Why do people breastfeed past 1year old?

[Mommabear20]

Not a bashing thread, I'm genuinely interested in peoples reasons!

My DD was formula fed and once she was a year old and could drink cows milk, she stopped formula completely and no longer uses bottles at all.

So my question is, if you have breastfed your DC past 1 year when it's no longer needed for their nutrition, why do/did you continue?

@LittleBearPad

And the thread isn’t about why people choose to bf. It’s why they don’t stop

They do stop. Just not at the random and suboptimal age of 12 months.

OP, why would you stop breastfeeding at a year old to start giving them cows milk, which isn't essential for their nutrition?

Gut health mainly. Their microbiome is still being formed at that age and it’s much harder to “fix” later in life than give them the best to start with.

Fewer humans would be in the world if past women had stopped breast feeding at one year old.

[quote Spottybotty20]@Mommabear20 what were your reasons for switching from formula to cows milk at age 1? Do they all apply to bf?

I obviously don’t know your specific situation but some reasons could be, cost, ease of purchasing, storage, faff of sterilising …

None of these are issues with breastfeeding, so for me to stop bf and start giving my child cows milk in a cup I’d actually be costing myself more money/time/effort.

My dd happily bfs in the morning and then when I get home from work and at bed time. She eats food and drinks water during the day. If I wanted to leave her for a while she could either drink cows milk or expressed milk. I would likely want to express as I’d be uncomfortable if I changed my routine too drastically.[/quote]
Good points.
The 2 situations are not really comparable. I'm sure if I was formula feeding I would be glad to be able to swap to cows' milk and save both money and effort. But in my experience, most mothers who are breastfeeding at 12 months have resolved any earlier problems and are generally finding it pretty easy. And there's no cost benefit to introducing full fat cows milk like there is with stopping formula, especially if you don't buy it for yourself anyway.
Obviously there will be some mums who aren't enjoying it and set 12 months as a date to stop because it's a milestone, and that's fair enough. But if both mum and baby are happy, then what is the advantage of replacing breastmilk with cows' milk? None as far as I can see.

I fed until 25 months, because

WHO recommends until at least 2 years
It helped him to fall asleep
It provides other benefits eg strengthening his immune system

I stopped because he no longer asked for it.

@milkieway

Thanks for asking the question as think it's really good to talk about as there's still so much misunderstanding about this in society

Breastfeeding is recommended by the world health organisation until 2 years and beyond. There is evidence it continues to protect babies from infections and continues to provide a balance of nutrients

It's more than just food / nutrition though. It's part of your relationship. Breastfeeding my toddler has been a life saver - it has sometimes been the only comfort when he's been poorly (eg hand foot and mouth wouldn't eat or drink anything but continued to breastfeed) it's immediately settled him when he's hurt himself or got really upset.

What you describe about the comfort is beautiful but I don’t think you need to breastfeed your baby to have a relationship with it, or to be able to comfort it, or settle it.

My child is an adult now and I couldn’t breastfeed her due to having completely flat nipples. I was advised to bottle feed after her blood sugar level dropped too low. It wasn’t my choice but I had to do what was best for my baby. Although I was gutted, I don’t think it meant I was unable to feel a bond with her whilst feeding. She still looked at me, she was still comforted.

But when I read these posts I always wish I could have breastfed her. I do feel like I’ve missed something. It does sound like a wonderful experience.

My child has just stopped having a feed in the morning. She was three and two months. I never intended to go on for so long - a year was my plan - but she was really reluctant to stop and there was something lovely about the early morning cuddle-and-feed. I was pleased when it finally finished about three weeks ago, it felt that it stopped naturally. I did try to call a halt a few times, successfully stopped feeding to sleep and later night feeds - a battle both times. It felt harsh to force her to stop entirely when she was still getting some benefit. I'm comfortable with the way it worked out for us!

Because my milk is tailor made specifically for my child. IE It is nutritionally perfect for her unlike milk, which needed to be adapted from a different species. She enjoyed feeding from me and it was great quiet bonding time.

Because DD wanted to and it was a comfort to her. I'd had enough by 1 year old personally, but she just loved her bf cuddlefest so why would I upset her? It wasn't feeding it was comfort, like a dummy is. You see toddlers with these and no one bats an eyelid.

It is also a way to eat extra and not put on weight, because the toddler takes it in nutritionally

I fed all my children until 18 months.. you def sound judgey op

I planned to stop at a year but it was his first birthday?! I wasn’t going to remove the thing he loved! Then we had a holiday abroad so thought it would be easier to wait. Stopped at 15months. Purely selfishly as I wanted my body back! Who recommend feeding till 2. Human breast milk is better than cows for a human baby? Plenty reasons to keep going....

