What is extended breastfeeding?
Long-term breastfeeding (extended breastfeeding) is when you continue to breastfeed your baby beyond his first year.
If you decide that it’s right for you and your baby, you’re in good company with other mums around the world. In many societies, the age of weaning from the breast ranges from two years to four years.
It’s tricky to put a figure on how many UK mums breastfeed beyond the first year. But in a 2010 survey, about a third of mums in England and Scotland were continuing to breastfeed their babies at six months.
And about two thirds of mums who stopped breastfeeding by eight months to ten months said that they would have liked to have carried on for longer.
The World Health Organisation advises mums to breastfeed for two years. Even so, many women are made to feel uncomfortable about breastfeeding a toddler or preschooler in public.
How can I deal with critics of extended breastfeeding?
For lots of women, the hardest part of extended breastfeeding is the unwanted comments and stares from friends, family and strangers. But you shouldn’t be made to feel that it’s the wrong thing to do, just because it’s not common.
It may help to have a few stock answers ready for when you do receive comments from people.
Don’t let others put pressure on you to stop. There are plenty of good emotional and physical reasons for continuing to breastfeed your child. It’s up to you to decide what’s right for you both.
Source: Baby Centre
Link: https://www.babycentre.co.uk/a8496/extended-breastfeeding
