Just a Clarification

When I post anything on breastfeeding, it is not meant to make any formula feeding moms feel guilty.  I don't judge any of my bloggy friends for formula feeding.  My posts on breastfeeding are just intended to educate people so maybe they will more thoroughly understand the whole practice of breastfeeding - especially toddler breastfeeding.

I think there are many ways to be a good mom, and breastfeeding is only one section of motherhood.  Not breastfeeding does not make you an inferior mother.  So far every single mother I have encountered in the blogosphere sounds like a terrific mother, and I admire all of you!

I feel the need to clarify this to make sure that you all know that I am in NO way trying to offend any formula feeders.  And if you are sensitive to the topic of breastfeeding, please feel free to skip my breastfeeding posts.  I don't want anyone to think that I'm trying to make them feel guilty!  I recognize that how you choose to feed your baby is a personal choice, and one just hopes that everyone will make an informed choice and try their best to make the healthiest choice that fits with their family and life.



I just really got into it on facebook when I posted a link to the newstory about breastmilk icecream.  Without getting into the situation too deeply here, because there were 30 very long comments posted on the link, suffice it to say that several girls chose to take all of my words and absolutely twist them and turn the whole situation really hostile.  It was really unfortunate, because offending anyone was not my intention, and I really cannot believe the direction things went in.

I just wanted to send all the mamas (breastfeeding and formula-feeding) and mamas-to-be all my love and respect!  You're all doing a fabulous job!

More on Breastfeeding

The following is an excerpt from The American Academy of Family Physicians 2008 Position Paper on breastfeeding-

"Note that breastfeeding at least until the second year of a child's life is not considered 'extended' breastfeeding. Rather, breastfeeding until the bare minimum age of 2 years is the norm and anything less... brings about... detrimental consequences.

Human milk for growing human babies is expected (physiologically) by the baby's body in order to receive all that is needed (and only found in human milk) for this important period of rapid brain, body, and immune system development. It is estimated that the natural weaning age for humans is between two and seven years. Family physicians should be knowledgeable regarding the ongoing benefits to the child of extended breastfeeding, including continued immune protection, better social adjustment, and having a sustainable food source in times of emergency."

This CANNOT Be Happening!

Yeah, I know, third post in one day.  This one is important.

I JUST GOT MY PERIOD.

I am so FREAKING pissed off. 

I nurse more than 10 times a day.  Noah's nutrition is still 90% (OR MORE) from breastfeeding.  I still nurse OVERNIGHT.

I am really ticked.

I don't remember if I mentioned how 2 weeks ago I had REALLY sore nipples.  Horribly sore.  I was dreading every nursing session.  It came on really suddenly, lasted about 5 days, and then went away really suddenly.  I also had a lot of egg-white CM during that time.  I was just saying to Erin today that it seemed like my body was trying to ovulate.

Then tonight I've been soooo cranky, and really crampy. I told Justin it felt like period cramps. Just now we were in the kitchen, and he was trying to be nice to me because I've been so ticked off all evening. Then I told him I had to go to the bathroom because it felt like I was bleeding.

AND THEN I WAS BLEEDING.
 
I'm really pissed off. I nurse 10+ times a day. I nurse overnight. And I don't WANT to have another baby right now. I don't have that burning desire in me right now. So what's the point of the stupid period?!?!?!

I DON'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN RIGHT NOW! I HAVE CRAMPS AND I FEEL LIKE CRAP.
 
 
I'm really ticked off.


(Noah is 11 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days old)

Nursing Wardrobe

I have been nursing for a year now, and plan to keep going probably at least another year.  Noah still nurses a lot, - 10+ times a day - so I figured it was only fair for me to invest in some better nursing-wear.  For the entire last year my nursing wardrobe has consisted of 3 wrap sleep bras that actually fit (and 2 that don't), 2 regular nursing bras that are too big, and one kind of lame nursing tank top that I could never wear alone and wasn't a great length.

That's right, I've nursed for a year with that crappy collection.

