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Most likely not, but I have seen several people breastfeeding older children in public and it just isn't right. I can't explain it, it just isn't. So, we now protect a woman's right to breastfeed in public, does that mean she can breastfeed a child of any age and the rest of us have to deal with it?
Unless the current legislation protecting breastfeeding Mom's actually spells it out, I guess there is no age limit for public breastfeeding.
The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for up to two years of a baby's life, even beyond:
WHO | Breastfeeding Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond.
It doesn't bother me to see a baby or toddler being breastfed in public. None of my kids would take a bottle early on, and God knows I tried. They were a few to several months old before they would. I don't often see kids over a year in public breastfeeding anyway, but as long as it's done discreetly, and it usually is, I don't have an issue with it. Personally I never bf that long, the longest was 8 months. And my kids never had a bottle past the age of one year, either. Breastfeeding over the age of two though, that does disturb me. I just don't think it's necessary, and in public, it's doubly unnecessary.
The bottom line is, when a child is old enough to drink out of a cup, they no longer need to breastfeed or have a bottle. When a child reaches a few months old, they can hold a cup. ALSO, after the first few weeks, babies don't need on demand feeding. They should be on more of a schedule, and the mother SHOULD work around that schedule and do the breastfeeding at home BEFORE going out in public, then again AFTER being in public in the privacy of her own home.
Whipping out the breast after the first few months is totally unnecessary. It is only out of laziness that she continues to do so because she does not have the patience to wean the child to breastfeeding only in the morning and at bedtime.
No matter what they say, breastfeeding in public is not necessary, it's choice. If they choose to do it with discretion and in privacy, then so be it, but IT IS NOT NECESSARY to the health and well being of the baby.
I think a lot of breastfeeding women do it in public because they want to put in everybody's faces, tauntingly. I CAN SHOW MY BREAST IN PUBLIC AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Either that, or they think they are going to impress people around them that they are good mothers. *gag*
But just 36 percent of babies in the U.S. are breastfed through six months, according to a 2008 report from Brigham Young University. For those who do practice extended nursing, the average is closer to three years. But even the most committed strain under the judging glares of family and strangers.
"Their reaction is uggh," said Robyn Paul, a lactation consultant and mom of three who was interviewed for a 20/20 story, "Breast-feeding Past Infancy." "But it's perfectly normal." When Tiernan, 6, needs comforting, he asks for "nummies." "We've had conversations about what it tastes like and he says it's very sweet," Paul said.
"Very few new moms go into pregnancy or childbirth thinking they want to breastfeed a 5-year-old," said Carrie Lauch (pictured), host of Natural Moms Talk Radio and mother of four. She just weaned her 6-year-old daughter six months ago. "But the weeks and months move on, and the benefits for the child and the mother never go away."
Many people, not surprising, believe that's both harmful and shameful. "If a mother is breastfeeding a child of 5 or 6 years old she should be arrested and prosecuted for abuse/sexual molestation/pedophilia/mental illness etc," Mike posted on FaceBook after viewing the program. "Sick. wrong."
"Everyone has their upper limits that they might think was okay, and what's unacceptable," said Pennington, who nursed her daughter Maysa until after her fifth birthday. "And each comes to that on her own. When you're outside of that situation, it might seem inconceivable. But they're still always your baby. And you're just continuing a relationship that has worked since day one. It seems very natural."
Whipping out the breast after the first few months is totally unnecessary. It is only out of laziness that she continues to do so because she does not have the patience to wean the child to breastfeeding only in the morning and at bedtime.
Between the ages of three months and the onset of regular eating at ~12 months, an infant does need to nurse more often than morning and evening. Breast milk or formula are the primary sources of calories during the entirety of the first year. An infant cannot receive enough calories and nutrients from cereal and pureed foods and will not thrive on twice a day nursing prior to that time.
Last edited by formercalifornian; 06-30-2010 at 02:49 PM..
I'm sorry...but the 5 and 6 year old mark really does cross a line! I've gotta agree with the sexual abuse / molestation / pedophilia theory.
Ending breastfeeding is a form of letting go a bit, and some women can't handle the fact that their baby can survive without them.
It is no longer a benefit to the child after the first few months, but without it, the mother would have to admit that her child is no longer attached to her in a physical way, so she prolongs the breastfeeding to keep her delusional fantasy going a little longer.
Continuing to breastfeed past the time the child can drink out of a cup at a few months of age is a crutch for the mother.
Ending breastfeeding is a form of letting go a bit, and some women can't handle the fact that their baby can survive without them.
It is no longer a benefit to the child after the first few months, but without it, the mother would have to admit that her child is no longer attached to her in a physical way, so she prolongs the breastfeeding to keep her delusional fantasy going a little longer.
Continuing to breastfeed past the time the child can drink out of a cup at a few months of age is a crutch for the mother.
Breast feeding is an issue that is only an issue in America.
In Europe, no one cares. A woman can walk naked down the main street of Berlin or Paris and the most you would get would be a few stares. And righly so providing they are good looking of course. Hand a kid off the boob and no one is even going to care.
In Australia, Well if the kid is more than say 3 or 4 then they may stare, if there is no kid, well then they may make comment on the quality of said boobs and then wonder why that pickup line did not work. For a kid between 0 and 4 no one is even going to care. Women do it all the time. You only notice if you look.
I'm sorry...but the 5 and 6 year old mark really does cross a line! I've gotta agree with the sexual abuse / molestation / pedophilia theory.
That mom is the extreme, not the norm.
What did catch my eye was her statement "But they're still always your baby".
NO, NO, and more NO. Children are NOT babies at 4,5,6,28,33, 56 and so on. I cannot stand when parents call their young children & teenagers their babies.
I watched this segment on the news several wks back where this total punk of a 18yr old beat the living daylights out of & killed one of his buddies. Mom sat there in court as his sentence was being read screaming "My baby!! You can't send my baby to jail!". Lady, maybe if you stopped treating him like one yrs ago, he might have not been such a punk.
I get "I can't believe they are already in "1st grade". It seems like yesterday they were still a baby."
But to say consider them as a baby at the age of 5....that's unheathly. And that mom is nursing for her comfort, not the child.
Ending breastfeeding is a form of letting go a bit, and some women can't handle the fact that their baby can survive without them.
It is no longer a benefit to the child after the first few months, but without it, the mother would have to admit that her child is no longer attached to her in a physical way, so she prolongs the breastfeeding to keep her delusional fantasy going a little longer.
Continuing to breastfeed past the time the child can drink out of a cup at a few months of age is a crutch for the mother.
I'm bothered when you say the first few months. A few is three to me, MUCH too soon for an infant to be receiving the majority of his calories from foods other than breast milk or formula.
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"Their reaction is uggh," said Robyn Paul, a lactation consultant and mom of three who was interviewed for a 
