Extended Breastfeeding

[Laura2919]

Did I say it would compromise their solid intake? No. I didnt. I say their diet should be mainly solids. So at 2 they should have breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks in between, they dont NEED breastmilk.

A child of 2 isnt a baby anymore, there is food that give them nutrients, I just dont feel comfortable with it and it wouldnt be my choice

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

I don't think laura meant compromise at all. A 2 year old does not need huge amounts of breastmilk like a baby does. I'm guessing they would only have a few feeds a day so they it doesn't intefer with food as they may become full if they have too much?

Considering the amount a 2 year old takes I don't think expressing would be that time consuming and they ae still getting the health benefits of breastmilk. A lady I work with expresses it and puts in a cup and she says she does that twice a day and it doesn't interfer with he daily life. I have nothing wrong with extended breastfeeding but I still think a child can get the health benefits from a cup with breastmilk in x

 

[AnnaBanana9]

I suppose, though, that even though a toddler/young child is eating solids 3 meals a day, they still need milk of some description? Whether breastmilk, cow's milk, soy milk, etc., a child still needs it.

Just my 2 cents' worth; I realize everyone has different feelings about this

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

Yes I agree completely but a two yea old doesn't take milk from a bottle they have it in a cup. Another lady I saw couldn't have a conversation without her three year old having beastmilk, the 3 year olds weight had dropped off the centile. It turns out she was using her mother as a dummy and filling up on milk and she didn't want to eat. I think a 2 year old can learn to drink from a cup and have cuddles with mummy, they are still getting the affection x

 

[AnnaBanana9]

I guess I look at it from a different perspective since Alyssa BF until she was almost 28 months old. She only ever BF in the evening/night towards the end of our journey. She drinks (and was drinking at the time) cow's milk and water from a cup during the day while I am work.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Personally, I think it's a lovely experience (again, can't speak for anyone else) - it was a time for me, my girl, and my hubby to spend quietly as a family.

I think that if an older toddler or child was BF, it would largely be in the evening before bed, so more than likely others wouldn't even know the child was nursing at all unless the mother told them - they just wouldn't see it. I know of so many people who were stunned when I told them that Alyssa self-weaned at the end of May - they assumed that she was no longer BF because they always saw her drinking from cups when we were out and about.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I also don't think this thing about 'they should be drinking from a cup' really makes sense - I don't think continuing to BF has any impact on a child taking water, juice or even milk from a cup? Everyone I know who has BF until 2+ has always started their LO on cups at 6 months ish just like everyone else.

 

[smelly07]

Personally i think 2 is young to suddenly just think 'right cup time'

My LO still has warm milk in a bottle in the morning and before bed. she wont drink the milk from a cup, yes thats more likely a comfort thing but i dont see why i should take that away from her and the same goes for somebody who BF's.
(she does drink water from a cup)

My eldest self weaned at 16 months old BUT went off ALL dairy products and it was so stressful trying to get calcium into her diet so im happy that my youngest still enjoys her milk and for the time being dont care where she drinks it from.

 

[midori1999]

Did I say it would compromise their solid intake? No. I didnt. I say their diet should be mainly solids. So at 2 they should have breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks in between, they dont NEED breastmilk.

A child of 2 isnt a baby anymore, there is food that give them nutrients, I just dont feel comfortable with it and it wouldnt be my choice

It's fine for you to not be comfortable with something, but I do find it sad that people feel uncomfortable about women feeding their children as nature intended. You can't really help what you feel uncomfortable about though.

I also think it's fine for people to say 'for me, that is the age I would be prepared to BF to', but I don't think it's fine to comment on the age in general people should BF to.

Children do need milk and dairy as a part of their diet. ot provides them with valuble nutrients. Why shouldn't that milk be breastmilk? Why do people feel more comfortable with giving children the breastmilk of another species, especially considering it needs to be pasturised in order to make it safe for us to drink?

I don't think laura meant compromise at all. A 2 year old does not need huge amounts of breastmilk like a baby does. I'm guessing they would only have a few feeds a day so they it doesn't intefer with food as they may become full if they have too much?

Considering the amount a 2 year old takes I don't think expressing would be that time consuming and they ae still getting the health benefits of breastmilk. A lady I work with expresses it and puts in a cup and she says she does that twice a day and it doesn't interfer with he daily life. I have nothing wrong with extended breastfeeding but I still think a child can get the health benefits from a cup with breastmilk in x

Not all women can express though. Plus, as there is nothing damaging about breastfeeding, why on earth shouldn't Mum's feed directly from the breast after a certain age? Purely because some people feel uncomfortable about it without really being able ot give reasons why? As long as the person doing the feeding is OK with it, where's the problem?

Feeding directly from the breast offers comfort and security that giving breastmilk in a cup wouldn't give. Why should even a child be denied that? Feeding from the breast releases endorphins the act as natural painkillers too and many women will BF when their child has hurt or is in pain as this helps the child. On another forum I use there is a thread about what children who are breastfed and can talk have to say about breastfeeding and one ladies child said that BF is better than Calpol.

