Opinions on Breastfeeding

Lhyacinth888 · December 2013

What age child is too old to breastfeed in your opinion? And even if you choose the "whatever works for your family" response, is 6 too old? How about 10?

What age is too old to give your child breast milk in a cup?

KrisM86 · December 2013

Personally, I feel like 3-4 is the oldest a child should be breastfed, except perhaps in some third world countries where it is a way to ensure your child is nourished. I don't think I would breastfeed beyond 3.

I'm not sure there is an age I think it's inappropriate to give breastmilk in a cup.

superToots · December 2013

because of our culture I thought it was super weird past a year, and seriously gross if the child could ask. but then I successfully bf ds2 and everything changed. i look at my toddler at 2.5 and can't imagine him still bfing, but that thought could easily change this time around. and even though Casey doesn't use words, he still very much communicates when he wants to nurse. and I much perfer it to the screaming hunger cries when he was a newborn!! but to answer the question, I think it's odd past the age of three, and no limit out of a cup.

skidderdo · December 2013

Over 2 is pushing my comfort limits, but to each her own, I wouldn't judge other people unless you are taking it to an extreme like 4+

melissad23 · December 2013

From an outsider's perspective, I would say 2 - absolute max. One of my good friends, with a 14 month old, still does, but with her I think it's a little ridiculous because she has said herself that her supply is so almost gone that it's not a nutritional thing anymore - it's a total comfort thing both for her and him. Which I know I don't understand, but when he isn't getting any nutritional benefit, at what point do you stop doing something just for comfort??

arschm02 · December 2013

I think breast milk in a cup is okay at any age although I cringe thinking about it. I also cringe at the thought of drinking unpasteurized Cows milk too though. Actually nursing a child weirds me out once they're a toddler.

hatroopes · December 2013

I would say 2 for nursing. If you can pump past that age, more power to you.

suedell · December 2013

I nursed ds1 until 1.5 and he weaned himself. I would have done longer. I have no intentions on stopping with ds2 unless he wants to stop but that being said, I think 3 is a good time for all involved. And sometimes if I pump, I will put some in ds1 cereal. (He's almost 4). It is still better for him than cow's milk so who cares? He just thinks it's almond or coconut milk which is what we usually put in his cereal.

tondraluv · December 2013

I don't think I would be comfortable nursing after age 2.

Angela814 · December 2013

Eh, I don't think there's a magic age. For me, 10 is too old. 6 probably is too.

I nursed DD1 to 3y2m, and I initiated weaning with her because she kept digging her top teeth into my breast. She might have nursed to 4 otherwise...

DD2 weaned at 2y3m, which was a couple months into my pregnancy.

DD3 is super attached to nursing. I wouldn't be surprised if she nursed to 3 or 4 years.

NicoleSB80 · December 2013

hatroopes said:
I would say 2 for nursing. If you can pump past that age, more power to you.

Ditto

Aprilbaby49 · December 2013

NicoleSB80 said:

hatroopes said:
I would say 2 for nursing. If you can pump past that age, more power to you.
Ditto

Same here

pinottoparenthood · December 2013

At first, I planned to nurse to 6 months. HA. Now my goal is to EBF (With solids but no formula) until a year, and then wean from the pump but still nurse morning and/or night. I plan to nurse until he seems disinterested/self-weans... or I will probably stop when he hits 2. I do think it's weird if the child is like 4 years or older.

burneyonboard · December 2013

pinottoparenthood said:

At first, I planned to nurse to 6 months. HA. Now my goal is to EBF (With solids but no formula) until a year, and then wean from the pump but still nurse morning and/or night. I plan to nurse until he seems disinterested/self-weans... or I will probably stop when he hits 2. I do think it's weird if the child is like 4 years or older.

This!

ClandestineX · December 2013

Me personally, if I could have stayed breastfeeding I would do it until 1 1/2 - 2.

My long lost cousin is still BF her 6 and 8 year old. I find that disturbing and weird. Yeah, it is a judgement, but people do what they think is best for her family. She is also the type that has not vax'd them... so there is that too. I disagree with her on everything almost and kinda wish she didn't find me on FB.