I actually really like the sleep bras, but they offer almost no support.  I'm small chested, so its not a huge deal, but wearing them out in public is not wonderful because you either see little boobs and nipples, or little boobs and the outline of a nursing pad.  I actually would NEVER go out in public in a sleep bra without nursing pads, because a sleep bra is basically just a sling to keep your nursing pads in place.  It's been the most convenient thing to wear because I can open and close it - with the nursing pad in place - with one hand.  And I don't almost hit sleeping Noah in the face with the cups, like I do with my regular nursing bras.

My regular nursing bras are too large.  I don't know about all those women whose breasts are bigger when they are nursing.  With the exception of the morning, when my boobs are really full, my boobs are the EXACT same size as before I was pregnant.  They were much bigger while I was pregnant. 

Lest you tell me that I am 12 months into my nursing career, I feel compelled to mention that my boobs have been at pre-pregnancy size since about TWO WEEKS post-partum.  This could have something to do with the fact that I am one of those freaks of nature who gained 16lbs in pregnancy and lost almost 40lbs in the 2 weeks after birth, putting me at a weight I hadn't been at since about grade 10.  Regardless, my boobs are small.

I have other issues with my regular nursing bras - besides almost smoking Noah in the face with them after he's fallen asleep on the boob - that make me not want to buy more of them in a different size.  The cup coverage is crazy - it covers sooo much chest, making it visible in a lot of scoop necked tops.  The cup is also too firm and formed, and it doesn't fold down easily.  After the first fold down the cup is still almost covering my nipple.  I have to fold it down twice to expose enough breast.  Not a fan.

You might wonder why I have gone so long with such a crappy nursing wardrobe.

Where we live there are NO maternity stores, and the only possible place to find a nursing bra or tank is Sears or Walmart. And its not good stuff.  I found a store in L-town - an hour away - that sold Bravado nursing bras and tanks.  I was pumped.  Yes, it's expensive, but Bravado stuff has amazing reviews and is strictly dedicated to nursing.  I was willing to pay $60 for the right bra.  We planned to stop in L-town quickly on our way to Elijah's birthday party.

After perusing the Bravado website I found The Essential Nursing Tank, which has a real built in bra, as opposed to the shelf bra in most nursing tanks.  I read 69 reviews, every one of them raving about the tank.  I figured this was the answer to my problem.  I wanted tanks, and I wanted bras, and this was BOTH.  I was totally cool with paying $55 for one tank.

Then I tried it on.  Apparently my boobs are very different from the boobs of those 69 reviewers.  This tank did not fit me properly.  I tried a 36B/C, which fit my ribcage well, but the cups were ridiculous.  They were tight against the perimeter of my boobs, and then the middle of the cup was just a big wrinkle of loose fabric.

I moved down to the 34B/C, which was much tighter around my ribcage, but the cup fit a little better.  Still not perfect, though.  What probably would have been perfect is a 36A/B.  But they don't make them.  Frick.

I tried a bunch of Bravado bras.  I liked The Bliss Nursing Bra the best, but it was a little too big in B/C.  I could have used a B, but the suckers don't MAKE straight B's.  So annoying.  I also liked The Body Silk Seemless Nursing Bra, but it wasn't quite what I wanted.  It would have been great for around the house, but it still wasn't quite what I want for my boobs when I'm outside of the house.  And what I really wanted were tanks so that my stomach isn't always bare.

I ended up buying two 34B/C Essential Nursing Tanks, because I was in a huge hurry and Noah was being a huge suck and crying unless I held him.  Not Dad, me.  So I decided to buy them, see how it went at home, and return them if I had to.  Even if I have to make the drive again.

The verdict is still out on those tanks.

Because my Bravado plan was not very successful, we went to Motherhood Maternity.  I got 3 nursing camisoles there and one nursing bra, just because I don't have any regular nursing bras that fit properly. But I don't really like the bra.  The cup wasn't very flexible, so its hard to fold down. I need a thinner foam. The Bravado bras were great for folding down out of the way, they just didn't fit me right.

I'm pretty disappointed in the whole trip.  We spent an hour and a half shopping, and were therefore an hour and a half late for Elijah's party.  And with all that time spent, I didn't end up with what I was hoping for.