 

[Lightworker]

This is my understanding. For a babys body to function at optimum, it needs BM. This is evidenced by the lower incidence of diseases etc. If this benefits continue for the duration of the BFing, it stands to reason that a child, even at 4, NEEDS BM to function at optimum, ie for as long as its still providing benefits, then they need it. Thats why I question anyone who says they dont need it. I hope I made sense. x

 

[LittleBoo]

My plan for this LO (and also for my first born actually) is to BF til AT LEAST 6 months, then if I can get a good supply via expressing, express milk for both my boys to have in sippy cups/normal cups. I don't see any problem with it, in fact I much prefer the idea than I do carrying on with cows milk. I don't know til what age I'd like to do this, but if I could I wouldn't mind giving my milk as a drink til they're past school age. I'm not sure how I'd feel about feeding straight from the breast, I don't think it's for me. But I'd never look down on anyone doing so, if they're comfortable with it why should I have a problem? I'm rambling

 

[indy and lara]

Personally i think 2 is young to suddenly just think 'right cup time'

My LO still has warm milk in a bottle in the morning and before bed. she wont drink the milk from a cup, yes thats more likely a comfort thing but i dont see why i should take that away from her and the same goes for somebody who BF's.
(she does drink water from a cup)

My eldest self weaned at 16 months old BUT went off ALL dairy products and it was so stressful trying to get calcium into her diet so im happy that my youngest still enjoys her milk and for the time being dont care where she drinks it from.

I agree. Emma weaned at 14 months. At this point she took milk in a bottle twice a day. Now we are just managing to get rid of the bottle now. She drank everything else from a cup but wouldn't take milk this way. Yip, it is a comfort thing. But it was hardly the end of the world. Personally I would not want to still be BF but if others want to that is grand.

 

[Lightworker]

Just read a lovely article by Dr Sears on extended breastfeeding - if you google the benefits of extended breastfeeding and Dr Sears, you may find it, I cant post the link from my mobile. It dispells the notion of all older children not needing it.

 

[freckleonear]

Lovely post Poppeteer!

By feeding expressed breastmilk from a cup you would still get the health benefits, but you miss out on all the behavioural and emotional benefits which seem to be the most important reasons for many full term breastfeeders. Expressing is time-consuming, inconvenient and difficult for some women (for example, I have excess lipase in my milk which means it starts to go sour as soon as it is expressed). Suggesting that it would be more appropriate to feed older children from a cup rather than directly from the breast is still suggesting that there is something wrong with doing that, but so far nobody has really explained why that could be a negative thing.

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

I didn't say it would be a negative a thing I was suggesting a way that a child could still have the benefits of breastmilk. As for the emotional benefits etc, a child can stil recieve that from having a cuddle, kisses and having down time where the mothe and child have some affection.

Also say it's inconvienent, time consuming etc isn't that benefiting the mother? How much milk does a 2 year old take? Having expressed before it didn't take me long to get a 5 oz bottle. As I stated previosuly I have seen mothers do this, and they work full time. None of them said it was time consuming they actually said it helped them gain more time back. I have nothing wrong with extended breasfeeding and I don't see it as a negative thing. If a baby still wants to take milk from the breast then fine, thats their choice as an individual child. The point I am trying to make is the benefits of breastmilk and the emotional effects can still be achieved without breastfeeding.

In addition is isn't always the best thing for the child. I said a few posts back a child was actaully substituting meals with breastmilk and they lost a considerable amount of weight as the milk wasn't sustaining them.

Again I'm not disputing the benefits of breastmilk or breastfeeding, I just think that it may not always benefit the child as I have seen in practice. All children are different some it will benefit and some it won't x

 

[indy and lara]

Expressing is time consuming and unsuccessful for many women. As time went on I found I was able to express less and less milk so needed to do it more often and that also took up more time. What I could express 3 months in was a considerably larger amount than I could express at 12 months. I think it is always going to be contentious to say that cuddles give the same benefits emotionally as BFing as many BFers believe strongly in the added emotional benefits of BFing.

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

But I don't understand how it is different? Me and Aidan have an incediable bond and he still gets emotional benefits from cuddles. I don't understand how having a cuddle gives any less benefits (emotionally) than breastfeeding. I may be wrong but until someone explains to me how it benefits, I won't understand. Me and Aidan still have cuddles and affection and he reaps the benefits from that, I don't have to breastfeed him to achieve that x

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

Just to add I am not saying expressing isn't time consuming in the early days as it defiantly is. x

 

[Blah11]

Heather, its different for everyone. I remember milk pouring from my boob when I breastfed amelie but as soon as the dreaded pump came out, my milk wouldn't. It would take 4x15 minute sessions to get 5 or 6oz out. So an hour for 5oz of milk with no guarentee that my baby wouldnt need more than 6oz when I could just BF Lucky you that you could express with ease but not all women can.

eta - breastfeeding releases the love hormone called oxytocin so it does indeed promote bonding more than just a cuddle would. That doesnt say that every BF mother has an immediate strong bond with their child and it doesnt mean that a FF mummy loves or has any less of a bond with theirs.

 

[Lightworker]

Are the effects of oxytocin compromised by expressing? Just curious.

 

[midori1999]

Reasons to BF as opposed to feed expressed breastmilk to toddlers/older children:

- it means the child can self wean from the breast when they feel ready

- if the child feeds directly from the breast the milk will be tailored to suit them at that time, especially if they are ill.

- breastfeeding produces 'feel good' hormones in both the mother and child, benefitting the mother/child relationship

- breastfeeding produces natural painkillers in a child, helpful if they need immunisation or fall off their bike etc.

Aside from all of that, if there is no reason to stop breastfeeding and start expressing milk, why would or should anyone? It seems no-one can answer that...