Ugh, now I know why I don't read mainstream parenting magazines

[babygrant]

In a mainstream parenting magazine (not sure if I can say the name or not) they had an online poll. The question was "Do you think it's a good idea for moms to breastfeed for more than a year". More than 10,000 people responded and 62% said yes and 38% said no. That's great....BUT the comments from the "No" people made me angry. Here are the 3 that they mention:

"We wean children from formula at a year, so I think we should wean from breastmilk then, too. I did with my kids, who are smart and healthy"

"By six to eight months, your child will have gotten plenty of benefits. There are other ways a mother and child can connect"

"It's a good idea for childrne to start drinking out of a sippy cup and to start learning hand to mouth coordination by the time ten or eleven months old. It's important for htem to be able to eat and drink on their own at mealtime. If a mother wants her child to continue to drink breastmilk then she can pump and put it in sippy cups".

[sparkprincess]

The stupidity and ignorance of those people really makes me sad.

[gentle_mama04]

I read the same thing. The only reason I ever read that mag. is because it was a gift from a friend. Most of the time I throw it out without reading it. It sounds to me like those comments came from some ignorant people.

[Jadzia]

My son drinks out of a sippy cup AND he still breastfeeds. Imagine that!

Do people think that a breastfed toddler only drinks from Mom's boobs? They act like Mom sits at the dinner table and whips out her boob every time Junior needs to wash down his peas.

[sapphire_chan]

And the weaning from formula thing is actually not going to be true once the makers of toddler formula get an effective ad campaign going.

(Just think, by the time I have kids instead of being pressured to switch to cowsmilk at age 1, I'll be pressured to switch to formula until age 2, won't that be fun?)

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by babygrant

"We wean children from formula at a year, so I think we should wean from breastmilk then, too. I did with my kids, who are smart and healthy"

"By six to eight months, your child will have gotten plenty of benefits. There are other ways a mother and child can connect"

"It's a good idea for childrne to start drinking out of a sippy cup and to start learning hand to mouth coordination by the time ten or eleven months old. It's important for htem to be able to eat and drink on their own at mealtime. If a mother wants her child to continue to drink breastmilk then she can pump and put it in sippy cups".

As for #1 - Defensive, anyone?? Nuff said...

#2 - But BF is still a great & easy way to CONTINUE those benefits...why look for a substitute way, makes no sence...

#3 - Maybe I'm confused my my exclusivley BF DD DOES eat by herself...I mean we aren't birds...I don't drink my milk & regurgitate it in her mouth...color me confused...*shrug*...

[bu's mama]

Originally Posted by Jadzia

....Do people think that a breastfed toddler only drinks from Mom's boobs? They act like Mom sits at the dinner table and whips out her boob every time Junior needs to wash down his peas.

This was a big issue with the Desperate Housewives episode a few weeks back. I think the boy was 4 or 5 & they made it look like the only time he ever drank anything it was breastmilk.:

[Danielle283]

What were the comments chosen for the yes side? Anything good?

[jeanine123]

"It's a good idea for childrne to start drinking out of a sippy cup and to start learning hand to mouth coordination by the time ten or eleven months old. It's important for htem to be able to eat and drink on their own at mealtime. If a mother wants her child to continue to drink breastmilk then she can pump and put it in sippy cups".

Funny, nursing didn't seem to harm my son's ability to learn how to drink from a straw cup by 5-6 months old at all. Took him a whopping 10 seconds to figure it out. And straw cups are much better than sippy cups as far as helping with proper development of facial/jaw muscles.

[babygrant]

The yes comments were:

"We're in so much of a rush to wean our children from us that we forget about an important issue: their need to feel safe, secure and loved"

"We should educated ourselves before passing judgement on one of the greatest bonding relationships a mother and child will ever have. I nursed my daughter for eighteen months and she is extremely healthy, independent and caring"

"If we'll make the time to enroll our eight-year-olds in ballet, piano and Little League, why should our babies and toddlers be refused when they love and crave such closeness with their mothers?"

[JamesMama]

How dumb can you get? My DS loves his sippy, he gets so excited when I give it to him (with water). And if that #1's kids are 'smart and healthy' I wonder how much more intelligent and healthy they would be if she hadn't force weaned them at a year.

Sadly, most everyone I know weans at a year. There were 2 mama's in my breastfeeding group, weaned at a year. Another weaned at 18 months. I'm happy they got a full year of breastmilk (or more) but sad they force weaned them.

ETA- I'm not too thrilled with the 'yes' comments. Nothing about the WHO saying at least 2 years, nothing about the AAP saying beyond 1 year. Nothing about the health benifits (or is it health risks for weaning before 2?) to baby AND mom for nurisng beyond 1 year...of course we can't make formula feeders feel 'gulity'

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

geee they must be some happy people-






since ignorance is bliss.

[Warda_Rose]

All of my BF baby started drinking from regular cups at less than a year. Either we didn't have a sippy cup or they didn't like it. When they wanted "what we had" (water) we'd give tem a sip. Took a little while for them to get the hang but they did. Next excuse?

[muppet729]

Originally Posted by jeanine123

Funny, nursing didn't seem to harm my son's ability to learn how to drink from a straw cup by 5-6 months old at all. Took him a whopping 10 seconds to figure it out. And straw cups are much better than sippy cups as far as helping with proper development of facial/jaw muscles.

THis is what I was going to say- everyone was so surprised when DD took water from a cup at such an early age but I explained to them that because the sucking on a straw is closer to sucking on my breast than on a bottle nipple, the mechanics of it were easy for her to get.

[Awaken]

Originally Posted by Jadzia

Do people think that a breastfed toddler only drinks from Mom's boobs? They act like Mom sits at the dinner table and whips out her boob every time Junior needs to wash down his peas.

[bhawkins]

Originally Posted by Jadzia

My son drinks out of a sippy cup AND he still breastfeeds. Imagine that!

That was my thought exactly!

[lotusdebi]

My son's 3.5 years old. He's still nursing. He learned how to drink from a sippy cup without a problem. He learned how to drink from a straw without any issues. And now he can drink straight from an open cup.
What does sustained nursing have to do with drinking from cups?

[2Sweeties1Angel]

"We wean children from formula at a year"

That's not even true. My 14 month old is still drinking formula because she's not a big solids eater yet. I'd rather have her drink formula than not get the nutrients at all.

[eleven]

I think it was great that the poll was so weighted in favor of extended nursing! Woohoo!

The "no" comments are lame. Anyone with half a brain would recognize how pathetic they are immediately.

[RomanGoddess]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

And the weaning from formula thing is actually not going to be true once the makers of toddler formula get an effective ad campaign going.

Interesting you should say this because here in France, where mothers rarely breastfeed beyond 3 months and many never do , Nestle and other companies have very successfully marketed "growth milk" (aka "follow-up formula") that parents systematically give to their children (in bottles, no less!!) between the ages of three. The AAP at least has the sense to recommend bottle-weaning at one year, to prevent children from drinking too much milk (low in iron). In France, parents just buy this follow-up formula, which has lots of iron in it and lots of sugar in it, too (to hide the awful taste of the iron) so that they can continue to give their child 2 or 3 bottles a day without the child getting iron-deficient and anemic. Totally ridiculous. Our pediatrician does not recommend this milk for any of his patients but he is definitely in the minority. The majority of pediatricians here recommend it!

Fortunately, Nestle has not succeeded in breaking through with follow-up milk in anglo-saxon countries, I think partly because most doctors recommend bottle-weaning and replacing formula with straight cow's milk at age one.