"Extreme" breastfeeding

[madeline]

I'm sorry, but that's just creepy.

[BlueSapphire]

OMG...That YouTube is crazy. They have names for her breasts? They draw pictures of them? Those kids seem obsessed with her breasts.

[jaylene]

These girls are going to be alot of therapy when they get older me thinks.

[McCourt]

Even IF someone was doing it that long for "health" reasons, can't they express the milk and give the kid a sippy cup or something? I mean for the love of God this isn't right. LOL

[Flowergrrl]

So after 8 years a woman still produces milk or did I miss something and she had another baby and was feeding both?

I have seen women with toddlers still breastfeeding. I think it is a bit much when they can walk up to Mom and raise her shirt to nurse.

I guess as long as there is demand, there will be a supply.

When they're a baby, they can't talk... Can you imagine standing in line at the grocery store and some kid tells their mom they want to suck the teet?!

[ichabodius]

I know a mother and her son who she breastfed til he was 7. Both nice people. Hes an engineer, sharp as a whip. Nice people, nothing odd about them.
I guess as long as 7 or 8 is the cutoff. Breastfeeding your 14 year old would be a bit too much.
I wonder what the accepted cutoff age was historically.

[jaylene]

I know a mother and her son who she breastfed til he was 7. Both nice people. Hes an engineer, sharp as a whip. Nice people, nothing odd about them.
I guess as long as 7 or 8 is the cutoff. Breastfeeding your 14 year old would be a bit too much.
I wonder what the accepted cutoff age was historically.

Could this be you ichy?

[ichabodius]

Could this be you ichy?

Oh god no that is absolutely disgusting!

[jaylene]

Oh god no that is absolutely disgusting!

LMAO!! Its very disgusting. Just the way you wrote that, I was thinking
"Is Ichy an engineer?"

[stacebabe]

That's gross!!! My kids are 6 & 8 and no frigging way is that appropriate. The minute it isn't needed main nutrition is the minute it's time to stop.

[JudyAnn]

I've posted about her before, but I could see this being my sister. She is still nursing her two year old several times a day AND "the baby" wakes up in the middle of the night to be breastfed. This is a walking, talking, perfectly healthy child who does not "need" to be breastfed. Ugh.

My sister treats all of her children like babies; highchairs and cribs for as long as possible (two-year old just now began to sleep in a small bed), strollers for kindergartener and huge two year old gets smooshed into a baby carrier (front pack) and carted all around town. The child is so long (and my sis so short) that the toddler's feet reach my sister's knees.

Long-term breastfeeding like this is truly for the mom - either they like the attention and/or they love the dependence they are fostering.

In re: the question upthread about how long historically was the norm for breastfeeding; I believe from my reading that about one year was the maximum. I once asked my grandmother, a mother of 8, how long she breastfed and she responded simply, "when I got pregnant with the next." Most women will notice a marked drop-off in milk production when pregnant again and so quit.

Off to find a more concrete answer about age of weaning.

From wikipedia:

Extended breastfeeding

Extended breast-feeding was at one time a very common practice worldwide.[92] Dr. Martin Stein wrote in Parental Concerns about Extended Breastfeeding in a Toddler that “The discussion about extended nursing is similar to that of co-sleeping. They are both characteristics of child rearing that are closely linked to time and place. In most cultures before the 20th century, both practices were the norm. Changes in social, economical, and sexual expectations altered our views of the meaning of breastfeeding and bed sharing.” Extended breastfeeding was encouraged in Ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Muslim cultures. The Koran, the Talmud, and the writings of Aristotle all recommend breastfeeding for 2 to 3 years.[93] In Breastfeeding Beyond 6 Months: Mothers' Perceptions of the Negative and Positive Consequences, Dr. S. B. Reamer states that “Over the past 100 years of American history, the acceptance of unrestricted nursing decreased and the age acceptable for weaning dropped dramatically, until the average weaning age was 3 months in the 1970's.”

[Linnie]

Does anyone remember how many years Karen Black nursed her son, Hunter Carson?

She guest-hosted Saturday Night Live a couple of times back in the 1970s, when he was an infant and then when he was about four.

That time, his Mom was vocal about weaning him when he felt like it, even mentioning tribes that let the kids go on until age five or so.

On that program, I clearly recall, she came onstage, and was talking while this large toddler in her arms was pulling at her blouse and trying to unbutton it.

Even SHE looked a bit disconcerted at Hunter's "hunting the mother lode", "live from New York."

(He's 35 now, I'm sure that was all finished over 30 years ago.)

BTW, Ichabodius, you did not mention whether your friend was married, dating, whatever, and what his spouse or partner thinks of all this!

[DrDeath]

I did a quick straw poll amongst my friends and they said to stop when the little darlings get teeth. I couldn't agree more!

[Jerseysucks]

There was a post a while back where a father was breast fed by his daughter. He was in his 50's. This is disturbing but that one was REALLY disturbing.

