Hello, wonderful readers! As natural parenting develops and knowledge about breastfeeding spreads, mothers increasingly have a question: how long to breastfeed?

Grandmothers and many old-school pediatricians firmly believe that after a year, feeding only does harm. That there is no longer any benefit in milk. What makes the child too dependent on his mother, dependent and underdeveloped.

However, the World Health Organization now recommends not stopping breastfeeding until two years of age. And allows you to feed for longer than two years. Consultants and advanced mothers assure that if you deprive your child of milk, you will make a terrible mistake. Who to believe?

Our son is now turning 2 years old. He is still breastfed. And I will share my view on this issue.

What is happiness in life?

And the first thing I want to say is that I think this topic is very overblown. In certain circles, of course. Mothers who are interested in natural parenting sometimes consider breastfeeding almost the most important thing in life.

Breastfeeding consultants sometimes very negatively perceive the desire of some mothers to wean their baby from breastfeeding at one year. I’m not talking about the attitude towards those who have breastfed for less than a year!

Sometimes there is a feeling that GW is above all else. That the child’s whole life depends on him. And that those who are not fed enough grow up to be sick losers.

However, in practice... Health depends on so many factors! Of course, breastfeeding is very beneficial. But this is not the most important thing in life. And I would reduce the exaggeration of this issue.

To feed or not to feed?

Of course, I am definitely in favor of breastfeeding. I think that we should try to feed the baby at least in the first year. And if something doesn’t work out, it’s better to contact a specialist rather than immediately run for the mixture.

Most problems with breastfeeding can be solved. And definitely, there are more benefits in milk than in formula. And breast milk is free, convenient... But situations are different, and if breastfeeding doesn’t work out at all, it’s better to understand that this is in no way a detriment to the child’s health.

As for the duration of breastfeeding... I believe that the mother should evaluate her circumstances. And it is not at all necessary to feed until 3 years old at any cost.

Everyone's circumstances are different. For some, a child stops demanding the breast after a year. And mom leaves one feeding per day without any problems. In such conditions, breastfeeding for up to 3 years is easy and pleasant.

For some, the baby is constantly hanging on their chest. Doesn't sleep well at night. Doesn't eat solid food well. Cutting down on feedings is hard. It seems like I cut it down - and then there was a breakdown again. And then fatigue from breastfeeding may appear. And mom will want to wean her off the breast - once and for all.

Why am I breastfeeding?

Initially, I set the bar for myself - to feed until I was two years old. Mission accomplished. What's next? Then I continue to feed, because I see that it benefits my son specifically.

At the same time, I don’t set any goals for myself. I understand that I can wean at any time. At least tomorrow. If I feel like that’s it, I’m tired.

The son hangs on his chest quite a lot. Sometimes I cut down on breastfeeding and only breastfeed when I fall asleep. I keep it like this for several days and the baby gets used to it. So a week, two, three passes, and then I finally decide to return feeding on demand. There can be many reasons: a difficult period for a child, illness, a trip, my fatigue... Then I get tired of it again - and cut back again.

Why do I think that breastfeeding benefits our baby?

• When I cut back on feedings, my son starts to lose weight. Despite the fact that he eats more regular food. I return breastfeeding upon request - the baby is getting plump before our eyes. It does not swell to spherical size, but the cheeks appear and the appearance is healthier.
• On breastfeeding, my son is calmer.
• During breastfeeding, the baby has better digestion.
• Cutting down on feedings is hard. Which indicates that the baby is not ready to complete the process.

Most children by the age of 2 rarely remember the breast. My son and I have a special case. And I try to focus on my son, and not on statistics and some standards.

But if we talk about norms, then after 1.5 years the mother leaves only latching for sleep. And in such circumstances, GW should not cause any inconvenience.

If mom is tired

I sometimes meet women who have long been tired of breastfeeding, but continue to breastfeed, since milk contains a lot of antibodies and all sorts of vitamins. This doesn't seem right to me.

Yes, breast milk is very beneficial. Even after a year. Even after two years. It helps build the child’s immunity and makes it easier to endure diseases.

But there are many useful things in life. For example, it is very useful to exclude sugar from children's diet. It is useful to constantly take children to the pool, for a massage and somewhere else. It is useful to walk with children all day long. But this does not mean that you are obliged to comply with all kinds of health measures. You need to look at your capabilities.

