Extended Breastfeeding

Extended Breastfeeding: Would you go for it?

- Why is it a good idea to breastfeed your toddler?
- Why it can be a challenge breastfeeding your toddler?
- How can you make extended breastfeeding more comfortable?

Extended breastfeeding is continuing the practice of breastfeeding even after the first year. It is a common practice in several countries, especially in the Western societies which do not put their principles of self-sufficiency and independence to as much practice as the importance they attach to these. Indeed, the toughest part about extended breastfeeding is coping up with disapproving stares and unsolicited comments from family, friends, as well as strangers. However, don’t allow others to pressurize you to discontinue this practice; there are certain significant physical and emotional benefits attached to extended breastfeeding that cannot be ignored at any cost. We would advise you to analyze carefully the advantages and disadvantages of long-term breastfeeding and decide for yourself what would work best for you and your toddler.

Why is it a Good Idea to Breastfeed your Toddler?

- Even if solid food is providing your child with most of the required nutrition, breastfeeding is still a good idea because the breastmilk provides him with valuable vitamins, enzymes, and immunities. In fact, research in this respect has proved that breastfed toddlers are healthier and fall sick less often than other toddlers.

- Extended breastfeeding is especially beneficial because it acts as a vital source of emotional support and reassurance to your baby while he’s leaving his babyhood behind and becoming more independent with time. Your child will feel a strong bond with you while at the same time, feeding will also encourage independence, thereby not making him clingy or overly dependent on you. Our culture has a general notion that ‘pushing’ a child away will help in inculcating feelings of self-independence and self-worth in him. However, stopping breastfeeding your child when he is not mentally and developmentally prepared for it will not help in making him more confident; it is, rather, likely to create a more clingy child.

- Breastmilk is also helpful for your child in cases when his health may be down or he has an illness. Thus, you would also not feel helpless in being able to aid him in fighting off the illness and building more resistance.

- If your job or passion requires you to travel frequently, then breastfeeding your child is way easier than carrying milk bottles everywhere or worrying about buying milk supplies at different places. Moreover, if you are gong to stay overnight at an unknown or strange place, then the best way to help your child feel more comfortable and secure and subside his fears is through breastfeeding.

- Breastfeeding may temporarily impede the recommencement of periods – something that is a boon for any woman who cringes at the thought of having to deal with the same bloating and cramps again after such a blissful break. However, remember that breastfeeding does not play an effective role in birth control and hence, it is always better to rely on safety measures such as condoms.

- Weaning comes much more naturally and is less abrupt for your child when he is ready for it, than when a random point of time is chosen to suddenly stop breastfeeding. Even before infant milk substitutes were made available in markets, extended breastfeeding was quite a common practice in all parts of the world.

Why it can be a Challenge Breastfeeding your Toddler?

- You will have to expect criticisms and rude comments from all the people who believe that it is strange to breastfeed an older infant. Moreover, you need to be careful while breastfeeding in public places to avoid all those stingy remarks. This is likely to get all the more complicated if your child throws a tantrum in a supermarket or keeps pulling your top up asking you for a quick feed.

- There are chances for your breast to become sort of a crutch for your baby whenever he is longing for your attention or is simply getting bored. A good idea would be to engage him in other things that might amuse him; toddlers are always eager to know more about the world and explore it and just require stimulation to enhance their development process.

- In case you have a toddler and are also expecting a baby, then you may find breastfeeding the toddler quite physically demanding. If you haven’t planned anything about breastfeeding your toddler after giving birth to the new baby, then you may prefer weaning him before his younger sibling who would require more breastfeeding is born. However, since the taste and sometimes the volume of breastmilk changes when the mother is pregnant, many-a-times, toddlers automatically choose weaning themselves when their mum is pregnant.

How can you Make Extended Breastfeeding More Comfortable?

- To avoid inevitable and unsolicited stares and comments, you would probably find it better and easier to breastfeed your toddler at home itself before going anywhere outside. You can also try fixing a feeding schedule, such as twice a day (in the morning and at night) and rest of the times; you can teach your toddler to have milk from a cup or something.

- If you are not bothered about others’ comments or opinions about you, then it would be best to prepare some snappy answers well in advance for them. So the next time someone asks questions like – ‘Are you still feeding him?’, a firm ‘yes’ is good enough to stop the conversation immediately. Or if someone in public comes up with ‘Are you going to ever stop doing that with your child?’, say ‘Yes, just give me 10 minutes!’

- A smart option would be to teach some code word to your child whenever he wants to be breastfed. So if he starts shouting ‘mama’ or ‘nummies’ in a crowded hotel, no one is going to pay much attention to what he is asking for.

- In case you are pregnant but want to continue breastfeeding your toddler, then be mentally prepared to accept that your breastmilk supply would recede as you notice changes in your hormonal levels. Production of milk in your body may stop and all your resources may get redirected towards developing the fetus. However, several women have succeeded in breastfeeding their toddler as well as their infant; all you simply require is some time and little bit of patience.

Extended Breastfeeding

Extended Breastfeeding: Would you go for it? - Why is it a good idea to breastfeed...