Children who are breastfed have a lower incidence of milk allergies. The longer cow’s milk is absent from a baby’s diet, the less chances that child has of developing a milk allergy. Doctors now recommend that parents avoid serving their babies cow milk until the child is one-year-old.
Comfort
In the recent past, breastfeeding mothers were advised to wean their children from the breast by the child’s first birthday. This is traditionally when cow’s milk is introduced to children’s diets. As any breastfeeding mother knows, breastfeeding is not about only nutrition, but about bonding, loving, caring and comforting. A cup of milk is not an equal substitute for a nursing session. Not only does a cup of cow’s milk not provide the same level of nutritional value that breast milk does, it is unable to sooth a child like nursing can. Breastfeeding is just as much about love as it is about sustenance.
Becoming a toddler is hard work. Many things in a one-year-old’s life are subject to change. Learning to talk can be frustrating, and learning to walk can lead to lots of bumps and bruises. Breastfeeding, however, does not have to come to an end. Nursing is something that a toddler has been doing since his very first day; it is the one action that has remained constant for the child’s entire life. It can still provide the same level of comfort for a toddler as it did when he was a baby.
Continued Connection to Mom
Toddlerhood brings with it a new sense of independence. Little walkers begin to explore more of the world around them with greater interest and with a self-determination that often brings with it a greater distance between child and mother. A continued breastfeeding relationship supplies mom and toddler with a way to stay connected. Children who are breastfed have a unique relationship with their mother as the breastfeeding partnership is something that only mom and child share.
Psychological Wellbeing
Ideally, mothers and toddlers should practice self-weaning. Just as breastfed children are fed on-cue and not on a schedule, they should be weaned slowly and on their own timetable. There is no medical reason for weaning at any certain age. Conversely, research shows that a child can experience negative psychological effects when he is abruptly weaned from the breast. Parent-led weaning not only causes the child stress, but it robs the child of his method of dealing with stress.
The old rule to wean children from the breast by age one is misguided. It is actually based on bottle feeding guidelines; a child no longer needs formula at one year because it is safe for that child to switch to cow’s milk. But breastfeeding is not parallel to bottle feeding, as it is not just a source of nutrition, but a source of comfort as well. The breastfeeding relationship is an intense one. For a breastfed child, the breast has been his source of comfort since his first day of life. As he matures and discovers new ways of comforting himself, he will rely less and less on the breast until he has weaned himself. Abrupt and early weaning could be traumatic for a child who is not emotionally ready to give up the breastfeeding relationship.