IN the UK as a whole, most mothers start off breast-feeding their babies, but in Scotland, only about half of all mothers do. However, research to coincide with National Breast-Feeding Week (next week) shows that there is a definite upward trend, as the message is getting across that breast really is best.

Exactly how long mothers need to breast-feed in order to give their babies the maximum health benefit is not yet known, and while the Government's infant feeding committee recommends breast-feeding for at least the first four to six months of life, the World Health Organisation has suggested there are benefits for children up to the age of two.

There is undoubtedly a growing trend towards continuing to breast-feed for longer, but

irrespective of the benefits to both mother and child, our

society still has a tendency to find the idea of a nursing

toddlers distasteful, although it is difficult to come up with a valid reason for such a response.

From the early 1920s until the 1970s, bottle feeding was the fashion, until more enlightened health education, research, and straightforward maternal instinct started a swing back towards a more natural approach.

That trend continues, and, if it comes full circle, will result in resuming traditional feeding

patterns which were unchanged for generations.

Jinny Gribble has breast-fed her two sons and daughter for a considerable length of time, and only stopped when she became pregnant again. Although this meant that her sons were 19 months and 27 months

respectively when they were weaned, this did not apply in her daughter Alice's case, as Jinny decided to let Alice wean herself.

In the event, the feeding was wound down very gently and Alice gave up completely when she was four-and-a-half.

In the 10 years since she first breast-fed, Gribble has seen a lot of changes. ''People are more aware of breast-feeding and more positive,'' she says, ''but not in the case of toddlers. I've spoken to women who feel very isolated, not realising that there are many, many others involved in late

feeding. Usually it's the first or last feed of the day, so you're less likely to see an older child nursed in public, but it's an easy way to mother a child.

''Life can be quite turbulent for toddlers as they start to go to playgroups and mix with other children, and it's lovely for them to have a safe place to retreat to, where tantrums can be calmed and illness soothed. Working mums find that they are able to retain a special bond and the children seem able to wean themselves off when the time is right.''

That's a view echoed by one mother of four who describes how she fed her eldest three until they were between four and five-and-a-half, while her youngest is still nursing at five. She had always planned to let her children wean themselves, but had not envisaged an age, guessing round about 18 months. However, as each younger child was born, she found herself tandem feeding both her toddler and newborn which was very successful.

Apparently, if a mother is

tandem feeding, her body not only produces the correct milk for each age, but dispenses it to the right child at the right time. For the first few weeks the older child would step up the number of feeding times to match the baby, but then went back to its own schedule.

The mother is very relaxed about the situation. ''It's important to remember that breast-feeding and breast milk are not just about nutrition,'' she says. ''It goes far beyond that,

incorporating security and

closeness, knowing that the mother is always there.''

As a freelance journalist, Pamela Armstrong has learned a lot about juggling priorities in the four-and-a-half years since her son AJ was born, and her eyes have been opened to the problems women face as they try to combine breast-feeding with a career. While she is still feeding AJ and is a strong supporter of late breast-feeding, she stresses the need to allow individuals a choice. ''I would like to add a note of caution,'' she says.

''While I have never had any bad experiences regarding breast-feeding, we have to be careful not to be divisive. It can be tough on women who want to feed but either don't get the help to get it established or have to go back to work quickly.

''There are many positive changes in helping women get started, but a complete change to attitudes in work is also needed, with provision made for women who want to use a breast pump to continue feeding. Something that simple could ensure women maintaining work and career

trajectory without losing parity with men and non-child

bearing women.''

It may sound simple, but it would ensure that breast-feeding children of any age would be considered to be of the

utmost importance.