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Pandora's avatar

At what age does breast feeding go from a little weird to really creepy?

Asked by Pandora (32206points) April 19th, 2010

I just saw a movie preview where a son comes from playing to breast feed off of mom. A guy asks his pal how old is his son and he says 48 months and his pal says that’s 4 years old. He was hoping 48 months made him seem more like a younger child.
It did make me chuckle but my point is at what age is it just beyond weird. If you are not from the US and breast feeding is pretty acceptable after 2 please let me know what country your from and at what age does it get weird? Does it become a psychological problem for the child after a certain age? Does it do more harm than good if the child becomes overly attached at a young age?

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9 Answers

kenmc's avatar

1.5 years of age.

MissAnthrope's avatar

Yeah, I’d say at about a year old.. 1½ is pushing it.

susanc's avatar

Before the next child is born.

Pandora's avatar

@susanc So wouldn’t it be weird if there is a 5 year age difference?

jeanmay's avatar

I think as a child gets older it becomes less and less practical, but I don’t think 1½ is pushing it at all. I have friends who are still breastfeeding and their children are nearing two. It is definitely more about comfort than nutrition though, and beyond the age of two a child should have naturally moved onto finding comfort and closeness with their mother through other means.

susanc's avatar

@jeanmay: “should have”, not so sure about that. My elder daughter-in-law nursed her first girl till she was 2½ and only really weaned her entirely when the later girl was born. By then the nursing was for comfort and ritual, not for nutrition. The “big” girl let go when she understood that her sister needed the food since she (the big girl) could eat big-people food. I guess this isn’t uncommon.

jeanmay's avatar

@susanc Hmm, poorly phrased on my part. I think I meant generally speaking and in my experience, a child has moved on by the time they’re two. I don’t know anyone who has breastfed beyond the age of two, but that’s not to say it’s somehow unnatural or creepy. Like I said though, it becomes less and less practical the older the child is, and I personally don’t think I’d have the energy to go on that long! (My son stopped at 11 months, pretty much of his own accord).

thriftymaid's avatar

Less than a year old is time to stop breast feeding.

Hypocrisy_Central's avatar

Fact from fiction, truth from diction. What is “too weird” I guess depends on the society you are in. Think for a moment the times before refrigerators, formula, Gerber’s baby food, and pasteurized vitamin “D” milk, breast milk was the ticket. We of Western society are too spoiled when it comes to things like that because we as a society did not have to leave the kids on the tit longer than 18 months because there were other options and most did not care for the bother, is slowed down the fast pace of today’s goings on. I think the age that the child is done depends on the family but should be sought out between 24 and 54 months. Those who think different should remember not everyone can do it “The American Way”.

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