I have once again gotten comments about how I am "STILL breastfeeding my baby"?!?! STILL?? Of course, he is seven years old and in elementary school......oh, no--wait! He's FIVE MONTHS OLD. Perhaps I am one of the only mothers on the planet that hasn't figured out how to feed steak and mashed potatoes (well, tofu and veggies) to a toothless five month old. Someone will have to help me out here and explain how they have their infants off formula or breastmilk. I suppose I shouldn't tell people that I nursed my last baby past 18 month. Yep, that's right. He had a full mouth of teeth, was walking and talking (sort of), and we were both completely happy.
Ok, seriously. It floors me that people seem to think you are supposed to nurse your baby for three months or less and then pat yourself on the back for doing your job. I understand that is doesn't work out for some women or that some women decide not to do it at all. I agree that something is better than nothing. I do not understand those women that nurse their baby 6 or 8 weeks or three months and decide they have done their job and quit. Why? The beginning is the rough part. Your milk supply is all over the place, you leak, the kid is goofy and it takes forever to feed that newborn. Every two hours or so you are sitting down to feed a baby for 20+ minutes. Oh, yeah and it hurts. I get it.
What I also get is what most people don't: after the first three months or so is the best! The baby is great at latching on, and it doesn't hurt at all anymore. Your milk supply regulates, and feeding is super quick. My five month old can "fill up" in about 8 minutes every 3 or 4 hours. No bottles, no mess, no work. Once every three and half hours, I pop him on a boob, switch, and am about done. I think it is the best and laziest thing I have ever decided to do! Another perk is that it gets easier with each kid. You know what you are doing and that makes it simpler and get to the "easy part" much quicker. No, it is not always perfect and yes, it takes work. So does being married and raising children and pretty much everything else in life. You don't have to take it to the point that I do where the child goes from breast to table food and a sippee cup. I'm not even a baby food fan. It's expensive, time consuming (especially if you opt to make your own) and not all that necessary. They didn't have food processors a hundred years ago. Seriously. I nurse my babies and start throwing soft, mushy table food at them around 6 or 7 months old and give them a sippee cup to play with. By about a year, they are good at table food and the cup and I start to slowly wean. It's simple, easy, and a whole lot cheaper.
Here is some further information from an article titled "Why Should You Breastfeed?" by a physician:
Contrary to popular opinion, there are few reasons why an infant
cannot be breast fed. Breast milk is the preferred source of nutrition
for all infants through the first six months of life, and most experts
recommend breastfeeding an infant for at least the first year.
Babies who are exclusively formula-fed have a higher incidence of
health problems than do infants who are breastfed. Surprisingly, in the
US, exclusively formula-fed infants have a 21 percent higher mortality
rate.
The Department of Health and Human Services, through its Healthy
People 2010 initiative, has established the following goals for
breastfeeding: 75 percent of all US mothers will attempt breastfeeding
beginning at birth, 50 percent will continue breastfeeding through the
first six months, and 25 percent will continue breastfeeding for one
year after birth.
Benefits of Breastfeeding
Human milk is designed for human infants and is nutritionally
superior to formulas. Through observational and clinical studies,
breastfeeding has been strongly correlated with multiple health
benefits for infants and mothers:
Immunologic Support and Disease Prevention
- Decreased risk of bacterial meningitis, sepsis, diarrhea,
otitis media, respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, asthma,
Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, sudden
infant death syndrome, and diabetes (Types 1 and 2)
Developmental
- Improved outcomes for premature infants
Psychological
- Analgesic or comforting effects during painful procedures
Maternal Health
- Mothers who breastfeed experience decreased risk of breast and
ovarian cancers, reduced postpartum bleeding, and earlier return to
pre-pregnancy weight
Economic
- A projected $3.5 billion reduction in annual health care costs,
including reduced hospitalization costs, public supplementation
programs (such as WIC), and direct patient costs
Environmental
- Reduction in disposal of cans and bottles in public landfill sites
Here are some website about breastfeeding:
www.kellymom.com
www.llli.org
www.breastfeeding.com
So, I would ask anyone pregnant or with a baby to challenge popular opinion and nurse beyond the first three months. (Be even crazier still and nurse your toddler!) And for those of you with older children or no children at all, stop asking the mothers of infants if they are STILL nursing their baby. Applaud instead.
--EM!
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