No flaming, just a smile that it is often the solution doctor's think of first. Any problem with a breastfed child? First eliminate breastfeeding. First eliminate the one thing we know is normal. Considering the fact that the mother works all day, and the child is only with her at night, and only nurses at night, I have a hard time believing that the night time nursing is the issue. Maybe after all other possibilities have been ruled out: day time diet, day time behavior, other drinks provided during the day, health issues that may be an underlying cause, then, maybe discuss ways to meet the child's needs to be mothered that do not include breastfeeding at night, but should include receiving breastmilk during the day. Being a vegetarian family does not mean the baby is eating only healthy and nutritious foods, it means they do not eat meat. I can think of many vegetarian foods that are calorie dense and not exactly nutritious. Quite yummy too. To say that breast milk has no physiological benefit at 2 and a half, well, I won't even go there since we would be hard pressed to find that there is any research to back up either side of the argument though I am thinking we would be more likely to find evidence of continued breastfeeding than we would the importance of weaning by 2. Better to say since no evidence exists that breastfeeding is harmful, first do no harm. Never mind the immunological benefits of breastmilk that do not 'run out' at a set age, I would rather see the child consume 200-600 calories of breast milk (if your estimates are correct) than a couple of cookies and a piece of cheese that equal the same number of calories. Remember, we are talking about a child who is away from his mother for the first half of the day and the only time the child is nursing is at night while cosleeping. Since we are not talking about a child who has other times with mother to make up for what is missing, I cannot see how it would help the child emotionally to have this attachment removed, and since we cannot prove it would serve a good purpose, there is no reason to end it. Regardless, under no circumstances would I advocate for cold turkey weaning for a child who has no access to his mother all day. Considering the number of obese children who have never even seen the breast, I would definitely not be thinking that the one normal part of the child's day is the reason for obesity. Also, I have known many families over the years who have large babies and toddlers grow into tall slender healthy children. And, I have known many small babies grow into overweight unhealthy older children. There is more to obesity than night nursing. If a mother called me and said her doctor said cold turkey wean at night because her baby was too big, I would have her ask for proof 100% that the only solution was weaning. Not too mention proof 100% that weaning would do no harm, that the benefits of breastmilk are outweighed by possibility of obesity later. A guarantee that by denying her child the benefits of breastmilk she could guarantee a lifetime of no obesity and health. Too many variables to allow the one thing that is normal food for a child to be the one thing that is seen as the problem. Not flaming, just disagreeing, Pam MazzellaDiBosco, IBCLC Florida, USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html