How long is too long to breastfeed?

I'm not a mom...but I hope to be one someday.

I like to listen to talk radio and the subject of breastfeeding came up. There was a woman who called in that said she breastfed her little boy until he was four.

FOUR YEARS OLD!

I, personally, don't think I could do it. If my kid can play chutes and ladders...I think it's time to retire my nipples.

How long did you or how long do you plan on breastfeeding?

 

i'm going to be going back to work when joey is a year. i'll continue to pump after that, but kai lost interest in breastfeeding at about 14 months. i'm just not sure how it's gonna work out. but i don't see myself breastfeeding much past a year.

 

Why?

 

my oldest child will be five in April, and still nurses occassionally. There are lots of good reasons to let the child decide how long to nurse, and only social stigma and misconceptions against it. A child's immune system is not mature until they start losing their baby teeth. Breastmilk meets a very real physical and psychological need for most children, and the benefits don't just disappear because the child turns one, or two, or even four. Most babies do lose interest in it when they are learning to walk, but unless Mom pushes weaning in one way or another most of them will continue to nurse well beyond their second birthday.

If you are serious about learning more, start with the links at this website:


http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-refs.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html

and there's lots more really good info at kellymom.com

 

I made a web-page about extended breastfeeding years ago. My site hasn't been updated in about 2 years, but the page is still active. http://www.geocities.com/chrispymouse/UnNamed.html (yes, the pictures are of me!) The world-wide average for breastfeeding is 3-7 years per child. So 4 is not that unusual, though I'm not sure how I'd feel about it myself either.

My kiddies were both breastfed until 26-28 months. I would have nursed my daughter a little longer, but I became her teething-toy and ended it early with her. My son weaned himself at 28 months. He just woke up one morning & was done.
love,
mom

 

honestly, i just don't want to. i have to balance my baby's needs with my own. and at some point in time, i'm going to want my skin back. hopefully she'll be a lot like kai and just not want the breast anymore. i'm hoping to be as gentle as possible, but i'll be working, too.

 

The only point at which breastfeeding should be ended is when it's no longer wanted by either the mother or the child. If both are happy with the situation, it shouldn't have to end for any reason.

 

Sage weaned at four and a half. It is really different if you have only nursed babies, to know why and how a preschooler may still need to nurse. The World Wide Average for weaning (including all the poor babies in Industrial countries who don't nurse, or only do for a few weeks or months) is FOUR POINT TWO YEARS. That's about four years, 3 or four months.

If you look at Comparative Zoology, Comparative Anthropology, the eruption of adult teeth, the development of the immune system (which is really not meant to work all alone (meaning without help from mom's milk) until between 3 and seven years of age) the age of sexual maturity and other factors, the ages of normal weaning come out to somewhere between 2 years and 7 years of age. Also, kids usually produce lactase until about seven and then most kids stop (the enzyme which breaks down the milk sugar- lactose) and as seeing as NO milk is supposed to be consumed from other animals, there is no need for lactase after this age, it is important to note that some children do still nurse occasionally until the age of seven or so. (PLEASE don't say "Just because they do it in Africa, doesn't mean we have to do it here." It is not just Africa, it is MOST children in most of the world, who are self weaned.)

When a child self weans, it allows the immune system to take over as the child needs it. My youngest baby, Sage, weaned the latest. Part of that could be that I was older, knew I was haviing no more children and was more relaxed about it, but also she was a borderline premie, tended to get a lot of colds and things, and I feel she needed the milk as long as she got it.

When four year olds (or older) nurse, they are not nursing like a baby. Most only nurse a few minutes a few times a week or even less often than this. It still packs a load of antibodies, and nutrition, as well as emotional support for the child.

I could not have seen myself nursing a child for four years, when I had my first baby (I planned on 18 months and she actually weaned a little younger than this, but, in retrospect, I think pressure from my dh, who didn't "get" nursing, prompted this.) she would have probably not nursed long, as she was never a comfort nurser. Anyway, as I studied Lactation and started practicing I saw many reasons to continue, and each of my children nursed successively longer (which is a common patteren for mothers living in Industrial Societies, who learn about lactation and it's benefits piecemeal.)

What I am saying is, if you have never nursed a toddler, it is hard to imagine nursing a preschooler, I can appreciate this. But keeping one's mind and body open about what the child's needs are is important.

Breastfeeding was meant for children, not just babies. Hell, we are still working hard convincing some mothers to nurse for a couple of months, I'll take what I can get. But IMO, once you are past the first few months, it is all gravy. I'd never forcefully wean a child, or even "encorage" one to wean again. Did that with the first one (encouraged her) and I think, with what we know now about her brain damage, it would have benefitted her to have had my milk longer.

JMO, and many others.

