Many mothers of breastfeeding toddlers are accustomed to fielding questions about how and why they are still breastfeeding, and how long they will continue. What about teeth?! She’s just too big! There’s no benefit to her now! She’s just using you. Aren’t you tired? I generally just smile at others and give a short answer about why they’re wrong, but really I don’t need research to tell me that what I’m doing is the best thing for my toddler, and for our relationship. Even if there were no nutritional benefits, which there certainly are, I’d do it just because Logan loves it so much. Hope these articles help when you’re looking for a quick place to get information supporting why natural-term nursing is beneficial; or looking for resources and support.
Kellymom.com | Breastfeeding Past Infancy: Fact Sheet: ”Breastfeeding toddlers between the ages of one and three have been found to have fewer illnesses, illnesses of shorter duration, and lower mortality rates (Mølbak 1994, van den Bogaard 1991, Gulick 1986).”
La Leche League International | Nursing Beyond One Year: ”The bottom line may be simply that it isn’t common in our culture for women to nurse beyond one year, so most people assume that a mother will want to wean a baby who is more than one year old.”
Katherine Dettwyler | A Natural Age of Weaning: “Clearly, babies born in the U.S. don’t have to contend with all the diseases and parasites and contaminated water that babies in Third World countries do. We have more supplementary foods that we can generally trust to be safe and clean. We can get our children immunized, and get them antibiotics for infections when necessary. The fact that we *can* does not mean that breastfeeding is unimportant. Breastfed babies still have the “edge” over bottlefed babies, even in a squeaky clean environment with wonderful medical care. They get sick less often, they are smarter, they are happier. Another important consideration for the older child is that they are able to maintain their emotional attachment to a person, rather than being forced to switch to an inanimate object such as a teddy bear or blanket. I think this sets the stage for a life of people-orientation, rather than materialism, and I think that is a good thing. I also can’t imagine living through the toddler years without that close loving connection to a child going through enormous changes, some of which are very frustrating to the child. I could go on forever, but will stop here.”
The Alpha Parent | Diagram of A Breastfed Toddler: “Though it is clear that the majority of women worldwide and throughout history have nursed their children into toddlerhood and beyond, women who choose to do so today may face an uninformed and frequently critical audience. Click ‘Like’ to spread the word on Facebook.”
International Breastfeeding Centre | Breastfeed a Toddler – Why on Earth?: ”It is interesting that formula company marketing pushes the use of formula (a very poor copy of breastmilk) for a year, yet implies that breastmilk (which formula tries unsuccessfully to copy) is only worthwhile for 6 months or even less (“the best nutrition for newborns”). Too many health professionals have taken up the refrain.”
Breastfeeding Basics | Weaning: ”Just as you would not set an arbitrary limit on other areas of your baby’s development, such as deciding exactly when he will sit up, roll over, move into a bed instead of a crib, etc. (instead, you watch for signs that he is ready to move on to the next developmental stage), it just makes sense not to set an arbitrary time limit on how long you will nurse your baby.”
Blogs, Websites, and Facebook Pages Featuring Natural Term (“Extended”) Breastfeeding:
- Zen Parenting (Facebook)
- The Badass Breastfeeder (Facebook)
- The Leaky Boob (Facebook)
- The Guggie Daily (Facebook)
- The Artful Mama (Facebook)
- La Leche League International (Facebook)
- Nurshable (Facebook)
- Kellymom (Facebook)
- A Living Family- Ancient Wisdom For Modern Families (Facebook)
- Single Mom On The Run (Facebook)
- I Am Not The Babysitter (Facebook) – *also has an adoptive breastfeeding focus
- The Natural Parent Magazine Facebook Page
- The Good Letdown (Facebook)
- The Mule (Facebook)
- Our Muddy Boots (Facebook)
- The Single Crunch (Facebook)
- Breastfeeding Facebook Page
- Best for Babes Foundation Facebook Page
- Mama’s Milkies Facebook Page
- Motherwise Facebook Page
- Dispelling Breastfeeding Myths Facebook Page
- Crunchy California Mama Facebook Page
- Natural Parents Network Facebook Page
I wrote a huge piece on extended breastfeeding too…. Can dig it up if you want me to
Yes, please! And I will add your blog/facebook page to this. Thank you.
http://singlemomontherun.com/2012/05/27/extended-breastfeeding-a-stigmatizing-term/
http://singlemomontherun.com/2012/05/27/extended-breastfeeding-and-the-law/
http://singlemomontherun.com/2012/05/10/breastfeeding-and-attachment-parenting-time-magazine/
Thank you so much. I’ve updated the post. – Kimber
Well, as you know, I do it for the pure entertainment purposes. Gymnurstics, anyone?
I like how you don’t have to cite any science to justify feeding your child. I usually just like to say, “He’s not done.” That or just smugly say that it’s the only way I get him to nap or sleep, which is ALL TRUE!
With my last, we went for 15 months. I’m 7 weeks pregnant now and will definitely go for 2 years! But we wanted to try again for our third (I’ll be 39 soon) and I didn’t get my period until after I stopped breastfeeding. Any advice/insight/answers? Thanks. Veronica
Adopt a kid and nurse them too!
The Sage Parenting book has an entire chapter on Full Term Breastfeeding!
https://www.facebook.com/OhanaWellness is a great resource that holds a lot of conversations on Full Term Breastfeeding too.
Thank you so much for putting this together!
Oops, sorry. I forgot to include the link to the book: http://ohanawellness.com/SageParentingBook.html
Love this list!!! I nursed both my kids for 3.5 years each. They were rarely sick, and both are freak’n brilliant!
Yay, a favorite topic of mine. Thanks for the great post and all the great resources. I’ve made two power points… “In Search of the natural age of weaning for humans,” and “Beyond Breastmilk,” which teaches how breastmilk is never ‘not enough’ of anything : )
Both links can be found on this page: http://thebabybond.com/NaturalWeaningAge.html
I reported this on FB today. My main comment was how gobsmacked I am cos we are in our third year of BF. I found you fairly recently (before Aoife turned 2). I hope to keep needing and reading you far into the future. You are a blessing! Much aloha…
Reblogged this on singlemomontherun.
”Just as you would not set an arbitrary limit on other areas of your baby’s development, such as deciding exactly when he will sit up, roll over, move into a bed instead of a crib, etc. (instead, you watch for signs that he is ready to move on to the next developmental stage), it just makes sense not to set an arbitrary time limit on how long you will nurse your baby.” ~ Anne Smith, IBCLC
I originally saw this on “The Badass Breastfeeder”‘s page. Abby T. is the featured blogger for my website, and, to put it simply, she rocks.
I was honored to see my quote included in your article. I hope you will add my website in the list of websites/blogs/ FB pages that support natural/baby led/extended weaning.
I’ve nursed 6 babies. All of them decided when they were ready to wean, and nursed from 1-5 years. The oldest is now 37, and the youngest is 19. They are all incredibly healthy, intelligent, creative, and just all around amazing human beings.
I also have a 17 month old granddaughter who is still happily nursing!
I’ve been an IBCLC for over 20 years, and a proud supporter of extended breastfeeding since 1978, when I was first certified as a LLL Leader. My website consists of articles I wrote over the years based on my personal as well as my professional experience.
Over 5 million moms a year visit http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com for support and information about a variety of topics related to breastfeeding and parenting. I hope you will visit and share….Anne
Another reason to nurse a toddler: because infants can’t make up songs about nursing and how much they love it. (True story. This just happened in our house. I melted into a giant puddle of mommy love.)