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?

@Lifeisnteasy

The U.K. has the worst breastfeeding rates in the world. It’s not necessarily a western thing. The US for example has far higher breastfeeding rates.

Do you believe every woman should make a feeding choice that suits her, @Emms86 ?

Every woman should make an EDUCATED choice. And a lot of people still have really bad misconceptions regarding BF and extended BF, plus pressure from the family some who have been raised with blatant lies about BF (spoiling the child, not good after they have teeth {GF had a tooth when he was born!!!! And DDs had teeth at 4mo}, cluster feeding means you don't have enough milk, ......)

@Emms86 well in that case, there is no ‘acceptable’ breastfeeding rate. That’s your own projection of what you think other women should be doing.

@Lancssss

WHO recommend breastfeeding until 2 years old at least. Breastfeeding gives the child immunity to all sorts of illnesses. When the Mum comes into contact with a cold virus or norovirus or something, as soon as her body starts making antibodies they get passed to the baby in her breast milk, so the DC is protected from catching the illness. One of my DC fed until nearly age 3 and is very healthy, rarely catches anything, never needed antibiotics for an infection. My other DC was only fed for 6 months due to health problems and is much more susceptible to catching stuff and has had 3+ antibiotic courses and is much younger. I always wonder if it’s because they weren’t able to breastfeed for as long.

Plus all these reasons -

Enhanced longer-term health. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, breastfeeding for longer than six months helps to protect your little one against a variety of conditions like type 1 and type 2 diabetes and childhood, adolescent, and adult obesity. Additionally, babies who are breastfed for longer than six months are also less likely to develop childhood leukemia and lymphoma than those who receive formula.
Reduced risks of osteoporosis and breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer for moms. Research shows extensive breastfeeding health benefits for moms, such as:
Proven benefits to long-term maternal bone strength
A 2% reduced risk of endometrial cancer for every one month of breastfeeding
A reduced risk of breast cancer for every year breastfeeding (combinted total for all children), with moms who breastfed for a lifetime total of longer than 2 years receiving the most benefit
A reduced risk of ovarian cancer, particularly for those who breastfed for longer-term periods.

All of this plus I could so why not, if I couldn't for whatever reason I wouldn't have worried but if you can and your happy to then why not 🤷‍♀️

Dd turned 2 a few months ago and we are still bf. It is more for her comfort now but I see no reason to stop until she wants too.
I also love our cuddles in the morning and when she gets sleepy, bf has been good for both of us.

@grey12 saying ‘oh but people aren’t making an informed choice’ really just means you don’t think they’re making the right one, because if they were ‘educated’ enough they should be making the same decision as you

Why would you breastfeed when you can give them cows milk? Give them milk designed for a calf, rather than milk designed for humans?

[quote Lifeisnteasy]**@Emms86* well in that case, there is no ‘acceptable’ breastfeeding rate. That’s your own projection of what you* think other women should be doing.[/quote]
That makes no sense.
Breastfeeding is beneficial to a child’s health, both short term and long term. It is also beneficial to a Mothers health. It’s literally just science, not opinion based.

I should add all the additional health benefits too! It doesn’t just stop at one years of age.

Wow some interesting responses!

Again, I'm not judging people, merely interested as to peoples reasons. As my DC are formula fed I've no concept of the benefits, emotionally or physically, so was simply curious.

The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer is an excellent, enlightening read for those who are interested. Those formula companies who managed to convince whole communities of women in developing countries that they needed to BUY a product that was actually inferior to what lactating women produce perfectly naturally - these companies disgust me. The rhetoric continues nowadays, albeit in a more sophisticated and guarded way, in TV advertising for “follow on” milks, etc.

@Emms86 so? Maybe mothers prioritise other things such as mental health, convenience or personal preference. If you truly believe it’s a woman’s choice then there is no acceptable rate. Just what women decide. What’s not to understand?

Because breastfeeding is about more than just nutrition, sorry but unlike formula feeding. Breastfeeding has nutritional benefits, health benefits and also a nurturing role.

