"It is the lucky child who still breastfeeds past two years old." -former US Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop
Confession time: For most of my life, I was one of those people who thought that breastfeeding much past your child's first birthday was just, well, weird. I have always known that breastfeeding how I want to feed my children, but I definitely thought that, after 12 months, or maybe 14 if you really wanted to stretch it, it borderlined on something that was just wrong. I had thought that, with my kids, by the time they blew out the candle on their first birthday cake, the nursing bras, nursing pads, and nursing pillow would be packed away for the next child and, when that last child is born, packed away for good at the one year mark. My, how my thoughts have changed.
The change in my thoughts on this matter started when Joseph was around 3-4 months old. I loved breastfeeding, Joseph loved breastfeeding, and I saw how incredibly beneficial it was for him physically and emotionally. I started to think that, since we have a deep freezer, maybe I'd just pump a bunch to freeze and, after his first birthday, give it to him once or twice a day in a sippy cup. He'd get the nutritional, cognitive, immune, and other health benefits of breastmilk, and it wouldn't be quite as "taboo" as continuing to nurse into his toddler or preschool years. By the time he was 6 months old, I'd realized that, while my sippy cup plan would be wonderful for his physical health, it wouldn't really serve any function in his emotional health. A cup is not a mother's skin. It lacks the warmth, and the closeness. A child doesn't have to be cradled to drink from a cup. I think sippy cups are fabulous for water, and for juice. But they are no the same as breastfeeding. And now, as Joseph has hit the 9 month mark, I am a full-fledged advocate of extended, or "full-term" breastfeeding.
What exactly IS "full-term breastfeeding?" Full-term breastfeeding means that you basically let a child wean at his/her own pace, instead of at a set age. Now, lest you think this concept sounds crazy, let me point out that anthropological studies have shown that throughout history AND around the world today, weaning is typically completed when a child is right around 4 years of age. Biblically, children were generally nursed until they were AT LEAST 2 or 3 years old, some considerably longer. Probably the main argument that so many people have AGAINST breastfeeding a child past infancy is that it becomes an "odd" thing, as in somehow sexualized and wrong. They often use the argument that, "When the child is old enough to ASK to nurse, they are too old to breastfeed." This thinking used to be mine. But I saw something once that answered this question by saying "Well, my child asks for apples...should I stop giving her those, too?" The dysfunction of my logic was suddenly clear. Basically, from my research, a child has no sexual awareness (beyond the simple "Hey, I have different parts from my brother/sister" curiosity created sometimes at bath time of young siblings) until around 5 years of age. Before that point, they are not capable as viewing their mother's breasts in a sexual manner. They just view them as an infant would view them - a source of nourishment and comfort. On a cold day, a cup hot chocolate is a source of warmth and nourishment for me. Am I going to develop an inappropriate attachment to the mug? No, because I don't exactly have the ability to view the mug in a sexual manner. I don't blame people who stand by the "If they are old enough to ask, it's too old" argument. I don't think they are weird, or ignorant. I thought the same way for most of my life. It wasn't until I broke down my logic, and realized it's errors, that I changed my mind. All this being said, let me temper my thoughts by saying that, seeing as how their is a point when children develop that sexual awareness, I do believe there is a point in which weaning is necessary if the child has not done so on his/her own. I saw a tabloid article online entitled "I Breastfeed My 13 Year Old." Okay, I'm sure this wasn't a true story considering the source. But if it WAS, then clearly this child is WAAAAAY past the age of sexual awareness, and I think this is an issue that should be addressed and corrected with a family counselor. But a 2 1/2 year old is simply thinking "Wow, I get to snuggle close to mommy and get fed...how comfortable and secure that makes me feel!"
Another lesser used but equally inaccurate argument is that children don't "need" breast milk past 12 months of age. Will a child suffer endlessly because they were weaned at 12 months? Certainly not! But there are so, so, so many benefits to nursing a child for longer than a year. A 2001 study showed that 448ml of breastmilk per day in the second year of a child's life provided them with 29% of their energy requirements, 43% of their protein requirements, 36% of their calcium requirements, 75% of their Vitamin A requirements, 76% of their folate requirements, 94% of their Vitamin B12 requirements, and 60% of their Vitamin C requirements. Combined with a healthy diet of solid food, breastfeeding a toddler leads to an incredibly nutritious lifestyle for the little one. In fact, the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding a child until they are AT LEAST 2 years old. Studies have shown that weaning prior to age 2 increases the risk of child illness and mortality, because immune factors in human milk continue to rise in concentration as breastfeeding continues. Breastfeeding for longer is not just beneficial for the child, but beneficial for mom, too! When a mother does NOT "full term breastfeed," she increases her risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes! Clearly, breastfeeding for longer has incredible benefits for mother and child. Here are just a few of the additional benefits for children who breastfeed into their toddler and preschool years...
-IQ scores, grades in school, and scholastic achievement are the highest in children that have breastfed the longest.
-Breastfed toddlers have healthier, glossier hair due to their high protein consumption.
-Breastfed toddlers have better hearing due to their lower incidence of ear infections.
-Breastfed toddlers have better vision due to their high Vitamin A consumption.
-Toddlers who breastfeed for an extended amount of time have leaner bodies and a lower risk of obesity.
-Breastfed toddlers have smoother and more supple skin.
-Breastfed toddlers are less likely to suck their thumbs, and thus less likely to have misaligned teeth. Longer nursing also improves a child's dental arch.
-The comfort of nursing is a natural painkiller for the bumps and bruises that come along with the wild exploration of the toddler years.
-Breastfeeding is a wonderful way to provide a toddler comfort and reassurance when traveling to unfamiliar surroundings.
-Child-led weaning (weaning on the child's pace) allows children to achieve independence at their own pace and helps ensure their security in that independence. It decreases the child's frustration and stress as they move through toddlerhood.
These are just SOME of the benefits of continuing to breastfeed a child past his or her first birthday. The full list would be nearly endless.
There are a number of reasons that I may not be able to fully practice full-term breastfeeding with Joseph. Depending on when we expand our family with a new pregnancy, I'll have to examine my extended breastfeeding plan and adjust accordingly. Breastfeeding can make it difficult to get pregnant again while you are still actively nursing, and if you do many OBs (mine included) want you to wean by 20 weeks of pregnancy to rule out the concern of breastfeeding bringing on early labor. But rest assured, I'll breastfeed Joseph for as long as I can without causing problems in our family expansion plans (and provided he still wants to, of course). I do hope that, with all of my children, I'll be able to breastfeed at least somewhat past a year. I have a husband who is supportive of this idea, too, which is incredibly helpful.
More and more mommies are beginning to practice full-term breastfeeding. It's becoming less and less the exception, and more and more the norm. Most, but not all, of my nursing friends have decided to keep on nursing past the one year mark and many are planning to do so as long as their child wants to. I now smile, instead of internally judge, the women I see breastfeeding their three year olds. I know that they are just doing something for that child that has been proven to be physically and emotionally beneficial for both mother an child. I don't look down upon those who still have a hard time with the concept of extended breastfeeding, but I do hope that the increase prevalence of it will make it more and more accepted in years to come.
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