight year old breastfeeding from earlier in the thread.

I really don't know. Like i said, i planned to stop at a year ans it didn't feel right. We'll see what this new one does. I'll just say some time before 8.

 

[Turn the Page]

You seem like you know what you're talking about.....can you answer the question someone asked a few pages back? If someone is extending breast feeding, gets pregnant, and continues through pregnancy, will colostrum come once the baby is born? Or will mother continue to produce "regular" milk?

It's an interesting question....everyone I know/have heard of stopped breast feeding during pregnancy. Either the supply dried up or baby stopped taking it due to taste change. I've personally never heard of someone breast feeding all the way through pregnancy and then feeding both a newborn and older baby/child at the same time.

The lactation nurse I had said yes. If a mother is still nursing an older child when the younger sibling is born the milk automatically returns to the colostrum and essentially the process starts over again with the new baby.

In fact, the nurse told an anecdote about a friend of hers who was still nursing an older child when she had another baby and her milk changed back to colostrum which has a, shall we say, loosening effect on the digestive tract. As she put it, the older childs "butt just exploded."

 

[Juliet25]

I don't see anything wrong with the pictures. It's not something I'd feel comfortable doing, but I'm all in favor of normalizing nursing past infancy. When my first turned 1 and showed no signs of weaning, I got lots of support from other moms on the internet and found it was perfectly normal. It's more common than you realize.

 

[tzolkin]

I wonder how the men feel when their wife still breastfeeds a 3-6 year old? Do they find it hard to transition.....?

I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at, but I guess I don't really see where the husband would feel any differently about breastfeeding regardless of the age. If he is someone who thinks of breasts as being purely sexual, than he probably feels uncomfortable from birth.

I don't really get the "transition" question. Do you mean transitioning between sexual and food/natural? Or are you assuming that breasts are off limits during breastfeeding and therefore the husband would be upset that he's "missing out" for a longer period of time the longer the nursing continues?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm sure there are health benefits to breast milk beyond 12 months, but it's probably no longer necessary at that point for them to drink "straight from the tap", so to speak.

 

[Magpie]

I'm sure there are health benefits to breast milk beyond 12 months, but it's probably no longer necessary at that point for them to drink "straight from the tap", so to speak.

I honestly can't imagine this... It seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to satisfy someone else's notions of propriety.

I nursed my first pretty much exclusively for a year. Then she got more interested in "real" food and I got pregnant again, which probably changed the taste of my milk. She gradually lost interest in nursing and while I can't say exactly when she stopped, it was somewhere between 15 and 18 months. My second went the same way, except that by about 18 months I was getting really tired of nursing, so when he asked I'd offer him a snack instead. And eventually he stopped asking.

If anyone had suggested I was doing something inappropriate to my children by nursing them from my own, actual breast past a year, I'd have thought they were nuts. My need for modesty around my own young children was never so extreme.

Besides, I had to pump when my first was newborn. It was awful, and it hurt, and there's no way you'd ever get me to volunteer for that again!

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at, but I guess I don't really see where the husband would feel any differently about breastfeeding regardless of the age. If he is someone who thinks of breasts as being purely sexual, than he probably feels uncomfortable from birth.

I don't really get the "transition" question. Do you mean transitioning between sexual and food/natural? YES. Or are you assuming that breasts are off limits during breastfeeding and therefore the husband would be upset that he's "missing out" for a longer period of time the longer the nursing continues?

Yeah, I'm wondering if he finds his wife attractive in that way as she nurses a preschool/school aged child. I was talking about this with my DH, and he would feel unattracted to them if he saw them as a feeding mechanism for years on end. He would have a hard time transitioning from the food to bedroom in his mind.

And as a side note, I know that I personally didn't feel attractive during this time because I was either leaking, cracking, bleeding, treating them for mastitis, putting some kind of cream on them, etc. That was the LAST thing on my mind during this time. I'm sure it wasn't easy for my DH to understand how I was feeling about myself.

BUT, I also think some women get so absorbed into being a mom, that they forget to be a wife.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I'm sure there are health benefits to breast milk beyond 12 months, but it's probably no longer necessary at that point for them to drink "straight from the tap", so to speak.

I relied heavily on the advice and recommendations from my pediatrician. As a first time mom, I needed to hear what I should be doing every step of the way. My doctor encouraged me to start rice first, then introduce solid vegetables followed by fruit, and to start with regular milk at her 1 year birthday and beyond. I'm sure everyone hears or believes something different, but I was very thankful to have a caring doctor who would help guide and mentor me along the way. I just wonder if these women who are still nursing school aged children are seeking help or getting professional recommendations.

 

[gwynne]

I relied heavily on the advice and recommendations from my pediatrician. As a first time mom, I needed to hear what I should be doing every step of the way. My doctor encouraged me to start rice first, then introduce solid vegetables followed by fruit, and to start with regular milk at her 1 year birthday and beyond. I'm sure everyone hears or believes something different, but I was very thankful to have a caring doctor who would help guide and mentor me along the way. I just wonder if these women who are still nursing school aged children are seeking help or getting professional recommendations.

