Booby Trap?

As long as you produce milk. A friend of our family breast-fed her daughters for several years, the youngest was breast-fed for nearly six years. As a result, these girls never got as much as a cold, never needed dental attention, never broke a bone, never have needed any medical attention - they now are all in their fifties and sixties - not one has lost a tooth, and the eldest who is nearing seventy years of age is the only one with grey hair - just a few of them on the temples, and she hardly has a wrinkle - neither do her sisters. :)

i bfed one until 9 months, when he chose to stop when i was pregnant with my second child, who i bfed until he was four. No problems, happy children. keep going until the child stops or the mom is tired of it. take a look at the world average for bfeeding. it used to be five. I wonder what it is now?

ok, so Brian is NOT a product of breast milk. Now, to get to the question at hand, breast-feeding is extremely important and should be continued as long as possible. However, I will draw the line when my kids are running around the playground and start chasing me down for something to eat!?!?! ...but really it's a personal preference.

I think that it is a persoal thing how long you breastfeed. In other countries where there is not a clean, or abbundant supply of foods like in america women breastfeed for way longer. Think about how much better off the babies who were breastfed were during "Katrina" and other disasters. You only need to find food and water for the mother. No need to sterilize the bottle or get water to mix formula. I breastfed three children. One for 1 year, one for a little more than 1year and the last for 9 months due to a health issue with myself that dried up my milk. I then had to go thru all the hassles of formula. If I were to have another child I would definatly nurse them at least 1 year. The thing that most people forget is that most people that are nursing past 1 year are not nursing all day long. They are nursing at night to fall asleep or the first thing in the morning to start the day. What you do is your choice. If you do nurse a 2, 3, or 4 year old in "public" you should expect a freaked out reaction from the general public. Not that it is wrong, it is just not the custom here in the U.S. I had some of the oddest reaction to my nursing modestly in public, from people that you would expect to be excepting of the human body, when I had more than one M.D. walk into a exam room in a hospital while I was nursing a 7 month old. Like THEY had never seen a breast, or something!!!!!!

Oh. THAT Boob. I thought this was about TV, which I gave up after the media manufactured Dean's "scream". I never had the other boob, being raised when it was all about "formula". Maybe that's why I'm coughing today: Mom didn't dose me with her antibodies.

I wonder why nursing older babies causes such a strong reaction among the public. It can't be because we think 2 or 3 or 4 year olds could have some sort of developing sexual connection to their mother, can it? Is it just that we don't dig the human body being so clearly functional--like other animals?

I think if a new mom can make it past the first few weeks she is a trooper! I was fortunate enough to find nursing easy and very convenient. (Not to mention, cheaper than formula.)
I hung in there for a full year with my son. It wasn't only breast milk, I was feeding him cereal and solids as well at a certain point.. I know most moms can't make it a full year for one reason or another, but if she can do it for the first six months, I think she's certainly going to make a difference in the welfare of her child.

But I do think that feeding your child much past a year, is a bit much. If you pump and feed them in a bottle that's one thing..I personally think that going much longer straight form the breast can create a dependency, making it harder to wean your child off, maybe even affect them psychologically. And I'm not saying that it's bad because many moms and cultures nurse for years with their kids turning out just fine. I just personally know I couldn' t do it for more than a year. I enjoyed my freedom after I weaned my son, at the same time I was proud of myself for going so long.

I stand by my "year" of nursing. And if you're going to go past that...pump. And if you don't make it to that year, good for you for at least trying to breastfeed. And for those of you who can't nurse and wish you could..look into a breastmilk bank. I know it seems weird to feed your baby some other mother's milk, but it's not about from who it comes as long as you're the one feeding them, nurturing them and giving them the nutrients they need. A huge part of breastfeeding is the initial bond between mother and baby.

My two cents..which I know...seemed like twenty. :)

I think the best time to give it up is when you get bitten.

I plan on breastfeeding my 5 month old daughter until she weans herself, whether that is until 12 months or 4 years. id much rather have her drinking from me than hormone and chemical ridden cow milk.

that's what the Whole Foods store is for...

I don't have kids, and this is one of the reasons why! *covers boobies*

I think if the mother is happy doing it and the child wants to do it, there's no reason to stop. It seems like potty training... kids develop at different rates, so they're going to advance at different times. Mothers shouldn't feel like they have to conform to a socially acceptable "norm" if their current habit is working for them.

I breastfed my two children, both of them until they were two and a half. They weened themselves.

I totally support nursing moms, however long they nurse their young, it's natural-it's why we are Mammals, lest we forget...

Feeding your baby Nestle is gross!