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Bracken was about 4 months old in these pictures. While visiting our friend Lara that winter day, she asked if I would like her to take some pictures while I was nursing Bracken. She said she hardly had any pictures nursing her twins and wished she had more. Now, looking back at these pictures, I’m so grateful she took them, to have captured the sweetness of those quiet moments. And when I think about it, a lot of time caring for Bracken since his birth, has been spent nursing. It’s a sacred connection between us that I cherish.
These days when he gets a belly full, looks up at me with eyes full of love, and gives me a big hug… my heart melts. In the early morning he makes a noise and I gently roll over to feed him, both of us mostly asleep. There is so much more to breastfeeding than the nutritional benefits (which I won’t go into in this post.) The connection with your baby that breastfeeding brings is priceless. Beyond description.
I grew up in a world of baby bottles and aisles of formula, a world where breastfeeding was not the norm. (Imagine my surprise when I moved to Oregon and visited Eugene to see mamas fully-exposed, sitting on the sidewalk nursing their babies.) Luckily, I see that changing in our world as people are realizing just how very important breastfeeding is.
Bracken is 19 months old and he is breastfeeding. Some people say to me “Are you STILL breastfeeding him?” or “How long do you plan to breastfeed him for?” Sometimes there is judgement behind the questions, but sometimes there is simply just curiosity. When answering how long I’ll nurse him for, I give an honest “I don’t know.” Because I don’t. I will nurse him for as long as it feels right. That’s all I can say. (Of course, in my head I have “ideas” of how long, but life can be full of surprises.)
I am a very discreet nurser, as I tend to be a private person in many ways anyway. When we are in public, I nurse him as privately as I can, but still feel a little self conscious when people make remarks about his age. But I know that’s silly. When I read an article by Heather, of The Mommypotamus blog, I felt much better.
She says:
“We Need a Global Perspective
What I can tell you is that the American tendency to wean early is the exception, not the rule. The worldwide average for weaning is somewhere between 2-4 years of age. If you think about how uncommon extended breastfeeding is in the U.S. and some other westernized nations, consider how old children must be breastfeeding in other parts of the world to drive the average up that high.
Still think mothers that practice extended breastfeeding are weirdos?
- The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding well into and beyond the second year old life. This is a conservative organization which is saying two years is the minimum we should breastfeed for, NOT the maximum!
- The American Academy of Family Physicians (yet another very conservative organization) states that weaning a child before two years of age leads to an increase in illness.¹”
(You can read the rest of the article here.)
I’ve read about our hunter-gatherer ancestors breastfeeding their children for much longer than four years old. Shocking? I know, I know, in our world today it can make people gasp at the thought. In my opinion, our world needs to reconnect with the wisdom of our ancestors- about raising children, eating whole nutrient dense foods, spending time outdoors, and so much more. And how long we breastfeed is one of those areas where we could learn something, I do believe. Does that mean everyone should breastfeed for that long? Not at all. I’m just saying that when we see something in our world that seems strange and different, given a broader perspective- it may be much more “natural” than we realized.
When it comes down to it, our intuition is our best guide in raising our children and making all decisions. (Even when it’s no one else’s business, it does feel good to have a little extra support to back you up sometimes though, doesn’t it?)
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Mamas out there, how long did you breastfeed for, or is that yet to be seen?
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