Everyone knows by now that breastfeeding a baby is the best choice if mom is physically able to do so. There is no denying the many benefits that mothers give to their baby by doing so. Breastfeeding is widely considered the norm and most people are genuinely accepting of breastfeeding now.
But once a baby hit's the age of one the logical assumption people make is that mom will wean them and put them on cow’s milk. But if she happens to be one of those mom's who decides to buck the traditional norm and continue past one, she is probably met with a lot of criticism and concern for both her and her baby.
Some women who choose to continue nursing are accused of doing it for themselves or to try and prove they are some super crunchy mom who's better than her peers. Some naysayers are also quick to tell mothers that after one year breast milk becomes completely useless and is not doing anything to benefit children.
Other objections that are raised is that breastfeeding past one will somehow turn a child into a sexual deviant. But there are many women, especially in other parts of the world that choose to continue their nursing relationship with their toddler after their first birthday and beyond. For some they choose to set limits and boundaries with it and only nurse for short sessions or only at night and nap time.
Continuing to breastfeed a toddler past the age of one, two or even up until age 3 is a personal decision that a mother should never have to explain to someone else. But if a mom finds herself in a battle of words with her old Aunt Velma or even if she is considering if this is a good option for herself, just check out our list of 14 ways breast milk still benefits MOM and her baby!
7 Just Because Mom Wants To
Perhaps the best reason to practice extended breastfeeding is simply because you want to. I personally love breastfeeding and I was so sad when my oldest self-weaned at 8 months so I was determined that with my second child I was going to keep our breastfeeding relationship going for at least the full year and we succeed well past that.
In fact my second son nursed until he was 3. I thought I was going to be pushing my boob through the kindergarten fence he was so obsessed with it. But after briefly considering weaning him at 1 and before I became pregnant again I realized that I enjoyed our nursing bond. And as long as he wanted to keep going why should I stop?
I got a lot of negative feedback from family, from friends and from random people in public. Nursing was convenient, it was healthy for him and I. And we both enjoyed it, so why stop?
6 It Will Make Kids Rich
We all know that breastfeeding is good for our little bambinos brains. Research has shown us that babies that are breastfed for any amount of time score higher on cognitive testing, receptive communication and fine motor test than children who weren't breastfed. But those children that were breastfed past a year scored the highest.
Researchers in Brazil wanted to study the long term benefits of breastfeeding. Working from a 1982 study, they studied 6,000 babies from all different backgrounds for over 30 years. In this study they discovered that babies who breastfed for more than a year had higher IQ's, higher education, and made more money regardless of their family’s economics.
Our babies are like sponges and they soak up all kinds of good information (and sometimes bad) and by the age of 3 a child's brain has grown to 82% of it's size. That means that the early days are critical and that continuing to breastfeed your baby will be beneficial to them way past infancy, toddler and even childhood.
So if you want your sweet kiddo to be able to take care of you financially in your old age. Keep breastfeeding so they can make a lot of money! Who knows maybe you have the next Steve Job suckling at your teat.
5 Lowers A Child's Risk For Certain Diseases
For women who choose to continue nursing past a year you can reduce the risk of diseases in your child like diabetes, heart disease and central nervous system disorders (like multiple sclerosis). It can also help to improve your child's eye sight because of the DHA that is naturally found in breast milk. It also improves dental health because it helps the teeth that are coming in to align properly.
And because the proteins that are found in breast milk are easier for a toddler to digest rather than the proteins that are found in cow’s milk, which most pediatricians recommend starting at age one it also improves intestinal health. Breast feeding past the age of one can also decrease your child's likelihood for developing obesity later on in life.
There are a lot of factors that can contribute to obesity like behaviors and genetic predisposition. But research is showing that breastfeeding is a large factor in decreasing that risk. The longer a child is breastfed the lower the risk of him becoming overweight or obese later on in life.
4 It's Good For Sick Kids
The older your child get's and the more you are in situations with other children like preschool, play dates or Mommy and Me classes you are bound to be bringing home germs upon germs. And if you have older school aged kids you can forget it. Your house will basically just become a place to house all kinds of sick germs.
We know that breastfeeding an infant can protect them against sickness, but the same is true for toddlers. Extended breastfeeding will continue to boost your child's immune system. The longer you breastfeed the less likely your child will have sicknesses that are associated with not breastfeeding like ear infections and upper respiratory infections.
And if your child does get sick it not only helps to shorten the duration of sickness, but breast milk can help them feel better and give them the nutrients they need to get better. Extended breastfeeding also lowers your child's mortality rate.
3 Makes The Terrible-Two's A Little Easier
They don't call them terrible-twos for no reason and if you have a toddler you know exactly why people fear this age. Something happens at the age 2 where a toddler just decides that it's his way or the highway. Disciplining a 2-year-old can often be very frustrating.
But researchers have found that because breastfeeding means more interaction and bonding time with mom your toddler is learning more about acceptable and appropriate behaviors and has fewer behavioral problems. Even Dr. Sears has said that he has noticed that the toddlers in his practice who are continuing their breastfeeding relationship past the 12-month mark are often easier to discipline.
Breastfeeding is baby reading and it allows a mother to better understand the cues of her child and is able to intervene before a major tantrum or meltdown ensues. Of course this doesn't mean that you'll never have a terrible two-year-old toddler, you will, it's just a fact. But it means that you may have an easier time dealing with or perhaps even preventing tantrums.
2 It Can Make A Child More Independent
I know you may be thinking "How can continuing to treat my toddler like an infant and letting her nurse often allow her to be more independent? Doesn't extended nursing make her more dependent on me?"
Our society has made it seem like breastfeeding will only create more dependency for the child, but that simply isn't the case. Dr. William Sears's wrote in his book The Baby Book that they studied the long-term effects on children who were able to wean at their own time and that they saw that these children were more independent and were more interested in people rather than things.
Dr. Sear's says "the most secure... and happy children we have seen are those who have not been weaned before their time." As our children begin to mature emotionally they can do this through the comfort of nursing. When we allow our kid's to reach milestones on their own instead of pushing or forcing them before they are ready they are able to do this with more courage. Pushing them into something before they are ready will only make them clingier and dependent.