# Breast-feeding at 8 years old in England **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911 "2008-10-21T17:52:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/21 "2008-10-21T19:33:06Z")
I think there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with breast-feeding that long. I doubt there’s anything sexual going on at all, so it just becomes a source of food. However, it’s so far out of the normal bounds of society that I think it’s inappropriate. Most people will think it’s pretty weird. Any benefits will be outweighed by people teasing him or him having to deal with keeping it secret and the shame that comes with that. ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/22 "2008-10-21T19:39:29Z")
[Bitty](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l8orUaCJ0GY)! ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/23 "2008-10-21T20:41:12Z")
When I saw the video my first reaction was GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! But then I got over the shock and it seemed totally innocent and sweet. I"d say I don’t have a problem with it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/24 "2008-10-21T20:41:54Z")
I’m a fan of breastfeeding – I think it’s wonderful, healthy for both mom and kid, and natural. But when your child is old enough to say “Ok, Mom, I’m going out to play, I’ll be in around 3 for a snack” then it is time to STOP. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/25 "2008-10-21T21:00:20Z")
> [@Nightingale](#): > > I’m a fan of breastfeeding – I think it’s wonderful, healthy for both mom and kid, and natural. But when your child is old enough to say “Ok, Mom, I’m going out to play, I’ll be in around 3 for a snack” then it is time to STOP. Yes, particularly when they get to the age where they can make the snack for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/26 "2008-10-21T21:03:50Z")
Mom isn’t physically harming her child. The child doesn’t appear psychologically damaged - though that’s certainly for a psychiatrist to say. While I find it a bit oogie, personally, I understand that my feelings are not an adequate base from which to condemn this woman. Seriously, if this were the worst kind of parenting going on in this day and age, I’d throw a damn party. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/27 "2008-10-21T21:44:00Z")
> [@snorlax](#): > > [Bitty](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l8orUaCJ0GY)! Dammit! Beaten to the punch. Also: How does this poor kid not get the piss ripped out of them at school? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/28 "2008-10-21T22:02:59Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Mom isn’t physically harming her child. The child doesn’t appear psychologically damaged - though that’s certainly for a psychiatrist to say. > > While I find it a bit oogie, personally, I understand that my feelings are not an adequate base from which to condemn this woman. Seriously, if this were the worst kind of parenting going on in this day and age, I’d throw a damn party. There are a lot of things that can be done to a child that aren’t physically damaging. What if he was wearing a diaper, sleeping in a crib, being bathed and burped at this age? There is absolutely no reason this kid should be sucking his mom’s tit at this age. He’s getting all the nutrition he needs (and could actually make it himself, as others have mentioned.) I feel so sorry for this kid. Think of all of the unwanted attention he will now be getting (plus what he was already getting.) This is completely irresponsible! ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/29 "2008-10-21T22:11:28Z")
Oh, come now. This isn’t torturing puppies. My little sister nursed until about age four. Mom wasn’t encouraging her, but wasn’t trying to pressure her into stopping either. Finally sis gave it up on her own, probably realizing around the time she started pre-school that it was time to move on. Now - a couple of decades later - she gets embarassed when reminded of her lengthy suckling period, but in the end nobody was harmed by it. ---
**Author:** ![Giltathriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b38774/32.png) [@Giltathriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giltathriel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/30 "2008-10-21T22:29:35Z")
For a touch of perspective on what is ‘natural’ I remember reading an ethnography on the !Kung San, a hunter-gatherer people in Africa. Children there are/were nursed until their mother got pregnant again, about 3-4 years. Around that age, children that were still nursing began to be teased about it by their peers. Personally, I can’t imagine breastfeeding for 8 years, but I imagine this will ultimately be more embarrassing for the kid than hurtful. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/31 "2008-10-21T23:11:30Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > However, it’s so far out of the normal bounds of society that I think it’s inappropriate. I think you hit the nail on the head. However, don’t be surprised if someone expresses contempt for that argument. Far weirder practices have been defended on the grounds that nobody is being harmed, and anyway, free blacks were once considered far outside the normal bounds of society, so by your reasoning, obviously you would have opposed emancipation. