Is there such a thing as bf for too long?

Nell McAndrew said the other week that she gets funny looks and comments for bfeeding her 2-yr-old.

Is two years too old for breastfeeding? If so, why? 

If you're willing to offer your opinion for an article in June's PP magazine, it would be great to hear from you. Thanks!

Emma x

IPersonally i find it very strange!!  think mothers who breastfeed their children beyond toddler age are trying to hold onto something. They are trying to keep their little ones baby like.

Toddlers don't need breast  milk as they should be getting nutrients from their food.  

There are very clear nutritional benefits to a 2 year old breastfeeding through getting essential fatty acids and the mothers antibodies, not to mention the very important mother/child bond.  Just because a child is still breastfeeding at 2 doesn't mean that child isn't having a full balanced diet and eating with the rest of the family.

Even if extended breastfeeding is just about comfort (which I don't think it is) why not comfort a 2 year old with a breastfeed? We are the only mammal which chooses to introduce the milk of another animal rather than feed our own children in the way nature intended for as long as mother and baby would like, thinking along this line obviously it is more normal to extend breastfeeding than to introduce a food source designed not for a human child but for a baby cow.......

I guess every case is different and each parent has their own ideas about what is best for their child, (and in some cases such as a milk intolerence/allergy/in a situation where the child would not be given any other milk/nourishment such as severe poverty etc etc cases exempt) ...

In my opinion I would not bf my child for that long as i am confident and believe that the child can get the correct nutrition and balance from other sources of food etc. Also (in my opinion) I would see it as a hinderence to their development and independence, all 2 year olds that I have had the pleasure in caring for are very pleased with themself when they can hold a bottle/cup ontheir own and assert their independence and confidence - i cant help but think bf would hold them back on that? plus the child does need to know that he can be an individual away from its mother so that they can progress and socialise without fear of losing/clingy to the mother. I think sometimes those that bf for such long periods(those plus 2 and beyond - sometimes up until 5/6) are doing it for their own benefit rather than the childs, it just something i do not agree with. x

c&w'smummy wrote (see)

I don't like the idea of breast feeding toddlers. I think it hinders their indipendance. I would stop at 12 months at the latest. I have noticed that children who breast feed late are much more clingy and seem to have trouble interacting with other children. I knew someone who still breast fed her five year old!  At what point is enough enough? 

c&w'smummy wrote (see)

if you look at the natural world, Animals stop breast feeding their young as soon as they are able to eat and live on solids. Why do humans think it is normal  to breastfeed for much longer than that?

Actually I am a qualified VN and an animal behaviourist. I also am a qualified dod groomer and have worked on farms for many years. But no my degree wasn't in Zoology, it was in Phytotherapy.

P.s. Considdering some of the other things the great apes have been known to do I don't think they make very good role models!

quite clearly some people are very anti-breastfeeding while others have no problem doing and agreeing with what is natural!

How rude to say that someones opinion is ' a load of tosh'. The initial thread was asking for opinions on breast feeding toddlers, and that's what C&W's mummy was doing. She is quite entitled to 'voice' her views.