I've decided that breastfeeding is the most wonderful, most important thing in the world. I have dedicated myself to promoting it as much as I can, especially sustained* breastfeeding (beyond one year), child-led weaning, and breastfeeding in public. *I was grateful to learn this term, as an alternative to "extended breastfeeding," since breastfeeding beyond one year is normal, not "extended." I personally consider anything less than 2 1/2 years to be "abridged breastfeeding."
I firmly believe that breastfeeding is the most important thing you can do for the health of your child, and the longer you breastfeed, the healthier your child will be. Researchers have even linked intelligence to duration of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is essential to a child's physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.
Breastfeeding is also great for the mother. The longer a woman breastfeeds, the lower her risk of breast cancer. I challenge you to find a breast cancer victim who has breastfed for a total of seven years or more. Breastfeeding allows a mother to bond and connect with her child. Consequently, her relationship with the child will be deeper and stronger. Breastfeeding is natural. It is the way we were meant to nourish our children.
Most important, in my opinion (since overpopulation is my main concern), is the fact that breastfeeding is a natural contraceptive, allowing women to space out their children and have fewer children overall. It certainly isn't foolproof, but then no method of birth control is. Also, just like every other method of birth control, you have to do it right. Both my mother and my mother-in-law insist that breastfeeding as birth control is a myth, because they both became pregnant when they were still breastfeeding. However, our western culture interferes with the way breastfeeding is supposed to happen, and it is this interference that diminishes the contraceptive effect of breastfeeding.
For one thing, both of these women put their babies in a crib in a separate room from themselves to sleep at night. They also used pacifiers and bottles; and began solid foods at 4 to 6 months. I don't know how comfortable they were breastfeeding in public ~ if the baby got hungry when they were out, they may have put the child off until they got home. I'm also pretty sure that they probably breastfed the stupid way that American women are taught to breastfeed, which is: trying to get the child to go longer between feedings by encouraging the child to consume more milk at each feeding; giving the child one breast for a certain amount of time, then breaking the suction and offering the other breast and encouraging the child to nurse at that breast for a set amount of time. What a bunch of nonsense. This is yet another example of men thinking they can come up with a better method than Mother Nature's.
I just follow my natural instincts. I breastfeed my children whenever they indicate the need or desire to breastfeed, no matter how long it has been since they last breastfed. I breastfeed them for as long or as short a period of time as they want ~ whether it's 45 seconds or 45 minutes. When they're done, they're done ~ I don't offer the other breast until they again indicate a need or desire to breastfeed. At night, they sleep in the same bed I do. Whenever they need or want to breastfeed during the night, I breastfeed them. We barely wake up. We fall asleep with the nipple still in the mouth (this does NOT cause tooth decay). I don't use pacifiers or bottles (you're not supposed to use pacifiers for the first six weeks any way, or bottles for three months). Any time they want to suck, they suck at the breast.
It's important to understand that a child can thrive on breastmilk alone until at least 12 months. I did start introducing solids to my daughter before that, but I think she still got most of her nourishment from breastmilk throughout her second year. I breastfeed any time and any where I happen to be when my children indicate the need or desire ~ it doesn’t matter where I am or how many people are around. I never try to hide what I'm doing. Why should I? I'm not ashamed; I'm proud. This is, after all, what breasts are for. People need to learn that the purpose of breasts is to feed babies. They need to see it happen.
Any way, what this all adds up to is that I breastfeed all the time, which causes my body to produce lots and lots of that wonderful hormone that suppresses ovulation. This was true even before I was tandem breastfeeding. My fertility cycle did not return until my duaghter was 22 months old. I intend to continue breastfeeding my children for as long as they desire. Children know when they are ready to wean and they do it by themselves. There is no reason to ever refuse them.
It is important to note that children who are given breastmilk whenever they request it and sleep in the family bed do not become dependant. Just the opposite. Every study shows that children who have these needs fulfilled become more independent. Many experts have pointed out that a need that is fulfilled goes away ~ a need that is not fulfilled can be carried into later life. Unfulfilled sucking needs can result in thumb-sucking in older childhood. Even in adulthood, I'm convinced that many men who seem to be obsessed with breasts were not breastfed enough as children.
There is no age at which a child must be weaned. Even in this country, there are mothers who breastfeed into the seventh year (although most children give it up before then). The world wide average age of weaning is four and a half years. It is absolutely horrifying to think about the fact that women in this country breastfeed for an average of less than six months!
This article has a lot of good information about sustained breastfeeding.
