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?

Because it’s beneficial for the child.
The child isn’t ready to give up.
I believe the WHO recommends it until aged 2.

@Lifeisnteasy - that only applies to healthy mothers. For Mums with mild to moderate PND symptoms successful breastfeeding can vastly improve bonding between Mum and Baby and even help improve symptoms.

Because they still wanted to drink milk. I still produced milk. The milk I produced was superior and more appropriate for their needs.

What a strange question.

@Mummyoply

I think probably because it's completely natural and has many benefits past 12months. Much better to feed breast milk from a human to a human than to feed breast milk from a cow to a human. Toddlers can get many vitamins and minerals from their mothers breast milk( including 100% of their Vit D requirements) completely naturally, without this, there is a need to feed processed food to make up the shortfall.

Do you have a source re the vitamin d. I'm breastfeeding my 6 week old and been told by the midwife's and HV's to give vitamin d drops from birth as it's not in breastmilk but is added in to formula.

[quote Ozanj]@Lifeisnteasy - that only applies to healthy mothers. For Mums with mild to moderate PND symptoms successful breastfeeding can vastly improve bonding between Mum and Baby and even help improve symptoms.[/quote]
Given most mothers are healthy, this is the general concensus.

Because its the best possible start for a baby. Breastfeeding until 2 or older is the norm in many places around the world - it's only seen as strange in Western cultures.

Because they wanted to.
Because WHO recommend to 2yo and beyond.
Because he didn't like cows milk.
Because why would I give him cows milk when he can have breast milk?
Because it wasn't just about food, it was about comfort.
Because it was a brilliant, instant STFU tool when he was cranky.

There's loads more. But you get the gist.

I bf DS until he was nearly 2. When it stop I think I missed it more than him. Once he was weaned it was only morning and at night. You body just adjust to demand. When I picked him up from nursery he always had a feed when we got back home it was a nice way of bonding and also was rewarded with a massive endorphin rush that helped de stress after a hectic day.

I also think that it’s a strange question, OP. You could have had a quick google for WHO advice.

Because it's my baby's favourite thing and I wouldn't want to take it away from her unless there was a good reason.

Just to add I didn’t and have never found bf challenging I know a lot of women do but I never did and bf 4 so it wasn’t a burden for me to continue feeding, maybe you don’t realise that not everyone considered it a burden or unpleasant? I really enjoy breastfeeding so why would I stop if dc didn’t want to?

Because I could, because my son refused cows milk until 2 years old, because he liked it, because he naturally weaned himself off, because it's good for them... So many different reasons.

Pregnant with my first and would love to breastfeed for as long as possible and really hope it's successful for me.

Surely the question op is, why is this even a question?

Fed mine to 2.5 and 3.5 because I knew of the health benefits and felt there were also emotional and psychological benefits. Also its free and convenient and its much easy to stop breastfeeding a child that you can talk to.

Oh, and because it was free!

@Slayduggee

I could feed first thing in the morning whilst still lying in bed. I could feed DC to sleep lying down and they would fall asleep. I would then put them in their cot and they would sleep all night. It was nice cuddly time at the end of the day

It doesn’t create any washing up either!

Love this answer!

In my case, because they both wanted to and I didn’t mind. I hoped they would naturally self-wean between 2 and 3.

Both mine have been very enthusiastic breastfeeders - I appreciate that may sound like an odd term but some babies just take to it and see it as the answer to their need. Others are more business-like about feeding, apparently. Mine both comfort fed and fed to sleep. In hindsight DC1 had quite a severe tongue tie (not diagnosed until he was over a year old) and DC2 had reflux (but it was the start of the first lockdown and it wasn’t easy to access support, and infant Gaviscon made no difference).

With DC1, I really wanted him to self-wean and he just didn’t. We had a house move around age 2 and his sleep really regressed. In the end, we night weaned at 2.5, but by the time he was nearly 3 I just didn’t want to feed any more. And he showed no signs of weaning naturally. So we stopped. And had a couple of days of tears and then it was fine.

DC2 is still going strong at 2 and I still feel happy about feeding. I would like to stop within the next year but we’ll see.

My DSis’s baby wasn’t bothered about breastfeeding once he got closer to a year old. And she wanted her body back so she decided to stop. It’s a personal choice but in my experience toddler breastfeeding is usually dictated by the toddler.

"the question was why"

Why did you bf past 1 year old.

Because I wanted to.

Seems like a perfectly valid answer to a 'why' question to me.

Because we both wanted to. Breastfeeding was easy for us and there was no particular reason to stop until my child wanted to. I very much saw it as something she did rather than something I did, there was no reason to take the option of breastmilk away from her. I don't drink cows milk myself so we tend not to have it in the house anyway

I was happy to carry on and so was she. So we did! Why change something that works well and everyone involved is happy with?

Couldn’t be bothered with stopping and I genuinely didn’t mind. I was lucky in that at around 1 DD dropped her feeds by herself so she was just feeding first thing in the morning and last thing at night, no overnight feeds etc.
The morning feed gave me an extra 10 mins lying down to wake up, because she’s always been an early riser and as soon as she was done she wanted to be up and active.
The feed right before her bedtime just seemed like a nice part of her evening routine to get her ready for bed.
If she was waking in the night for feeding I’d probably have been more proactive about stopping but the two feeds she was having were convenient for my day so didn’t really see a need to stop.
She gradually reduced the feeds herself, they got shorter and shorter and then she started occasionally skipping one. She stopped completely a few months after she turned 2, shortly after I got pregnant with DC2. But even before pregnancy she was only feeding once a day, either morning or evening, and sometimes skipping a day altogether.
I’m still pregnant with DC2, and hoping to breastfeed. My plan again is to keep going for as long as they want to, provided it works for me as well.

Nutritionally breastmilk doesn't stop being beneficial at 12 months, it is still full of antibodies and health benefits whereas formula doesn't have those and so can be replaced with cows milk. Breastfeeding is also a comfort and reassurance for the child - I know plenty of toddlers who were alot older than 1 before they got rid of their dummies. It's also easier in a way - I can stop a tantrum in its tracks, settle my overtired toddler in seconds, soothe her when she's hurt herself or poorly with one very convenient thing that I will never be without. I love breastfeeding, my daughter is 2.5 and I dread stopping because it will be taking away something that is so helpful to her.

This makes me feel bad. I didnt realise they recommended to 2. I thought i was 1. My dc is 1 yr 2 months and ive stopped bfing not intentionally but she naturally weaned herself off. She doesnt even associate my nipple with food anymore. Can i start up bfing again? Its been almost a month since ive last given her a feed

@Ann46 a lot of toddlers lose interest and self wean anytime from 12 months. I would respect her decision if she isn’t interested. Nutritionally she has had the major benefits and will be fine