My favourite purchase are the nursing camisoles from Motherhood Maternity.  I like the length, they're really easy to undo and do up (so my boobs are very accessible), and they're pretty supportive for a camisole.  Of course, they flatten me right out and there's zero foam lining, so I don't know that I would want to use them as a bra if I were leaving my house. 

I haven't decided if I'm keeping the Bravado tanks, and I haven't decided if I'm done searching for the perfect bras/tanks.  I probably am.  Considering I made it through an entire year with a horribly deficient nursing wardrobe, even adding three good nursing camisoles is a huge improvement.

Elijah's 2nd Birthday

On Saturday, March 5, 2011, my nephew Elijah turned 2!  His parents, my brother Nick and his wife Hilary, had a birthday party for him at their house, which is 2 hours from our house.

Our day was super busy, but fun!  We left when Noah was ready for his nap at 11am.  Noah slept in the car from 11:08 until like 11:50 when Justin yelled (it was a windshield wiper fiasco).

We had planned to stop as quickly as possible in L-town, the halfway point between our houses, because I desperately need new nursing gear.  That is a whole other story, which I'm going to tell separately, but we ended up spending an hour and a half there.  I was hoping for 30 minutes.

We didn't get to Nick and Hil's until 2:30. Noah had a great day (so did we), but he never had another nap.  This is about the 3rd or 4th day that he's gone with only one nap. I didn't even bother trying for a second one because he was having so much fun playing, never fussed once, and the house was so noisy it would have been hard to get him to sleep.  Then I would have had to sit there holding him the whole time since he refuses to nap anywhere but in his own crib. 
 
Desite the lack of sleep, he did wonderfully.  He wasn't even that attached to me.  He was going all over the house, playing with everything.  He would come back to me for some cuddles or nursing, but he often left my sight, on his own, and never freaked out.  It was good. 
 
We left at 6:40pm with Noah in his jammies, and he fell asleep within 45 seconds of driving. He stayed asleep the whole way home. I just had to reach my hand back to touch his head once when we were almost home because he gave a little cry. He immediately fell back asleep, though.
 

Oh my gosh, the drive home was SCARY!  It was so weird. It was totally fine until about 35 minutes from home.  Then suddenly there were tons of ambulances and cars were in the ditch everywhere. There were at least 15 cars in the ditch in the span of about 3km.  Some of them were flipped onto their hoods! The roads were so weird. They would be completely bare and dry and then suddenly black ice. We never actually felt any slipperyness except when we drove on a bit of snow, but it was terrifying to see so many cars going in the ditches around us. My stomach was in knots.  Especially when a stupid transport truck swerved into the lane right in front of us and then completely stopped.  Smart thinking, buddy.

 

We got home at 8:50pm. I took Noah out of his carseat and laid him on his sleepsack on our bed, and he stayed asleep the entire time.  At least, his eyes were closed and he was barely moving.  That is NOT like him.  Normally if I even put my hand near his head while he's sleeping he will stir and almost wake up.  It's not like he was limp, he was moving, but he wasn't waking up. I could have just put him straight into his crib from his carseat (which I normally could never do), but he needed to be in his sleepsack, because our house goes down to 64 degrees at night. When I started putting his arms in the holes he must have woke up just a little more because he kept his eyes closed but he lifted one hand to sign "nurse". I was planning on nursing him anyway, so I nursed him for about 8 minutes and put him in the crib, and he stayed totally asleep.  He slept until 7:15am, just getting up to nurse once at 4:30am.

 

It was a fun day.  I really like this age that Noah is at.  He's a lot easier to do things and go places with, because he takes fewer naps.  And he is sooo much fun.  And so much more independent.  I can actually visit with people now, instead of 75% of my time being spent caring for Noah.  I feel like I just got used to that, and now we're past it.

 

Elijah's little brother, Josiah, is 5 months old.  I was holding him and saying "You're so little!" (which he's not, if you compare him to most 5 month olds, but compared to my 11.5 month old he is!).  My mom said, "Doesn't holding a little one like that make you want to have another one?" 

