Breast Feeding Past Two Years
The American Pediatric Association recommends breastfeeding for at least a year, but the World Health Organization wants the nursing mother to go longer, to two years minimum, and longer if the mother and baby wish. Breastfeeding is a very special bond shared between child and mother. My decision continue to breastfeed even past seventeen months was one of the best parenting decisions I've made.
These days a lot of mothers are pressured to stop breastfeeding at the one year mark, in some cases much earlier. According to the American Academy of Pediatricians, negative attitudes about breastfeeding stem from a lack of family and societal support. The media portrays bottle feeding as healthy and normal, but this is misinformation. This, combined with a lack of guidance from health care professionals, commercial promotion of infant formula through distribution of hospital discharge packs, coupons for free or discounted formula, and television and general magazine advertising tend to sway young mothers away from prolonged breastfeeding.
I remember I was often asked the dreaded question, “How long do you intend to nurse?” by well meaning relatives, friends, and even strangers. I felt almost embarrassed to say that I was still breastfeeding for fear that they would assume that I was a push over mom or that I didn’t know what I was doing. I found my mother’s advice and other mother’s experiences with breastfeeding past the one year mark reassuring.
As stated in the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding (WHA55 A55/15, paragraph 10):
Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed(1) for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health(2). Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Exclusive breastfeeding from birth is possible except for a few medical conditions, and unrestricted exclusive breastfeeding results in ample milk production.
I know I did the best with what I was given. At fifteen months, she didn’t need me as much and nursed once but not more than twice a day. I find myself missing the times when she needed me just a little more. I see her growing and I am proud of her growth. I know I will look upon our nursing times with great fondness and cherish the experience I was given. I feel proud to be part of that heritage of nursing mothers that existed before the invention of baby formula.
by Codi Ventura, Local Green Circle, June, 2009
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