Breastfeeding Older Children (5 year old, grandma, kids, best)

[SuSuSushi]

Originally Posted by 2girlsand2boys

I guess that depends on your definition of "best", now doesn't it?

And how do you "keep" an 8 year old breastfeeding? It is not like the mother is forcing her to continue nursing to achieve her own agenda.

I love how people feel free to say that a woman breastfeeding her child for however long she likes is "sick in the head", but the minute someone points out that formula is just the crap that is left over from overprocessing dairy products and mixing them with the cheapest, unhealthiest oils available, all hell breaks loose.

And how often do you see someone feeding formula to their 7 yr old? They don't NEED it. They don't NEED breastfeeding at that age, either. If you want to fall back on the "it's natural" thing, then take a hard look at nature. How many animal mothers breastfeed their children until the child decides to quit? How many animal mothers actually make the decision for their child?

[yodi]

Originally Posted by SuSuSushi

And how often do you see someone feeding formula to their 7 yr old? They don't NEED it. They don't NEED breastfeeding at that age, either. If you want to fall back on the "it's natural" thing, then take a hard look at nature. How many animal mothers breastfeed their children until the child decides to quit? How many animal mothers actually make the decision for their child?

This has already been brought up several times but yes, it is important to look at how mammals wean in nature....

Originally Posted by yodi

This is a very interesting piece on the natural age of weaning in mammals. The natural age of weaning is dependent on multiple factors such as the age that the child gets their first permanent molars, length of gestation, size of adults (larger mammals such as humans wean when their children quadruple their birth weight or reach 1/3 of their adult weight). Based on these studies the minimum predicted age for a natural age of weaning in humans is 2.5 years and a maximum of 7 years.

Based on this research, any woman who is still nursing her 7 year old child is within the range of normal.
A Natural Age of Weaning

In nature mammals do not consume the milk of another species. Drinking formula and drinking cow or goat milk is not natural.

[ADVentive]

Originally Posted by SuSuSushi

And how often do you see someone feeding formula to their 7 yr old? They don't NEED it. They don't NEED breastfeeding at that age, either.

That makes no sense. We feed formula to babies when they can't digest whole cow's milk yet. They can't digest whole cow's milk because they are meant to drink human milk, ie breastmilk! We then feed cow's milk after 12 months as a substitute for human milk. Human milk is the biological norm though, not cow's milk! If you think there is nutritional value in drinking cow's milk, then there is MORE nutritional value in drinking human milk!

[Granny Sue]

I'm sorry, I just find it creepy for a walking, talking human to be sucking on their mother's breast.

[SuSuSushi]

Originally Posted by yodi

In nature mammals do not consume the milk of another species. Drinking formula and drinking cow or goat milk is not natural.

So the countless stories we hear about of mammals of one species adopting babies from another species and nursing them are all just made up then?

[Woof Woof Woof!]

I like cow's milk, and I like breast milk.

[yodi]

Originally Posted by SuSuSushi

So the countless stories we hear about of mammals of one species adopting babies from another species and nursing them are all just made up then?

I stand corrected. There are a few exceptions to this rule.

[2girlsand2boys]

Originally Posted by SuSuSushi

So the countless stories we hear about of mammals of one species adopting babies from another species and nursing them are all just made up then?

No, animals do that to help the young survive. It is instinct for them to nurse another young one to help protect them. They obviously can't drive down to the local convenience store to pick up a can of formula. If they didn't nurse them, they wouldn't survive.

Of course they would be better off drinking their own mother's milk, but for whatever reason they can't. Humans are also better off drinking milk from another human mother than they would be drinking formula or cow's milk. Humans do not NEED the milk from another animal, but it IS more nutritious for them to drink it while it is not pasteurized, homogenized, etc. Raw milk has many of the same properties found in breastmilk.

And, really? "Countless" stories of animals nursing other mammals babies is a bit of a stretch. That probably happens as often as a human mother actually nursing an eight year old.

[2girlsand2boys]

Originally Posted by SuSuSushi

And how often do you see someone feeding formula to their 7 yr old? They don't NEED it. They don't NEED breastfeeding at that age, either. If you want to fall back on the "it's natural" thing, then take a hard look at nature. How many animal mothers breastfeed their children until the child decides to quit? How many animal mothers actually make the decision for their child?

You are obviously only thinking of the word "need" in a physical sense.

It has been said numerous times, but humans don't NEED cow"s milk either. There are many things in the American population's diet that aren't NEEDED. Why is it acceptable for parents to feed their kids fast food, hydrogenated oils, food dyes and other crap, but you are debating the benefits of HUMAN milk that is designed perfectly for humans!? I'd much rather see an 8 year old nursing than see the line for the drive thru at McDonald's stretched around the building. THAT stuff isn't even food!

[ConcernedMommy]

Originally Posted by 2girlsand2boys

You are obviously only thinking of the word "need" in a physical sense.

It has been said numerous times, but humans don't NEED cow"s milk either. There are many things in the American population's diet that aren't NEEDED. Why is it acceptable for parents to feed their kids fast food, hydrogenated oils, food dyes and other crap, but you are debating the benefits of HUMAN milk that is designed perfectly for humans!? I'd much rather see an 8 year old nursing than see the line for the drive thru at McDonald's stretched around the building. THAT stuff isn't even food!

Good point! Funny how we as a society see a child eating cheetos while drinking red koolaid as normal, but a child drinking breastmilk from his or her mother unnatural and abnormal.