benefits of breastfeeding beyond 12 mo

[ionesmum]

What are they?

My G.P. says that the only benefit is convenience for me.

HunkerMunker, completely agree with you.

Vicky, DS is on four (sometimes five) bfeeds a day, plus three meals and snacks (ricecakes, banana, cheese, etc). I am very vague if I see HV and frankly, usually I don't bother. He doesn't have added sugar, never has, and doesn't eat anything processed. He seems to prefer savoury things - I think if I did say anything in the clinic, the other mothers would lynch me Plus I realise by writing this post, he'll only want sweet things tomorrow

Thank you, Winnie

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. My dd2 is huge, on the 98th centile and wearing clothes now that her big sister was wearing when she was walking! She more or less still feeds on demand as she isn't keen on a cup, so she has 3-4 full feeds plus little 'top-ups' when she is thirsty. She's not a big fan of solids at all.

My gp and hv looked at me as if I was a martian when I was still breastfeeding at nine months. I usually follow dds lead in most things and carried on regardless. She stopped feeding at 16 months and I was absolutely heartbroken.

I got the old 'no nutritional value past 12 months' bollocks from my hv as well.

Plus, when I took ds to the GP's at around 10 months, to check if the reason he was having vile runny nappies might be because I'd recently introduced cow's milk for cereal etc, GP looked utterly shocked when I said I was still bf-ing and asked straight out 'But you must be planning to stop soon?' Well, considering I'm sitting in your office and we're talking about the fact my ds appears to be intolerant of cow's milk, no I'm not planning to stop bf-ing anytime soon, you beardy twit. He tried to get ds onto formula. I just sat there saying 'But why can't I just bf him like I have quite happily for the last 10 months??' Grrrr.

It is shocking how badly informed they are.

ionesmum, I fed dd until she was 2.5 (she is now 15)
and in answer to your GP's concers
she will get anaemic dd has never been anaemic despite being a veggie
b) she won't eat enough solids and become a picky eater dd eats anything & everything (Unless meat )
c) she will develope a sweet tooth and dd does not have a sweet tooth (although she does love chocolate when she has a period just like her mother
d) her teeth will rot dd has perfect teeth & never needed a filling

Thanks again. Winnie, I'm very intersted in what you have to say as I'm a veggie too, and both dds don't eat meat, only a little fish.

a) she will get anaemic
Why on earth would she? You can give cows milk at 12 months and that's low in iron. Breast Milk iron is extremely bioavailable. Sounds like she got this idea from too many formula reps peddling their high iron toddler formula. This is your GPs problem, but she is wrong.

b) she won't eat enough solids and become a picky eater?
Again, why on earth would she? Some kids are picky, some will eat anything, some are only interested in milk. Breastfeeding is irrelevant. This is not your GPs problem.

c) she will develope a sweet tooth
I am afraid that this one just confuses me. I can't think why it would be more likely. Giving kids sweets develops a sweet tooth. Again not your GPs problem. Breatfed children are less likely to be obese, so I can't think that the sweet tooth argument would stand up to research.

d) her teeth will rot.
Breastmilk contains xylitol a natural carbohydrate (but not a sugar, although it is sweet), they put another version (derived from plants)of this into chewing gums and smints because it protects the teeth. Breastmilk also is squirted back into the throat away from the teeth anyway. The single biggest cause of rotten teeth is juice in a bottle left in the mouth for hours at a time.

I still don't think it's any of her business. I got told the dental caries one by a Paed so I looked it up and realised that it really is only a potential problem for a constant night feeder who falls asleep with a milky smile several times a night, and the same there would be true for a bottle fed baby with similar habits.

He also claimed it led to increased depression. I asked him if he thought that it was maybe the stress of all the healthcare professionals frustrating mothers who were doing nothing wrong that led to the depression.

Increased depression?! WTF?! Some health professionals are neither good for the health nor professional...

Glad you countered Bobbybob. How's potty training going?

The potty master (my mum) arrives today. I have the carpet cleaner close to hand!

For me
I liked it
ds liked it, curiously so did dd
end of story
there is no way anyone doctor or not is going to tell me that what my body produces for my baby or toddler is not good enough for them!!!!
My son was size of small mountain on very few solids until 18 mths
my dd is petite and she weaned onto solids enthusiastically at 6-7 mths, along with he breastfeeds - she is tiny!!!
Bollix

It's so nice to come here chat to so many mums who ar ein the same position. Thanks again to everyone.

Bobbybob - are you having trouble potty training too? It's a nightmare isn't it?

I think the reason why he is querying the aneamic thing is that the baby relies on its birth born store of iron and that generally runs out by about 6 months. There are lots of pieces of research that does show if a mother exclusively bfeeds her child after 6 months, there can be risk of iron deficiency. However, as far as I am aware it only applies to exclusive bfeeding, and if your child is eating other foods then it should not be a problem. But that may be why he wants you to encourage a full diet as well as bfeeding. I can send you the research if you want it, but probably not!

However, having said that, Cows Milk is even less in iron, but I guess his thinking is that Cows Milk is more of a drink, whereas BMilk can be subsituted for a meal.

However, on the other things, I think he is talking out of his arse. You do need to get a balance between bfeeding and food as at this age, I don't think bmilk does give all the nutrients a child needs (such as iron) and they can get them more effectively from other foods. But if your other foods are high in iron, for example, then there shouldn't be a problem!

