Why are people asking me about weaning already??

[Arcadia]

Oohhh...I get the..."but she's on 'real' food now" comments too.

Sorry. Real food? What do you think Breastmilk is? Its only the most perfect baby food there is!

As if a few teaspoons of carrot and a stick of broccolli can replace breastmilk.

Sheez!

[Fleur]

I was so upset today with the comments i got in the hairdresser from perfect strangers - i was b/f my son, whilst getting my hair done. I got the 'i think b/f is gross, i could never feed my kids, i went straight to bottle, didnt even try it. it grosses me out......'.
Sorry, but tad offended by that comment. They are always sooo defensive as well. Trying to get into an argument with me about breast vs bottle - and here i am just sitting there feeding my son. I DONT CARE what other people think....why do they soooo care about what i am doing ....vent over.

Mbear - I wouldn't know what to do with people like that.
Apart from being incredibly rude, and ill-informed, and none of their business, it's really sad that they have that attitude.
FFS what do these people think boobs are for? That always gets me

[Heaven]

Thanks guys!!
I knew that some people thought BF for over a year was 'gross' but I really didn't think people thought babies should be weaned before 1!! LOL, people are weird.

OMG mbear I can't believe that!!

[mbear]

FFS what do these people think boobs are for? That always gets me

.OMG i soooo agree with your comment. I dont get it either...

[Shanti]

Noone has said anything to me yet however I'm waiting for it to happen

I'm going to state the WHO recommendations. Who can argue with those?

I absolutely LOVE breastfeeding. It's so enjoyable in so many ways. I feel sorry for those people who make the comments because they must not have had a very enjoyable breastfeeding experience/relationship. Perhaps it's because of their attitudes to the whole thing in the first place... they must see it as a 'chore'. when in fact, it's a child and mothers birth right!!!

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

I struggle to want to do anything in the heat - eat, cook. It is so uncomfortable. But it's worth knowing your milk will be perfect for her, even when it's hot. And it can be a very low energy way of getting her to sleep so you can have some peace. Be careful, giving bottles may lead to premature weaning - OK if that's what you want, but if your goal was to keep breastfeeding, this may not help

[Heaven]

PITA Aunty strikes again!!!!!!!!!!! LOL, I knew there was a thread somewhere I'd written about her before.

I saw her on the weekend and this is how it went... DD is now 16 months and still BF.

her (totally out of nowhere, weren't even talking about BF): when did you wean her off the breast?
me: I haven't, she still has it.
her: oooohhhhh you'll have to knock that on the head
me: nope, don't plan too. She'll give it up whenever she is ready.
her: yeah that's what C thought and look what happened!! (talking about my aunty who BF her daughter for 2yrs, shock horror!!)
me: looks like it worked out pretty well seeing as she's not still breastfeeding at 20. Actually I don't know any adults who still do it.
her: so is it just one feed at night or something?
me: no, before all her sleeps and whenever else she wants it.
DH (confused): uhh....it's not like it's bad for her!!
her: you don't want to be doing that forever
me: I don't plan on it.


WTF?? It was actually quite amusing. Why she thinks it's any of her business I don't know, it's not like I'm asking her to breastfeed her!! lol. And I never even brought it up and especially never implied I had a problem with it!! And how rude to say that about my other Aunty who was standing right next to her!! I know my Aunty didn't mind BF her DD for that long!!

Some people are weird.

[onthefly]

Awesome vaudville routine

[Jennifer13]

Great responses. You'll just have to save up your stories about your friends who bf until four years of age (or later ) for next time, that's sure to impress her!

Good on your DH too, his response was great!

[Calluna]

Geez . You reacted a lot better than I would have. Maybe next time you see her you could give her a page of info explaining how beneficial BFing is to mother and baby? Then everytime she says something, ask if she read it. Lol

I had something similar with our GP! (not sure if I posted this on BB already or not but...) This is essentially how our conversation went:-
doctor- are you still breast feeding?
Me- yes.
Doctor- are you going to wean him anytime soon?
Me- no I'm letting him decide when he's ready.
Doctor- hmm ok. Well you should start giving him some formula, just a bottle or two a day as sometimes breast milks not quite enough.

This just after he'd weighed and measured DS and told me his growth was perfect.
I hate to think this is the advice he's giving to every mum, especially the ones that trust him to know what's best for thier child

then talking to my dad about it later, I explained why I was annoyed and he said that it was just the doctors opinion, and everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. So I told him I was not concerned for me/ Isaac but for others that dont know any better and cited the WHO recommendations. His response? "That's just someone elses opinion" meaning it's no more valid than the doctors

As for people that think breastfeeding at any age is "gross", honestly, I just want to smack them. (I'm not even a violent person but it makes me really want to hurt them lol)

ETA- sorry for the rambling. Just really p's me off!

