encouragement

[sosurreal09]

lately its been rough. shes teething again and shes killing me. shes only 13 m/o and i really dont want to stop our nursing relationship. shes biting my nipple raw and has broken the skin a few times this month. its very painful. i tell her no biting but she always seems to find a way to sneak it.

everyone is against me. my "grandmother" who adopted my father but severly abused him and he doesnt talk to her but i do for some reason keeps calling me and giving me lectures about how i NEED to wean her already, and everyone agrees with her. the majority of this country agrees with her. i have literally been called a freak for NIP by a stranger. also been told im disgusting while NIP at the mall. been told people in the US stop BFing at 3 m/o and its weird that im bfing still (when DD was 6 m/o) and this was by a gov. official. im so sick of it. I FEEL like im doing whats best for her but everyone else keeps telling me im not, even my best friend said she thinks its sexually innapropriate at this age...i said there is NOTHING sexual about it. no one understands. its so depressing.

DH thinks its good i BF but if i stopped tomorrow he wouldnt care. I know DD needs it still shes very attached to it of course and i cant just rip that away from her. then i have people tell me you know you can just give her you're milk in a cup...no really? duh but why would i do that when she can just nurse? everyone thinks im a freak or a pervert. no one understands how important it is. ive showed them data they dont care i get the whole i was formula fed/did formula feed and im/my child is fine you're child isnt any better than mine b/c shes BF ect ect everyone gets defensive anyways. idk i just need some support and encouragement.

[konayossie]

, mama. it sounds as if you are in a rough nursing patch, but a rougher emotional patch dealing with our society's ignorance about normal breastfeeding. You KNOW you are doing what's best for your baby--as you say, you know she needs not just the physical properties of your milk, but also the emotional comfort that comes from nursing. I'm sorry you're surrounded by so many negative people--would researching and reciting the benefits of extended breastfeeding help you cope with them better? It probably wouldn't change their minds, but it might make you feel better to have scientific evidence supporting your position; it makes it harder for them to attack you.

DS is 19 mos and still nursing, and I get a fair bit of negativity from my family. MIL has made remarks about him nursing at his HS graduation, and my mom is always whining about the fact that he isn't weaned since she can't have him overnight yet. :eyeroll I just quote the WHO recommendation of AT LEAST 2 years breastfeeding, and then turn them off. It definitely helps that DH will commiserate and roll his eyes along with me. I'm glad that your DH is supportive of your breastfeeding relationship and letting you do what you think is best.

Just keep hanging on boards like this one where breastfeeing beyond infancy is considered normal and desirable, and it will help you to feel less alien (at least it does me). Here's a link to a great radio presentation about breastfeeding beyond infancy if you can listen: http://knitwisemedia.org/kwm.v1/Welcome.html.

As for the biting, when DS is teething, he is SO Much worse to bite, and as he got older, I started removing him from the breast after warning him not to bite. It seems to have worked, and now he understands that he had better not bite me or he looses his boobies. I wish I had him trained as well not to bite the rest of me.