JSS1002 · December 2013

JollyWife said:

I never thought I would make it this far EBF. I have PCOS, which can really affect supply. I honestly wasn't even sure if I could BF at all. Now that we have gone this far I really want to make a year, but definitely stop pumping then and probably wean other than before bedtime if possible. I really want my boobs back! I feel like they belong to the baby while nursing. And nursing past 2 skeeves me out. I feel like if your kid is old enough to ask for it, or pour it themselves, they can get it from the fridge. I know it's still really healthy and good for them, it's just not for me.
I don't get the whole "if your kid is old enough to ask for it" rationale. Dd can sign milk when she wants to nurse and asks for it in other ways as well. Ds was very verbal from an early age and could ask for milk well before a year. I don't think that means I should wean dd or that I should hAve weaned ds because they knew how to communicate their needs. Era: this wasn't directed at jthree. Just that I see this line of thought a lot when it comes to this topic and it really just doesn't make sense.

I think it is just a cutesy / tongue-in-cheek way of saying that somebody is too old.

I did not last as long as I wanted! I thought I'd go a year. Then I got into it and realized how hard it is and how much of the responsibility was solely on me and not DH. And then I had a wrist injury that made it hard. So I stopped around 4 months, as I was going back to work. With #2 someday, I hope to make it to 6 months.

I honestly don't have a lot of feelings about what other people do -- about whether or not it is weird vs. normal...mostly I'm just always surprised with the extended bf'ing that the mom doesnt' want her body back. Hats off to you. I felt malnourished and drained all the time, my breasts hurt, my sex life sucked... I can't imagine dragging that out.

bibliophileemily · December 2013

I remember reading somewhere that the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding aren't really there once the child turns three.
I think it's weird to breastfeed once a child is old enough to go to school (so age 4 maybe?). I'm not going to stop until my daughter decides she's ready, though, so maybe my views on that will change.

KrisM86 · December 2013

jthree said:

JSS1002 said:

JollyWife said:

jthree said:
I never thought I would make it this far EBF. I have PCOS, which can really affect supply. I honestly wasn't even sure if I could BF at all. Now that we have gone this far I really want to make a year, but definitely stop pumping then and probably wean other than before bedtime if possible. I really want my boobs back! I feel like they belong to the baby while nursing.

And nursing past 2 skeeves me out. I feel like if your kid is old enough to ask for it, or pour it themselves, they can get it from the fridge. I know it's still really healthy and good for them, it's just not for me.
I don't get the whole "if your kid is old enough to ask for it" rationale. Dd can sign milk when she wants to nurse and asks for it in other ways as well. Ds was very verbal from an early age and could ask for milk well before a year. I don't think that means I should wean dd or that I should hAve weaned ds because they knew how to communicate their needs.

Era: this wasn't directed at jthree. Just that I see this line of thought a lot when it comes to this topic and it really just doesn't make sense.

I think it is just a cutesy / tongue-in-cheek way of saying that somebody is too old.

This is it exactly. It's more of an age thing. A kid walking up to you and saying "hey mom can I get some milk?" And then whipping your boob out for a snack.

Just not my thing.

Sorry for the quote tree, but I had to comment. Most moms nursing past age 2 aren't "whipping their boob out for a snack" constantly. I nursed my DD until 20 months, but by the time she weaned, she was only nursing first thing in the morning and/or before bed.

Every mom and baby pair needs to do what works for them. I wish there wasn't so much judgement and so many assumptions being made about "extended" breastfeeding.

Angela814 · December 2013

JSS1002 said:

JollyWife said:

jthree said:
I never thought I would make it this far EBF. I have PCOS, which can really affect supply. I honestly wasn't even sure if I could BF at all. Now that we have gone this far I really want to make a year, but definitely stop pumping then and probably wean other than before bedtime if possible. I really want my boobs back! I feel like they belong to the baby while nursing.

And nursing past 2 skeeves me out. I feel like if your kid is old enough to ask for it, or pour it themselves, they can get it from the fridge. I know it's still really healthy and good for them, it's just not for me.
I don't get the whole "if your kid is old enough to ask for it" rationale. Dd can sign milk when she wants to nurse and asks for it in other ways as well. Ds was very verbal from an early age and could ask for milk well before a year. I don't think that means I should wean dd or that I should hAve weaned ds because they knew how to communicate their needs.

Era: this wasn't directed at jthree. Just that I see this line of thought a lot when it comes to this topic and it really just doesn't make sense.

