"Because you don't want to be nursing a FOUR year old!!'

[listipton]

That's what my sister said to me last night when I was nursing my 17 month old last night. I just looked at her and very dryly said, 'Well, I don't really have a problem with him nursing that long since I'm sure he'll quit before he goes away to college, ". She changed the subject pretty quickly and could tell that she wasn't sure if I was joking or not but I think I gave her something new to think about! I'm not usually good with comebacks, but I've been giggling about it all morning and thought I would share.

[woodchick]

Nursing my almost 4 yo is one of the sweetest moments we have together. Those statements come, almost exclusively, from those who haven't nursed a four year old!

Nice job on the come back!

[honey-lilac]

Good answer!

[Saarland]

Really a good comeback! How rude it was of her to say something like that to you.
I hear stupid remarks sometimes, too.

My son is 31 months old now and people sometimes tell me :"He won't be able to go to school one day because he has to be on your boob all day." Or: "If you let him decide when it is enough he will quit when he is 16!"

It does not help that there are movies out with scenes where big kids , and I mean really big kids, nurse and they make it look funny. What is so funny about nursing? And where is the problem?

I find it very interesting that most remarks like that come first of all from Americans (we are stationed in Germany, my home). Very often they come from Military Members. Civilians over here seem to be more open. AND they come from women who did not breastfeed at all or only for a short time (6 months or less).

Men often seem to remark on boys being breastfed, while they do not have as many problems with girls being nursed longer. ODD! You think they are jealous?

[calebsmommy25]

Nice comeback!

Keep up the nursing Mama! You are doing great!

[Shanny2032]

When DD was a baby and I was so excited, always wanting to talk about nursing, a few friends made comments like "as long as you stop before she is 3, that's just weird". Why 3 I have no idea. I told them that we will stop when Kate decides. They probably thought I was kidding but now that she is almost 16 months I think they might know I am serious now. When I pulled her on my lap at 11 months to nurse another friend said sweetly "how old is she now?" - like I didn't know what she was thinking! I just really don't care. I hope we are still nursing when she is 4 - IF it brings us both the happiness, warmth and comfort that it does now.

In all fairness I thought it was "weird" too before having her. I owed one friend a big apology and was not afraid to tell her that I was wrong for judging her when she told me she nursed her son until almost 5 years old. I hope my friends feel differently when they have babies and nurse but if they don't I will feel sorry for them, not angry.

[sarah04]

Lol, my DS turned 4 this week. Still nursing. Still ok with it.

[averlee]

I've recently realized, as my daughter nears her 3rd birthday, that I'm going to be totally ok nursing a 3 yr old. It doesn't seem like much of a stretch to consider I might still be nursing her after her 4th birthday, too. But at what age might I not be comfortable nursing any longer? Do you think it's ok to nurse a 5yr old kindergartner? Or a 6 yr old 1st grader? What about beyond that? I seriously can't imagine what the harm would be.

[jillmamma]

Well, so far I have nursed TWO kids to age 4.5! Now I am nursing my third child, and if she goes to 4.5 that will be close to 12 years straight of nursing! My older two gradually tapered down and were just before bed by 3.5-4, and then started skipping nights between 4-4.5 till they just stopped asking/I stopped offering. So for ME, I can't imagine nursing a 5 or 6 year old, but I would not rule it out entirely, and can totally see where it is the right way to go for other moms/kids.

[peaceful_mama]

I think it's all well and good as long as it is a happy time for everyone involved. (mom, child, tandem-ed siblings, whatever)

Great comeback

[myk]

great response! i bfed my daughter til she was 4. i was totally ready to call it quits after 3.5 years but we had a lot of changes going on at the time, so it wasn't a priority she was 4y3m old when she fully weaned. unusual, yes, especially in my circle (in which 2 years is upper limit). people often comment on things like that, it's good to have a snappy comeback at the ready