By Pinky McKay

“While breastfeeding her son recently, Adelaide mum, Megan Resch felt something was not quite right. “Angus seemed to be having problems attaching,” recalls Megan. “It was also hurting me. It turned out that he was sucking on a small nail at the same time. He spat it into my hand and then continued sucking.”

At 19 months, Megan’s toddler, Angus, is still an avid breast-feeder. While this may raise eyebrows in our culture, it is interesting to note that the world average age of weaning is 4.2 years. In fact, the World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding (that is, no fluids or food other than breast-milk) for the first four to six months of life and that infants continue to be breastfed for up to two years of age and beyond.

Breastfeeding a toddler may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it does offer significant nutritional and immunological benefits to the child as well as a reduced risk of breast cancer and osteoporosis to the mother. The disease protective factors of mothers’ milk remain effective as long as the child is breastfed, with some immunities increasing as the infant becomes mobile and exposed to new sources of infection.

The link between breast milk and a child’s intelligence is also interesting. A recent New Zealand study demonstrated that the longer children had been breastfed, the better they scored on standardised maths and reading tests. Another New Zealand study, which dealt specifically with babies nursed longer than a year, showed fewer behavioural problems in six to eight year olds. According to the test results, the longer the children had been breastfed, the better they tended to behave.

Megan Resch, who has breastfed each of her three boys into their toddler years, claims far less ‘scientific’ benefits, including simple convenience.  “It is such a bonus to be able to lift their spirits so easily,” she says. “I love that when Angus is unwell and off his food, my milk is there like a good medicine, in fact it replaces the need for paracetamol or the like.”

Midwife, Jane Palmer, who is breast-feeding her two year old son Jarred as well as her six week old baby Lia, attributes a complete lack of breastfeeding problems with her newborn to breastfeeding a toddler. “On day six, when my breasts were rock hard, I simply asked Jarred to ‘fix this please’,” she says. Jane also believes their shared breastfeeding relationship helped Jarred and Lia to bond. “Jarred is very loving and always considers her when he is breastfeeding,” explains Jane. “He waits for her to finish, then he has some and says, “I’ll leave a bit for baby Lia.”

Deciding to wean your baby isn’t simply about nutrition, immunity or intelligence, it’s also about comfort, communication and pleasure.

As Megan Resch says: “my 19 month old can climb onto a trampoline, have a jump and get down, all by himself, but when he is in my lap feeding, he is my baby again, being nurtured as only I can nurture him. “We love it.”

 

Copping it sweet

If you breastfeed beyond babyhood, you are sure to cop some flack. Try these retorts to deflect your critics:

They say: “You’re not STILL breastfeeding?”
You say: I’m sorry you can’t appreciate the beauty of it.

They say: “You’ll be going to school to give him lunch” 
You say: “Only if I’m on canteen duty.”

They say: “You’ll have to wean him or he’ll still want a breast when he’s twenty one.”
You say: “Maybe, but it won’t be my breast he’s after!”

 

Pinky McKay is an International Board Certified LactationCconsultan and a certified infant massage instructor. She is the author of Parenting By Heart and 100 Ways to Calm the Crying (Lothian).Visit Pinky’s website www.pinky-mychild.com