Breast fed both of mine until they were three.

They loved it, I loved it so we just carried on.

Why pay for milk when you can get it for free? Milk on demand, comfort, habit, bed time routine, antibodies, builds relationships. I breastfed until 2.5 when my DD decided she didn't want to anymore- I was pregnant and it changed the taste I think.

Ok @Lifeisnteasy I’m perfectly happy to accept I’m wrong. I just know that there is no way I would spend even 1 second of my time googling research studies for a thread about formula feeding past 1 year, or indeed even open such a thread, when it’s not something I did personally, which made me wonder whether there were some other issues there. But it takes all sorts I guess.

I breastfed for 27 months and I went back to work full time at 11 months.
It was free and convenient and there are plenty of publications (the Dundee cohort study) which demonstrate it is good for kids immune systems and is healthy.
I got fed up around month 24 and drastically reduced it to x 1 per day.
It was cheap and I also lost a lot of weight so I didn’t actually need to diet. Apparently breastfeeding uses about 500kcal energy per day.
Was a nightmare to get going in the first place though so I was lucky.

I can't think of a single good reason why I should stop feeding my 13 month old. I can think of a whole list why I should continue.

I'm definitely not judging! I couldn't feed my own DC as my milk never came in, so I have no idea what that relationship is like but it's always fascinated me how different people do things and being a mom, breastfeeding is a big thing people have different (and strong) opinions on! I'm sorry if I've offended anyone in my question, that was definitely not my intention!

It is lovely to hear about the bond people have formed with their babies threw it and the comfort it gives them once they're toddlers is amazing and not something I'd ever considered as my DD gets the same comfort from a sippy cup as she did a bottle 🤷‍♀️

I bf but I don’t think it made my bond more special, I actually find it more bonding when giving a bottle as they gaze into your eyes! I bf as it’s good for baby but don’t particularly enjoy being munched upon😂 also the cuddles I got for just being mum and not food are way more special! X

Because it's absolutely wonderful and WHO recommend breastfeeding until at least 2 years old. Even just the antibodies and ability to get her to sleep in minutes, or calm her instantly after a nasty fall.

DS1 2yrs8m loves it and it would be a nightmare to stop. It would also feel a little cruel, he gets such enjoyment and comfort from it, it would feel too much like a rejection to stop. One is so incredibly young still, he was a baby at one - I can’t imagine having weaned then. It would’ve been a real effort to because it’s not natural to stop for many children at that age. The advice really is to let them self wean but this is not practical for many women understandably.

Obviously when deciding to breastfeed in the beginning all the many nutritional benefits mentioned for mother and baby were the reasons I started and continued past one. Continuing past two has been predominantly a comfort and behavioural thing - it’s a very useful tool for toddler management and also for getting a bit of a sit down during hectic days.

I’m now tandem feeding my 3 month old too.

Because I don’t know how to stop!

Also because I was breastfed until I was 1 and whilst mostly healthy still have bouts of eczema and I have to really look after myself to not catch every virus going round. Both my brother and boyfriend were breastfed until 2.5-3 and they never catch anything despite living (or previously lived) very unhealthy lifestyles. My boyfriend is never ill, I had covid and lived and slept next to him, shared food and nothing. I really do believe the longer you do it the better the benefits for baby.

Also as I’m lazy, it’s cheap and also don’t think dairy is very good for us in general.

Also because when my little boy has been ill and he’s refused to eat/drink, he’s always breastfed. I think without it we’d have ended up in hosp with dehydration a few times.

Mine just never wanted to stop, and I was happy to continue. First breastfed until their third birthday, second is just coming up to their third birthday and we are working on really restricting feeds and telling them when they turn three that means they're a big kid and they have to say bye-bye to mummy milk.

I didn't have a break in between so have been breastfeeding for over five years now. I'm definitely done!

Because it's nice, bonding, pure tranquillity, nourishing, free, safe, plentiful - the limitless supply is always there. I never owned baby bottles.
I've always been puzzled as to why mother's want to mess around sterilizing bottles, mixing and warming and all that.

”Fine but the second point isn’t relevant to a 12 month old and certainly isn’t kind to women who tried but couldn’t bf.”

How on earth is bonding not relevant to a DC past 12 months? I still do things that improve my bond with my 7 year old.