It may be coincidence but I fed one child until 7 months and one until 2yrs 3mths, the one I fed for longer had a very robust immune system and is by far the healthiest and least susceptible to illness out of our whole household. That may be complete coincidence but I do wonder.

[quote ShmeevilWeevil]@rainbowdaz

"TabithaTittlemouse

Because they want to

The question was why"

Why do babies want to do the thing that they've been doing for a gazillion years and provides them with a multitude of health and psychological benefits?
hmmm let me think ...[/quote]
Huh?

@ShmeevilWeevil

My next post was about breastfeeding. I did it, and I still am with my second child.

I commented on the snappy reply, I agree with you

@Lifeisnteasy

Every woman should be given the support at the beginning to start breastfeeding. So many mums are not breastfeeding because they struggled to get it established despite wanting to. Nobody is suggesting anyone is forced, and there's good reason why some cannot, but breast milk, a free perfect source of nutrition for babies should be the default option unless you don't want to, lack of support should not be the reason.

We have an abysmal record of supporting women these days, 22 years ago I was entitled to 2 nights in hospital (vaginal delivery) then my community midwife came daily until 10 days - now you are lucky to get a full day in hospital and if you get one home visit you are doing well. Of course back when I had dd I was in a long ward, horrible facilities, noisy and actually I went home earlier but the community support midwife was excellent

@Lifeisnteasy I see you didn’t respond to my question about your own feeding choices, but have continued to post on the thread. Why bother coming on the thread if you have no personal experience? Do you think women shouldn’t bf past 1 if they want to?

Lifeisnteasy why have you been laughing at and undermining people's experiences?

Health benefits for mother and child. It's also a comfort for the child. I breastfed until my son was 3. By then it was only really at bedtime, it just naturally tailed off then.

I feed both of my past 12 months. Didn’t really see the benefit of getting them off breast milk and onto cow milk, they didn’t seem interested in stopping etc.

The same could be asked of many parenting decisions- and hey do people allow kids to have dummies for a protracted period, why do people think breastfeeding is weird, why do people dress kids inappropriately etc etc.

"Mothers shall breastfeed their children for two whole years, for those who wish to complete the term" (Quran 2:233).

Here’s an interesting anecdotal thread - women who bf one child and ff another, comparing the longer term health outcomes.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/4341089-did-anyone-bf-one-child-and-ff-another

[quote JanuaryPinks]@Lifeisnteasy I see you didn’t respond to my question about your own feeding choices, but have continued to post on the thread. Why bother coming on the thread if you have no personal experience? Do you think women shouldn’t bf past 1 if they want to?[/quote]
I bf to a little over 6 months and stopped to go on a medication

@Wasabiprawns

If you get to a year it's probably easy and therefore really easy to continue

This ^

It was a piece of piss by a year. Both of us were happy to carry on - for one thing I didn’t have to get out of bed as quick in the morning

[quote JanuaryPinks]@Lifeisnteasy I see you didn’t respond to my question about your own feeding choices, but have continued to post on the thread. Why bother coming on the thread if you have no personal experience? Do you think women shouldn’t bf past 1 if they want to?[/quote]
I think everyone should do what they like.

I also think the benefits of bfing shouldn’t be overstated which they often are.

I also think people shouldn’t make bfing mums feel disgusting or grim

I'm still breastfeeding my 18 month old. My reasons:
My DD wants to continue and it's good for her
It's easy to settle her if she's upset
It gets her to sleep
We're in a pandemic, I want her to benefit from the antibodies passed to her from me being vaccinated
Even if not in a pandemic she benefits from antibodies when we are ill
I like the cuddles
I didn't have a period for 14 months after giving birth! Major benefit to me!
WHO recommends it til age 2 'and beyond'
When she's ill and off her food refusing to eat she never refuses breast milk so at least I know she's getting that.

I think the problem here is that this question is even asked at all. As if it’s something people should justify and give an explanatory account of, rather than totally normal and unremarkable (in the way that giving your toddler cow’s milk seems to be).