Since A is now one, I guess I am now officially an extended, tandem nurser! Woohoo! K is two and will be three in November and still nursing. I recently had someone ask me how I decided to nurse him for so long. Really, it wasn’t a one time decision that I made. It was several smaller decisions made along the way. Many people decide to stop nursing at twelve months and are surprised when I tell them I don’t plan to wean A any time soon. Those same people are generally even more surprised to find out that not only will I not wean A soon, K is still nursing, too. :

Since I decided to put a link to my website in my Facebook page, I thought now is as good a time as any to answer some of those questions. I don’t feel like I need to defend my decision, and I’m not trying to tell anyone else what they should do for their family. I simply like to talk about breastfeeding and other parenting issues. Thus, I have a blog pretty much dedicated to doing just that!

When K was born, I had my share of struggles learning to nurse him. He was early. He needed a shield to latch. He didn’t latch for the first several days of life. He had jaundice. He was a sleepy baby. I am sure there are a couple others I could list, but luckily, those first weeks have faded a little in my memory and now I remember them mostly with rose colored glasses. My first goal was to nurse him for 6 weeks. Once I made that goal, my next goal became three months. Once I made that goal, I decided to go big and made my goal twelve months. Well, by the time K was a year old, I was pregnant with A. I knew that statistically most babies will wean during a mother’s pregnancy. I also knew that K still depended on nursing for comfort and nutrition throughout the day and sometimes through the night, too. I figured that since 70% of babies wean during a mother’s pregnancy, he would too, and I would let him decide when that time was instead of deciding for him.

Well, as my pregnancy progressed, K still seemed to need “mommy milk” in a very real way that wasn’t met in any other manner. I can’t say that nursing while pregnant was the easiest thing I have ever done or the most comfortable. However, it was something I did for K because he needed, wanted, and liked it

K was 20.5 months old when A was born. At that point, being able to nurse both K and A was a tremendous help in the transition from one child to two. K was still very young and still needed a lot of mommy time. Because of that, I decided to allow him to continue nursing on demand. I felt as though choosing to have A was a decision that Jason and I made. K had no part in that decision, so I didn’t think that having A should be the reason he was no longer able to nurse. At that point, it became my goal to allow K to choose his own date for weaning. I reserve the right to change my mind in the case of any unforseen circumstances, but at this point, I hope to achieve child-led weaning.

Now, I am currently nursing A who is also past twelve months. Because of the positive experience I have had with nursing K, I hope to also allow A to make the decision of child-led weaning for himself. Also, with A being sensitive to dairy, we won’t be introducing cow’s milk or other dairy products to him for a while. Continuing to nurse him helps me to ensure that he’s getting fats, proteins, calories, and other immunological benefits during his toddlerhood.

What I’ve written are my personal reasons for choosing extended and tandem nursing for my family. There are also several resources that encourage and support extended nursing. If you are interested, here are a few:

Extended Nursing Fact Sheet

Are there health benefits to nursing past one year of age?

Breastfeed a Toddler- Why on Earth?

Breastfeeding Beyond a Year

Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk (AAP)

Pediatricians and parents should be aware that exclusive breastfeeding is sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months of life and provides continuing protection against diarrhea and respiratory tract infection. Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child.

The World Health Organization’s infant feeding recommendations

As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed(1) for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health(2). Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond.

Maybe instead of my post being called Wordless Wednesday, I could call it Wordy Wednesday.