10 Good Reasons to Breastfeed Your Toddler

source : http://www.lightparty.com/Health/10ReasonsToBreastfeed.html

BY ELIZABETH BRUCE
The average American may not be ready to admit it, but myriad cultures past and present have accepted the fact that babies past infancy can benefit from nursing. The !Kung of Africa represent the natural state of human feeding. Mothers of this nomadic tribe breastfeed each child for up to six years. Sherman Silber, MD, points out that “the human species has spent more than 90 percent of its existence leading this type of nomadic hunter/ gatherer life, and ‘civilization’ with its pressures is too recent to have had any appreciable impact on their genetic makeup.”‘

In our culture, many men and women are uncomfortable with the functional role of breasts, probably because of our national obsession with breasts as sexual objects. Unfortunately, people’s psychological discomfort seems to increase as the nursing baby grows. Most Americans choose to wean their babies at about six months.

Whatever the psychological complexities may be, we can no longer deny the health and social benefits of prolonged breastfeeding. Even the conservative American Academy of Pediatrics now officially recommends that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months .2 But what about nursing through a baby’s second or even third year? Is breast still best for toddlers? If we can get past our collective ambivalence, I think the answer is a resounding “yes.”

While most of your neighbors probably aren’t doing it, there are plenty of enlightened mothers out there who are. Alice Bailes, CNM, co owner of Birth Care and Women’s Health in Alexandria, Virginia, says that the majority of her clients breastfeed well into their babies’ second year. In fact, she has clients who tandem nurse they continue nursing their toddler through their next pregnancy and even after the new baby is born. Bailes, who has had personal experience tandem nursing, believes that it helps a toddler’s transition into being a big brother or sister.

Breastfeeding a toddler

source : http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/toddler.html

Barbara Glare, partner of Chris, mother of Zac, Dan and Cassie and ABA counsellor

One of the first Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA – then NMAA) meetings I attended with my new baby was on the topic ‘Breastfeeding the older baby’. Well, having lived through cracked nipples and a wakeful unsettled baby in the early days, and already giving complementary feeds, I doubted I would ever experience feeding an older baby. An older baby, I assumed, probably meant a baby over six months of age. Coming from a family where breastfeeding was uncommon, I assumed that breastfeeding was only for babies, if it could be achieved at all. I was completely floored when another mother there that evening was talking about feeding her almost four-year-old. I had never heard of such a thing before, and frankly, I was shocked. I didn’t say anything, but remember thinking, in an attempt to be open-minded, ‘That’s great for her, but I would NEVER do that’.

But as the months passed, breastfeeding became easier. With more support and information I was able to wean my baby off infant formula and back onto breastmilk. As his first birthday came and went he was happy, and breastfeeding was easy. I was more confident. He showed no inclination to stop, and my half-hearted attempts to comply with the pressure from my mothers’ group, friends and family were met with firm resistance from my son. I continued, past his second birthday, through my pregnancy with my second child, until, just after his fourth birthday he decided he’d had enough, and weaned.

Breastfeed a Toddler—Why on Earth?

source : http://www.bflrc.com/newman/breastfeeding/toddler.htm

Because more and more women are now breastfeeding their babies, more and more are also finding that they enjoy breastfeeding enough to want to continue longer than the usual few months they initially thought they would. UNICEF has long encouraged breastfeeding for two years and longer, and the American Academy of Pediatrics is now on record as encouraging mothers to nurse at least one year and as long after as both mother and baby desire. Even the Canadian Paediatric Society, in its latest feeding statement acknowledges that women may want to breastfeed for two years or longer and Health Canada has put out a statement similar to UNICEF’s. Breastfeeding to 3 and 4 years of age has been common in much of the world until recently in human history, and it is still common in many societies for toddlers to breastfeed.

Why should breastfeeding continue past six months?

Because mothers and babies often enjoy breastfeeding a lot. Why stop an enjoyable relationship? And continued breastfeeding is even good for the health and welfare of both the mother and child.

But it is said that breastmilk has no value after six months.

