Breastfeeding Two Years And Beyond

All the benefits of human milk—including nutritional and health—continue for as long as your baby receives your milk...Many of the health benefits of human milk are dose related, that is, the longer the baby receives human milk, the greater are the benefits. (From How Long Should a Mother Breastfeed?)

Breastfeeding for two years and beyond is sometimes referred to as "extended breastfeeding". However, I do not like the term "extended breastfeeding" because it implies that it is normal to stop breastfeeding before two years. Breastfeeding remains very important to the child's health, well-being and development at two years of age and the World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of two years. I believe a more appropriate term for breastfeeding beyond two years is "full-term breastfeeding", because this term implies that to stop breastfeeding before then is to cut the normal breastfeeding relationship short. Until the introduction of Western artificial feeding products children were commonly breastfed at the ages of two and three (From Sustained Breastfeeding). And a study of human ancestry indicates that it is normal for children to continue breastfeeding at the ages of five, six and seven (Breastfeeding Beyond a Year: exploring benefits, cultural influences and more).

I was surprised to discover that The Le Leche League uses the term "extended breastfeeding" to refer to breastfeeding beyond one year! Scientific evidence attests to the importance of breast milk to a child's immunity and our immune systems are not fully developed at the age of two, let alone at one year! Having said that The Le Leche League have published an article which states:

Even after 12 months, babies continue to benefit from human milk. At one year of age, a baby's immune system is functioning at only 60 percent of adult level and because formula has no live antibodies, it is strongly associated with high rates of infection (Huggins 2007). A child's immune system isn't functioning at adult level until age six (Dettwyler 1994). (From Breastfeeding Beyond a Year: exploring benefits, cultural influences and more)

Did you know that:

• The immunological benefits of breast milk continue well into the second year of breastfeeding, and that breastfed toddlers have been shown to experience less illness than their formula fed friends?

• A relationship between children's IQ and the duration for which they were breastfed has been discovered?

• The longer a child is breastfed, the better quality her bones will be long-term?

• Toddlers who are breastfed experience more secure attachment to their mothers and as a result were better able to become independent than bottle-fed toddlers?

• Sustained breastfeeding reduces a mother's risk of osteoporosis, anemia, ovarian and breast cancer?
  

(From Sustained Breastfeeding & 101 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child).

There is an assumption in the Western world that mothers who continue breastfeeding beyond one or two years do so to meet their own egotistical desires. This is clearly a myth when one considers all the social pressure these mothers encounter in choosing to do what's best for their children. Furthermore consider certain behaviours common to Western toddlers such as thumb sucking, dummy/pacifier sucking, and attachment to certain toys and blankets. These behaviours (in particular those involving the suckling action) indicate that young children have emotional needs which could be met by the simple act of breastfeeding, and when they are not met this way the children seek substitutes to attach themselves to. Dr William Sears, author of The Baby Book, writes:

We have studied the long-term effects on thousands of children who had timely weanings and have observed that these children are more independent, gravitate to people more than things, are easier to discipline, experience less anger, radiate trust...[after] studying the long-term effects of long-term breastfeeding, the most secure... and happy children we have seen are those who have not been weaned before their time. (Quoted in Breastfeeding Beyond a Year: exploring benefits, cultural influences and more)

According to Dr Sarah J. Buckley, a family physician and mother of four: "The benefits of breastfeeding increase with duration, and the disease-protective effects actually increase as weaning approaches" (Buckley, 2005, 246). Buckley sites the work of a number of medical professionals research about the benefits of extended breastfeeding including A.W. Onyango's study, which shows that breast milk can provide toddlers with: up to one-third of their daily energy needs, two-thirds of their fat requirements, 58% of their vitamin A requirements, and nearly a third of their calcium needs (Buckley, 2005, 246).

Our children grow so fast, and will leave the breastfeeding behind quick enough in their own time. Discard arbitrary timelines for completing your breastfeeding relationship and follow your child's lead. Breastfeeding remains important to their health and development well beyond their baby years. So enjoy nursing your youngins while you can!

3 year old enjoying booba

(photos above include a 5 year old and two 2 year olds nursing - one who's very tired)

Further Reading:

Breastfeeding a Toddler Facts Sheet

Myths about Breastfeeding Toddlers

Breastfeeding Beyond a Year: exploring benefits, cultural influences and more

Sustained Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding a Toddler

How Long Should a Mother Breastfeed?

Why Mothers Nurse Their Children Into Toddlerhood

The Nursing Toddler: A Baby on Wheels

Why I Nurse My Toddler

The Advantages of Extended Nursing

Information on Breastfeeding an Older Baby/Child

Tricky Two Year Old

101 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child

Buckley, Sarah, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, Brisbane, One Moon Press, 2005.

Breastfeeding Position Paper by The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) says:

Nursing Beyond Infancy Breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is currently not the cultural norm and requires ongoing support and encouragement.⁸⁵ Breastfeeding during a subsequent pregnancy is not unusual. If the pregnancy is normal and the mother is healthy, breastfeeding during pregnancy is the woman's personal decision. If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned. Breastfeeding the nursing child after delivery of the next child (tandem nursing) may help to provide a smooth transition psychologically for the older child.^{61 (emphasis added).}