We have allllllllll heard it, am I right? "Oh he has teeth now, doesn't he bite you?" "You'll never get him off the breast if you keep nursing him this long." "That's of no nutritional value to him/her now."
Newsflash!
"The World Health Organization recommends that infants start breastfeeding within one hour of life, are exclusively breastfed for six months, with timely introduction of adequate, safe and properly fed complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding for up to two years of age or beyond" (WHO, 2021). Did you all read that correctly............Up to 2 years of age or BEYOND!!! Infants/Toddlers nurse for a variety of reasons: nutrition, comfort, to ease pain (yes there is science behind that but that's for a later post), to help them sleep (science behind that also), when they are sick (again science based facts on the changing composition of breast milk when your babies sick), and many many other reasons. So hey guess what.......? When you hear the question of "when are you going to quit breastfeeding"- your answer can be a simple as "I don't know but the WHO recommends up to age 2 or beyond and science shows ANY breastfeeding is indeed beneficial".
So for now, keep on nursing those babies as long as you'd like!
My blog posts are meant to be education but also put a touch of my personal life in them for some fun!
Until next time- #KendraRoseAPRNGrowingPediatrics