# Still breast feeding son at age 8. Is it really a bad thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255 "2002-07-10T14:55:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/21 "2002-07-10T20:25:53Z")
Even if there is nothing sexual involved here, it is not appropriate in this culture to do this. If the kid doesnt have a problem with it now, wait till he gets into his teens and starts to wonder if mom was getting off on it the whole time…and he will wonder that. That kid is going to have all kinds of problems as a result of this…Even if it is all societys fault for being too uptight, this is still the society that the child is growing up in. You dont experiment with children, or use them to make a statement. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/22 "2002-07-11T03:46:27Z")
If there is no milk, this woman is not “breastfeeding” her son, she is allowing him to use her nipple as a pacifier. This is not just about a breast. If she was letting him suck her finger I wouldn’t see it any differently. Okay, well…maybe, but still… At this age a child should have developed a method of self-comfort. This mother is not allowing her son to mature, and all for her own selfish reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/23 "2002-07-11T03:54:56Z")
If there is no milk, this woman is not “breastfeeding” her son, she is allowing him to use her nipple as a pacifier. This is not just about a breast. If she was letting him suck her finger I wouldn’t see it any differently. Okay, well…maybe, but still… At this age a child should have developed a method of self-comfort. This mother is not allowing her son to mature, and all for her own selfish reasons. ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/24 "2002-07-11T05:42:23Z")
I’ve been reading this thread and thinking about an issue at home that I’m worried about - my SO and I share a house with my SIL and her kids. My nephew 11yo sleeps with his mum - to me this seems kinda weird and I am having a really hard time accepting that to my SIL and the boy this is normal. I know he has problems and is seeing a councillor but I just can’t get my head around why this should be seen as good for him. Reading this thread bought all the same thoughts to me - its not right, let the kid grow up, he’s going to be a momma’s boy all his life. I just can’t see either situation being good for the child. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/25 "2002-07-11T05:45:06Z")
Just for the record: Babies _suckle_ the boobie. :o (\<–boobie-suckle face) Boyfriends & husbands _suck_ the boobie. :eek: (\<–boobie-suck face) See the difference? 🙂 (\<–post boobie-suck _and_ boobie-suckle face) Happy, who only remembers one thing from his Human Sexuality class in college… and this was it ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/26 "2002-07-11T06:21:07Z")
I’d say that this could possibly be a universal taboo. Certainly not the norm in China. I remember during all of my trips to Tibet, one mother son combo where the kid was probably around 8 or 10, and he went to the tap in a room with 10 people in it, including this westerner and an Australian woman. The two of us thought it was wierd. More so, the Tibetans all gave each other the eye like “jeez, not again.” Definately crossed a line there with the neighbors, although I didn’t have a chance to broach the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/27 "2002-07-11T07:34:55Z")
I have to admit, as much a supporter of breastfeeding that I am, this is uncomfortable. But I’m so sick of the government trying to tell parents what they should be doing. I know that in many cases it’s a fine line, but this isn’t something that should be handled in court. Maybe her family should get more involved in trying to dissuade her from this behavior. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/28 "2002-07-11T11:23:29Z")
Boy, nobody remembers the Bernardo Bertolucci film **The Last Emperor** anymore, do they? They’re recycling all the late breast-feeding jokes from when that film came out 15 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/29 "2002-07-12T10:01:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by China Guy \* > \*\*I’d say that this could possibly be a universal taboo. Certainly not the norm in China. I remember during all of my trips to Tibet, one mother son combo where the kid was probably around 8 or 10, and he went to the tap in a room with 10 people in it, including this westerner and an Australian woman. > > The two of us thought it was wierd. More so, the Tibetans all gave each other the eye like “jeez, not again.” Definately crossed a line there with the neighbors, although I didn’t have a chance to broach the subject. \*\* “Went to the tap”? You mean she breastfed him? If this is not the norm in China, why are you giving it as an example? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/30 "2002-07-12T11:17:15Z")
Yes, I meant breast feeding. Not the norm for China since I’ve spent many many long years travelling in the countryside in China. This particular case happened in _Tibet_, which may now be geographically part of China, but historically, culturally, liguistically, religiously, etc is not part of China. Out of all my time in both China and Tibet, I witnessed the one above incident. It seemed like all of the locals that witnessed it as well thought it was inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![WV\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@WV\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WV_Woman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/31 "2002-07-12T11:46:33Z")
There is something about a kid WALKING to his/her mom for a drink that gives me the creeps. I had a friend who didn’t wean her little boy till he was 2 1/2. Now he’s 3 1/2 and he STILL digs around in her bra all the time. Get the hint, kid! ---
**Author:** ![Crispy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Crispy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crispy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/32 "2002-07-12T15:17:01Z")
I wasn’t weaned until I was two years old. No psychological damage from it. Even though I can remember some things from that age, breastfeeding isn’t one of them. There are many good reasons to breast feed toddlers, despite what some more uptight people say. I was always an exceptionally healthy child, and I am very intelligent. Part of that can probably be attributed to getting all those nutrients that nature intended kids to get. I will admit that if my mother had fed me in public it might have seemed a little odd, but only because I have always been mistaken for being older than I am. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/33 "2002-07-12T16:35:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crispy \* > \*\*I wasn’t weaned until I was two years old. No psychological damage from it. \*\* There’s a huge developmental difference between two and eight, though. ---
**Author:** ![Crispy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Crispy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crispy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/34 "2002-07-12T17:22:25Z")
I quite agree, **Squish**. Sorry I didn’t make that clear. I think that no good can come from this woman breastfeeding her 8 y.o. son. I was just trying to point out that breasfeeding a toddler, IMO, shouldn’t be taboo, as some of the posters have implied. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/35 "2002-07-15T00:10:05Z")
I wonder if when the kid grows up he’ll prefer to buy milk past the expiration date? ---
**Author:** ![jmpride62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@jmpride62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmpride62)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255/36 "2002-07-15T10:42:39Z")
Anyone know where the dad is in this family? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/still-breast-feeding-son-at-age-8-is-it-really-a-bad-thing/118255.md?page=1)