How old is TOO old for breastfeeding

[Catch22Dem]

Poll question: How old is TOO old for breastfeeding

This is a carry-over from a discussion we had at work. Just curious how it plays out here at DU. I recall a DU topic from a few years ago, and was surprised by the result, but I won't taint this poll with old data.

[LeftyMom]

1. When the child gives it up, provided they no longer have a biological need

So sometime between age 2 and graduation. :shrug:

[MiniMandaRuth]

2. 13-25 months...

I mean, they have to eat something else, right? Isn't breast milk filled with nutrients that just... well... fill you up?

[LeftyMom]

12. The WHO recomendation is to nurse to at least 24 mos.

Breastmilk is much more nutrient dense than adult food and thus a much better source of nutrition for infants and toddlers.

[MiniMandaRuth]

17. Makes sense...

Thanks for clearing that up!

[MiniMandaRuth]

18. dupe.

d'oh!

[radwriter0555]

27. In 3rd world countries, of course. In developed nations the nutrition is

(allegedly, if you're not an idiot and a republican) much, much better, with nutritious foods being introduced by 9 months old to begin the weaning process.

[LeftyMom]

28. Even the APA reccomendation is that breastmilk should be the primary

source of nutrition fror the first year and that nusring shoudl contunie as long after that as is mutually desired.

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. I don't think breast-feeding should be done

by women under 6.









:hide:

[Catch22Dem]

8. HAHAHA

That was a good one. 2 points for you. Your official point tally will be locked away in the vault.

[Jamastiene]

26. Haha.

My mind went there too, immediately. :evilgrin:

[WCGreen]

4. You mean you have to quit....

It is a way for the man to doop us into wanting to get that boobie back in hand and or mouth....

they ween us before we are ready and then....

We crave the boobage.....

[Warchild]

5. WELL...

some guys like it well into their 40s at least

[Robeson]

6. MUST . BITE . TONGUE.....

...:yoiks:

[Arugula Latte]

7. Here we go (?)

:popcorn:

[Arugula Latte]

10. Let me add, I think that in many cultures

kids breastfeed until age two (very common) and three (also common).

[InvisibleTouch]

9. Evolutionarily speaking...

...the "normal" length of time to breast feed, for humans, is about 2 years. That's in a completely natural state, now, and apart from cultural considerations. As long as the mother is still lactating, a new pregnancy is unlikely, so that gives the mother time to recover before the next one, and gives the baby time to have the mom's full attention and gain some degree of independence before the focus shifts to the next sibling. Pretty smart process, that natural selection. :)

[Catch22Dem]

11. Perfectly sensible answer

So what about 8 year olds still on the teat?

[InvisibleTouch]

13. "Cultural considerations?" :)

Yeah, I've heard of toddlers and young kids who nurse much longer than they "should" ... but that's not an unfettered natural state. I don't know what elements might be involved there. But if you want to maximize your reproductive capacity, it doesn't make evolutionary sense to only have a baby every 8 years. So here we have culture and civilization/society affecting evolution, as well as vice-versa. It's kind-of a neat feedback mechanism.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. I picked 13-24 months, since that was how long my girls nursed....

BUT.....longer certainly is not unusual, in other cultures besides ours...

It is good, provided both mother and child wish to continue.

It certainly is a wonderful and healthy and loving way to feed a child!

I recently saw a billboard that said: Babies are for breastfeeding.

How true it is, and too bad that more aren't fed that way, at least for a few months.....

:hi:

[NNadir]

15. My boys stayed at it until about the age of 4.

Since then access to the breasts has been limited to Dad, and I'm glad to have them back to myself. I personally never plan to give them up.

My boys are growing up fine. They are very healthy and well adjusted young men.

[hobo_baggins]

16. I say stop before they can remember it...

otherwise it might be uncomfortable...everytime they see you, they'll be thinking about how they remember dangling from your nipple

[Blue_Tires]

19. hint:

when the child is old enough to ask for it by name, he or she is a little too old (especially is the child is a 'he' for obvious unmentionable squicky reasons)


I recall a conversation I was having over the phone with a then-GF who was the mother of a 3 year old son...I heard the son yelling some word i could not understand in the background, and the GF told me that he was begging for breast milk and trying to pull up her shirt (he had some sort of kiddie 'code word' when he wanted some)


needless to say, I never looked at that GF the same way after that exchange:scared: :yoiks:

[KitchenWitch]

20. Alright who voted for >9 years old???

x(

[liberaltrucker]

21. Me

I'm 52:evilgrin:

[SofaKingLiberal]

22. Well, the poll didn't specify whether or not one could

breast feet from someone other than their mother after a certain age. :P

[Catch22Dem]

23. I was wondering, but didn't want to say anything

'Fraid I'll get my head ripped off. :D

[alphafemale]

24. And of course the classic weaning from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"

One day she took a can of stove blackening and the brush and closed herself in the bedroom where she copiously blackened her left breast with the stove polish. With a lipstick she drew a wide ugly mouth with frightening teeth in the vicinity of the nipple. She buttoned her dress and went into the kitchen and sat in her nursing rocker by the window. When Gussie saw her, he threw down the dice he had been playing with and trotted over for feeding. He crossed his feet, planted his elbow on her knee and waited.

“Gussie want tiddy?” asked his mother wheedlingly.

“Yup!”

“All right. Gussie’s gonna get nice tiddy.”

Suddenly she ripped open her dress and thrust the horribly made up breast into his face. Gussie was paralyzed with fright for a moment, then he ran away screaming and hid under the bed where he stayed for twenty-four hours. He came out at last, trembling. He went back to drinking black coffee and shuddered every time his eyes went to his mother’s bosom. Gussie was weaned.

The mother reported her success all over the neighborhood. It started a new fashion in weaning called “Giving the baby the Gussie.”

:rofl:

[Jamastiene]

25. When they dry up?

I mean really, how old is too old to have the kid to begin with? I had to pipe in with someone off the wall and make a funny about this. I can't believe anyone would want to breast feed too incredibly long, seriously. My best guess is when they dry up.

[LeftyMom]

29. It's supply and demand though

as long as you nurse, you'll have milk- absent some sort of health problem.

[Jamastiene]

30. Hmm, I guess then as long as the kid wants to suck away.

I'm not sure to be honest. I mean I didn't know they would keep on going like that. I thought for sure they dried up when it was time, whenever that actually is. A couple of years sounds good enough, but I wonder how the woman stands it once the little rugrats grow teeth. Ouch!