Also GW. My conclusion is this: it’s better to feed until mom gets tired. Minimum - up to one and a half years. And then - depending on the mother’s well-being.

If you feel tired, try reducing your applications. Try to make your life easier somehow. Eliminate night feedings, for example. Did not work out? Still want to finish this once and for all? Okay, finish!

Mom’s positive story about long breastfeeding:

You can wean at any age. But excommunication is a separate topic, and it will be more useful here course by Lyudmila Sharova, breastfeeding consultant. I went through it and really liked it. And about how to wean, and how to reduce feeding, and how to feed in general after a year.

Breastfeeding is a complex and extremely controversial topic. “How many people, so many opinions.” This statement perfectly reflects the essence of the issue under discussion. But this does not mean that some breastfeeding specialist, pediatrician or experienced mother from the forum is wrong when expressing their point of view. This indicates the individuality of each situation, and the fact that various factors influencing the success or failure of breastfeeding do not allow it to be placed under a single template.

In order to understand the depths of this topic, one must rely on objective data obtained through scientific research and listen to the opinions of authoritative sources who have invaluable experience interacting with a large number of newborns.

Let's look at the most important questions.

How long should you feed your baby with breast milk?

This aspect of breastfeeding is the hottest. Here the range of advice is especially wide. Some are ready to stop breastfeeding from 3 months, while others call for feeding up to 3 years. Therefore, we urgently need a “golden mean”!

Pediatrician's opinion

The opinion of official science and the majority of his colleagues was voiced by leading pediatrician O. E. Komarovsky: “Those times when there were heated discussions among specialists about how much breast milk a newborn should be fed are slowly coming to an end.” Doctors around the world have agreed that if the mother has milk, then until 6 months the child is ONLY breastfed. Provided that there is enough milk, the newborn does not need to be given any complementary foods, supplemented with water or, God forbid, juices, or allowed to suck on dry bread or crackers. In the absence of milk deficiency, the baby will develop normally and gain weight well. After a year, many children no longer feed only on mother’s milk, but if a woman CAN and WANTS to continue feeding, then let her do it.”

Summarizing the above, we conclude that breastfeeding is RECOMMENDED for up to 6 months, when milk has biological expediency. Whether or not to breastfeed at an older age is a personal decision for the individual family.

WHO position

The most interesting thing is that no one argues about feeding milk until 6 months or 1 year. All “showdowns” begin with a year. Doctors are trying to justify the benefits of continuing breastfeeding after this age.

And WHO clearly states that breastfeeding a child after one year reduces the risk of infections, primarily intestinal. Therefore, this organization strongly recommends “long-term feeding” of breast milk - up to 2 years and longer - in countries with low levels of hygiene and a high incidence of infectious diseases. For economically and socially developed countries, there are not so many advantages from long-term breastfeeding. If you eat high-quality complementary foods, then there will be no medical problems.

American Association of Pediatrics (AAP - American Academy of Pediatrics)

The American Association of Pediatricians states: up to 6 months - only milk, up to a year - breast plus complementary foods, and after a year, milk feeding is carried out only if mother and child want it.

After a year does milk become “empty”?

Of course not! It is exactly the same in composition as it was from the very birth of the baby. No one doubts the value and benefits of breast milk. It’s just that over time, an actively growing baby becomes unable to get enough of it (it’s not for nothing that complementary foods start at 6 months), he needs more nutrients and vitamins, which milk can no longer fully supply him with.

How long should you breastfeed your baby?

Here we will also rely on the opinions of experts.

On the question of how long to feed a baby, all doctors are more or less unanimous. Surovtseva Alla Pavlovna (pediatrician, candidate of medical sciences), and a large number of her colleagues agree with her, claims that half an hour is enough for feeding. The baby manages to get enough in 5-10 minutes and receive 90% of the milk that has arrived for him. And then communication with mommy begins. He inhales her scent, enjoys the warmth that soothes him, listens to her heartbeat. This is good for the baby and mother. Half an hour of nipple stimulation is enough for the milk to come again.

The baby sucks out the portion of milk he needs in the first 5-10 minutes. Then he can just lie at the breast and enjoy communication with mommy. In total, feeding takes no more than half an hour.

If the baby does not let go of the breast for more than 30 minutes, then we are talking about the so-called “lazy sucker.” Such a child sucks milk only when it flows freely. He is too lazy to work hard and suck out hind milk, so he just lies at the breast. In this case, you need to encourage the baby a little: tug his cheeks, tickle his nose or heels.

