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dreama
Oct 31st, 2008, 10:47 PM
This was posted on another Non vegan message board. I'm the only one who thought it was ok. Everyone else was saying how horrible. Even saying it was 'emotionally damaging'. Even though they drink milk from baby cows themselves and their kids too even when they are really too young for it. So what do other vegans think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxv6R9fUO74
(I couldn't see the video myself but that is what they were discussing. I also found a few articles:

http://bliss-breastfeeding.blogspot.com/2007/11/why-i-still-breastfeed-my-four-year-old.html

emmapresley
Oct 31st, 2008, 11:11 PM
is it chuff emotionally damaging.

if the kid is eating a balanced diet then breast milk wouldn't be needed for nutrition, but breastfeeding an older child would be for comfort on either mum/kid or boths part. why would it be wrong to be bonded and give comfort to your kids?
i don't see anything wrong with it..noone's getting hurt. gah..people are weird.

sandra
Oct 31st, 2008, 11:21 PM
Breastfeeding is fine for young babies but I think when a child gets to the stage when it is eating solid food it no longer needs to be breastfed.
I think there are better ways to bond with your children...........it just looks odd seeing such a 'grown up' child lying feeding from it's mother............I actually find it a bit strange!

cobweb
Oct 31st, 2008, 11:30 PM
yeah, i'm with you there, sandra, there aren't many animals that feed from their mums once they have enough teeth for solids.
i can't help but think that it's the mums getting comfort from it.

kriz
Nov 1st, 2008, 06:31 PM
I also thinks it's more the mom who can't give up snuggle time and didn't bother too wean the child off. I think one can find many other ways to have comfort and spend special time together once a child is older. What happens when someone else babysits for a weekend or so, and mom's breast is not available for comfort? Maybe it's wrong to compare it with potty training, but there is an appropriate age (give or take a year or so) when you start thinking about encouraging more independence.

The only reason I would personally ever consider breastfeeding for that long would be if there was a shortage of food (like in many third world countries). I think most women would in that situation.

cobweb
Nov 1st, 2008, 07:09 PM
^ i agree, Kriz.

Roxy
Nov 1st, 2008, 07:17 PM
Breastfeeding is fine for young babies but I think when a child gets to the stage when it is eating solid food it no longer needs to be breastfed.
I think there are better ways to bond with your children...........it just looks odd seeing such a 'grown up' child lying feeding from it's mother............I actually find it a bit strange!


I agree. It gives me the heebie jeebies to see a 3 or 4 year old child still being breast fed.

Risker
Nov 1st, 2008, 07:20 PM
The only reason I would personally ever consider breastfeeding for that long would be if there was a shortage of food (like in many third world countries). I think most women would in that situation.

Breast milk isn't magic, it comes from the food that a mother has eaten, to use breast milk as a food source would be much less efficient than using the food itself.

Bitty...

kriz
Nov 1st, 2008, 07:38 PM
Risker, I just meant as a supplement, not as an only food source for a 4 year old as this would starve the child whatever the mom was malnourished or not.

Anyway, in any other circumstances, I would compare it more with older children using baby bottles or pacifiers. It's something you at least TRY to wean them off as they get older, even if it's not an everyday habit at a certain stage (although with a pacifier it's harder because they can hide it away from you! he, he).

twinkle
Nov 1st, 2008, 08:30 PM
dreama, that's an interesting article (the second link) - the writer believes that the natural age for completely weaning is when molars come in at around 6 years old. I wish she said more about whether breast milk is the only sustenance her child is getting.

I personally don't think there's anything wrong with breastfeeding an older child, provided both mother and child are happy with it.

xrodolfox
Nov 2nd, 2008, 02:02 AM
I personally don't think there's anything wrong with breastfeeding an older child, provided both mother and child are happy with it.

I figure, to each their own.

I think that it is a lot more damaging to hit children or to feed children McDonalds, or to babysit kids with TV or movies, or too etc. etc. etc.

I don't know if breastfeeding a 10 year old is going to do the kid any favors, but it sure as heck can't be nearly as "bad" as the other stuff which passes off as normal.

I (try) not to get in a huff when parents feed their kids crap and have them watch endless TV and video games, so why get myself all in other people's business when it's about breastfeeding an older child.

Not my deal. Not a big deal.

