{"id":3898,"date":"2013-05-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/family-extended-breast-feeding-will-it-make-my-baby-invincible\/"},"modified":"2013-05-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T00:00:00","slug":"family-extended-breast-feeding-will-it-make-my-baby-invincible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/family-extended-breast-feeding-will-it-make-my-baby-invincible\/","title":{"rendered":"Extended Breast-Feeding: Will It Make My Baby Invincible?"},"content":{"rendered":"
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to keep nursing my baby after her first birthday.<\/p>\n
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast-feeding exclusively for the first 6 months, and I was happy to wean my first two daughters well before they were 1.<\/p>\n
None of the other moms I knew breast-fed their infants for more than a few months, and I was relieved to have my freedom and my pre-pregnancy body back once I stopped breast-feeding.<\/p>\n
But several things have changed since those formula-filled days.<\/p>\n
The upsides<\/strong><\/p>\n In addition, this child is more prone to ear infections than her sisters, and formula-fed children may be even more prone to ear infections<\/a>. In fact, according to a 2004 article<\/a> published in Pediatrics<\/em>, children who are breast-feeding past their first birthday have ear infections that are a shorter duration than those not breast-feeding.<\/p>\n In fact, the same article cites preliminary studies which indicate that extended breast-feeding may help protect the child against lymphoma and leukemia as well. So if she's breast-feeding and eating her vegetables<\/a>, she could be nearly invincible.<\/p>\n Plus, breast-feeding is so darn convenient. At the playground, in the car, on a hike in the woods—I never have to bring a bottle in case the baby gets peckish. She and I enjoy reconnecting while her sisters are playing around us, and we both relax as she fills her belly, and I experience the oxytocin<\/a> rush that comes from breast-feeding.<\/p>\n Next Page: Pediatricians, OBs support the choice<\/a> [ pagebreak ]<\/p>\n Pediatricians, OBs support the choice<\/strong> I was worried that my daughter's sense of independence would be stunted by this continued physical attachment to her mother. But in that same article in Pediatrics<\/em>, Martin T Stein, MD, negates my fear: "Extended nursing should not be seen as a hindrance to developmental progress."<\/p>\n In addition, there may be benefits to my own health. According to Pamela Berens, MD, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, extended breast-feeding may lower my risk of breast and ovarian cancer and maternal diabetes.<\/p>\n "It also appears that the risk is reduced more by longer periods of breast-feeding, so more [breast-feeding] is better for mothers" says Dr. Berens, and "a large review of studies<\/a> on breast cancer published in 2002 found a reduced risk of breast cancer of 4.3% for each 12 months of breast-feeding."<\/p>\n The downsides: Less freedom, more weight, no more babies<\/strong> I also tend to retain 10–15 extra pounds of weight as long as I breast-feed. Kurt Wharton, MD, an ob-gyn, tells me this is normal. A woman's body will hold onto that weight in order to ensure a steady supply of the sugar, fat, water, and protein needed to create breast milk.<\/p>\n erica-breast-feeding<\/span> and scared the pants off of me. While we scrambled to get the vaccine, my only consolation was that if we did contract H1N1, I could provide the baby an additional immunological protection through my breast milk.<\/p>\n
There is nothing but support from the medical community for breast-feeding children older than 12 months, known as extended breast-feeding.<\/p>\n
There are still some sacrifices; my husband and I can't plan a trip away from the kids as long as one of them is nutritionally dependent upon me. And my husband also loses out on that sweet bottle-feeding connection with his child.<\/p>\n