I don't think that "normal term breastfeeding is appropriate either. It is quite appropriate to say that breastfeeding for 3 years, 6 years, whatever is normal but that's something else altogether. I agree with your reasoning Sarah.
Karleen Gribble
Australia

> Guilt isn't the emotion I was concerned about.  I'm concerned about anger, alienation, and pressure.
> 
> When we use the term 'normal-term breastfeeding', with its implication that breastfeeding for less than that length of time is somehow abnormal or insufficient (not to mention its implication that there even is a 'normal' for something that's so hugely variable and individual, or that there's a particular duration we *should* be aiming at, but let's set that aside for the moment) then the effect is to frame the discussion in terms of "My way is right, and your way is not good enough."  This is not conducive to reaching people or winning them over.  It doesn't make others feel 'guilty' - it makes them angry and alienated.  It fuels the Mommy Wars and creates an artificial and unnecessary division between lactivists and those they wish to win over.
> 
> There is also a risk of making women feel pressured into nursing their children for longer than they would otherwise have wished to do, something I do not consider any more acceptable than the far more common pressure in the other direction.  Not everyone who weans before the lactivist-approved age is a frustrated would-be-long-term-breastfeeder hoping for rescue from society's mores - many women either want to wean at the stage they do, or simply, for various reasons find it the most practical thing to do.  I do not feel it to be in any way helpful or appropriate to push them towards a different decision.
> 
> I would also strongly question whether it is appropriate to describe the term extended breastfeeding as 'lying' to women, when there are such a range of different weaning ages and when 'extended' reflects the sociocultural reality of most of the women we see.  We may of course choose not to *reinforce* that sociocultural reality by continued use of the term, and it may be inappropriate for that reason, or for the reason that it can be insensitive to women who feel alone in wishing to nurse for longer.  But that's not the same as labelling it dishonest, which is another concept entirely.
> 
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Dr Sarah Vaughan
> MBChB MRCGP
> 
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