 

It doesn't really.  I mean, yes, I want to have another one.  Hopefully two - but not at the same time.  But not right now.  Noah is still a baby.  And a 5 month old is so useless.  Maybe if he was a newborn my uterus would be tugging a bit.  But a 1 year old is a lot more fun than a 5 month old, especially when he's my 1 year old, and it's someone else's 5 month old.  I love this stage in Noah's life, and I am in ZERO hurry to disrupt our lives and start into the fertility treatment madness again. 

 

I think it's weird that I don't have that burning desire to have another baby right now.  I love that I don't have that feeling.  I do want to have more children, but I am not in a hurry for it to happen.  It's such a nice change from the feeling I had trying to get pregnant with Noah. 

Sleep Regression Over...?

I think it's safe to say the sleep regression is over.  Noah hasn't had a bad night since Saturday night (it's now Friday).  Sunday night seemed to be the turning point.  So we have survived yet another bump in the sleep road, and come out on the other side unscathed.

He's been sleeping fantastically, actually.  I think he was trying to actually catch up on all the sleep he lost the week before, because on Sunday night he slept 13 hours overnight (getting up to nurse once at about 5am I think), and then that day (Monday) his two naps totaled about 2.5 hours of sleep.  He never ever gets that much sleep in a day.  That night he slept 12 hours, and on Tuesday he took two long naps again, getting more than 2 hours of sleep total.

Yay!

Nighttime sleep is still good, but he seems to have "caught up" enough for his liking, because yesterday naps were in the toilet again.  He barely got an hour of sleep, total.  But I'm not complaining.  As long as he sleeps well at night, I'm happy.

Sleep Regression, 11 Month Edition

I am so freakin sick of sleep regressions. 

Noah turned 11 months on Friday the 18th.  On Sunday the 20th, we had an unfortunate time at my parents' house where he was supposed to take his second nap, cried in the crib for half an hour, and then I got him.  I never get him at home after he's been crying because I don't want to teach him that "if he cries for long enough, Mommy will get him."  Its a very slippery slope with Noah.  But he's also not good about sleeping anywhere but in his own crib, and after half an hour of crying in an unfamiliar crib, I felt really bad for him, so I rescued him.

Big mistake.

That night was hell.  So was/is almost every night since then.

Hours of crying in the middle of the night. 

Me caving and nursing him before the usual 4am mark, because he just won't stop crying - and what if he really is hungry?? (I believe he actually is at these times, by the way, because he really goes for it.) 

Noah continuing to cry for long periods after I put him down in the crib after nursing, even though he was asleep or almost asleep. 

As I write this, Noah is crying in his crib again.  He went to sleep at 6:30 (passed right out), and started crying at 7:30.  For over 10 minutes.

I don't know what the heck his problem is.  I think its a combination of milestones (he's getting so close to being a true "walker"), separation anxiety, the 12 month sleep regression (arriving early), and just not wanting to sleep (he's never been a sleeper). I'm not making excuses, though. There might be reasons for it, but he needs to get over it and start sleeping again. I am SICK of lying awake for 3 hours every night, and being woken up by the crying on several occasions besides that.

The thing is, I'm not doing anything different, really.  The only accommodation that I've made is allowing him to nurse before 4am.  I'm only nursing him once overnight, and that's still the only time I'm getting him out of his crib, or even going into his room.  I feel bad for him, but I can't be rocking him to sleep in the middle of the night.  As I previously mentioned, it's a slippery slope with Noah.  I probably shouldn't even be nursing him before 4am, because when I give him an inch, he'll take a mile.  If I get up and rock him once, that will make things much worse.  Plus, he's continuing to cry even after I put him back down in his crib after he falls asleep in my arms while nursing.  Obviously he just wants to sleep with me or be held by me, and that just doesn't work for me.  If I had the ability to cosleep, I would.  But I can't sleep with a baby in my bed.  I've tried.  Plus, Noah won't sleep in my bed.  He thinks its playtime.

I think I might need to push the nursing past 4am again, even if it means listening to an hour of crying before he falls back asleep.  I might just have to deal with only having a few hours of sleep for a few nights.  It's not like I'm getting much more than that right now anyway.

