I'll Stop Nursing When She Grows Her OWN Boobs!

Someone at work today commented that nursing a baby past 9 months to a year is incestual.

WHAT?

I was so shocked shitless at how utterly American she sounded in that moment, that the only reply that I could think of was, "I guess I won't tell you when I'm nursing Taryn past a year."

Regardless of the fact that the AAP reccommends nursing to at least a year, and the WHO suggests two years, really? Nursing your own child, a child not mature enough to go without a diaper, or to sleep in a real bed is suddenly too old to drink the perfect food for her?

What's the difference between a mom who exclusively pumps and feeds her child that milk for two years, and a woman who nurses her child for the same amount of time. How can a woman say it's disgusting to see older infant nursing?

It's so sad to me that women have become so out-of-touch with their own bodies. It's these women who are so afraid of the pain of childbirth that they don't ever have children. I wonder if the thought crosses ther minds that women have been birthing children and nursing them into todlerhood for thousands of years? It's so upsetting that childbirth has become a disgusting thing, something to hide and medicate and that women no longer trust their bodies to do what they were designed to do perfectly.

And this is not to rag on women who have medication during labor, or who choose not to nurse their child for whatever reason. I just don't get the criticism of what has naturally and historically been the only way to birth and nurture young children.

I personally love nursing Taryn. I love the closeness, and the feeling that I can provide for her something that no one else in the world can give. I treasure the nights we sat in the glider, nursing and looking out the wondow at the stars, or stroking her downy hair. I feel privelidged to be able to comfort her when nothing else will. I appreciate the benefits I've seen in my own body from nursing, the weight it has helped me to lose, and the motivation to keep eating healthy foods and drinking lots of water, and taking my vitamins to keep my milk as healthy as possible for her. I value the immunological benefits to her, that even when she gets sick it's over relatively fast, and I'm sure she's been sick far less than many other formula-fed babies.

The excuse to hold her close for those precious minutes throughout the day would have been enough to keep me nursing her as long as I have, and all that other stuff is what keeps my mind open to nursing her through early toddler-hood. I can't see myself nursing her when she starts pre-school, but I don't see a problem with letting her nurse as long as she wants, or until the second trimester of my next pregnancy, whichever comes first. I may have a problem with her being out of diapers and still nursing, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

It just makes me sad that some women will never be able to experience what I have with Taryn, simply because society tells them it is disgusting and that a man-made formula is better than breastmilk. I don't judge these women, it's not their fault they were raised like that, but I do resent the scientists who propogated the lie that breastmilk and nursing wasn't a beautiful bonding experience, and the best possible start for babies.

I can't judge folks who decide not to nurse their children past a certain age, because when I see a 4 year old asking his mom for titty, I might look at them both a little crazy. But now that I've been there, she'll always be my baby. And if she wants to nurse until she's two, I'm cool with it. I probably won't be doing it in public, bit a nip in the morning, or a nightcap before bed doesn't seem horribly disgusting and incestous to me.