Toddler Breastfeeding: 10 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child Beyond Their Second Birthday

Toddler Breastfeeding: 10 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child Beyond Their Second Birthday

The biggest pro I personally see with breastfeeding a toddler is the fact that I’m giving her a head start on the understanding that boobs are for feeding BEFORE the world bombards her with the sexy cleavage image.

I need to see how she reacts to that but I love that her beginnings are well grounded in FACTS.

Take that patriarchy.

Moving on, there are SOOOO many things that are great about Breastfeeding a toddler, I’m listing a few here.

  1. Immunity. That’s a no brainier. The longer we provide support to immunity building, the better it is. However at 1 year of age the immunity of a human child is only at its 60%, it is know to increase and the immunological benefits of breast milk heighten in the second and third year of a child’s life compared to the first year.

  2. Fussy eaters-not

At a more “aware” age they’re exposed to a myriad of flavours from their mother’s milk so their palate is friendlier to new foods. They’re less likely to be fussy eaters.

  1. Leaner bodies

Toddlers who breastfeed for longer periods of time are believed to have leaner bodies and lesser chances of obesity.

  1. Even though breast milk provided them with extra immunity and they seldom get sick, even when they do, they tend to defer more and heal more via breastfeeding.

  2. Tantrum buster.

Seriously. Toddlerhood is a difficult time in life. There’s SO MUCH going on in that tiny brain half the time even they don’t know what they want. True for many interesting adults I know but still. It’s difficult for them. Breastfeeding is a one stop shop for all tantrums. Helps bonding for lifetime. They know you’re their non judgmental space where they can come be unreasonable and still be loved.

  1. Much less likely to pick up thumb sucking. Helps with keeping teeth straight but I personally feel the connection between thumb sucking and uneven teeth is a myth. If anyone has more value to add to this one do enlighten me.

  2. Vision. Breastfed toddler has better eyesight (barring genetics of course). The Vitamin A content in post one year breast milk goes up of course because of the different need of the body and this helps further improve their eyesight.

  3. Painkiller. Breast milk is a natural pain killer for all the falling bumps and bruises in toddlers’ lives. It actually also is the best topical med for all scratches bumps and bruises.

  4. Ear infections- by the time I was my child’s age I had had more than a few ear infections. My child has had none. Breastfeeding reduces the likelihood of ear infections and that’s amazing because I still remember the agony of an earache.

  5. Emotional independence and balance. This I thought was a personal viewpoint until I read up on it and it was a real thing. Children who quit breastfeeding at their own pace have that extra patch in being more secure and independent human beings from the get go.

Apart from this the general qualities of breastfeeding just continue. It adds to their cognitive and intellectual aptitude, their immunity is stronger, the system is portable and available at the first sign of distress, all that protein that’s essentially reaching them, better muscles and glossy hair.

I can go on and on and on.

Breastfeeding is such a personal journey between you and your child there’s very little anything or notion external to the two of you should matter at all. You and your child decide. It’s a partnership. Both need to be comfortable and loving it for it to be beneficial. If you are sick of it and it’s bearing you down emotionally or psychologically, forget about it. Figure a way to wean as gently as possible but go ahead and do it. If your child is over and done with it, don’t force it on them, hug your child and say goodbye to the beautiful journey no matter how far or early on it led you.

I for one, love our connection. She hugs me. I rock her. She feeds. More frequently through difficult times and far and few between when things are calm in her little yet fierce toddler life.

I love being there for her. She loves and relies on me for support when she’s at her most vulnerable which in my opinion will help her just that little bit she needs to step on and go on to become a more confident and independent woman one day.

Sure. People have done that and a lot more without being breastfed too but if I can give her that early boost by physically making her more receptive to this growth in life, I’d like to jump to that opportunity, thank you.

I tried to wean her (only in my head, planning how to et al) when she turned two but swiftly threw the idea out the window.

It’s her thing. She decides.