Breast benefit

[laughingeyes2013]

Someone suggested to me that there is not much benefit from breastfeeding past 6 months as babies begin to manufacture their own antibodies and loads have been passed on from the mother.

I think this may have been to make me feel better because I've been forced to combined feed against my personal preferences, for medical reasons.

But it got me looking on the internet for information about how beneficial is it to breastfeed beyond 6 months, and I can't find anything specific on the subject. Does anyone know any website or studies that are worth a look?

I don't want to torture myself because I have very little choice in this, but I am putting in a huge effort to still breast feed partially, and so I have a keen interest in finding out the real facts rather than just hearsay.

Yes - there are lots of benefits, bumping for you until someone comes along with a link. Dont berate yourself for "only" partially breastfeeding - all those benefits will still be felt, even if its "only" partial. You have done a fab job to get to six months anyway! Well done!

off the top of my head - here are some benefits I remember,

-if you get a cold, when your body produces antibodies to that specific virus they will be passed to your baby in breastmilk.

• when they have their vaccinations or if they have a little fall and hurt themselves you can comfort them in an instant. (milk contains pain relievers, and its a soothing activity)
• you can get them to sleep easily any time you want
• you have portable snack/drink on hand wherever your are (magic on planes!)

-milk is antibacterial you can squirt it on small cuts for quick healing.

Watching with interest as am in similar boat....

Humans need milk until they are about 2 years old, and human milk is always going to be better than animal milk or processed milk.

There's some information here on the nutritional/health benefits of human milk:

kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/ebf-benefits/

oh, and it helps you lose any extra baby fat.

hows this?

kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/ebf-benefits/

x post!

I've read that it's great when introducing foods as allergies and intolerance can be kept at bay. Selfishly, i can gorge and it keeps my weight down.

Found this article detailing benefits by month, not read it all yet though
www.thealphaparent.com/2011/12/timeline-of-breastfed-baby.html?m=1

I found as my baby got older it became more of a comfort tool. Any bumps or scrapes were easily soothed with some booby cuddles, any tantrums were stopped by simply latching her on, and it just seemed easier to keep going rather than stop. I let dd self wean (it happened when I got pregnant)

I think I read somewhere that the sucking action also builds up the jaw muscles, so can help with speech development and breast fed babies tend to have fewer ear infections as they have to suck more powerfully and that can help with preventing them.

Don't have links but off the top off my head one off the studies linking breastfeeding and reduced risk of childhood leukaemia was done post 6 months. The longer you feed for the more you reduce your risk of breast cancer, that's pretty well known LLL or WHO should have info on that. I think reduced risk of diabetes and obesity increase with length of breastfeeding. Plus all of the reasons above.

www.notmilk.com/101.html

That site has links to loads of studies. La lechwe league may be of use too. Don't feel guilty for mixed feeling, feel very proud for still feeding and wanting to feed despite your medical issues. It is still very beneficial to feed past 6 months if you can.

Twins- that's a good article, that's the one I was looking for

This is all very motivating - thx. With DD1 I ebf-ed for 2 years and was starting to lose momentum with DD2...

It definitely seems to protect from bugs picked up at nurseries. Sometimes I hear there is a bug in the nursery, I get the bloody bug - and DC escape!

And I don't EBF - just a few feeds a day with normal milk during the day.