This sucks.

I guess we had a pretty good run for over 2 months, there.

11 Months Old

I don't think I've ever been so late with a monthly update.  Noah turned 11 months over a week ago, so I'm going to keep these updates restricted to those things he was doing at that time.  Some things have changed quite a bit in this past week.

At 11 months old, here is where Noah is at:

-He weighs 20lbs 9oz totally naked, but after a lot of nursings.  That's about 25th percentile.

-He is 31.5 inches long, about 100th percentile.

-He is less than 5th percentile for weight for height (he has tall, slim parents - he can't help it).

-He wears size 3 diapers during the day, and size 4 diapers at night.

-He wears 18 month clothing. His sleepers, onesies, and shirts fit perfectly, maybe a little on the small side.  His 18 month pants are a perfect length.

-He has 8 teeth, the four top and four bottom.

-He started signing 'nurse' at 10.5 months, and ever since then we've been nursing much more than every 2 hours.  He often wants to nurse again 5 minutes after we just finished.

-He still has just one formal "meal" of solids - mostly purees - at dinnertime.  The rest of the day he snacks on various things, usually what I'm eating.  He's still about 90% breastfed, with solids making up the other 10%.

-He goes to bed at about 7pm, sleeps until past 4am, nurses, and goes back to sleep again until about 7am, give or take.  (This has changed since a couple of days after he turned 11 months... that post is still to come.)

-He has two naps a day, ranging from 30 minutes to an hour.  The first nap is about 3 - 3.5 hours after he wakes up (he can make it to 4 pretty easily), and the second nap is 3.5 - 4 hours after he wakes up from his first nap.

-He is totally done with the soother, now.  I take very little credit for this, although I recognize that my actions inadvertently got him to this point.  He always needed it when he was being rocked to sleep.  Then we had a few weeks where he was either nursed to sleep or put in his crib awake.  I would give him his soother when I put him in his crib awake, but he never fell asleep using it.  So after seeing if he still wanted it on several different occasions, I have come to the conclusion that he is definitely over it.  It holds no appeal for him anymore.

-He's getting better at the sippy cup.  Sometimes he'll drink a couple of ounces of water out of it in one sitting.  He likes water now.

-He stands alone, takes a few independent steps (this was just an occasional thing still when he turned 11 months), cruises really well, speed crawls, and climbs.

-He loves to throw balls, play with his baseball bats, score points on his basketball hoop, and practice stick handling with his mini-sticks and hockey puck.  His athlete father is so proud :) 

-He's become extremely cuddly lately, often hugging us and laying his head down on our shoulders, draping himself over us, ect.  He'll even fall asleep sometimes with his head laying on my shoulder, which he hadn't done since he was about 2 months old.

-He loves to give Mommy kisses (sometimes Dad gets one).  He gives me probably a hundred open mouth slobber kisses each day.  Sometimes he just seems overwhelmed with the need to kiss me.  It's adorable.

-He's still a big mommy suck.  He's getting a bit friendlier with other people (smiling, making faces, giggling), but will freak out if I start to walk away. 

-He still has horrifyingly awful separation anxiety.  He still can't handle if I'm not in his sight when we're at home, so I have to plan chores and things carefully.  I can't even go to the bathroom without him.

-He just started doing this hilarious scrunchy face, sometimes doing it with a closed, pursed mouth, other times "showing off" his front teeth.  He breathes really fast in and out of his nose when he does it.  It's hilarious.

-He just started to lounge on the floor like a lazy toddler.  Not for long periods of time, but before this he would never ever sit still or lay down during the day, but now he'll sometimes lay his cheek on the floor, or recline on some pillows in front of the TV (terrible... I blame Dad).

-It's always hard to know exactly how much an 11 month old understands, but we know for sure he knows the meanings of: Mom, Dad, nurse, up, night-night, hug, kiss, no, this, book, "say hi," and "say bye".  He demonstrates understanding of those words through his actions.  I'm guessing he knows a lot more, but I can't tell.

