When to Wean
Mar 26
Far be it for me to tell a mother how to raise her child, but could you please explain to me why some mothers are still breastfeeding their children at ages 3 and up? I don’t get that.
I saw some talk show last week where this mother was still breastfeeding her 3 year old son. Say what? First of all, if your child is able to physically unbutton your blouse, reach inside, grab one of your breasts and put it in his or her mouth, it’s time out for breastfeeding.
And then on Saturday, while I was picking up fluorescent lights at my local Home Depot, I saw a father with his son, who was clearly at least 4 or 5 years of age, walking around the store with a binkie (pacifier) in his mouth. The father was carrying on a conversation with the son who would not take the binkie out of his mouth. He was mumbling his words back to his father. Take the damn pacifier out of that kids mouth!
And don’t get me started on these adults who are still sucking their thumbs. That ain’t cute. I refuse to kick it with you if you are still sucking your thumb. Just don’t even come my way. I know we all have our little idiosyncrasies, but a grown ass thumb sucker is not the lick…….literally!
I need to let my Mom read this. She has serious issues with pacifiers. LOL!!!
gurl my oldest was handed to me after he was born with a pacifier in his mouth (c-section knocked me out, didn’t see him till 5 hrs later) and that boy kept that thing in his mouth till 2 and a half. He would bite holes in it and everything! Then he gave that up (Yay!!) and replaced it with his thumb. He’ll be 8 soon and he still sucks his thumb but thankfully not as much as before. And trust me when I said we tried everything! Hot sauce (loves it), STOP (nasty stuff for his fingernail – the taste didn’t bother him after a while). So I think he will outgrow it, though my 25 yr old niece sucks her thumb *sigh*
LOL!!! Not the lick huh? Pun intended of course!
– the breast feeding thing gets me though… that’s just… I have no words to explain that one…
My mom hated pacifiers and still does, but she let me suck my thumb until my cousin teased me soooo much I begged her to help me kick the habit. She spent a few sleepless nights, but at age 7, I finally got off the thumb and I don’t miss it.
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I am unsure if this comment is politically incorrect, but I think ethnically, black women are not as likely to breastfeed to begin with, let alone breastfeed for years.
I know that this is considered narrow-minded by some, but who the hell wants their toddler tugging on their boobages? Its hard enough to keep them out of the daggone candy aisle or keep their hands off the over priced toys, now you want to add to that stay out of mommy’s bra?
I have to seriously question the mental capacity of anyone who breastfeeds past the age of teeth. If you can bite me then you now need a bottle or sippy cup.
I’m almost 30.
I still suck my thumb.
I can’t help it!
*hangs head in shame*
Wow. Grown thumb suckers. I didnt know that happened. The big kids breastfeeding is just wrong.
Scribe said I can’t breastfeed our kid. I’m happy. That ish hurts!
My oldest daughter sucked a pacifier, when I noticed it was affecting her teeth I threw it away. That poor kid tore up the sofa cushions looking for it like a crack head. She did that for 2 days then she was fine. Parents who let their kids develop bad habits are lazy (IMO) they’d rather let the kid continue with the behavior then address it. Everytime one of my kids tried to suck a finger I’d tell her to stop and if that didn’t work I’d pop the hand, which always worked.
I’m black and breastfed my 5 year old son until he was 2 years, 2 months old. I couldn’t see doing it beyond that. When he walked up to me one day and started dranking (yes, I said dranking…not nursing) while standing in front of me like I was a soda fountain…I knew I was done. But I would do it over again.
My baby is 9 months and still going strong. I am a strong proponent of breastfeeding for many reasons (I won’t hijack Nikki’s blog listing them). I think this is a right our children have over us. Plus, I NEVER had to worry about heating bottles, spending all that money on formula, etc….plus it’s a great excuse for not having to let your baby go visit annoying family members. I pumped breast milk so my husband could share some of the responsibility.
Now to your point Nikki, I totally agree that 3+ years is too damn old..for me. Girl my grandmother grew up in Savannah and loved telling the story of how she would walk around the corner to her mama’s job during her school’s lunchtime to NURSE at the age of 5. I am not making this mess up! This must have been in the late ’30s early ’40s.
Oh, and along the lines of kids being too old for stuff….what about the kids who are in umbrella strollers and their feet are dragging the ground…literally?!!! Now, I must say, I usually see this more among white parents.
A 3 yr old nursing? That’s not bonding… that’s a DATE! I nursed mine until he was almost a year. Of course, it was mostly through expressing due to my hours, but it helped to keep him around children his own age. He saw them with sippy cups and wanted to do the same.
My own personal experience around a grown 27 yr old thumbsucking woman was….. comfruzin’. Sista gurl was sitting there bragging about how she put it on some dude the night before…. cunna’LANG’us and everything….. then turned around and corked her mouth with her thumb. Just hurt my feelings.