Extended Breastfeeding -

More than just a freak show

Fact Sheet

“What is extended nursing?

In North American culture, extended nursing is typically anything past one year. Some even consider nursing over 6 months of age extended. Realistically, however, normal nursing, based on biological and evolutionary adaptation, is 2.5 years, so anything past 2.5 or 3 years of age should be considered extended.”

“I came up with a number of predictions for when humans would ‘naturally’ wean their children if they didn't have a lot of cultural rules about it. The minimum predicted age for a natural age of weaning in humans is 2.5 years, with a maximum of 7.0 years.”

"There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychological or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer."

“Physiologically, it has been shown that a child's immune system is not mature until at least 6 years of age; therefore, continued breastfeeding into childhood protects health and helps to develop the immune system. And if this hasn't convinced you, a child's IQ increases with every month they nurse over 8 months of age.”

“The immunities in breast milk have been shown to increase in concentration as the baby gets older and nurses less, so older babies still receive lots of immune factors.”

“Nursing toddlers between the ages of 16 and 30 months have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers.”

“In the second year of life, 500ml of breastmilk provides:

• 95% of vitamin C requirements
• 45% of vitamin A requirements
• 38% of protein requirements
• 31% of energy requirements
• (from: UNICEF/Wellstart: Promoting Breastfeeding in Health Facilities: A short course for Administrators and Policy Makers; WHO/CDR 93.4) “

“Extensive research on the relationship between cognitive achievement (IQ scores, grades in school) and breastfeeding has shown the greatest gains for those children breastfed the longest. “

“The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond. (Innocenti Declaration 1990)”

“There is little doubt that human milk does make a difference in standard intelligence quotient (IQ). At 18 months, premature children who had been fed human milk substitutes (HMS) had significantly lower developmental scores than children who were fed the expressed fresh milk of their mothers. In another study of premature babies who were fed human milk only by tube, and only for the few weeks they were in the hospital, breastfed babies showed higher intelligence eight years later than their counterparts who ate HMS. Babies whose mothers intended to breastfeed but could not had the same IQ's as children whose mothers never intended to breastfeed, negating the possible contribution of mother's education or socioeconomic status. Likewise, the act of breastfeeding could not have contributed to the relationship, since the infants were all fed by gavage (nose tube) and weaned from human milk upon release from the hospital. It must have been the human milk itself which was responsible for the difference.

If breastfeeding for such a short time had such a dramatic effect, what is the effect of breastfeeding for months or even years? In one case, children who were breastfed for less than one month had significantly more developmental delay than babies who had been breastfed for more than nine months. In other studies, children who were breastfed for at least eight months had higher IQ's, and better reading comprehension, scholastic ability and math abilities as long as 13 years later. In several studies, IQ increased the longer children were breastfed, with effects that were noticeable after ten or more years. Most of the time, the difference in IQ was estimated to be between 5-10 points on the IQ scale.”

“A third health benefit is avoidance of allergies. It is well documented that the later that cow's milk (and formula is cow’s milk-based) and other common allergens are introduced into the diet of a baby, the less likelihood there is of allergic reactions.”

 “Research reports on the psychological aspects of nursing are scarce. One study that dealt specifically with babies nursed longer than a year showed a significant link between the duration of nursing and mothers' and teachers' ratings of social adjustment in six- to eight-year-old children. In the words of the researchers, ‘There are statistically significant tendencies for conduct disorder scores to decline with increasing duration of breastfeeding.’"

“Breastfeeding has been associated with better oral development due to the unique sucking action required with nursing at the breast. There is also evidence that extended breastfeeding results in earlier reading in boys and fewer speech problems.”

“Hormones present with breastfeeding continue to help relax the mother, perhaps making daily life with a busy, curious toddler more enjoyable and less stressful.”

“You continue to benefit from the hormones of breastfeeding. The ‘mothering hormone,’ prolactin, relaxes you, while oxytocin stimulates loving , nurturing behavior. As mothers of nursing toddlers know, this can be very important to your mental health and well-being. Life with a toddler is not always easy! You also benefit from the intimacy that nursing provides. Taking time out of a busy day to cuddle is as important to moms as it is to their babies.”

“Researchers are discovering new immunological factors in the living fluid that is mother's milk at a breathtaking rate these days. One of the antibodies, IgG, is in a form that is destroyed by digestion. But others, such as IgA and certain human milk leukocytes, have been shown to be quite active in helping little ones fight off disease. IgA, by way of illustration, protects by serving as a potent barrier, preventing your nursing child from being infected by specific organisms through his intestinal tract.”

“’It's unnatural to drink milk.’ Most adults in Asia and Africa, along with many in southern Europe and Latin America, have trouble digesting lactose, the main sugar in the milk of both humans and cows. Some suffer from bloating, cramps, or diarrhea if they try. ... it was only because of a genetic aberration that milk became a food staple in northern Europe and North America. Nature normally programs the young for weaning before they reach adulthood by turning down production in early childhood of the enzyme that breaks down lactose. But a gene mutation inherited by people of northern European descent prevents the production of this enzyme from being turned down. As a result, the majority of Americans can drink milk all their lives.

Campbell argues that the ultimate problem with cow's milk is that nature concocts different formulas of mother's milk for different species. What's good for baby calves isn't necessarily good for human babies or adults. "Isn't it strange that we're the only species that suckles from another species?" he says. Campbell theorizes that cow's milk unnaturally stimulates enzymes and growth hormones in the human body that increase the risk of various diseases. Moreover, he has come to the conclusion that cow's milk may not even do what it is supposed to do best--build strong bones. And recent studies suggest that humans may need less calcium for strong bones than was once believed and that other foods, including various vegetables and legumes, may be better sources than cow's milk.”

http://www.kellymom.com/ebf-benefits.html

http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/nursetoddler.html

http://naturalchild.com/guest/norma_jane_bumgarner.html

http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/detwean.html

http://www.drjaygordon.com/links/bflinks.htm#Extended

http://users.erols.com/cindyrn/22.htm

http://www.waba.org.my/pdf/496.pdf