Perhaps this is said, but it is patently wrong. That anyone (including paediatricians) can say such a thing only shows how ignorant so many people in our society are about breastfeeding. Breastmilk is, after all, milk. Even after six months, it still

What if you want to wean your baby?

source : http://www.breastfeeding.com/social/blog/view/id_1384/title_what-if-you-want-to-wean-your-baby%253F/

If you breastfeed for a few days, your baby will have received your colostrum or early milk. Packed with optimal nutrition and antibodies, it helps get your baby’s digestive system going and give him his first – and easiest – immunization.

If you breastfeed for four to six weeks, you will have eased him through the most critical part of his infancy. Breastfed newborns are much less likely to get sick or be hospitalized and have fewer digestive problems than artificially fed babies.

If you breastfeed for three or four months her digestive system will have matured a great deal and she will be much better able to tolerate the foreign substances in artificial baby milk.

If you breastfeed for six months, she will be much less likely to suffer an allergic reaction to artificial baby milk or other foods. A new study indicates that nursing for more than six months may greatly reduce the risk of childhood cancers as well.

If you breastfeed your baby for nine months, you will have seen him through the fastest and most important development of his life on the most valuable of all foods – your milk.

If you breastfeed your baby for a year you can avoid the expense of artificial baby milk. Many health benefits during this year of nursing will last her whole life. She will have a stronger immune system, less chance of childhood and adolescent obesity and will be much less likely to need orthodontia or speech therapy.

NIPPLE CONFUSION (Bingung Puting)

source : http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t022400.asp
There are some basic mechanical differences between how a baby gets milk from a bottle and how a baby gets milk out of the breast. Giving bottles or pacifiers to young, breastfeeding babies often leads to nipple confusion. Baby tries to use the bottle-feeding technique on the breast and has difficulty latching-on and sucking. Baby gets very frustrated, and so does mother. Nipple confusion can even lead to baby refusing the breast. Here’s an explanation.

To get milk from the breast, baby must coordinate tongue and jaw movements in a sucking motion that’s unique to breastfeeding.

When baby latches onto the breast, he opens his mouth wide and draws the very stretchable nipple and areola tissue far back into his mouth. The tongue holds the breast tissue against the roof of baby’s mouth while forming a trough beneath the nipple and areola. The gums compress the milk sinuses underneath the areola (the pigmented area around the nipple) while the tongue rhythmically “milks” the breast
with a wave-like motion from front to back, drawing the milk from the areola and the nipple. Since the nipple is far back in baby’s mouth, it’s not compressed by the
gums, so it’s less likely to get sore. Babies suck from a bottle entirely differently. Thanks to gravity, milk flows from a bottle so easily that baby does not have to suck “correctly” to get milk.

Mau Kasih ASI? Tanya “Saya”!

sumber : http://www.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/10/30/17304028/mau.kasih.asi.tanya.

JAKARTA, KAMIS – Kampanye pemberian Air Susu Ibu (ASI) sudah marak dilakukan. Nyatanya, informasi mengenai ASI kepada ibu menyusui tetap saja dirasa belum cukup, karena para ibu masih saja mengalami kebingungan dan tidak mendapatkan informasi yang benar tentang ASI.

Nah, bagi Anda ibu menyusui atau siapa saja yang berada dalam lingkaran ibu menyusui, kampanye yang baru saja diluncurkan oleh Pemda DKI Jakarta didukung oleh USAID, Pemerintah Kep. Faroese, Vitol Charitable Foundation dan Mercy Corps pasti akan menjadi informasi yang sangat penting diketahui. Pada Kamis (30/10) sore, diluncurkan kampanye “Kasih ASI? Tanya Saya!”.

Siapa yang dimaksud “saya”? “Saya” disini adalah para konselor dan motivator ibu menyusui. Keberadaannya, bisa ditemui di belantara Jakarta. Bagaimana menandainya? Para konselor dan motivator menyusui bisa ditandai dengan pin perpaduan warna abu-abu dan oranye yang bertuliskan “Kasih ASI, Tanya Saya”. Jika menemui orang-orang yang menggunakan pin ini (lihat foto), silahkan saja tanya apapun tentang menyusui, dan…jangan malu bertanya!