I saw something on my walk to the metro this week that stuck in my head. It´s nothing out of the ordinary in Rio de Janeiro. On the contrary, it´s quite common. It was a Mother breastfeeding her child.
I did not say baby here people, I said child. The kid was at least 3 years old. She sat down on a bench and put him on the boob.
Now I love how breastfeeding friendly Rio de Janeiro is. When my boys were still on Momma´s good stuff, I would pop the girls out anywhere for a feed... Up to a point. Of course there are situations where it´s just easier to pop them onto the chest, I get that, but at 3 years old for heavens sake!
It reminds me of that smoking toddler in Thailand or where ever it was at. No, I´m not comparing extended breastfeeding to smoking. I talking about the usage of time. It´s a way to occupy and calm the kid down for a minute. They are not getting a meal at that age, they are getting a mini liquid snack. I don´t get why you don´t get a bottle of water or a snack pack.
I just don´t think that a 3 year old needs boob on demand. I mean, way to raise the bar for his future wife. He´s going to be sucking on the poor little thing while she´s sleeping. Get him a juice, a bottle of water, or just tell him to wait a second. It´s unnecessary.
So why am I making a big deal out of nothing. Not my kid and not my body. True enough but it just weirds me out. When a kid is old enough to ask for a time out on the soccer field to run over for a suck, it´s time to cut the guy off!
How do you feel about extended breastfeeding on demand? When do you think the cut off point is?
