What Is Extended Breastfeeding?

If you are nursing your toddler, you are doing extended breastfeeding according to most people in the western world

Extended breastfeeding... What is that?

Extended beyond what?

The answer really depends on who you ask.

In most western countries today, it is considered normal and great if a mom breastfeeds her baby for up to 1 year. After that it starts to slowly become more controversial, and the mom also is said to be doing extended breastfeeding.

One can of course speculate about why anyone outside a baby's immediate family would care at all for how long a baby is breastfed. It is not like the mom is feeding her baby Coca Cola - breast milk is very healthy; at least that should be something we can all agree on!

But speculations is not the purpose of this article. Instead, we want to share with you the benefits of extended breastfeeding as well as talk a little but about the challenges of breastfeeding your toddler.

Extended Breastfeeding 101

• What is Extended Breastfeeding?
• What Are The Benefits To Extended Breastfeeding?
• What Are The Challenges of Extended Nursing?

What is Extended Breastfeeding?

However, in the US and many other western countries in particular, mothers are more or less expected to wean their child from their breast no later than one year of age. So when you hear the term extended nursing it simply means continuing to breastfeed your child when they become a toddler or until they are ready to wean themselves from the breast.

What Are The Benefits To Extended Breastfeeding?

Although formula companies and even some doctors encourage mothers to stop breastfeeding at 6 months to a year telling them breastfeeding past this point has no real benefits for your child, they are wrong. Extended breastfeeding has many benefits for your child including:

• Giving your child additional vitamins, enzymes and immunities that help them stay healthy and strong. In fact, extended breast milk may actually increase the amount of immunities your child receives as they get older. Toddlers who continue to breast feed after the age of one usually suffer from fewer infections and colds then children who are not breastfed or who are weaned early.
• As your child develops and becomes more independent, he is constantly trying new things for himself. Extended breastfeeding can provide him with a sense of security that allows him to meet the new challenges in his young life with more self-assurance as he feels the emotional support to move forward.
• Extended breastfeeding allows your child to wean himself when he is developmentally ready. This allows him to move ahead with more confidence and less worries than forcing him to do something he is neither physically or emotionally ready to deal with.

In addition, the general benefits of breastfeeding, which you can read about here, continue to be important and relevant.

What Are The Challenges of Extended Nursing?

• Public criticism is probably the biggest challenge that most mothers face when they decide that extended nursing is right for their child and themselves. You may receive odd looks, comments and even outright criticism from family, friends, and complete strangers all of who have been trained to believe that early weaning is best for your child.
• No doubt, breastfeeding in public is more challenging with a toddler than with a newborn. A small child is relatively still, while a toddler never sits still! So in addition to general public criticism, you might find it quite stressful to risk showing off your breasts completely as your toddlers jumps around in our arms. Unless our toddler is used to sitting very peacefully in your lap while breastfeeding, keeping a routine to breastfeed at home, for example, might be a good idea if you find the situation embarrassing.
• Some parents feel that weaning becomes more difficult the longer they continue to breast feed. This is especially true if the child uses breastfeeding as a way to get parental attention. However, you can use a variety of means to avoid this problem including giving your child the attention they crave in other ways.
• Some mothers find themselves overwhelmed when they are still breastfeeding and have another child on the way. While it is possible to continue to breastfeed your toddler while pregnant, you will want to ensure that you are eating properly and getting adequate rest. During pregnancy, your milk supply may fall off at some point and more often than not, your toddler will begin weaning themselves when this occurs.

Just remember that extended breastfeeding is a personal choice and each parent must decide what is right for their child and themselves.

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