That was the same with us. I had a good pediatric nurse practitioner, and then after a move, a pediatrician. They were both so helpful in giving me information and guidance as my kids grew through various stages.
This is just my opinion--I felt (and still feel) that mommy and daddy can both equally comfort, help, and be there for their young children. It's not just an extra special mom thing. I was comfortable transitioning our children to a cup and moving onto another stage in life.

 

[roseaster]

I honestly can't imagine this... It seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to satisfy someone else's notions of propriety.

I nursed my first pretty much exclusively for a year. Then she got more interested in "real" food and I got pregnant again, which probably changed the taste of my milk. She gradually lost interest in nursing and while I can't say exactly when she stopped, it was somewhere between 15 and 18 months. My second went the same way, except that by about 18 months I was getting really tired of nursing, so when he asked I'd offer him a snack instead. And eventually he stopped asking.

If anyone had suggested I was doing something inappropriate to my children by nursing them from my own, actual breast past a year, I'd have thought they were nuts. My need for modesty around my own young children was never so extreme.

Besides, I had to pump when my first was newborn. It was awful, and it hurt, and there's no way you'd ever get me to volunteer for that again!

Just to point out, though, that your kids were toddlers, not preschool and school aged children.

Personally I think there is a big difference between breast feeding a 2.5 year old and a 4 or 5 year old. I don't think too many people are saying that they think that nursing a child past a year, like a year is an arbitrary cut off, is "off" or even unusual. I think most people, or at least me, that find it odd are talking about kids that are clearly school aged.

By 4 or 5 children are clearly no longer babies.2.5 they are still, mostly babies.

 

[mommysaurus]

I honestly can't imagine this... It seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to satisfy someone else's notions of propriety.

I nursed my first pretty much exclusively for a year. Then she got more interested in "real" food and I got pregnant again, which probably changed the taste of my milk. She gradually lost interest in nursing and while I can't say exactly when she stopped, it was somewhere between 15 and 18 months. My second went the same way, except that by about 18 months I was getting really tired of nursing, so when he asked I'd offer him a snack instead. And eventually he stopped asking.

If anyone had suggested I was doing something inappropriate to my children by nursing them from my own, actual breast past a year, I'd have thought they were nuts. My need for modesty around my own young children was never so extreme.

Besides, I had to pump when my first was newborn. It was awful, and it hurt, and there's no way you'd ever get me to volunteer for that again!

In my opinion, what you did it completely normal and beneficial....but I think there is a point where it becomes abnormal. You were nowhere near that point IMO.

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

I think once a child is three, that if it is really necessary to give your child breastmilk just give it to them in a bottle.

 

[Colleen27]

I'll join the camp that finds the photos more unsettling than the issue. I have pics of myself nursing both of my daughters when they were infants, and the older one (14) is absolutely appalled by that picture. Which is in her unfinished baby book. In a box. In the bottom of my closet. I can't even imagine how she'd feel if I made a photo like that public, regardless of how old she was when it was taken. To me, it is right there with pics of the kids playing together in the tub as "not for public exhibition", not even sharing with friends/family on social media much less the world as a whole on a public website or as a feature in a major publication.

As far as the breastfeeding angle goes, I guess I believe in baby steps (no pun intended). When we have reached a point where a mother of an infant can nurse that child without comment, then we can tackle the reactions to nursing a preschooler. But at this point I think photo spreads like this one do more to reinforce the prejudices and misconceptions about breastfeeding rather than normalizing anything. People who already find nursing "icky" or less civilized than bottle feeding now have an article in People to point to as "proof" that nursing isn't about optimal infant nutrition/health at all. Because they will look at these pictures and see it as about attention-seeking or taking an extreme parenting position or otherwise being more about the mother than the child.

 

[Bec3b1g]

The photos are definitely not something I would ever do, but I don't see anything wrong with extended BFing.

For what it's worth, both my pediatrician and my gyn encouraged breastfeeding for longer than 12 mos. With my family history of breast cancer, my gyn encouraged me to bf for as long as I felt comfortable due to decreased cancer risk. My pediatric group had what they called the Wall of Fame (I joked with the nurses they should rename it to the Wall of Shame). BF babies were photographed at their well baby exams and their photos were displayed by length of BFing. Quite a few had pictures in the 12mos+ section.

 

[littleblackegg]

So in your sweet, bare-boobed opinion, what age is too old to breastfeed? Do you think there is an age? I'm genuinely curious.

The lactation consultant nurse at our hospital once told me, "If the child is old enough to verbally request breastfeeding, it's probably time to phase it out." She was taking a lighthearted approach.

 

[nugov2]

The photos are definitely not something I would ever do, but I don't see anything wrong with extended BFing.

For what it's worth, both my pediatrician and my gyn encouraged breastfeeding for longer than 12 mos. With my family history of breast cancer, my gyn encouraged me to bf for as long as I felt comfortable due to decreased cancer risk. My pediatric group had what they called the Wall of Fame (I joked with the nurses they should rename it to the Wall of Shame). BF babies were photographed at their well baby exams and their photos were displayed by length of BFing. Quite a few had pictures in the 12mos+ section.

Hmmm, not sure how I'd feel about that as a patient there. I wanted desperately to bf and couldn't and I think seeing a wall of fame like that would have made my feelings of guilt and sadness grow even stonger than they were. I kinda question why a pediatrician would have such a thing. Seems a little callous.