[neilmpenny]

Lucky kid.

[Seagorath]

LOL, Neil...

[jeca]

My step sister breastfed her daughter until she was almost 8. I always found that strange.

[DrDeath]

There was a post a while back where a father was breast fed by his daughter. He was in his 50's. This is disturbing but that one was REALLY disturbing.

That is wrong on all levels....

[Jerseysucks]

That is wrong on all levels....

http://www.findadeath.com/forum/show...ght=breastfeed

[ichabodius]

Heres another thread on Extreme Breastfeeding:
http://findadeath.com/forum/showthre...light=diarrhea

[Oogie Boogie]

There's a website called mothering.com which is geared toward the really hardcore attachment parenting crowd. I read the forums sometimes because, well, it's like a trainwreck that you just can't ignore. One of the regular posters there mentioned once that she's been breastfeeding continuously since 1994 (lots of kids, I guess).

All I could think was, "I bet she kicks her boobs when she's walking".

[RiaBrown]

I breastfed both of mine. Jory was fully weaned at 14 months, but Lizzie was stubborn. I started weaning her at a year old, like I had done with Jory, but she was having no part of it. After she turned 1 and was on solid food, I stopped nursing her in public and she strictly nursed at night. Didn't even pump for during the day, she just didn't get it. She got cow's milk or watered down juice and solid toddler foods. She was almost 3 when she was completely weaned off the breast. Now she's 8 and Jory is 13 and they both still love to snuggle, though. I'll take the snuggles as long as I can get them.

[DrDeath]

There's a website called mothering.com which is geared toward the really hardcore attachment parenting crowd. I read the forums sometimes because, well, it's like a trainwreck that you just can't ignore. One of the regular posters there mentioned once that she's been breastfeeding continuously since 1994 (lots of kids, I guess).

All I could think was, "I bet she kicks her boobs when she's walking".

[NewEnglander]

Does anyone remember how many years Karen Black nursed her son, Hunter Carson?

She guest-hosted Saturday Night Live a couple of times back in the 1970s, when he was an infant and then when he was about four.

That time, his Mom was vocal about weaning him when he felt like it, even mentioning tribes that let the kids go on until age five or so.

On that program, I clearly recall, she came onstage, and was talking while this large toddler in her arms was pulling at her blouse and trying to unbutton it.

Even SHE looked a bit disconcerted at Hunter's "hunting the mother lode", "live from New York."

(He's 35 now, I'm sure that was all finished over 30 years ago.)

BTW, Ichabodius, you did not mention whether your friend was married, dating, whatever, and what his spouse or partner thinks of all this!

I remember a similar skit on In Living Color. Jim Carey played a guy going out on a date and his mother comes along. Long story short, it creeped the girl out that he was going out with and at the end of the skit it turned out that the umbilical cord was still attached! Jim's character was in his 30's.

As far as the story from the OP, about the woman wanting to breast feed her 26 year old, yahh, ummm no! That mother needs her head examined.

[Mammy]

I actually got goosebumps on my arms thinking about a 26 year old woman sucking on her mom's boobs. That is just absolutely disgusting. I also was skeeved out by her offering the grandkids a suck, too. What in the hell is wrong with this woman? If my children's grandma offered them a tit, I would make sure she was never left alone with them again.

When I was a kid, we went to church with a woman who breastfed her two daughters. I had never seen a mom breastfeed a baby before and apparently neither had most of the other kids who went there. This woman always sat close to the front of the church and would just whip a tit out and not cover herself at all. You talk about distracting! Even the preacher seemed distracted and really uncomfortable. Every kid in the place was focused on this woman while their parents tried unsuccessfully to direct their attention to something else. She was a strange person anyway and a lot of people thought she did it for the attention because she never even tried to cover herself at all.

[RobinTMP]

Even IF someone was doing it that long for "health" reasons, can't they express the milk and give the kid a sippy cup or something? I mean for the love of God this isn't right. LOL

This is coming from the perspective of a childless 50-year-old who was bottlefed*, and who has lots of, shall we say, "bohemian" friends, so YMMV:

I've had a number of friends breastfeed until the kids were 2ish, and in casual situations at home w/friends, most of them will pretty much just whip it out, which doesn't bother me; after all, that's what the damn things are for, right? I don't know what they do in more public situations, but I'm guessing they probably have something to cover themselves up with, for the sake of the easily squicked who don't want to see such a thing.