Sarah_
Nov 2nd, 2008, 03:55 AM
Frankly, seeing older children being breastfed sickens me.

tsunami
Nov 2nd, 2008, 05:00 AM
Depends how old they are. A mother's breastmilk has great amounts of crucial vitamins, minerals, etc., and kids who are breast fed until they're 3-5 usually do better than those who are weaned at younger ages. Just as a supplement. Many strong and very smart kids have been breast fed longer than other kids usually are. They're still toddlers then, so it's not really damaging.

cobweb
Nov 2nd, 2008, 10:20 AM
Depends how old they are. A mother's breastmilk has great amounts of crucial vitamins, minerals, etc., and kids who are breast fed until they're 3-5 usually do better than those who are weaned at younger ages. Just as a supplement. Many strong and very smart kids have been breast fed longer than other kids usually are. They're still toddlers then, so it's not really damaging.


where do you get those facts please?

i totally agree that breastfeeding is very important in infancy (which i call the first year of a child's life), but after that a child should be able to get their nutrients from solid food, surely? :confused:

Pearl
Nov 2nd, 2008, 11:57 AM
I dont really see the point in it. Why would you want to? My kids wanted to be independent fairly early in life. They were wandering around with bottles, beakers etc pretty early. I cant imagine having a gigantic kid latched onto my breast. Its warm, snuggly, natural and wonderful when theyre tiny, but older ones? Nope. Dont think so. *shudders*:amazed_ani:

cobweb
Nov 2nd, 2008, 03:01 PM
i think once they are old enough to tell you in words what they want they are definitely too old for the breast :eek:

kriz
Nov 2nd, 2008, 06:02 PM
I still think it's more the mother who wants to be needed, and can't let go of the ''baby''... It's probably not harmful (at least there's no evidence that it is as far as I know), but lot's of things are not and we still don't encourage them beyond a certain age...

dreama
Nov 3rd, 2008, 01:12 AM
where do you get those facts please?

i totally agree that breastfeeding is very important in infancy (which i call the first year of a child's life), but after that a child should be able to get their nutrients from solid food, surely? :confused:

http://www.breastfeedingmums.com/article_extended_breastfeeding.htm

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/parenting/07/10/breast.fed.controversy.otsc/index.html

dreama
Nov 3rd, 2008, 01:20 AM
Emmapaisley, tsunami, Xrodalfox, and Twinkle: you raise some good points.

I'm glad I'm not the only one to think breast feeding older children is ok here.

Sarah_
Nov 3rd, 2008, 04:09 AM
Methinks it goes like this: When a baby is a baby, it's perfectly okay to have baby be naked in front of people. Oppositely, if baby catches a glimpse of a naked person it's still okay because baby has no idea what it's looking at and wouldn't remember it anyway. At the point where having the child naked in public and/or where you'd find it wrong to have a naked person in the presence of the child, it is time to relinquish the boobie. This is the point where you are teaching the child that certain things on a person's body are to be covered and a sense of privacy respected, etc.

snivelingchild
Nov 3rd, 2008, 04:22 AM
I don't think it's ever wrong for a child to be naked, or have people naked in front of a child. There's nothing INHERENTLY wrong in these acts, society just thinks differently. I definitely think it's fine to breastfeed until the age of 3 or even 4 (but not exclusively) but after that I do believe that there is a psychological issue of separation that is important for development. Animals forcibly ween their children to teach them independence.

P.S. - I likely nakedy...I wish everyone were the nakeds!

cobweb
Nov 3rd, 2008, 08:05 AM
http://www.breastfeedingmums.com/article_extended_breastfeeding.htm

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/parenting/07/10/breast.fed.controversy.otsc/index.html


but those links don't provide proof of greater extended health or intelligence through prolonged breastfeeding. I am very sad to say that i wasn't breastfed and yet i have a very high I.Q and a robust constitution :thumbsup:.

fiamma
Nov 3rd, 2008, 09:03 AM
Oppositely, if baby catches a glimpse of a naked person it's still okay because baby has no idea what it's looking at and wouldn't remember it anyway. At the point where having the child naked in public and/or where you'd find it wrong to have a naked person in the presence of the child, it is time to relinquish the boobie. This is the point where you are teaching the child that certain things on a person's body are to be covered and a sense of privacy respected, etc.

So are you opposed to breastfeeding in public Sarah?

flying plum
Nov 3rd, 2008, 09:12 AM
actually, i saw the programme from which that clip is taken. the children were not completely ok, actually. they were highly depended on their mother, extremely demanding for her attention and particularly her breast and the mother also had somewhat a strange attitude towards her children. something in the way of extreme possessiveness and not really wanting them to grow up.

i didn't think it was healthy for the girls - and there was also a lot of jealousy between them as one had lost the ability to 'latch on', while the other hadn't, and thus was still being breast fed. i didn't think it looked like a (mentally) healthy household at all...

amanda

fiamma
Nov 3rd, 2008, 09:27 AM
I dont really see the point in it. Why would you want to? My kids wanted to be independent fairly early in life. They were wandering around with bottles, beakers etc pretty early. I cant imagine having a gigantic kid latched onto my breast. Its warm, snuggly, natural and wonderful when theyre tiny, but older ones? Nope. Dont think so. *shudders*:amazed_ani:

I'm with you Pearl; I've never had kids, but I'm sure most mothers would want to encourage independence in their kids from an early age, and as amanda points out, breastfeeding older ones has the potential of setting some unwanted dynamics in motion. Surely you risk separation anxiety if you breastfeed older kids?

To go back to the OP - dreama why are you in favour of breastfeeding older children?