May
12
2012

How long should you breastfeed?

Time.com

So this picture from Time.com sparks debate all over the world. She doesn’t look like a loving and caring mother breastfeeding her child they say..

What about the above? Loving enough? (Photo: Time.com)

I’ve seen with my own eyes a mother breastfeeding her son who is almost as tall as her in IKEA. The mother is as petite as me for your information. People all over were staring at her like she have just committed a crime!

I don’t think it would have caused a stir IF the child is a girl but when you see a boy feeding like that, you get all uneasy. It is all in the mind don’t you think so?

I have nothing against moms who wish to breastfeed all the way till dunno like forever. It is after all, their choice. My uncle Harry will definitely agree as my grandma used to tell me stories of how she nursed him until he was like what, 5? (Correct me if I’m wrong Uncle Harry) My grandma has 9 kids all together and Uncle Harry shared the milk with his younger siblings.

I for one wished I could breastfeed Ethan longer. I tried breastfeeding Ethan when he was born but somehow, try as I might, I wasn’t lactating enough. I got the help of those kind nurses in the hospital yet still, I wasn’t producing as much. They had to resort to feeding Ethan formula when I just couldn’t COW enough. For 3 months, I breastfed Ethan and supplement with formula. And then I fell sick. For 3 weeks I was unable to breastfeed him. By the time I recovered, my milk supply is as good as dry. I tried again. Got help from nurses again. I failed.

To others, breastfeeding seems like the most natural thing to do. There is no way you CANNOT produce milk they say. I wish I can say the same as I’ve struggled yet still failed. That is one of my biggest failure in life as a mother, failing to exclusively breastfeed Ethan for the first 6 months. It kind of depressed me in certain ways.

If mothers out there choose to breastfeed their child up to preschool, so be it. It’s what a mother can do, why the debate? Unless the mother goes beyond that and breastfeed her son until he leaves for college…

22 Comments + Add Comment

  • //

    Breastfeeding is the best present a mother can give to her child.

  • //

    Say what they want, it is between a mother and a child lah

  • //

    the boy is lucky la :P
    anyway, it’s entirely up to the mother.. but i guess it’s good for the toddler/kid to stay on mum’s milk as long as possible? :)

  • //

    Yeah, why even debate? Those people got nothing else better to talk about.

  • //

    Not easy these days, now that most mums are working…

    I would think that the boy is a bit too big already though… Some would insist on it though – just for the pleasure. I know one boy (4 years old) who would insist on being breastfed even though the pumps were all dried up, just suck also ok…simply because the cousin (1-2 years old only) got to be breastfed by his mum…and he would ask also to suck his mum’s big toe…even in public.

  • //

    Salute those mum can breastfeed even their kids at age 4 or 5. I only able to breastfeed for exactly 2mtnhs

  • //

    Ya i wrote about this article on my blog too….

    Find it very silly, especially the title of the article!

    Anyway cheer up, am sure u did your best :-)

    Happy Mother’s Day to you :-)

  • //

    gee…..my grandma told me she still remember running back to her mum for milk when playing out of house in kampung in the olden days. And that was, when she was already SIX!

  • //

    I couldn’t produce enough to breasfeed Gwen too. I don’t understand why the debate…just leave the mom alone.

  • //

    She’s more like a model than a mum most probably cos she’s posing.
    I also know a lot of mums who can’t produce enough to breastfeed.
    Don’t take it too hard :)

  • //

    Hmmm breast feeding is the love frm mum to child…..

  • //

    i think nothing is wrong… maybe the ‘mom’ is brought up from different background… In overseas, they do this…Nothing’s wrong, C’mon malaysians…it’s not having sex in front of the public, it’s just breast feeding…;P

  • //

    LOLLL!! its funny that you said you are not cow enough! hahahahha

  • //

    i like the part where he leaves for college :)

  • //

    Mom’s milk is the best for the children, so I don’t find why is it wrong to feed the kid as long as the mum is still capable of producing milk (: but up to a certain limit of course.

  • //

    I also encourage moms to breastfeed their babies.. best natural milk.. nothing can replace that!

  • //

    I read that the natural weaning age is 2-7 years old. My youngest child & last baby shall have the luxury of breastfeeding till as old as he/she wishes to. :)

  • //

    Breast milk is the best for babies! Yeah, it’s the mother’s own choice, but I think they should stop when the kid is kindergarten age. Can’t imagine a mother still breastfeeding her teenage son! LOL!!

  • //

    i dont drink breast milk but im healthy :) it doesnt matter much i feel..

    Latest: Crown of Pork Experience

  • //

    I was like you too… so desperate to breastfeed yet the supply just kept decreasing… very depressing and demotivating indeed. People said must drink more water, I did. People said this tea good, that soup good, I tried too but they didn’t help. In the end, my bf journey only survived 5 miserable months :(

  • //

    I didn’t breastfeed Sam, actually I pump the milk out instead of breastfeeding her to be exact, but only for 1 month >.<

  • //

    I breastfeed my girl for 1 year and my boy wean off by himself after 14 months. I do wish I can breastfeed them longer but sometime things not permit. So those mommies that still can breastfeed their child should continue.

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I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.

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