I had a heated discussion last night (at work (11-7) about extended
breastfeeding with another staff nurse.    The conversation started
innocently enough with me talking about the People magazine article and all
the effort that went into this mother gorilla and how she was still nursing
her 17 month old.  She said she thought that there was something wrong with
mothers who let their children nurse beyond the second year.   "My husband is
a psycologist and he had a four year old who was being treated for
something(she didn't know what) and he crawled up on his mothers lap and
 breastfed and his immediate response was THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!!   She also
told me that she thought that women who breastfeed that long probably got
some sort of sexual pleasure out of it and it should be considered child
sexual abuse.  I asked for her references!!!   What makes me crazy is that
this nurse is in contact with new mothers all the time.  I nursed all three
of my wonderful children for 5-6 years and she knows that -I'd like to think
she was just trying to "push my buttons" and really doesn't feel that way.  I
challanged her to come up with references and I will give her mine on the
benefits of long term breastfeeding.   Anyone have a favorite references off
hand -I don't need many because I don't think she will read them anyway!
   As a long time member of LLL I got all the support  I needed and I KNOW it
was beneficial.   I work with too many professionals who are neutral (or
worse) about a parents feeding decision and therefore do little to promote,
protect or support breastfeeding and it makes me crazy sometimes!

Thanks for listening.

Jane