“I feel like Jack is going to be one of those kids that breastfeeds until 7 years old,” I said to my husband one day when Jack was around 1 year old. I had been learning a lot about breastfeeding, mostly through the moms at The Badass Breastfeeder Facebook community. I learned that kids who are not weaned early can breastfeed anywhere from 2.5 to 7 years old. Before kids it would have completely freaked me out. Now that I had celebrated my very first nursiversary, after fighting tooth and nail to save what seemed like a doomed breastfeeding relationship, I couldn’t imagine why on earth I would ever wean him. My husband took a bit longer to adjust to the idea of coloring so outside the box, but ultimately we both felt that what helps Jack is much more important than anyone else’s opinion.
Breastfeeding Grows With Him
We live in a culture where we are constantly pressured to push our kids to “grow up.” This is often the argument for weaning, “They need to grow up sometime!” I’ve even got feedback for the vocabulary I use to describe my kids, “baby versus toddler versus small child.” And anyone who is not pushing their child to grow up is trying to “keep” them young. What is the big rush? They are going to grow up. Seriously, you don’t need to push them. Actually pushing too hard can cause anxiety and distrust in the world. They will just grow. It’s nature. I will not wean my child simply because he breastfeeds at an older age than makes you comfortable. It works for us, it is what I believe he needs and he likes it! I am not “keeping” him breastfeeding. He likes it, he initiates it and, even after hard work to establish boundaries to keep me sane nursing 2 kids, he keeps coming back. I do not force it to continue and I will not force it to end. He won’t breastfeed when he is in college, not that you really need to care about what my child does. Of all the things going on with kids and in the world at large, people trip about this. I don’t get it. How can anyone look at this and think it is wrong?
