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But with an older child, breastfeeding really isn't providing the substance for life either. The child is eating a lot of other foods by then and they really don't need the breast at all at that point.
Technically, I don't NEED m&m candies, but I like and eat them. Honestly, this discussion has gotten ridiculous. When is that last time any of you saw a child older than three breastfeeding? It's extremely uncommon.
Food has always provided comfort. M&m candies are the only reason that my children continue to survive. You can take away my coffee and my wine, but if you touch my chocolate, somebody is going to get hurt!
LOL - agreed - but if that was the ONLY way you could be comforted, I'd still say there was a problem. If, while at the office you stubbed your toe on a file cabinet and were inconsolable because there WERE NO M&M'S!! and that was the ONLY way you could deal with it.....
LOLOL, you ARE joking, right? You try not to be judgy, but you are "disgusted over pre-teens wearing shorts that show thongs, exposed buttcheeds... that sort of thing"???
What? You didn't know that sort of thing is horribly unacceptable. The 5 year old suckling on his mother's breast at the bench in front of Macy's may see.
LOL - agreed - but if that was the ONLY way you could be comforted, I'd still say there was a problem. If, while at the office you stubbed your toe on a file cabinet and were inconsolable because there WERE NO M&M'S!! and that was the ONLY way you could deal with it.....
Frighteningly, I've run into more adults who behave that way than children!
Technically, I don't NEED m&m candies, but I like and eat them. Honestly, this discussion has gotten ridiculous. When is that last time any of you saw a child older than three breastfeeding? It's extremely uncommon.
I'm staying out of the BFing discussion here - my main point was the use of food as a primary way of comforting an older child. I wouldn't advocate pulling a cookie (or apple pieces) out either....
Technically, I don't NEED m&m candies, but I like and eat them. Honestly, this discussion has gotten ridiculous. When is that last time any of you saw a child older than three breastfeeding? It's extremely uncommon.
I personally think any child older than 12 months breastfeeding is crossing the line. 3 would be delving closer to that perversion thing we were talking about. For what it's worth I can go along with feeding an infant in public, but I would expect security to boot a woman if she was breastfeeding a 3 year old in the mall.
I'm staying out of the BFing discussion here - my main point was the use of food as a primary way of comforting an older child. I wouldn't advocate pulling a cookie (or apple pieces) out either....
Taken to extremes, I definitely see your point; however, my kids would be very disappointed if a visit to the doctor for vaccinations wasn't followed by a trip to Chik-fil-A for a shake.
Back to the original subject...I don't know how I would react to a five-year-old being breastfed in public, because I've never seen it, even during the many years I lived in the "anything goes" Bay Area. And, that was my point. I think everybody's feathers are ruffled about something they'll likely never actually see unless they travel outside the U.S.
I'm staying out of the BFing discussion here - my main point was the use of food as a primary way of comforting an older child. I wouldn't advocate pulling a cookie (or apple pieces) out either....
This is a good point. Kids who are taught that food is their comfort end up being obese because they continue to turn to food as comfort as they grow, and grow, and grow, and grow... .
Taken to extremes, I definitely see your point; however, my kids would be very disappointed if a visit to the doctor for vaccinations wasn't followed by a trip to Chik-fil-A for a shake.
Back to the original subject...I don't know how I would react to a five-year-old being breastfed on a park bench, because I've never seen it, and I used to live in the "anything goes" Bay Area. That was my point. I think everybody's feathers are ruffled about something they'll likely never actually see.
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?
I think that in the US, we have a weird view of nudity and breasts. I see no particular reason why a toddler cannot be breastfed in public, but it would probably get a lot of rude people staring.
In Europe, women go topless on beaches.
The need for discreet nursing stems from the idea that seeing exposed breast supposedly arouses sexual feelings. Indeed it does so in some men, but only because of the way they have been raised and influenced to think in this society that is so obsessed by woman's breasts. In many other cultures, no one thinks twice about a nursing mother and there is no need for covering up while nursing.
In Australia, in 2010, a mother's right to breastfeed in public is protected under national anti-discrimination legislation
The Scots say that the only people who stare rudely when they are breastfeeding in public are English tourists. The Scottish parliament passed a law in 2005 making it illegal to request that a woman should not breast feed in a public place (restaurant, shop, municipal office, etc).
Breastfeeding is uncommon in Ireland (probably the Church has some of the blame for that)
By law, you are allowed to breastfeed your baby in any public place in the Netherlands.
In Germany, breastfeeding in public is also not perceived in a negative way. People are encouraged to nurse children until at least 12 months old. People think it is weird to cover up with a blanket.
I think that Americans need to get over this fixation on the breast as a sexual thing and remember that its purpose is twofold and that feeding infants and toddlers is actually the primary purpose of breasts with sexuality being a secondary purpose.
Dorothy
If you haven't noticed, we live here, not in Europe, and A LOT of people don't like seeing womens' breasts in public. PERIOD.
Perhaps you'd be more comfortable or happy somewhere else.
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