Since I am currently nursing a toddler, I thought I might do a post about extended breastfeeding... Then I thought there are many great places on the web to read about it....Kelly Mom, LLL... So I will settle for this short list. And I hope if you are nursing a toddler you will proudly answer YES I AM! the next time someone asks you if you are still(insert surprised and annoyed voice here) nursing.5. Toddlers will usually nurse less frequently than infants. In other words you won't be nursing every 2 hours if you have a toddler!LOL
4. There are many times that nursing is the only thing between mothers of nursing toddlers and insanity. Ahh yes, the power of oxytocin!
3. Other people might think you are slightly insane. Oh yeah, you probably already know that one...
2. Toddlers are still getting many benefits from nursing, emotional as well as physical. Three cheers for mommy's antibodies, yeah!
1. In many parts of the world nursing past the first year is (gasp!) NORMAL, and the World Health Organisation actually RECOMMENDS it.
7 comments:
As salaam alaikum-
I liked your list. I hate it when doctors say stuff like 'breastfeeding has no value after the first year.' Even the bonding it brings with an independent toddler is amazing mashallah. Unfortunately, sometimes even family doesn't understand why one breastfeeds 'for SO LONG'. It's really sad, but in my hometown, many moms (even my own sis)love the 'Babywise' model of parenting...
Assalaamu alaikum,
Loved your post... I am an extended breastfeeder and after having breastfed 5 children (still breastfeeding the 5th) I would never consider weaning off the breast before the age of 2.
It's very rare that you hear a plain 'alhamdu Lillah' but instead various comments of surprise that you are still breastfeeding a toddler or that you actually still have milk in your breast!
I love breastfeeding for at least the first years or in the case of baby #3 and #4, 2.5 years. It really is the best feeling in the world snuggling up together at the end of a long day and having my baby breastfeed to sleep and me relaxedly (is that a word??!) dose off. I actually feel rather redundant when I stop breastfeeding!
6. Since I have been breastfeeding for almost 8 years(four kids), I have been pretty much wearing bravados for all that time...I bought a se*y br* the other day and um...yeah, guess I haven't been a C C*p for awhile now...
~Brooke AKA Ummbadier
Brooke, You are so right!!!LOL That's why I opt for seductive camisoles instead!!!LOL I couldn't even guess at my size in a normal bra... But I do know I am a M+ ;)
A lot of Americans think it's wierd, because if they breastfeed, they only do it for a short time. I nursed my son until he was 2. I would have probably gone longer but I wasn't in a very good housing situation. He's 4 now and I still do kinda miss it.
When a friend of mine was in Pakistan, her Pakistani in-laws said she shouldn't be nursing his son because he was OVER 2 (he was 2 1/2 or something like that). Like 2 is a limit in Islam. But 2 is the minimum time that the baby deserves, I think that's how that is interpreted.
Mama's milk is the best!
Yeah, the 2 as a limit is wrong... I see nothing in the verse that sets it as a limit.
"The mothers shall give suck to their offspring for two whole years, if the father desires to complete the term. But he shall bear the cost of their food and clothing on equitable terms…If they both decide on weaning, by mutual consent, and after due consultation, there is no blame on them." (2:233)
I think that is clear that 2 is looked at as more of a minimum for a reasonable person... IOW, no one can talk to you if you wish to nurse untill 2 years, and you should be supported by the father in order to complete this 2 years with your offspring.
However, my SIL just asked me about that the other day..."Aren't you supposed to wean her by 2... Some even say 15 months because of the nine months of pregnancy... So you should have weaned her by now."
PUHLEASE!!! Do not teach me about extended BFing when you NEVER breastfeed your child at all!
Don't know why other Americans find it so weird...my guy is 17 months, and we're still nursing. The in-laws and others are starting to bug me about it, but what business is it of theirs? ;)
Post a Comment