Every Tuesday I attend a breastfeeding luncheon at Florida Hospital which is a support groups for breastfeeding moms. One of our topics of the day was how to respond to people that make comments about older babies breastfeeding. For example, my friend Lauren has a baby Caroline who is turning 1 next week. Lauren said that she had an 85-year old acquaintance tell her a few days ago in regards to breastfeeding Caroline, "Just about time to wrap that up, don't you think?" Now I realize that being 85, this woman is from a different generation but still...I think a comment like this is pretty indicative of how the population generally views extended breastfeeding. Studies have shown that breastfeeding toddlers and even older children continues to benefit children because of the nutrients found in breast milk. In addition, it provides an excellent bonding mechanism between mother and child. So why are people practically ostracized from society or labeled as weird just because they happen to have a toddler breastfeeding on their lap? This is the same society that barely looks twice at a 13-year old dressed in a halter top with her breasts practically hanging out and wearing shorts so short, they don't leave much to the imagination. If I'm being honest, I will have to admit that I did know someone many years ago who breastfed an older child and I did think it was weird - - we would all whisper about it behind her back. Now that I'm a mother, I've completely changed my mind.
There was a mother at the luncheon with a 2-month old who also has a 3-year old at home whom she still nurses. We were all greatly intrigued. The first question we had for her was what her daughter says the milk tastes like. She said that Abby says it tastes like bananas! She says that when Abby wants to nurse, she says that she wants "milkies." The main reason that Abby nurses is for comfort. The mother said that Abby was watching a movie with a sad ending and when the movie was over she told her mother, "Mommy, that movie was so sad. I need some milkies." I think it's so beautiful that a mother can so easily provide something that comforts her child. Another mother said that she had a friend that was still nursing her 4-year old. One time the child was riding her bike and had an accident. She immediately went to her mother to nurse. When someone asked her why she was nursing, the little girl said "because it's better than cake and ice cream!" I think it is so neat to hear these stories. To go back to Abby's story, she is now competing with her baby sister for nursing time. Of course, she doesn't do it all that often anyway so it hasn't been a problem. But the mother said that a few days after the baby was born, her milk came in and Abby got a big surprise when she had her milkies. She kept saying to her mother, "Mommy, there is so much milk" as it dribbled all over her face.
I would love to hear some feedback on this topic. Do you think it's gross or repulsive if you were to hear about or see someone nursing an older child? One final note - - if you were to take the average time that an animal nurses her young and convert that into human years, that would equate to a child of 4 or 5. Is it possible that we are the weird ones when it comes to how quickly we wean our young?
1 comment:
Breastfeed away! My Nutrition teacher at Andrews says that it would be desirable to breastfeed a child until 4 or 5. The teacher is a consultant on these things.
Unfortunately, society has caused it to be frowned upon, which I think is unfortunate. Just another healthy thing that society has ruined.
And, that person that we made fun of for breastfeeding her child had other issues, too. I think if she was somewhat normal in other areas of life, we probably wouldn't have been so giggly over the issue.
Post a Comment