How old is too old to breastfeed a child?

Question

It disturbs ME to see it once the child is past a certain age. I do think it borders on incest or abuse after awhile. At a past job, I walked into the bathroom where my co-worker was breastfeeding her son. I was horrified, but I covered my reaction and asked gently, "How old is your son?" The boy stopped sucking, looked at me and said, "I'm six!", and went back to it. If they can walk up to their "meal" and just stand their to receive it, something's wrong. Especially if they already have all of their childhood teeth and are in school.

Answer 1

I can understand up to two years old. Many mother "self wean" which I somewhat understand. At the same time a child could "self wean" at twelve years old! I would not breastfeed my child past a year. I believe after time it is less about the child's nutritional needs and more for the mother to "bond." It's sick.

My friend told me about a lady she knew who would let her eight year old breastfeed when she got "jealous" and other (much younger) children were breastfeeding. How sick? Isn't that just wrong? I think these kids who breast feed so old will have issues later in life.

Whatever floats people's boats--I really think if they had their child's best interest at heart they would stop sooner.

Also--for the lady who says nursing is carried out until the age of five in Europe--I doubt she's ever been. I grew up overseas and I've been to many European countries. I have never ever seen a child past the age of maybe three tops breastfeeding. It's just as rare in Europe as it is in America. Maybe you meant Africa--you know where the kids have no other source of nutrition?!? Get your facts straight!

Answer 2

your child will be asking for the boob soon after birth, just in a different way. They might even have their own word for it by 10 months or so but that doesn't mean you should prematurely wean. You should nurse until however long you feel comfortable with. Your family might not like it but they aren't the ones doing it either. I never planned on nursing for as long as i have. when my son was first born i thought maybe 6 months. i have no idea why i chose that number and when a health professional asked me why only 6 months i didn't have an answer. so i changed it to a year. that time came close and i knew my son wasn't done so we continued. he is just weaning at 2 years 4 months. within the last month he has only nursed about 4 times. I'm not sure if my family knew he was still nursing or not. he never wanted to nurse around people once he got past about 15 or 16 months. they never asked or anything. now i have some friends who probably think i'm weird for it bubt i don't care. i do have some friends who have nursed longer than i have though

Answer 3

Yes, that is far too old. The breastfeeding organisation recommend two years and I breast fed my daughter until she was 20 months and my son is 18 months now and I am just beginning to wean him off. From 12 months old I stopped feeding in public places like Mothercares special rooms and it's a first thing in the morning and last thing at night feed, just the same as it would be giving a bottle. Even though I still feed past the age of one, I do find it a bit embarrassing, I don't often admit that I'm still breastfeeding. I also know that a big part of the reason I still do is because I'm too soft! I give in too easy when he cries!

Answer 4

I wouldn't introduce the idea of sexual abuse into this. If we start doing this we'll add another negative idea about breastfeeding to the ones already there. I've breastfed all of my four children for various amounts of time, and I hesitate to put an upper age limit on it as I don't want to make any woman feel bad about basically doing the right thing by her child. However, i would advise that a child needs to be weaned gently from the age of 18 mos to two years, simply so that they can gain a little emotional independence from Mum. Remember please that a child does not view breasts in the way society views them. To the child they are a source of food and comfort. However, as the child gets older they need to be shown how to obtain food and comfort from other sources than Mum, otherwise they are going to suffer from being too dependent on one person/source for everything, and that is not emotionally healthy.
I would hazard a guess that the scene you witnessed was more to do with the mother, for some reason, not wanting her son to move on to the next phase, than a sexual one. In all things related to children we must ask -"Is this good for the child?" My answer, in this case would be - emotionally - no. He doesn't need it anymore and it's fostering an unhealthy dependency and stifling his emotional growth.

Answer 5

Too bad if it disturbs you. A nursing relationship is very special b/t mother and child and in most cases there is nothing incestual or abusive about it.

The American Pediatric Association states that "Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child."

Other studies/observations suggest a natural human weaning age of 6-7 years old.

If I were you, I'd be far more offended by flashes of Britney Spears' privates than a nursing mother and child.

Answer 6

From my travels, I have learned that U.S. society overly sexualizes the breasts compared to other countries and that makes breast feeding all that more problematic for those who choose to do it. For the record, I am a heterosexual male and find little stimulation from female breasts. I believe that breast feeding is healthful for the child and have read that it's beneficial up to about 18 months. However, using teeth as an indicator of when to stop would have precluded my daughter from breast feeding past her first month of life -by about 3 months she had 6 teeth! However, I think I would probably find it disturbing to see a woman breast feeding a child over 2 years of age or so.

Answer 7

Orangutans breastfeed, ride on their mother’s body and sleep in her nest for seven years-among the longest nursing period of any mammal. The young stay with their mothers at least until a new baby arrives; males begin to wander off then, but females may stay around for a while observing how babies are cared for. They are accomplished acrobats, often nursing upside down-hanging by a hand and a foot from a branch.

Since orangutans are our closest relations, and we live for longer than them, it is logical to assume that we should breastfeed our children for MORE than 7 years. Obviously we have developed cultures and 'intelligent' ways of doing things but if we were living as we are naturally made to then we would probably all be breastfeeding 6 year olds.

Just a thought..

Edit: there is also a great link here:http://www.lalecheleague.org/ba/Aug94.html
that offers different theorys on weaning times

Answer 8

The child is too old when the child no longer wants it. People in this country are so screwed up about breastfeeding! It is not for the benefit of the mother or some psychological pathology to continue to nurture her child. Trust me, no one can make a child nurse if he doesn't want to.

You do not need to stop when a baby gets teeth. Natural weaning age is when a child starts to LOSE their MILK teeth, not get them.

A baby does not suddenly turn into a cow at age one. There are far more bio-available nutrients in human milk, no matter the age of the child. Even some cancer patients have improved their conditions by adding human milk into their diets. Just because a child breastfeeds, doesn't mean they don't eat solids!

What other sources of comfort do we withdraw when a child is "old enough to ask." That statement is absurd. "Sorry honey you're to old for hugs because you can say "mama, I need a hug.""


My daughter self-weaned at age 40 months. She was just done one day. No muss-no fuss!-) She is now a strong, smart independent 10 y.o. My 21 month old son shows no signs of wanting to stop yet, I figure he will go a bit longer than my DD.

Answer 9

There is no too old in theory it's what the person doing the breast feeding is comfortable with!

Personally I guess it's a bit odd to see a child over 2 doing it, after all they should be able to get enough nutrients through solid food by that time, and closeness can be gained by just a cuddle!

Answer 10

Good God people, just look at nature! Most mammals will nurse their young until just before they start to reach physical maturity, or in other words until they reach puberty. No a calf does not nurse for years but a calf starts to mature physically at about 10 months old and will nurse until they are 8 to 9 months old. No they don t exclusively nurse but they will still nurse. The same with dogs, cats, and most other mammals, they will continue to nurse as long as mom has milk or until they start puberty. And why should we pull children off of human milk and start making them drink cows milk? There is only one milk that is specifically made for human consumption, breast milk! It makes absolutely no sense to force children to drink cows milk to get their daily dairy instead of letting them have the only milk that is free and is also the best milk they could possibly drink.

It is time for all of you narrow minded idiots to wake up and figure out that what is socially acceptable is not always what is best! If you don t believe me just ask a Jew about the Holocaust, Blacks about slavery, or tell anyone struggling to feed their family that the only reason they need help is because they are to lazy to work!