Now, one of my friends has a family history of autoimmune issues that have a strong gastrointestinal component (not sure of the exact details), and apparently there's a good deal of evidence that staying on breast milk exclusively for longer than usual can help the kid avoid some of these problems. Unfortunately, her son could never quite learn to nurse properly, so she pumped...and pumped...and pumped...I think he may have still been getting breast milk when he was 3 years old. (Not sure if he was getting it in a bottle or a sippy cup past a certain stage, sorry.) Anyway, the kid is a happy, healthy, very bright 6-year-old, so it seems to have been worth all the trouble Mom went through. Her second son is around 1 1/2 years old, and actually did learn to nurse; I'm pretty sure he's still doing it, and I don't know how long he'll keep on, although I suspect Mom will probably pull the plug (so to speak) whenever he's old enough for preschool/around 3 or so. It seems rather long, I admit, but she does have a compelling medical reason for doing it, and I daresay has NO intentions of continuing #2 until he's 8 or any such foolishness.

So, to wrap up: (1) nursing your kid longer than usual is one thing, but nursing them when they're 8 or 9 is quite another; (2) you shouldn't be giving your teenagers baths (never mind that it's creepy; if the kid hasn't learned to wash her/himself properly by then, well...); and (3) it's one thing to want to comfort your child, but whipping your tit out when they're 26 is serious WTF?!? territory.

*My mom feels a bit guilty about that now, in light of my allergies/asthma, etc., but as she said "Nobody breastfed back then--you used a bottle, and that was that," and I certainly don't blame her for doing what the doctor said was best at that time. My grandmother, on the other hand, nursed my aunt in the hopes that she wouldn't get pregnant again (birth control being less than ideal at that time), which did indeed work for 4 years...until my mother came along; it's been suggested that my aunt never forgave my mom for being the cause of her getting kicked off the tit!

[buddyhollylover]

My sister in-law who is 38 years old has a 14 year old and being that it is their only kid they both call him.. "The baby" still. One time last year we were over there having a dinner for something and she said that she had to go give the baby a bath. We were like.. ok... She than came down 20mins later and laughed and we were like whats up? She said.. "I dont think I should give the baby a bath anymore.. hes starting to get hair down there.."
She was laughing but we were like.. "Well anyways look at the time.. We gotta get going. "
I think 14 is too old to be giving your kid a bath as well.

*THUD*

omg really? my 2 oldest boys would shoot me if i came in the bathroom...wow. holy shit that is FUCKED UP

i could never really breastfeed mine, all 7 of em' . never really worked for me so they were put on the bottle right away. i think you should stop after they start getting teeth, thats how i feel about it.

4, 5, 8, 13, 26 y/o's? thats all kinds of fucked up there...unbelievable

[MrsGaribaldi]

3 or 4 is a little overlong in my opinion, 26 is crossing the line into utter weirdness. I don't have kids but I would think once they are talking and walking around really well it would be weird. They preach the benefits of breastfeeding at work constantly, but by age 26 I'm thinking you've exhausted any benefits it might have had. Yuck.

26??? That is so passed the line that you can't even see the line anymore!!! Normally I don't care what people do.

[doyleloyal]

I was shocked enough when I was watching Game of Thrones and that little boy just ran up to his mom and started goin at it and then got mad later on (in another episode i think) and started pulling on her dress....i can't even imagine what it's like to see that in real life, I feel extremely sorry for anyone that has!!

the funniest comment on that video which is on youtube is: "I think that's when she realized her sister was a couple sandwiches short of a picnic basket!"

I certainly intend to breastfeed my child, whenever i have one, and i can say with all assurance that they are stopping at 1!!!

[Barbossa]

There's no way I'd let my kids breast feed past 1 year old. After that those tits are going back to their rightful owner: me.

Seriously, I think my kids stopped breastfeeding when they were around 9 months old.

[radiojane]

My sister in law stopped with my nephew at about six months. Mostly though because she had an eighteen month old who'd been weaned since he was six months, but figured he should get to start again once he saw his brother doing it. She put a stop to that right quick.

[Djen]

Through homeschooling, I know a lot of people who breastfeed until around two or two-and-a-half. That seems pretty normal to me. Most woman can breastfeed without showing anything, so it weirds me out a bit when we get a mom who pulls the entire boob out to do it.

I don't have issues with the human body, but when 99% of women can manage to feed their kids without giving everyone a tour of the milk factory, I wonder if the others are just trying to show off?

[aedgar5000]

when i checked into this thread i half expected to see mothers breastfeeding while standing on the lip of a former president on rushmore with a baby hanging from her nip simultaneously doing ironing or cooking a roast.... Here's my opinion for what it worth.... If it has pubes it a big ole therapy session of 'non!'

LOL!

[Oogie Boogie]

Okay, here's what I think I think...
Breastfeeding, while a natural thing that can be beneficial to both mother and child, should be done in private or discretely. For the women who breastfeed in public but manage to keep covered up; well done! For the women who just whip out the jugs anywhere and everywhere without trying for any bit of modesty; you are an attention whore, plain and simple.

[RiaBrown]

Exactly. When I nursed in public, I did so discreetly. I'm a modest person by nature and would be mortified to just whip a breast out without any type of covering for modesty's sake. That's just not who I am. Now at home, when it was just my husband and Jory was a newborn, yeah. Whip it out. But not in public. No, no, no.