I think it is just a cutesy / tongue-in-cheek way of saying that somebody is too old.

I did not last as long as I wanted! I thought I'd go a year. Then I got into it and realized how hard it is and how much of the responsibility was solely on me and not DH. And then I had a wrist injury that made it hard. So I stopped around 4 months, as I was going back to work. With #2 someday, I hope to make it to 6 months.

I honestly don't have a lot of feelings about what other people do -- about whether or not it is weird vs. normal...mostly I'm just always surprised with the extended bf'ing that the mom doesnt' want her body back. Hats off to you. I felt malnourished and drained all the time, my breasts hurt, my sex life sucked... I can't imagine dragging that out.

I never felt like I didn't have my body to myself when I was nursing. And that was especially true once we reached a year, and I wasn't fully responsible for DD's nutrition anymore. I stopped pumping then and nursed when it worked for us. Nursing a toddler is soooo much easier than nursing a baby. But I don't lose a ton of weight while bfing, and my breasts never hurt because of it. I'm drained because my kids are awful sleepers (they take after DH), not because I'm bfing.

katie6/26/04 · December 2013

Regarding the cup, I've thought about giving some to my 5 year old to help with winter immunity since I've got about 2000 ounces and don't want my hard work to go to waste again (didn't rotate my stash well with ds so i threw a ton out). I'd probably mix it with a little carnation instant breakfast if he thinks the taste is weird.

evertz · December 2013

I'll probably quit around 18 mo - 2 years. I'd like him to be weaned before having #2.

JSS1002 · December 2013

Angela814 said:

JollyWife said:

I never thought I would make it this far EBF. I have PCOS, which can really affect supply. I honestly wasn't even sure if I could BF at all. Now that we have gone this far I really want to make a year, but definitely stop pumping then and probably wean other than before bedtime if possible. I really want my boobs back! I feel like they belong to the baby while nursing. And nursing past 2 skeeves me out. I feel like if your kid is old enough to ask for it, or pour it themselves, they can get it from the fridge. I know it's still really healthy and good for them, it's just not for me.
I don't get the whole "if your kid is old enough to ask for it" rationale. Dd can sign milk when she wants to nurse and asks for it in other ways as well. Ds was very verbal from an early age and could ask for milk well before a year. I don't think that means I should wean dd or that I should hAve weaned ds because they knew how to communicate their needs. Era: this wasn't directed at jthree. Just that I see this line of thought a lot when it comes to this topic and it really just doesn't make sense.

I think it is just a cutesy / tongue-in-cheek way of saying that somebody is too old.

I did not last as long as I wanted! I thought I'd go a year. Then I got into it and realized how hard it is and how much of the responsibility was solely on me and not DH. And then I had a wrist injury that made it hard. So I stopped around 4 months, as I was going back to work. With #2 someday, I hope to make it to 6 months.

I honestly don't have a lot of feelings about what other people do -- about whether or not it is weird vs. normal...mostly I'm just always surprised with the extended bf'ing that the mom doesnt' want her body back. Hats off to you. I felt malnourished and drained all the time, my breasts hurt, my sex life sucked... I can't imagine dragging that out.

I never felt like I didn't have my body to myself when I was nursing. And that was especially true once we reached a year, and I wasn't fully responsible for DD's nutrition anymore. I stopped pumping then and nursed when it worked for us. Nursing a toddler is soooo much easier than nursing a baby. But I don't lose a ton of weight while bfing, and my breasts never hurt because of it. I'm drained because my kids are awful sleepers (they take after DH), not because I'm bfing.

Crazy how different all our bodies are -- I lost a ton of weight while BFing (which was great,because i needed to lose weight before I got pregnant), but mostly it was just that my joints ached all the time and I felt totally worn out. LO became a good sleeper AFTER I quit nursing, and I felt like I got my life back. Mostly I just felt like it was such a pain all the time to have to undress, redress, be sitting "just right" stop whatever I was doing, etc. I enjoyed the very early days of it as bonding time but after that, it was not for me. But -- I'm a plus sized mama, giant boobs, bigger than average baby, it just always felt all sorts of awkward to me (and I'm not talking about the nakedness or the emotions of it, none of that bothered me, just literally, physically awkward and uncomfortable).

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