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/32 "2008-10-21T23:22:44Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I think there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with breast-feeding that long. I doubt there’s anything sexual going on at all, so it just becomes a source of food. However, it’s so far out of the normal bounds of society that I think it’s inappropriate. Most people will think it’s pretty weird. Any benefits will be outweighed by people teasing him or him having to deal with keeping it secret and the shame that comes with that. Bingo. This was exactly my thought. If we were all living in a world where this was more-or-less the norm, there’d be no issue. The danger is in raising your children to be social freaks. And then going that extra step by sticking them on TV probably isn’t the smartest move, either. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/33 "2008-10-22T00:45:21Z")
Knee-jerk reaction: Aaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuggggh! Ew! Ew ew ew ew ew ew _ew_! Okay. Now that I’ve got that out of the way… Yep, still creepy. Way, _way_ beyond the social norm. That makes me wonder a lot about the parent-child dynamic going on. From my wholly uninformed perspective it looks like there are some _serious_ boundary issues on both sides, and those kids are not going to be normal. Also that’s just _gross_. Requesting to suck on a woman’s breast should be the terrain of sexual partners, not children. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/34 "2008-10-22T01:42:01Z")
> [@Rachael\_Rage](#): > > Oh, come now. This isn’t torturing puppies. My little sister nursed until about age four. Four. Eight. You see that there is a difference, right? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/35 "2008-10-22T02:42:29Z")
The eight year old girl seemed a little snotty about it. From the way the mom was talking to her before she latched on (No monkey business, etc.) it felt like she was used to calling the shots. I don’t know, just me? ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/36 "2008-10-22T02:42:55Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > I have to wonder whose needs are being met in this case I also seriously wonder about her making it so public. I don’t know, maybe the poor woman is haunted by the media, but I assume she courts them. Why is she using her child in such a way? Why does she go out of her way to make sure all her child’s classmates know her unusual… alimentary habits? ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/37 "2008-10-22T03:24:04Z")
I have no objection to breastfeeding but the kid is 8! 8 months - not so much a problem, but 8 years is really too old. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/38 "2008-10-22T05:02:50Z")
I’m a big breastfeeding advocate, and I’m comfortable with it till pretty late by board/U.S. standards, but even I think 8 is way too old. For myself I’d be comfortable going till about 3 and I have friends who’ve gone till their kids are 5 or 6. 6 seems to be the age where kids develop the concept of modesty and bodily privacy - for instance, all the preschools round here have stall-free toilets, and kids under about grade one going swimming just strip off at the poolside without any dramas - later on in their childhood that would be a Big Deal. So it seems like a kid giving her parents their bodily privacy at the time when they are starting to need it themselves is a good idea (take that with a grain of salt - I don’t have a huge experience with kids over 5 yet) WRT to the “when they get teeth/when they can ask for it” cut off - I do think that is somewhat midguided. If you’re thinking about when _physically_ is a good time to end breastfeeding, the proper metric is gut maturity, not teeth maturity (believe it or not, some babies are BORN with teeth! Ouch!). IANAD but from experience it seems that around age 2 or later is when kids are able to process “adult” foods as well as an adult. 6-month-olds don’t actually get nearly as much food value as an older person would because their gut is very short, and a lot of it just goes straight through. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/39 "2008-10-22T05:17:34Z")
While we’re not exactly chimpanzees, and even there Jared Diamond might disagree with you, their young continue to nurse, at least off and on, until several years of age. What we consider the normal or appropriate time for human children to be weaned is probably governed more by standards of modesty and fear of breasts than it is by what’s best for the mother and child. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911/40 "2008-10-22T17:18:11Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > The eight year old girl seemed a little snotty about it. From the way the mom was talking to her before she latched on (No monkey business, etc.) it felt like she was used to calling the shots. I don’t know, just me? Nope, not just you - I got that vibe too. Maybe part of her still breastfeeding at eight is related to her being the “baby” of the family, in which case she is clinging onto babyish habits, in which case this probably isn’t the healthiest thing for her developmentally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-at-8-years-old-in-england/468911.md?page=3)