-He just started saying "Uh oh," but its often more of an "Uh uhhh" or an "Oooh oooh." Sometimes he does "Uh uh uh ohh." He mostly does this after he drops something and we say "Uh oh."

-He says "Dis," "Dat," "Mamamama," and "Dad" or "Dada".  It seems like he says all these things in the right settings, but he also uses them at other times, so I don't know if he's really using them as words or just sounds.

-He loves to "read." He pulls out his books and sits and flips through the pages. His two teacher parents are thrilled:)

-We have this book called Who Do You See, and after "I see a bee" I say "buzzz" and he ALWAYS says "zzzzzzzz" as he strokes the bee.  After "I see a lion" I say "Rooaaar!" and he sometimes gently goes "Raaaaa."


I'm sure there is much, much more I could say, but I am already 9 days late with this post.  I am just going to finish it before I waste another day ruminating about it. 

But, as a last thing, I have to say, Noah is becoming hilarious.  His toddler personality that is beginning to emerge (although I still think 1 year olds are babies) cracks me up.  I seriously could not love him any more.  He is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me, and I am incredibly, deeply grateful for him every second of every day!

Getting Closer...

(Noah is 11 months, 4 days old)

Noah was just standing beside his jumperoo, playing, and then he turned around and walked 6 steps not holding on to anything!!  Before now the most he's done without holding on to anything or taking a break to hold onto something is 3 steps.
I clapped and cheered, "Yaaay Noah! Good job!!"

He completely ignored me.
 
No biggie, Mom.  I do this all the time when you're not watching.



Update 5 minutes later - he just took 8 steps!

Breastfeeding Past Infancy

This is a good summary of the many benefits of extended breastfeeding, written by Kelly Bonyata.  You can find the original here.

Breastfeeding Past Infancy: Fact Sheet


By Kelly Bonyata, BS, IBCLC

Breastfeeding children benefit NUTRITIONALLY


•Although there has been little research done on children who breastfeed beyond the age of two, the available information indicates that breastfeeding continues to be a valuable source of nutrition and disease protection for as long as breastfeeding continues.

•"Human milk expressed by mothers who have been lactating for +1 year has significantly increased fat and energy contents, compared with milk expressed by women who have been lactating for shorter periods. During prolonged lactation, the fat energy contribution of breast milk to the infant diet might be significant."  -- Mandel 2005

•"Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins."  -- Dewey 2001

•In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL (less than 15 oz) of breastmilk provides:

◦29% of energy requirements

◦43% of protein requirements

◦36% of calcium requirements

◦75% of vitamin A requirements

◦76% of folate requirements

◦94% of vitamin B12 requirements

◦60% of vitamin C requirements

-- Dewey 2001

•Studies done in rural Bangladesh have shown that breastmilk continues to be an important source of vitamin A in the second and third year of life.  -- Persson 1998

•It's not uncommon for weaning to be recommended for toddlers who are eating few solids. However, this recommendation is not supported by research. According to Sally Kneidel in "Nursing Beyond One Year" (New Beginnings, Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August 1990, pp. 99-103.):  "Some doctors may feel that nursing will interfere with a child's appetite for other foods. Yet there has been no documentation that nursing children are more likely than weaned children to refuse supplementary foods. In fact, most researchers in Third World countries, where a malnourished toddler's appetite may be of critical importance, recommend continued nursing for even the severely malnourished (Briend et al, 1988; Rhode, 1988; Shattock and Stephens, 1975; Whitehead, 1985). Most suggest helping the malnourished older nursing child not by weaning but by supplementing the mother's diet to improve the nutritional quality of her milk (Ahn and MacLean. 1980; Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 1978) and by offering the child more varied and more palatable foods to improve his or her appetite" (Rohde, 1988; Tangermann, 1988; Underwood, 1985).


Breastfeeding children are SICK LESS OFTEN

•The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that children weaned before two years of age are at increased risk of illness (AAFP 2001).

•Nursing toddlers between the ages of 16 and 30 months have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers (Gulick 1986).

•"Antibodies are abundant in human milk throughout lactation" (Nutrition During Lactation 1991; p. 134). In fact, some of the immune factors in breastmilk increase in concentration during the second year and also during the weaning process. (Goldman 1983, Goldman & Goldblum 1983, Institute of Medicine 1991).

