When is a good time to stop breast-feeding your child?

Question

I have a friend with a new-born and the other is starting school in September and when the eldest sees her brother being breast fed she asks to be breast feed and her mother breast-feeds her but is that healthy?

Answer 1

so that would make the older child 4 or 5 right?

There's really no set time you need to stop breastfeeding, whenever is comfortable for the mother and the child, for some that's a year, for other's its 4 years or more. Average age of weaning worldwide is somewhere between 3 and 7.

But the older child is probably more interested in attention than actual breastfeeding.  If the mother is comfortable with it, she could actually let her try if she insists, it's alot of work and breastmilk doesn't taste very good to older kids who are used to cow's milk.  Usually they won't even know how to get milk to come out and will give up, but knowing that they COULD have it if they want to might make her feel better.

Maybe the mother can try to find other activities to do with the older child, reading a book, drawing, playing a board game.  She's probably just feeling left out.  Newborns nurse all the time and she may feel that nursing is the only way to spend time with mom, or that she's being edged out of the family.  Try to make nursing time a special time for the older kid too.  My 2 year old has a basket of toys and books to play with specifically when I'm nursing.  He knows that "lunchtime" for baby also means he gets a spot on my lap too so we can read a story together.

Answer 2

well how old is the brother if hes old enough for school then it seems crazy to be breast feeding him aswell i duuno strange

Answer 3

It's not right for a mom to just nurse a child because she is asking to be nursed.  Moms don't do that.  They nurse newborns/infants... up to a couple of years or so.  When an older child is walking/talking and asks to nurse, there is a problem.

I nursed my son til he was 18months old.  Was trying to shoot for 2, though.  My daughter wasn't able to be nursed, she was born with a cleft lip/palate.

Answer 4

I forget what national association it is (it's in the pregnancy book the doctor gave me, but I don't have the book right now), but they said that your breast milk continues to change and is still beneficial to a child up until the age of two, and do not recommend stopping breastfeeding before one year of age.

However, a lot of people quit breastfeeding when the child begins to have teeth and can eat solids.

Personally, I will not breastfeed my child past the age of one.

Answer 5

my sister said, when they have teeth and can bite you!

Answer 6

I don't think breastfeeding should continue when the child is at school - time to let go and give them back to dad I say.

Answer 7

If the older child has been weaned for a few years, it's very unlikely that she could get any milk out.  If the child has been breastfeeding all along, that's fine. (Though the baby should get first dibs on the breast/milk.)

The 'good time' to wean is when mother/child wish to (ideally after 12 months).  It's uncommon in western society to breastfeed much past 2-3 years, but there's nothing wrong with it.

Answer 8

The general consensus is that in America (and other developed countries) breastfeeding should stop after 12 months, and in less-developed (third world) nations it should continue for 2 years.

How old is the oldest? I assume starting school means kindergarten! That means she's FIVE! That's just f***ed up!

Answer 9

It should stop when they can eat on their own.

Answer 10

Personally I dont like the idea of a child being breastfed beyond the age of one but thats just me. I don't feel its necessary look at mothers who can't produce breastmilk...or babies where the mother has passed away/given them up etc.

I know plenty of babies who weren't breastfed and do fine.

Answer 11

Hi I'm trying to stop breastfeeding my 15 month old daughter but shes Very reluctant to stop but I'm definitely stopping when shes about 18months -2years

Answer 12

i think its up to the parent but i would say four to six months, in my case i only breastfed for a month since my baby was drinking 4oz at birth and being a first time mother i just couldnt keep up.

Answer 13

There is no standard answer to this - just when you and your child are confortable.  Personally I would never breastfeed a toddler but I have never had the chance.  My oldest gave up by herself from 3 feeds a day to none, 3 days before christmas at 5 months.  My youngest was only having a feed at night for about 2 minutes at 9 months so I decided their wasn't much point carrying on.  I had a friend who was still feeding her 2 year old and she came up to mummy at  a wedding, lifted her top up and started to suck.  YUK...

Answer 14

I say if they can ASK you to breastfeed them, then it's time to stop!

There was a really gross story on Tyra about an 8 year old still breastfeeding- it freaked me out.

Answer 15

as long as they are both comfortable with it, then it's not a good time for them to stop.

it has many benefits, and the only negative to it is social stigma of the western culture.

• In most of the world’s cultures, breast feeding continues for at least 2 years.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that moms breastfeed their children from birth until 2 years and then as long as mutually desired.

• The worldwide average age of weaning is 4.2 years!

• Cancer risk decreases the longer a mother breast feeds.

• Studies have shown that kids who are breastfed grow up to be more secure and self reliant than their bottle-fed peers.

edit: in response to the following statement: "The general consensus is that in America (and other developed countries) breastfeeding should stop after 12 months, and in less-developed (third world) nations it should continue for 2 years."

seems to be a misinterpretation, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a baby gets most of its nutrients from breastmilk for *AT LEAST* a year (NOT that BFing *should stop* after a year). the World Health Organization says for *AT LEAST* 2 years.