Will anyone else be extended bfing in nsg school

manna, BSN, RN · Jan 22, 2005

I worked and BF my youngest up until he was about 2 1/2, then quit my full-time job to go to nursing school (last summer). He recently weaned himself (in the last month - he'll be 3 this week), but we had been morning/evening/night nursing up until then along with school!

I really loved spending the time with him in the afternoons when I got home - made it so much easier to unwind from a long school/clinical day... He also coslept with us up until he weaned as well (when he decided he is "big" and wants to sleep with his brother now). :)

Monica RN,BSN · Jan 22, 2005

I am just curious about his breastfeeding at such an "old" age. I cannot imagine a 3 or 4 year old still breatfeeding. This seems beyond belief to me. WOW! up to about 12 months, I can see, but 3 - 4 yrs?? Holy cow... They are not babies anymore... they can feed themselves, drink from cups, and talk quite well.. breastfeeding?? many are toilet trained by this age... I don't get it... :uhoh3:

ayndim · Jan 22, 2005

I am just curious about his breastfeeding at such an "old" age. I cannot imagine a 3 or 4 year old still breatfeeding. This seems beyond belief to me. WOW! up to about 12 months, I can see, but 3 - 4 yrs?? Holy cow... They are not babies anymore... they can feed themselves, drink from cups, and talk quite well.. breastfeeding?? many are toilet trained by this age... I don't get it...

Actually humans are the only unnatural nursers. If we weaned our babies naturally, as other primates do, then the natural weaning age would be between 2.5 and 7. Yes 7. I probably wouldn't nurse past 3 but more power to the women who do.

Here is a article I love to quote for those who are against natural weaning or extended breastfeeding.

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html

lisamc1RN, LPN · Jan 22, 2005

I miss nursing too. Caleb weaned at 20 months. I still have the occasional let-down even.

AgentR · Jan 22, 2005

I'm in my second semester out of 4 and my 2.5 yo is still nursing. She doesn't seem to mind when I'm gone all day and at daycare, but the first thing she wants to do when we get home is sit down and nurse. It's a good way to reconnect. :)

AgentR · Jan 22, 2005

I am just curious about his breastfeeding at such an "old" age. I cannot imagine a 3 or 4 year old still breatfeeding. This seems beyond belief to me. WOW! up to about 12 months, I can see, but 3 - 4 yrs?? Holy cow... They are not babies anymore... they can feed themselves, drink from cups, and talk quite well.. breastfeeding?? many are toilet trained by this age... I don't get it...

:nono:

Untheraputic response! You can check out the La Leche League website for some of the wonderful information on extended breastfeeding. Might help you with a patient some day. :)

http://laleche.org/FAQ/FAQMain.html#Breastfeeding%20the%20Older%20Baby

PhoenixGirl · Jan 23, 2005

I am just curious about his breastfeeding at such an "old" age. I cannot imagine a 3 or 4 year old still breatfeeding. This seems beyond belief to me. WOW! up to about 12 months, I can see, but 3 - 4 yrs?? Holy cow... They are not babies anymore... they can feed themselves, drink from cups, and talk quite well.. breastfeeding?? many are toilet trained by this age... I don't get it...

Mainstream society usually doesn't get it. But if you think about it, and look at how we've evolved as human beings, extended breastfeeding is the biological norm. It wasn't only until fairly recent in human history (the past 60 years maybe?) that bf'ing has become taboo and the formula industry has created a societal norm that ff'ing is regular, and bf'ing is above and beyond what you need to do, or some people go as far as to think it's abnormal.

Extended breastfeeding offers many health benefits for the mother and baby. As I said, it's a biological norm, so that's why women who bf'd have lower rates of reproductive and breast cancers, and their bf'd children have lower rates of diseases too.

I bf'd my first until he was 18 months old, and I want to go to around 2 years old with my 13-month old son. I feel that I've researched this issue extensively and I'm doing the right thing for my son's health and my health. No offense, but I find that people who usually say things like what you've said above, are not truly educated about the normalcy and healthy benefits of extended nursing.

Rebecca

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Jan 23, 2005

I am still nursing my 3+ year old and she is not even close to weaning yet :)

People like the above poster just don't get it, and anyone who hasn't breastfed an infant wont "get it" even though it is totally normal, just not for society (I dont give a crap). I don't mean for that to sound rude because before I had my kids and saw a 2 year old nursing I was SHOCKED! LOL So many women don't breastfeed at all unfortunatly, that seeing or hearing about toddlers nursing is just so foreign and shocking...it doesn't make sense to them at all.

Breastfed babies/toddlers are healthier, have less disease and, sorry, but they also score higher on IQ tests :) And of course I didn't even mention a single health benifit to nursing moms either like an extrememly reduced chance of breast cancer, etc

Marilyn

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 23, 2005

I am just curious about his breastfeeding at such an "old" age. I cannot imagine a 3 or 4 year old still breatfeeding. This seems beyond belief to me. WOW! up to about 12 months, I can see, but 3 - 4 yrs?? Holy cow... They are not babies anymore... they can feed themselves, drink from cups, and talk quite well.. breastfeeding?? many are toilet trained by this age... I don't get it...

I was wondering how long it would take before we got one of these.

:rolleyes:

Should have figured, after all, it was one of these debates that first brought me to this site (from breastfeeding.com).

As far as I can tell, this was not a debate thread, nor was the OP (or subsequent posters) asking for opinions, so I think the adage "if you don't have anything nice to say..." applies here.

CNM-to-be · Jan 23, 2005

I am just curious about his breastfeeding at such an "old" age. I cannot imagine a 3 or 4 year old still breatfeeding. This seems beyond belief to me. WOW! up to about 12 months, I can see, but 3 - 4 yrs?? Holy cow... They are not babies anymore... they can feed themselves, drink from cups, and talk quite well.. breastfeeding?? many are toilet trained by this age... I don't get it...

The average age for natural weaning is 4.2 according to the WHO. That means many babies nurse much, much longer...like 6 and 7 years. And why not? Human milk is perfectly designed, species-specific, for our children. What really makes me sad is that most babies in our country don't get b/fed longer than 6 weeks. :crying2:

ayndim · Jan 23, 2005

The average age for natural weaning is 4.2 according to the WHO. That means many babies nurse much, much longer...like 6 and 7 years. And why not? Human milk is perfectly designed, species-specific, for our children. What really makes me sad is that most babies in our country don't get b/fed longer than 6 weeks.

I personally never understood how people can drink milk from another species and have no problem with it but cannot accept children having milk from their own kind. I mean how many kids drink cow's milk at 4. But then think that it is bordering on abuse to give a 4 year old HUMAN milk. All because it comes from from a woman's breast, that was designed to prouduce and feed it for our children.

ayndim · Jan 23, 2005

I was wondering how long it would take before we got one of these.

Should have figured, after all, it was one of these debates that first brought me to this site (from breastfeeding.com).
As far as I can tell, this was not a debate thread, nor was the OP (or subsequent posters) asking for opinions, so I think the adage "if you don't have anything nice to say..." applies here.

Now that you mention it I am actually surprised that there was only one.