I agree comfort is an added bonus of bf'ing the infant/baby. But I disagree that it is bizarre to try to prevent a child from being comforted by bf'ing. Women bf because bm is better for the child than formula. When the child gets older and the bm/formula question is no longer an issue because the child is getting his main nutrition from a healthy diet, then the nursing mother is doing so for other reasons and none include nutrition. Comfort becomes a main purpose and no longer an "added bonus." At that point, bf'ing is out-of-the-norm and weaning is preferred.
You think that breastmilk and formula are the same thing for a child? Then why on earth would formula manufacturers state on their product that 'Breast is Best'? They just like the sound of it? I am stunned that in this day and age there are women who still believe that formula is just as good as breastmilk. Very scary!
<<Because it is nowhere NEAR accepted by the eyes of society, and I would find it to be borderline cruel to subject a child to the kind of ridicule they would receive for something that noone has remotely proven is beneficial. (Nursing a child past school age.) >>
Actually, no one has remotely proven that it's detrimental.
One would hope you dont kiss your son in the same way that he will kiss his future girlfriends...
Thats the thing about hugs & kisses v. breastfeeding. The hugs and kisses adults give each other for sexual reasons are very different then the type family members or friends give each other. Sucking v. suckling on a breast isnt really that different.
Certainly not like the difference between a french kiss and a peck!!
I'm just going to be lazy here and use your words. ;-)
"Maybe Im totally wrong. Maybe its not harmful at all (to wean before the child is ready that is). But it is my gut instinct (to let the child decide when to wean) and until someone can give me a study that proves otherwise, it is my opinion."
Also, I'll say it again...I've never claimed that it absolutely is beneficial and healthy
Can't help myself. But I wonder what it is you think has to be "conceded?" That your opinion is the right one? LOL! I wouldn't claim my opinion to be right for everyone, so why should I say that about yours?
Mary
Mom to Kevin 11/4/03
You can hate me, but do it because you know me, not because I’m a member of a group. Anyways, people aren’t grapes --- you can’t weigh them in a bunch, but I guess it’s easier than dealing with people as individuals. There, I’ve solved the riddle of prejudice: it saves time.
I totally respect your opinion. For me though? Id rather err on the side of caution.
There is no real reason to be breastfeeding at that age. By reason I mean in the sense that the child won't be properly nourished or wont be bonded to his/her mother.
So if there is a chance, which in my mind is fairly large, that the child will be negatively affected by continuing to breastfeed almost to the age of adolescence...I just cant be supportive of it.
People harm their children all the time. Just because it "seems" to work for that family doesnt mean that it is actually a positive thing for the child. My SO's parents used to beat the living hell out of him as a kid. It "seemed" to work for them because he was such a good, well behaved, bright, funny, head of the class kind of kid. Did it really work? Ah...no. He has a strained relationship at best with them and even now at 30 years old, if I go to playfully slap his arm, it really bothers him.
Im not equating nursing with physical abuse....Im just using the above example to point out that simply because something "seems" to work for a family to outsiders, doesnt mean the child isnt still being damaged.
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I agree comfort is an added bonus of bf'ing the infant/baby. But I disagree that it is bizarre to try to prevent a child from being comforted by bf'ing. Women bf because bm is better for the child than formula. When the child gets older and the bm/formula question is no longer an issue because the child is getting his main nutrition from a healthy diet, then the nursing mother is doing so for other reasons and none include nutrition. Comfort becomes a main purpose and no longer an "added bonus." At that point, bf'ing is out-of-the-norm and weaning is preferred.
<<Because it is nowhere NEAR accepted by the eyes of society, and I would find it to be borderline cruel to subject a child to the kind of ridicule they would receive for something that noone has remotely proven is beneficial. (Nursing a child past school age.) >>
Actually, no one has remotely proven that it's detrimental.
One would hope you dont kiss your son in the same way that he will kiss his future girlfriends...
Thats the thing about hugs & kisses v. breastfeeding. The hugs and kisses adults give each other for sexual reasons are very different then the type family members or friends give each other. Sucking v. suckling on a breast isnt really that different.
Certainly not like the difference between a french kiss and a peck!!
I'm just going to be lazy here and use your words. ;-)
"Maybe Im totally wrong. Maybe its not harmful at all (to wean before the child is ready that is). But it is my gut instinct (to let the child decide when to wean) and until someone can give me a study that proves otherwise, it is my opinion."
Also, I'll say it again...I've never claimed that it absolutely is beneficial and healthy
Mary
Mom to Kevin 11/4/03
You can hate me, but do it because you know me, not because I’m a member of a group. Anyways, people aren’t grapes --- you can’t weigh them in a bunch, but I guess it’s easier than dealing with people as individuals. There, I’ve solved the riddle of prejudice: it saves time.
Rita Mae Brown, US author and social activist
I totally respect your opinion. For me though? Id rather err on the side of caution.
There is no real reason to be breastfeeding at that age. By reason I mean in the sense that the child won't be properly nourished or wont be bonded to his/her mother.
So if there is a chance, which in my mind is fairly large, that the child will be negatively affected by continuing to breastfeed almost to the age of adolescence...I just cant be supportive of it.
People harm their children all the time. Just because it "seems" to work for that family doesnt mean that it is actually a positive thing for the child. My SO's parents used to beat the living hell out of him as a kid. It "seemed" to work for them because he was such a good, well behaved, bright, funny, head of the class kind of kid. Did it really work? Ah...no. He has a strained relationship at best with them and even now at 30 years old, if I go to playfully slap his arm, it really bothers him.
Im not equating nursing with physical abuse....Im just using the above example to point out that simply because something "seems" to work for a family to outsiders, doesnt mean the child isnt still being damaged.
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