breast milk.

[thickofred]

how long could a baby survive on breast milk alone.

[twiglet4frog]

not sure but no lie, i have seen a 8 year old boy getting breast fed a couple of months ago. Personally i think that was bordering on child abuse myself. Not only was this happening but it was happening in a park and even my 4 year old thought it was extremely weird!

[blueeyedlass]

mmnnn slightly weird if there old enough to ask for it then there too old to get it .

[Solarjunkie]

I believe it was common in medieval times to feed children entirely on breast milk until about two.

Child abuse? Giving nourishment, in a loving, natural and comforting manner?

Today I saw a child of 18 months being breast fed, and realised sadly how rare it is in western society - though much more common in societies that see breasts primarily as baby oriented organs, not as man pleasers.

While the milk is primarily there for the baby, an older child in times of stress will often run to the soure of comfort - mother's breast. It is shown in The Last Emperor, for example.

[twiglet4frog]

If a kid in school uniform with his bag and sports bag is asking his mum for milk and she whips her melons out and lets her have a suckle i think that is a form of child abuse! I am not talking in a sexual way (although u dont know what she is thinking) but certainly in a social way....how many 8 year olds do u know do that and what kind of reception is he likely to get from his mates at school? It isnt normal at that age and it is likely to make him a victim of bullying and god knows the psychological problems!

[louadams6]

all babies are born with their own iron supply and this starts to run out at around 6 months. The health professionals advise to start weaning around 4- 6 months as baby needs more iron and nutrients at this age than milk alone can supply, although the advice i was given was to contine breast feeding alongside weaning for as long as youre happy with it!

[B00]

I presumed most babies sort of weaned themselves as well. Mine's 7 months old and already she much prefers baby food to milk during the day.

[smee.tracey]

8 YEARS OLD! It must be agony, the child will have it's second teeth my then. I hurt like no-ones business when my boy got his first tooth. I swapped to bottle then!

[jackyc]

I think thats its ok to carry on breast feeding your baby as long as you are comfortable with it, but by around 6 - 7 months the baby will need more nutrients, the iron supply isnt sufficient. My baby is almost 8 months old and i do still breastfeed at night but she also has 3 cooked meals and bottled milk too throughout the day, you also need to ensure your baby gets enough other liquids though once the breast feeding has stopped.