Extended breastfeeding

I didn't even realise we've crossed the magic line of one year until my friend asked me »Are you still breastfeeding him?«. While she couldn't hide her strange face, I've tried to think of the best answer.  I simply said »Yes«, but than I had to answer thousands of questions including all possible Why-s, How-s and When-s. Fair enough, after that conversation I am well aware of the fact that we entered the extended breastfeeding period. And I will probably have to answer such questions more often, including »Are you ever going to stop?« (like if there are so many teenagers who are still breasfeeding :-).

 

For all of you who are wondering when and why to wean, here are some information about extended breastfeeding, which (believe it or not) is a very natural thing in most parts of the world. Despite the general belief in our society that breastfeeding over one year does not bring any extra benefits for the baby, it has been proven that there are several benefits for both, the mother and the baby including nutritional benefits, improved immune response and most importantly psychological and social benefits of child-led weaning. At the Kellymom web page you can find a long list of benefits with citations from scientific studies. More resources are availabe at LLLI.

 

The research by Katherine Dettwyler, PhD shows that in societies where children are allowed to nurse "as long as they want" they usually self-wean, with no arguments or emotional trauma, between 3 and 4 years of age. You can read her paper here. You can get even more interesting information in her chaper "A Time to Wean" published in Breastfeeding: Biocultural perspectives. Interview with her is also published at iVillage Parenting portal.

You will also find more questions and answers by parents regarding extended nursing and weaning process at iVillage's nursing section.

In my experience breastfeeding is very comforting to busy toddlers as they are exploring their world at the fast pace. While nursing, Jun emotionally "refuels" and is ready for new adventures. It is helping him to know unconditional love and security, which allows him to progress and become a very independent child. Today, we often expect babies to be independent at too young an age rather than follow their schedule and wait until they are ready for the next step. I really like this quote from Dr. Sears’s Baby Book (p.198): “Life is a series of weanings for a child: weaning from the womb, weaning from the breast, from your bed and from your home to school. The pace at which children go from oneness to separateness should be respected in all of these weaning milestones. /…/ We have studied long-term effects on thousands of children who have had timely weanings and have observed that these children are more independent, gravitate to people more than things, are easier to discipline, experience less anger and radiate trust./…/ In the normal process of oneness and separateness, it is not the mother who weans the baby, but the baby who weans from the mother.”

And if you are ever faced with my situation you can allways use WHO as a excuse. They state that:

"As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health. Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Exclusive breastfeeding from birth is possible except for a few medical conditions, and unrestricted exclusive breastfeeding results in ample milk production."

I hope this helps.

 

Comments

[Sasa]

Draga Anja,
tokrat bom kar v slovenščini napisala komentar, ker ne najdem vseh besed v angleščini.
Torej - vsi zakaji, kakoji in podobna vprašanja so popolnoma nesmiselna in tudi neokusna. Vsaka mama, ki prisluhne sebi in otroku, najbolje ve, kako in kaj. Preradi pozabljamo, da je omejitev dojenja na eno leto povezana bolj s prekinitvijo porodniške (vsaj v Sloveniji) kot pa s kakšnim psihofizičnim razlogom.
Jaz sem sicer dojila res (le) eno leto, vendar sem nehala po temeljitem premisleku in s tehtnimi razlogi. Mislim, da se na nek način z neokusnimi pripombami o predolgem dojenju izraža le nevoščljivost ali pač nevednost. Do otrokovega tretjega leta dojenje lahko le koristi.
LP. Saša

[Gaby]

Ful fajn spisano. Se popolnoma strinjam s teboj. Pri nas bo pocasi nastopilo dojenje po drugem letu starosti in zaenkrat odgovarja obema. Zakaj bi otroku odvzela tisto, kar vec kot ocitno se zelo potrebuje? Raznoraznih vprasanj pa sem ze vajena. Pocasi se bodo navelicali. :)

[Anja]

I'm really happy to read that there are open-minded moms around here :-) Actually, I know quite many who are/were breastfeeding for more than two years...but usually they keep it quiet and do it mostly at home. But I think it shouldn't be a secret...because seeing moms who are still breastfeeding after 1 year can motivate others to try it and not urge themselves and their children in (too early) weaning. And I allways remember a sentence from Sears's baby book "Who gets horrified by looking at 3 year old with a bottle?" So why should they be by a baby who is nursing.
Girls, have a great time with your little ones,
Anja

[Julie]

Breast milk does have itrital values. It makese sense if it's good for a baby it's good for a growing child too. My mom breast fed me till I was 11 and I was ready to stop. I turned out allright. Your child will decide when the time is right.