Posted by Maria01 on January 4, 2009, at 19:04:58
In reply to Re: I wish my Mom breast-fed me for a long time, posted by onceupon on January 3, 2009, at 21:46:55
well, a lot of it depends on the emotional state of the mother. If she's nursing a child to meet her own needs, then there's a problem. If she's nursing to meet the needs of her child, then that's a different story.
Some moms are afraid to let their babies grow up, and try to keep them in an infantilized state for as long as possible. That's not good, especially for the kid because their "job", if you will, is to learn to become a separate person, both physically and emotionally. I've also been out in public and have seen pre-school age kids who are still nursing grabbing at their mothers and demanding to be fed..those kids will be in for a rude awakening when they start pre-school with that kind of behaviour. Different standards apply in Western and non-Western cultures(available food supply, cultural norms and all that), but whatever choices a woman makes with regard to her kids and their ongoing well-being, she should also be able to live with both the consequences and the benefits.Personally, seeing a pre-school age child(3-4) still nursing makes me wonder if he or she is also getting the solid food nutrition that they need so much at that age, or is Mom the only food source still.
No one should have to "defend" their choice, but they should be willing to live with any possible consequences of their choice, just like in other areas of life.
poster:Maria01
thread:872044
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20081219/msgs/872281.html