I'd say until the teeth mean that breastfeeding becomes breast-gnawing

As long as you can is good. The benefits to the baby outweigh any inconvenience (imo) and so are the emotional benefits to yourself.

Does this thread remind anyone of the Desperate Housewives episode in which a woman in Lynette's office breastfed her 5 year old son?

I have heard of a lot of moms using teeth as the cutoff point. That makes sense.

I got teeth very early and that's when the nursing ended. :) In the neighborhood where I grew up, there was a modern wet-nurse who worked out of her house. Her son was 5 years old breastfeeding and probably went longer than that so that she wouldn't dry up. But, that's about money, not healthy babies!

Actually, teeth don't matter unless the child is a natural "biter."

Listen, this is another one of those questions for which there is no real correct answer except perhaps, "whatever feels right."

The reason is that it is societal as much as physical.

In some societies, children (as oppossed to infants) nurse until four or five years old normally -- maybe even longer. Nobody bats an eyelash, because that's the way it is and has been there. My guess is that those folks would laugh a lot at us for our attitudes.

Some people would consider breastfeeding important for the comfort and mental relaxation of the child as well as for its proven nutritional benefits.

The most important thing is, as ISU Kappa pointed out, any breastfeeding is better than none because of the natural antibodies and other health benefits in human milk.

I breastfed until 4 months when the teething became too much. But she still got a mix because I pumped for a little while after that.

Ok obviously defecating is pretty gross and unsanitary, and so is peeing in public. But I also feel like whipping it out in public is unsanitary. Believe it or not, women sweat. I duno. I have no experience in this, but wouldn't you want to like clean up before the child eats?

I like eating in a park as much as I like eating in a Taco Bell dining room. In both places I'm VERY careful. Well as careful as you can be without cooking your own food.

Ok Pedophile was probably the wrong word, but there are sickos out there. And if a sicko is sitting there watching you breastfeed cuz he has a fetish with it... hey you're showing a private part of your body-- your fault. I feel the same about excessive cleavage. Don't bitch about someone staring if your tatas are hanging out. As someone else mentioned, if someone is doing is discretely in public to where you can't really tell what's going on, then go for it. But I just don't understand why it has to be made such a big deal.

It's not like a 4-star restaurant. When your baby is hungry and crying and wants to eat *NOW* you don't wait to shower or "clean yourself off", you unhook your nursing bra and latch your baby on, preferably discreetly. The baby gets - at max - a 3" area of the breast, areola and nipple. That's not a very large area to worry about keeping clean.

There's no good solution. If you nurse in public, people are going to get upset. If you don't nurse and your baby is crying because it's hungry, people are going to get upset. And you can't simply say "arrange your schedule to insure you're home to breastfeed." The whole process of feeding a baby can take anywhere from 10-60 minutes and an hour later, you have to start the whole thing over again. A new mother needs to get out of the house once in a while and there's no way you can get the baby ready, get the diaper bag ready, get yourself ready, strap him/her into the carseat, go to the grocery store or Target and do all your shopping in that short of time.

I hate to pull this card because I think it's a cheap excuse most of the time, but it's really one of those things where if you haven't BTDT, you really have no idea what it's like.

Let me say up front that this is not a snide comment. Honestly.

But it is obvious that you have no experience in this.

On this one point alone, remember that these are the same babies who suck on their hands and feet and all manner of toys that have been all over the floor in the house and everywhere else.

Everything they pick up goes in their mouth.

A little sweat ain't gonna hurt them.

One of the big benefits of breastfeeding is that mothers milk provides immunities for many illnesses.

This is exactly what I've been thinking through this thread. Thanks for saying it.

Huge ditto on everything you said, but I had to highlight this point. For those who haven't breastfed, they have no idea that, at least at the beginning, it truly is an enormous time commitment. This is a difficult concept for moms-to-be to grasp, so I can understand why people whose family isn't growing don't even know there's a concept they're missing.

And, about how long is too long... that can only be answered by mom and baby.

Finally, KLPDaisy, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought about Lynette's colleague when reading this thread!

Understandable, but that's why I admitted I had no experience and asked the question. I know it's a natural thing, but if someone were doing it around me and I knew, I'd feel really uncomfortable.

This is just an innocent question, but what about pumps and bottling it? Don't alot of working mothers who BF do that?

There are too many problems with this. Pumping takes FOREVER and it is uncomfortable. A baby can express more milk than a pump, hands down. Plus, letting a baby use a bottle (filled with breastmilk or anything) makes for a lazy mouth and the baby will begin to struggle with breastfeeding.

Exactly. Because my son lost too much weight the first week after he was born, I had to start supplementing with formula and I think that seriously affected his latch and desire to suck. Granted, I also had supply issues from the beginning, but a good chunk of my maternity leave was spent sitting in a chair, attached to a pump trying to get enough milk for just one bottle per day. I really wonder, if I hadn't had to supplement so early, would my breastfeeding experience been better?

Many women who are seriously commited to breasfeeding wait at least 4 weeks before introducing a bottle, and some not even then. Some only pump when they know they're going to be out for a night and someone else is watching the baby. Some only start pumping a week or two before they go back to work to start getting used to the pump. For some women, they don't respond to the pump at all, (meaning the pump draws little to no milk) so it's not even an option. And for those women who have made the commitment, no formula is NOT an option. Yes, some women can make pumping and bottlefeeding work, but it is much easier and better for the baby if s/he can get it straight from the breast.

I do have experience in this area and I agree with you, Phyllis. There is no reason to do it in public. Most infants eat every other hour when they are like 3 weeks old and they really don't need to be going out anywhere at that age anyway. I scheduled errands around their feeding times without them. I also cleaned myself off before and after. My kids didn't play on the floor until they were older and then, it was on blankets or in the play pen, not on the floor itself. At the age where they are nursing that often, they aren't playing at all. They are swinging, eating, sleeping and being held. Once they are mobile, they can wait a half hour until you get somewhere private to feed them. Perhaps more private nursing lounges in our society would be appropriate because it truly is disgusting to go into a bathroom to nurse. I hated when people came over to see the baby when they were really little because I spent most of my time in another room feeding them. To me, it's a private thing to be done in private.

Every working mother I know who nursed also pumped and put it in bottles and it didn't deter the baby from taking the breast again at all. They even gave my babies sugar water in a bottle in the hospital and it didn't affect their ability to latch on or nurse. I hear that argument all the time, but have never seen it happen.

Within about 6 weeks, most babies are eating every 3 to 4 hours and you can definitely plan around that. I didn't feed my kids babyfood, bottles, etc in public either. There was no reason to. My schedule revolved around their schedule. Within 6 months, they're starting on food.

I would have never felt comfortable nursing in public and don't wish to see others doing so. That said, I have no problem with the cover of that magazine. It shows nothing and is appropriate for the audience of the magazine.

Just my opinion.