Long term breastfeeding - VENT

OK, so the in laws were over today. Well of course the whole "IS HE STILL NURSING - he's a year old you have to stop that!?!?!?!" came up again. I'm sorry...who's business is that!?!? And I was like 'Well yes, at night'. (And during the day on weekends, but i didn't say that!) Why in this society are we frowned on for nursing our babies!?!?!?! WTF!? I am doing what is right for ME and MY SON and its no ones business!!! he is one, yes he is walking, yes he drinking whole milk mostly during the day thru the week, yes he says a few words like mama, dada, bubba, cheese...but he LOVES to nurse and I don't have a problem with it either so why should we stop??? cuz in America we are supposed to stop at like 1 year or whatever!? UGH!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just so mad that i have to hide that part of our lives cuz I don't want to be shunned or told that i am a bad mother for not making him stop what am i supposed to do!

Ok..rant over

Oh Ginny, I am so sorry that people make you feel that way. Breastfeeding a child is a WONDERFUL thing, don't let people tell you otherwise. It is great that Thane still loves to nurse. And there is no real reason to cut off BFing at 1 year. I think pediatricians recommend to nurse till 1 year of age, but you don't have to stop there. A friend or mine has three kids and she nursed all of them until at least 2 years. Please don't feel bad, Ginny. You are doing a great thing!

I am still BFing Kian and I plan to continue at least until he is 1 year old. I also love nursing Kian and it seems to work for us. But, needless to say, I also had people tell me "when are you stopping" etc. Especially since Kian is very light (3rd percentile for weight) and people keep saying "maybe you should stop nursing; obviously he is not getting enough nutrition from the breast milk." Even my Mom keeps asking: "so when are you planning to stop?" But I am REALLY sick of the comments that I am not feeding my child enough and that I should start giving him formula! WTF???

I am so sorry people made you feel this way, Ginny. I wish people were more tolerant of BFing! I hope you feel better. And definitely know, you are SOOO not alone!

thank u so much nicki!!!!!!!! I am so glad (sorta) that i am not the only one enduring this BS! Thane also is very small for his age - he is over 30 inches tall and is only about 21 lbs SO,i have gotten the exact same crap from everyone about him not getting enough nutrition! Well, thane is an extremely picky baby who loves his boobie so the issue is that he wouldnt eat while i was gone. he still will only have less than 8 oz a day of milk while i am away BUT let me tell them soemthing if it WEREN'T for me nursing he would be EVEN smaller! I wake up all night long and nurse him whenever he wants since he doesn't get a lot during the day and for me, it works, he is healthy and I am perfectly fine with it.

I was giong to start weaning him and was being very strict and i was miserable and so was he. i am just going to let it happen naturally and if he is 2 years old, so be it. But I don't want to hear any shit from anyone! It is no one's business what I do with my child.

Thanks for listening I appreciate it Nicki!!!! And you are doing great with Kian also Thank you!!!

Ginny
You are a WONDERFUL mother! The fact that you WANT to nurse your child is the greatest sign of love to me!
You just stick to your guns and nurse him as long as you both want too!
Also, if it's any consolation Owen is small and his now completely bottle fed. I wouldn't be surprised if he weighs just 20 pounds by his first birthday too. ----- Just because a child is breastfed doesn't mean they can't be small!

(((((Ginny))))) Hang in there!!!!!

Ginny you are doing great!!! Please please dont let anyone talk you out of it

The world health organisation says that children should be breast fed till age 2 for the maximum health benefits actually.

Some babies are petite when formula fed as well. Breast milk has more calories than formula but is digested faster then formula.

Breast milk has less iron than formula but breast milk seals the gut lining and so the iron does not escape from the gut so more iron is absorbed from breast milk than formula

You dont want me to go on and on about all the numerous benefits of breast feeding (ive put a chart up anyway!)

Thane will have an average of 10 to 20 points higher IQ than his piers on IQ tests

And breast fed children walk talk earlier than bottle fed children

Jasmin awake

All of the above Ginny!I agree with everyone everyone has said.I would just like to add,that Thane is smaller because you are not tall.just like My baby is BIG or 'huge' as some insensitive strangers put it,because I am very tall and so is chuck.It's genetics.He is not anorexic,or tragically underweight,he is just a little on the lower end of the size spectrum.Teo was 5lb 7oz when he was born.I breast fed him for a while,but he was always small until he hit about 2,then he started to get TALL and big for his age.Size at this age is really not anything to do with 'it' and I believe it's just an angel that people use to broach this subject which is none of their business anyway.

As you know I get a little of this from my in-laws,not nearly as much as you,but it does infuriate me whenever I hear of it.REALLY,is it HURTING YOU? (to whoever is complaning)?NO,well then shut yer fucking cake hole! (Sorry it makes me so mad) but really,I have told you my views,I think it's a little odd when much older children are being breatsfed,like 3-4 year olds,they're little people and begin to have an awareness of attraction and sexuality from the age of 2.But that is JUS my view and I wouldnt cristicise anyone for wanting to BF for as long as they felt neccessary.Thane is still a baby and you have your way of doing things.and honsetly,if it's not hurting anyone why do they have to say it?! So I would just lie to them,not because you have ANTHING to be ashamed of,you are doing a wonderful thing, BUT just to save yourself the gried and exclude yourself from the critiscm.BUt honestly,I get so tempted to say 'hey look,when I want your opinion I'll ring your bell,until then,piss off and intrude on someone else private life."

Anyway,hugs to you,please try not to think about it or let it affect your decision.You are donig NOTHING wrong and it's up to YOU to judge!

Thank you D and Holi!!!!

I really appreciate your support! I get a lot of support from Ray thank goodness, but its also nice to hear it from others when all I hear around here is what i am doing "wrong" to him My mom however, says "Its no one's business and you are doing great!!" My mom is awesome!!! She nursed us all til we self weaned (about 14 months) and she caught hell from everyone with no support.

Wow D I didn't know about all that stuff! That is awesome!!! I wish society would jump on the bandwagon and realize that its OK to nurse your babies til later on...and not make you feel like a pervert!!!

Oh and Jasmin and BEAUTIFUL!! She looks JUST LIKE you D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes ma'am Nicki, I am and its going WONDERFUL!! he is 12.5 months old and we are doing great!! I am also going to continue as long as i can. Its usually just morning and night, but i am going by the "Don't offer, Don't refuse" method so I dont just say "here's mommy's boobies!" but if he honestly wants to nurse I do not tell him no either.

I think that just wait and see how things go! Take every day one at a time and if you get to the point where you are just DONE with it, then try to wean...but I may also nurse Thane til he is 2 or he self weans, whichever is sooner. Surely by then I can explain to him that it has been a wonderful time in our lives, but we really need to move on he is soooo into the boobie that he would probably lose weight if I stopped nursing...not to mention be really confused.

He doesn't bite, he nurses quickly usually, and he knows what he wants, so why should i stop?

Congrats Nicki and great job!!! Keep up the good work and good luck

XXXXXX