[sconeonamission]

I'm a nursing student and when I mentioned to some of the other girls (some with kids, some not) that I BF til 15 months, they all looked at me in absolute HORROR. tsk tsk. I was really offended.

[meow]

And I didn't say I didn't like it, why do ppl assume I want to stop already??

This is the bit that always gets me! And even if you don't 'like' it (say, being woken up all night) it doesn't mean you want to change anything. You're just answering honestly "no, my child doesn't sleep through" seeing they asked- that doesn't mean you're looking for their solution!

No-one ever suggested I wean (I think I had hippy-long-term-BFing-mother written all over my face ) but I did have one friend who kept telling me to comp feed with formula to get him to sleep overnight. I just kept "considering it" and saying I was keen to exclusively BF so I'd see how much longer I could go with the lack of sleep. Once he was on solids I could fob her off that there was no point with formula as he wasn't sleeping with solids anyway so that made her stop.

[Fleur]

WTF?? It was actually quite amusing. Why she thinks it's any of her business I don't know, it's not like I'm asking her to breastfeed her!! lol. And I never even brought it up and especially never implied I had a problem with it!! And how rude to say that about my other Aunty who was standing right next to her!! I know my Aunty didn't mind BF her DD for that long!!

Some people are weird.

I have to confess I found it a bit funny too and I thought your responses, and your DH's were great.
It is kinda weird...why do people mind?

[Heaven]

LOL thanks guys. I cannot even imagine forcing her to wean (and it would be forcing, she loves it!), she's still just a baby!

So weird that other ppl actually think it's any of their business.

[Bathsheba]

Personally I think people "mind" because they don't want to be seen as thinking outside the Norm. If Aunty suddenly realises that lots of mums, heaven forbid, MOST mums BF until their child is say 2 years old then they will compare poorly wont they? They don't want to compare poorly so they try to insist that their way is the norm. Crazy isn't it how people are so egocentric... It's all about them so much that they can't actually celebrate that a child is receiving something so precious.

I outwardly often look like the last kind of person who would want to full term BF (I BF beyond 2 years)... I often can look too conservative and corporate... And I take much pleasure in telling people that I BF beyond 2 years as that is what the WHO recommends... Only my mother has challenged me on the wisdom of what I did... And that was because I think she felt guilty that she weaned early. Not that she ever had reason to feel this. She just chose to make it about her which is consistent with how she approaches most situations. With people like this you essentially just have to feel sorry for them and their immature social/emotional development. Just as you would feel sorry for anyone else with a debilitating learning difficulty. I know that sounds all superior... But it's better than feeling guilty for simply wanting to BF a child.

Keep the faith girls don't let people make you doubt yourself.

[Bathsheba]

Of course everything I said in the above post doesn't apply to women who can't BF... That is a different kettle of fish. I'm just referring to women who don't believe breast feeding a baby beyond the newborn stage is normal and who weaned early because of this false belief.

[Cass72]

Heaven you crack me up!!! I really hope that PITA Aunty doesn't think you should knock DD on the head for wanting some of mummas milk.

On the serious side though, people putting in their two cents worth questioning when you are weaning should really keep their opinions to themselves. It's hard enough at times when I doubt myself without the "are you sure he's getting enough" comments.

When I had DS1 I followed the advice of one such nasty lady who told me that my milk mustn't be good enough because "your feeding that child again?!" So I promptly put him onto formula. Little did I realise was that he wanted to feed often because he had hit a growth spurt.

This time we are doing wonderfully, sometimes I have a little panic that bubs' not getting enough but then I weigh him and well, honestly one look at his chubby little body and you can tell he's gaining weight.

Three cheers to everyone who ignores those horrid PITA Auntys!

I plan on going by the ABA motto..... food is for fun until I turn 1!

[Meercat]

My own Mother told me if I was still breastfeeding my daughter at 1... she would rip her off my boob and give her a bottle. Tiah was about 2 months old at the time

I just said "Be my guest... you just TRY and rip her off me and see what happens"

Poor Mum... I plan on letting Tiah decide when she is finished with the boobies

What is really sad is that she breastfed my little brother after not being able to with my sister and I, and told me it was such a nice experience and she wished she had been able to breastfeed all of us. Yet everyone gets all freaked out if you say you want to breastfeed past 6 months!

I dont just want to keep going because of the recomendations either... I am not the least bit ashamed to tell people I am going to keep going because I LIKE IT!!! I love snuggling with my baby girl and watching her fat little legs kick away knowing I made her this healthy ... why would I swap that for anything in the world??