Breastfeeding a toddler is completely normal.
You may be enjoying feeding your toddler and want to keep going. But perhaps you’re wondering whether it’s still worth continuing. Around this time many mums start feeling pressure from others to wean their child.
If you feel ready to wean, we have some suggestions to help.
Why keep breastfeeding your toddler?
Research shows that breastfeeding is still important for you and your child during the toddler years.
- Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommends that breastfeeding continue once solids have been introduced for as long as mother and baby desire.
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that children be breastfed for at least 2 years.
- In Australia 28% of children are still breastfeeding at 12 months.
Breastfeeding your toddler can provide:
- 29% of daily energy needs
- 43% of protein requirements
- 75% of Vitamin A requirements
- 60% of Vitamin C requirements
- 76% of folate requirements
- 94% of vitamin B12 requirements
- 36% of calcium requirements.
The longer you breastfeed your child, the more you reduce the risks in your child of:
gastrointestinal infections
respiratory infections
ear infections
dental malocclusions
overweight and obesity
lower IQ.
More than just the health benefits
There are other reasons to keep breastfeeding if it suits you and your child.
If your child is sick, they will tolerate breastmilk more easily than food.
If your child is hurt, breastfeeding can soothe their discomfort.
The emotional security of breastfeeding is very important for many toddlers.
Breastfeeding may continue to be a quick and easy way to help your toddler get to sleep.
It’s convenient and time-saving.
For some mums breastfeeding continues to delay return of fertility.
It's good for your health too
Mums who breastfeed longer (over one or more lactations) have a reduced risk of:
breast cancer
ovarian cancer
type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure
heart disease and stroke.
How is breastfeeding a toddler different from breastfeeding a baby?
For a toddler, breastfeeding can be more about staying close to mum as being a source of food. Here's what breastfeeds might look like:
- Feeds can be quite short as your toddler can take in a large amount of milk in a short time.
- Your toddler might feeds frequently some days and not very often on other days.
- Toddlers can be quite wriggly and may breastfeed in new and different positions.
- They are heavier to hold so you might need to find different ways to manage breastfeeds.
What do I say when others think I should stop breastfeeding?
Family, friends and others around you may believe you should only breastfeed a young baby so you may be feeling pressure to stop breastfeeding. It can be helpful to have some short statements to give people about why you are continuing. If you need support, you will find like-minded people at ABA gatherings.
Breastfeeding is the most powerful tool a mother of a toddler has. With a few quick sucks you can soothe a sore knee or a tantrum, or get an overtired child off to sleep in minutes. We'd be mad to give it up too quickly.
I couldn't bear to get up when Sam woke at 6:30 on those cold winter mornings. By breastfeeding we could stay cuddled up together in our big, warm bed for another half hour or so. It was a lovely way to start the day for both of us.
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