Friday, June 27, 2008
And here we are, 30 months later!
Natalie just turned two and a half years old today. It's not much of a milestone, just between two and three but it is a big one for me because we are still nursing. Now some may find this odd, or worse but this has been what has worked for our little family here. There are many benefits to nursing a toddler and I hope she continues to do so until we are at least through what will likely be a very insane move to South Korea. It's hard though because there are many who do not understand the reasons for breastfeeding past a year. Well, consider this, there are commercials that are out right now for something called Flintstone Gummy vitamins. These vitamins have choline which is an ingredient that is found in breastmilk. These vitamins are for children at least ages 2-3 and can even be taken by older kids and adults (just take two instead of one a day). So, I ask you, if a vitamin on the market is seen as being better because it has this ingredient that is found in breastmilk, then why is breastfeeding said to not have any benefits past a year of age? It makes no sense. Obviously, there are those little ones who have already weaned but why push a child to wean when I can continue to give her all she needs just by nursing? Obviously, she does eat normal foods and she does all of the normal toddler things. She's even now in her own toddler bed (though right now, she's sprawled on my bed with her father, go figure lol). All breastfeeding has done has been to be a liquid vitamin of sorts with the added benefit of being able to come to mom and cuddle when she wants to. What more can a toddler ask for? Life is rough on a toddler so anything I can do to make it easier for her, I will. She will eventually stop asking to nurse and our breastfeeding time will end and we will move on to the next stage but as she is growing so quickly and becoming SO independent, it is nice to know that she still relies on me for something.Breastfeeding was a huge struggle for us at first. I'm sure many did not think we would make it to a year at all much less two and a half. I'm thankful for the wonderful support of my husband (even when I resented it at times), and the excellent support of various breastfeeding groups that I turned to even after the lactation consultant threw up her hands. I wish more moms can find the support I was able to because I truly believe that the kind of support you have can make/break the breastfeeding relationship. It was also my husband who expressed his desire for me to breastfeed until our daughter was at least two. Having this time led me to groups, which led to me learning more and more about breastfeeding. It's hard to fight the constant push to wean that society tries to impose on mothers who dare go past a year but with knowledge and support from my fellow breastfeeding mommies, I'm able to do so, one day at a time.
I have a few new tickers that you can find on the right hand side. One is a BF milestone ticker and one is a cute ticker about breastfeeding toddlers. I deleted a few links too, especially ones that weren't very active.
| posted by Janeen at 11:30 PM