•Per the World Health Organization, "a modest increase in breastfeeding rates could prevent up to 10% of all deaths of children under five: Breastfeeding plays an essential and sometimes underestimated role in the treatment and prevention of childhood illness."



Breastfeeding children have FEWER ALLERGIES

•Many studies have shown that one of the best ways to prevent allergies and asthma is to breastfeed exclusively for at least 6 months and continue breastfeeding long-term after that point.
Breastfeeding can be helpful for preventing allergy by:

1. Reducing exposure to potential allergens (the later baby is exposed, the less likely that there will be an allergic reaction),

2. Speeding maturation of the protective intestinal barrier in baby's gut,

3. Coating the gut and providing a barrier to potentially allergenic molecules,

4. Providing anti-inflammatory properties that reduce the risk of infections (which can act as allergy triggers).


Breastfeeding children are SMART

•Extensive research on the relationship between cognitive achievement (IQ scores, grades in school) and breastfeeding has shown the greatest gains for those children breastfed the longest.


Breastfeeding children are WELL ADJUSTED SOCIALLY

•According to Sally Kneidel in "Nursing Beyond One Year" (New Beginnings, Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August 1990, pp. 99-103.):  "Research reports on the psychological aspects of nursing are scarce. One study that dealt specifically with babies nursed longer than a year showed a significant link between the duration of nursing and mothers' and teachers' ratings of social adjustment in six- to eight-year-old children (Ferguson et al, 1987). In the words of the researchers, 'There are statistically significant tendencies for conduct disorder scores to decline with increasing duration of breastfeeding.'"

•According to Elizabeth N. Baldwin, Esq. in "Extended Breastfeeding and the Law":  "Breastfeeding is a warm and loving way to meet the needs of toddlers and young children. It not only perks them up and energizes them; it also soothes the frustrations, bumps and bruises, and daily stresses of early childhood. In addition, nursing past infancy helps little ones make a gradual transition to childhood."

•Baldwin continues: "Meeting a child's dependency needs is the key to helping that child achieve independence. And children outgrow these needs according to their own unique timetable." Children who achieve independence at their own pace are more secure in that independence then children forced into independence prematurely.


Breastfeeding your child past infancy is NORMAL

•The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that "Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child... Increased duration of breastfeeding confers significant health and developmental benefits for the child and the mother... There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer." (AAP 2005)

•The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that breastfeeding continue throughout the first year of life and that "As recommended by the WHO, breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is not the cultural norm in the United States and requires ongoing support and encouragement. It has been estimated that a natural weaning age for humans is between two and seven years. Family physicians should be knowledgeable regarding the ongoing benefits to the child of extended breastfeeding, including continued immune protection, better social adjustment, and having a sustainable food source in times of emergency. The longer women breastfeed, the greater the decrease in their risk of breast cancer." They also note that "If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned." (AAFP 2008)

•A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello 1990)

•The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO 1993, WHO 2002).

•Scientific research by Katherine A. Dettwyler, PhD shows that 2.5 to 7.0 years of nursing is what our children have been designed to expect (Dettwyler 1995).


MOTHERS also benefit from breastfeeding past infancy

•Extended nursing delays the return of fertility in some women by suppressing ovulation.

•Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer. Studies have found a significant inverse association between duration of lactation and breast cancer risk.

•Breastfeeding reduces the risk of ovarian cancer.

•Breastfeeding reduces the risk of uterine cancer.

•Breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometrial cancer.

•Breastfeeding protects against osteoporosis. During lactation a mother may experience decreases of bone mineral. A nursing mom's bone mineral density may be reduced in the whole body by 1 to 2 percent while she is still nursing. This is gained back, and bone mineral density may actually increase, when the baby is weaned from the breast. This is not dependent on additional calcium supplementation in the mother's diet.

•Breastfeeding reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. 

•Breastfeeding has been shown to decrease insulin requirements in diabetic women.

•Breastfeeding moms tend to lose weight easier.