extended bfing the norm

i thought you would all be just as pleased to hear this as i was...

I was booking an u/s for DS kidneys this morning and after telling her DS was 15 months old she went on to give me instructions on how much and what fluids to give him, her first piece of advice was 'just give him a big breastfeed and if he needs to be topped up when you get here give him a bit more'. DS hasn't been bf since he was 5 weeks old (unfortunately), but i was still really impressed that this woman automatically assumed i was still bfing my 15 months old, hooray if only the whole world shared her veiws on bfing! :dance:

That is great news! Thanks for sharing!

YAY! How heartwarming! Thanks so much for posting this:D
I was telling a GF last week that I might have to change GP's cos my own GP still bulges her eyes out when she remembers I'm breastfeeding Oscar - in a good way, but I'd rather go to a GP who will treat it like it's normal, and not some impossible achievement (which I realise it is for some, but as it's not that way for me, why keep treating it like a magic trick?)...

mayaness - well lets hope that more and more mums like you will be extended bfing and that doctors will no longer be surprised at it.

yeah, my GP seemed to think 12 months was as long as you needed to feed. Her eyes certainly popped out when I said I was still feeding while pregnant. She left it for me to talk to my OB about whether that's 'OK' or not. pfft. Of course, my OB acted like it was a silly question.. his wife b/f through her pregnancy, and he said it's perfectly fine, and said good on me! yay!

I was asked just yesterday by another mum if Tallon still had bottles. I just said no. I didn't have the guts to say he was still b/f, as she was currently weaning her 8 week old bub cold turkey due to reflux and was suffering sore boobs etc :( so sad. I don't know much about reflux, but she said he didn't have it until he was 6 weeks old, and he started fussing and pulling on her boobs - sounds more like a fussy period to me. (woops bit OT). But anyway, I thought it was sad that she assumed Tallon had bottles somewhere along the line.

*sigh* One day, SURELY, it'll be normal to breastfeed and to continue breastfeeding.

liz - big round of applause for you! i too feel sad whenever people assume Archie was bottle fed, even though he was bottle fed frm 5 weeks i was still offended when people assumed.

I also think that we need to change the terminology in this regard.... "extended" breastfeeding should be replaced with "Full-term" breastfeeding. As its not really an extension.... its feeding until your child weans, which implies full term.

oooh.. good point Ourlux! If we want to use the term extended.. it should at least be moved to 2+yrs going by WHO recommendations. But I agree.. nothing's extended when it's led by the child in the first place.

Language relates so much to the way things are perceived... so a small change like that i feel would make a difference.

I also had the experience recently of calling up the healthline when i was sick, the nurse on the phone said "oh wow, your son is 13 months and your still breastfeeding, good on you!" she was quite surprised. The praise wasn't necesary, for me its just assumed i'll go until he's finished :)