I know I’m going to get flamed for this, but a mom nursing a 3 year old is perfectly fine.
Before you flip out, read on: perfectly fine for a bedtime comfort nursing. Not perfectly fine dressed sexily on Time magazaine’s cover.
Weaning anywhere from 12 months to over 3 years is normal and fine. Many babies wean earlier. The second year of breast feeding can be more for comfort and also to add the perfect food to the often finicky toddler palate. The third year of nursing is often really just at bedtime or upon waking. It’s not for food. It’s to capture a little bit of babyness while you are mostly trying to become a big kid. It should be discreet and done only at home.
Humans are babies for about three years. There is no need to rush weaning, yet mostly it happens between 10 and 24 months. There are reasons or sweet habits for it to continue a bit longer if mother and baby want it, but it should be saved for bedtime. It’s like weaning off the bottle. A three year old might get so much comfort from his bedtime bottle that his parents still let him have one as he transitions to preschooler. Same thing.
Only infants who do not yet eat enough solids need to be fed wherever they are. And everyone needs to understand that babies need to be fed. And every nursing mom needs to understand that she should make the world feel comfortable by being discreet. I used to nurse in my car a lot.
This picture is purely meant to cause controversy. She’s dressed sexily and looks like a model. Her boob is fully exposed except for the part the boy is smilingly gobbling. And this three year old looks about seven. And he is mugging for the camera. It’s ridiculous.
A Mom nursing a 3 yr old is not for the kid, it’s for the mom. It’s not fine. It’s weird. In the United States and not some 3rd world hell hole, it’s weird and not about the kid.
Well said.