I also believe that there are medical benefits from bfeeding past a year, and it is mainly immunity based - (But can't rememember what exactly off the top of my head). But if you want to arm yourself with some facts... Try looking up www.bmj.com and follow the links to searching other journals. You should then be able to find abstracts from articles about bfeeding from the Amercian Academy of Paediatrics. It won't give you the whole document, but you can get a flavour of the articles and the views.

Then next time you see your GP and he mentions it, take a very deep breath, smile sweetly and (think patronising) say that as a doctor, he probably knows more up to date research than you, but you had been told by a friend that bfeeding past a year was recommended by American Association of Paediatrics... and you had believed that XXX article had recommended it. And did he know of any research which had proved this false, etc?

I find it works excellently every time... Boost their ego with a compliment about their status, and then very politely prove you know far more than they do. Shuts them up every time!!

Hope This helps

And keep going - I still Bfeed my 16 month baby and my HV is completely behind me. I don't think she'd dare not be!!!

I had to take one of my older children to see our GP when ds3 was about 8m. Ds3 came along too of course, and he needed a breastfeed while we were there.

GP "You're not still feeding him are you ?"
Me "Oh yes, I'll be guided by him as to when he wants to stop. All the others weaned themselves with no trouble."
GP "Well I wouldn't let my wife feed for so long ".

????

Unfortunately I can't change GP. There aren't any others nearby with space on their lists.

Ionesmum - you should send your GP the information from the link below. There is loads of evidence out there as to why extended breastfeeding is beneficial for mum and baby. You could post it in saying you thought she might be interested in the information for future use.

Rarrie, what you say tallies exactly with what my g.p. says. Dd2 doesn't have a diet rich in iron simply because she doesn't eat a lot - I do offer her iron-rich food but she doesn't eat any of it. I said to the g.p. that if she was so concerned then should dd2 have a supplement and she said no, and dd2 quite clearly isn't anaemic. I do all I can to encourage her to eat but I can't make her, and I'm not going to get into a power struggle over it.

Stilltrue That poor woman, fancy being married to that awful man!

Good idea, mears, I might do that, and for my hv too.

Sorry but why are we surprised? GPs are not the fount of all wisdom. This isn't the 30's!! (Still remember the star struck gaze that used to come into my grandmothers eyes when she talked about her family doctor!!)
M/Ws generally know loads more about this field (as they should.)
Must say that I am constantly amazed at the talk on MN of strange HVs and MWs who seem to be all for formula and early weaning. Thought they were all as fab and supportive and knowledgeable about b/feeding as they are round my way.
Big big shout out for all the MWs and HVs in North Wales. Gorgeous people!!!

Can't remember how old your little one is, or whether it is relevant to you, but giving diluted pure OJ at meal times increases the absorption of iron (or an orange - or something with VIt C). As veggies, it is a trick that is well used in our house.

Otherwise if you want to boost the amount of iron your l.o. takes, then you could also:

Chop up bits of apricot and put into yoghurt, semolina, porridge.

Weetabix is also iron fortified, but not sure how easily it is absorbed by the body.

Don't worry about forcing spinach - apparently whilst it is high in iron, it is not easily absorbed (so eat with Vit C).

Oh and if your doctor encourages formula because it is fortified with iron, you could politely point out that it is so heavily fortified because babies do not absorb it well! Again, i believe there is a lot of research that documents this!

Can't you tell I'm obsessive about raising my child veggie!!????!!

HTH

I don't know if that link had this on or if anyone else has said but from my research on the La Leche Leage website I remember that one of their reasons for breastfeeding toddlers (and even older children!) was because a child's immune systems won't develop properly until the age of five, and breastmilk has key nutrients and antibodies that will protect them against sickness (I know that link says something somewhere about the not getting sick, but didn't notice whether it gave a reason why)...

There is every reason to continue for as long as you and your child want, and there is every reason to believe that, on this subject, your doctor is full of twaddle!

Best of luck!

system not systems lol my spelling is terrible today!

Don't know if it is of any help, but I'm worried about iron levels too, as although ds does eat, it isn't usually iron rich foods. And as for OJ - I'm sure he thinks why on earth is she giving me this!?! I much prefer milk. Anyway, somebody told me about apricots being good for iron, so I got some dried ones, heated them up in a bit of OJ, and then pureed them and froze in ice cubes. DS gets a couple of these cubes in his porridge every morning. Hope I'm not 'killing off' the iron benefits, because I reckon there must be the equivalent of about three apricots in each cube!

If I'm destroying any benefits, can somebody please tell me! Thanks.

NOt had time to read all the posts...

ionesmum - continuing to b/feed will help with the colds your dd is having and stop them developing into something worse such as an ear infection. It takes about 7 years for a child's immunity to build properly and the immunological properties of b/milk will help.

All this rubbish about eating and b/feeding is rubbish as to the child they are two totally different experiences. My dd is 2.10 and still b/feeds although not much now and has always had a great appetite. Teeth rotting is utter crap too.... (sigh) can't believe that a GP would say such things.

The iron thing is crap too if your baby is eating well. Again my dd didn't drink cows milk till she was well past two and has never suffered.

My gp and hv all thought I was a freak breastfeeding ds until he was 2. So did my family. I was told that I was being lazy by not weaning him.

I was glad I carried on when he became ill at 18months with bronchiolitis and couldn't keep anything down but breast milk, even water made him sick.

like previous posters would say:-

The WHO recommends bfing till 2 and beyond
In terms of immunity, bm is better than cow's milk
That presumbably you're not exclusively bfing anyway - i.e a 12 month old will be having solids, in the same way that a formula fed 12 month old will not be exclusively formula fed - so you just need to make sure that they get an iron rich diet