 

I am sure that the fact that my first was born too early, and in a very traumatic way, and that she was unable to nurse for her first three months of life so I had to work extra extra hard to get her to breastfeed at all in the first place played a huge role in my mindset and beliefs in child-led weaning. Then there was her allergic reaction and colic when I had to give her formula because I didn't have enough milk. When she was unable to nurse or to even suck hard enough to stimulate a decent milk supply, I had to exclusively pump breastmilk to give her in supplements. Even then, she had to be put to my breast a couple times a day or she'd get very cranky and out of sorts. She has always had a much greater need for the comfort of nursing than her little sister does, getting very fussy and throwing huge fits if she goes too long without nursing. As she got older, it was just easier to nurse her than to put up with these humongous "tantrums" that she would get whenever I attempted to put any limits on how long or how often she nursed. And it seemed to me, that the older she got, the more obvious the benefits of nursing her became. I had always planned to nurse for two years, because of what I read about the WHO recommendations and stuff. I never, not in my wildest dreams, imagined I'd still be nursing her at this age, not through my next pregnancy, and definitely not tandem nursing two kids of different ages. But that is just how things worked out, mostly because it was easier than dealing with the repercussions and the power struggle that always comes of trying to force my very strong-willed child into doing anything she does not want to do. At this point, she nurses once maybe every couple of weeks, but more often if she gets sick (which is not very often, compared to most kids her age), and usually only at bedtime after her sister goes to sleep. I doubt I'll even notice when she completely stops nursing, I'll just think to myself one day, "hmm, she hasn't nursed in a while, has she?" and that will be that.

 

Good work, mama! (Pats Boogiemama on the arm and then gives her a hug!) I really admire the fact that you didn't give up, even after THREE months of exclusive pumping. I have had clients and friends who "give up" after 3 days. *sigh*

If she still needs it, she still needs it. One day, you will wake up and think, "Hey, that kid hasn't nursed in three weeks." But, if you say it out loud, she will ask to nurse that day. (This is a scientific fact......... )

 

My daughters and I made it to 21 months and the 24 months. They overlapped by 3 months so I nursed both for a short time.

I've always been a bit selfish in weaning. I didn't like tanduming the first time and I weaned in pregnancy with my second. neither will be the case this next time and I'm truely hoping for a nice child lead weaning We shall see.

 

thanks! I went through three or four different LC's before finding the right one for me. One of them even gave me formula samples and told me to give it up. I did give up, several times, but I made up my mind to just keep it up one more day, and the next day I had to make the same decision, just one more day. I was on a mission. After the nightmare of her birth, I had to prove that my body could do *something* right, and I wasn't about to listen to one more comment about how could I possibly not have enough milk with boobs as big as mine! LOL

 

Most of my babies nursed for over 2 years, my second nursed until he was 4. Many other cultures nurse their children untill 4 or five, and those kids can not only play Chutes and Ladders, but handle a machete, climb trees, bring the livestock out to graze, and carry water from the river!

 

Right, in most cultures, breastfeeding is seen as a way of feeding and caring for CHILDREN, not just babies. Kids often help hunt, gather and cook, while still on the breast. No one thinks this is weird, except societies who use breasts to sell cars, beer, chicken wings, and Ford F150 trucks.

Damn, my baby could read, while still breastfeeding. In fact, if one looks at the increased intelligence of breastfed children, maybe she was reading at the age of three because OF the breastfeeding........

 

I plan on breastfeeding for at least two years. If she wants it for longer than she can have it.

 

well, now, that might not be so. i was found out to be a reader when i was just three, and i wasn't breastfed at all. i was the only of my mother's children who wasn't. i think it had more to do with all the reading she did for my older brothers.

 

I was reading before my third birthday and I wasn't breastfed, but it sure couldn't hurt. *shrugs*

 

I read somwhere that natural weaning in mammals (world wide) happens somewhere between when they reach 4x their birth weight and 9x their gestation period. That can be anywhere from 9months of age to 6.5

Some cultures breastfeed untill 8 years old even. Think of what a great tool our boobs cna be when food is scarce

 

Of course, breastfeeding doesn't ENSURE certain things,in all people, nor does not breastfeeding prevent them from happening to everyone. I was reading at three or so, also, but only bf for about a month or so. BUT, at least 15 articles and studies have shown that NOT breastfeeding reduces IQ by anywhere from 3 to 15 IQ points.

And, I said what I did as a bit of a joke. But, breastfeeding allows children to reach their intellectual potential. If you are going to be smart, not breastfeeding isn't going to turn you into a person with a 60 point IQ, but thing is, being bf still brings you up to your potential. Hell, I'd love those extra 15 IQ points.

 

I am definitely planning to breast feed, but I agree with kc - at some point I'll want my boobs back and once they get teeth I reckon it won't be that comfortable. That's what i think now, I don't know how I'll feel about it when baby is here. But I reckon about 12 - 18 months will do nicely.