And finally, there is a special case when the baby needs to be constantly held at the breast and fed on demand, for example, when the baby is low birth weight and premature. This method is called the “kangaroo method”: the undressed mother holds the naked baby to herself, carries him like a kangaroo with her baby (under a robe) and feeds him when he wants and as much as he asks.

How to feed: on demand or according to a schedule?

On the question of how often to feed a baby, many copies have also been broken. There are two main camps, each of which defends its own point of view.

On demand

When feeding on demand, the baby is given breasts up to 20 times a day, of which 2-3 times occur at night.

Apologists of this camp are confident that the benefits of breastfeeding on demand are obvious. This is a real benefit for the baby and his mother. Close communication takes place, in which the mother learns to better understand her child, and lactation improves. The main argument in favor of this feeding method is that it is natural for an infant, because this is how they have been fed since time immemorial. Those who stand for this technique also claim that over time the baby himself develops his own feeding schedule, which is convenient and most natural for him.

Feeding on demand involves putting the baby to the breast at least 20 times a day.

However, if we go through the forums for mothers, we will see different pictures: some are satisfied with this method, while others literally “moan” from such feeding. For some, nutrition is not only not organized, but, on the contrary, it only becomes more disorderly; for others, the baby “hangs on the tit” and still does not eat enough, constantly asking for food. And there are those who claim the impossible, that their child refuses to breastfeed at all. Mothers are completely dependent on the child’s appetite and cannot go about their business.

Many people are starting to lean towards “regular” feeding. But is it better?

By mode

Feeding on demand is the French version. And there is German - strictly according to the schedule, when food is offered to the baby once every 3 hours, and the baby must suck milk for no more than 20 minutes. At night there is a mandatory break of 6 hours.

Regular feeding is designed to discipline the baby’s body, accustom him to certain intervals between meals, and wean him from night feeding. Food is given to the baby once every 3 hours.

On the one hand, this method allows mommy to plan her day, because she knows what time she will be busy and what time she will be free, and at night, with this mode, parents sleep better. However, there are disadvantages here too:

• if the baby gets hungry and starts demanding food, you will have to either firmly withstand his cries, or break the regime and start all over again;
• long breaks in feeding can lead to congestion in the chest (lactostasis);
• but the most unpleasant thing that can happen is the extinction of lactation. It is believed that milk comes in response to suckling. If the baby sucks the breast insufficiently and not often, then less and less milk is produced. Therefore, if a mother is determined to feed her child for longer than a year, then the “regular” method is not suitable for her.

Golden mean: free feeding

Feeding by the first cry and by the clock are extreme methods. But there is an optimal strategy: free feeding. The essence of this technique is that if the newborn VOLUNTARILY let go of the breast, he will feel hungry no earlier than after 2 hours. In this case, the question of how long to feed does not arise: feeding is carried out “according to appetite”, starting from the time when the baby last ate. More and more pediatricians today recommend this particular type of breastfeeding.

And one more nuance. It is necessary to feed the baby on demand, but only during the newborn period - up to 1 month. Then it is better to transfer him to free feeding.

How to determine if your baby has enough milk?

How much milk does a newborn need per day, and how do you know if he has enough?
You can determine this at home (in the absence of accurate scales) using the following indicators:

• as he pees: if the baby eats well and has enough milk, then he will make up to 18 peees a day. The diaper becomes heavy and swollen every 2-3 hours.
• How to poop: Breastfed babies may poop several times a day, or after each feeding. This is the norm.

To determine whether your baby is getting enough milk, you need to analyze how he pees and poops. Normally there should be 2-3 stools and 12-18 peees per day. If a child pees a little, has rare stools, and even with greens, then most likely he does not drink enough milk.

Many of the issues discussed about GW are just a theory. In practice, the child makes his own adjustments, which have to be taken into account. But don’t despair if everything doesn’t go as you planned. The main criterion that you should rely on is this: if the baby feels good, he is cheerful and active, then you are doing everything right.

Quite often, a young mother is faced with the opinion that breastfeeding should only be done during the first year of the baby’s life. What if the baby doesn’t even think about saying goodbye to his beloved mother’s milk? That’s when the question arises: maybe you shouldn’t rush to wean your baby off the breast?

How long to breastfeed?

There is no consensus on the duration of breastfeeding. Some people believe that breastfeeding after a year is inadvisable, others breastfeed until the end of paid maternity leave, and supporters of radical views believe that a baby can receive mother’s milk for as long as he wants.

Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF* place great emphasis on the continuation of breastfeeding in children over one year of age, recommending that this process be maintained for up to two years or more.

A child in the first six months of life should receive only breast milk, which contains all the necessary nutrients and water. From six months, breast milk remains beneficial for the baby, but can no longer fully provide all the nutritional needs of the baby, and therefore, from this age, along with mother’s milk, so-called “complementary foods” are introduced into the baby’s diet.

A second year child eats a very varied diet. His diet is almost the same as that of an adult. A mother can breastfeed her baby once or twice a day, most often at night. But this feeding is very important, since at the end of the first and in the second year of life, intensive growth, physical and mental development of the child continues. Therefore, breastfeeding should be done for as long as possible to help the baby grow properly and harmoniously.

*Hypoallergenic food - food from which products containing allergens, as well as sharp and irritating substances are excluded.

Bite formation, facial structure, speech development in children it is also determined by the duration of natural feeding. This is due to the active participation of the muscles of the soft palate in the process of obtaining milk from the breast. Children who are breastfed for a long time are better able to reproduce the tones and frequencies of sounds. Speech disorders are less common in them, and mainly these are physiological replacements of the sounds “w”, “zh”, “l” with more “simple” sounds.

Benefits of children's physical development

Breastfeeding ensures an optimal ratio of fat to muscle tissue in the child's body and an optimal ratio of body length and weight. The physical development of a child corresponds to his biological age, does not advance or lag behind. This was determined by the timing of the formation of various skeletal bones.

Plays an important role emotional aspect of long-term natural feeding. The special connection, the psychological attachment that is established between mother and child during feeding, remains for life. The neuropsychic development of such children may be advanced; they adapt better in adulthood.

It is the process of breastfeeding that helps in the formation of the soul and personality that is inherent only to humans, self-awareness and knowledge of the world around us.

Mothers who breastfeed for a long time show more care for their children, have a more positive attitude towards them, and maintain a feeling of love, which is especially important during the critical age periods of children after one year. No matter how stressed the mother is when she sits down to feed her baby, by the end of feeding both of them relax, and both of them noticeably improve their mood. In addition, women who breastfeed are much less likely to develop malignant neoplasms of the mammary glands and ovarian cancer.

Installed protective role natural feeding regarding the incidence of diabetes mellitus* and obesity in children and adults.

*Diabetes (Greek diabetes from the Greek diabaino to pass through, flow through) is the general name for a group of diseases characterized by excessive excretion of urine from the body. Diabetes mellitus is a disease caused by insufficiency of insulin (a pancreatic hormone), causing metabolic disorders, mainly carbohydrate metabolism.

However, the reduction in the risk of diabetes depends on the duration of breastfeeding. The direct mechanism of this effect is associated with the fact that the energy substances of human breast milk, especially proteins and carbohydrates, are optimal in their structure for the child, are easily absorbed by him, without requiring an increase in the level of substances (including insulin) that break down the elements of milk into their component parts . Therefore, the regulation of the hunger and satiety centers in the brain does not change. And failures of such regulation lead to metabolic disorders and the development of endocrine diseases.

When not to stop breastfeeding

For any disease or ailment of the child, since breast milk allows the baby to gain additional protective factors that help cope with the disease. It has been noticed that children who receive breast milk in the second and third years of life recover faster during illness.

In summer time, since in summer, due to high temperatures, food spoils faster and the risk of developing intestinal infections is higher. But even if such a disease occurs, you will have to temporarily stop eating food and eat only mother’s milk, which will not only be nutrition, but also a valuable natural medicine. In addition, stopping breastfeeding is always stressful for the body, including the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).

In summer, the activity of enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract changes due to the predominance of vegetables and fruits in the diet, rather than meat and dairy products, and the high air temperature does not encourage higher-calorie foods. Thus, the abolition of breastfeeding and a complete transition to adult food creates additional conditions for indigestion.

Do not stop breastfeeding immediately before important, significant events in your life and in the life of the baby, since these events are, for example, a change of residence, travel, mother going to work or study, the child starting to attend a nursery, etc. - are a stress factor for a small organism.

In general, continue breastfeeding for as long as your maternal intuition tells you. Depending on the baby’s health condition and your inner feelings, she will be the one who will help you make the right decision.

Attention: During the entire period of breastfeeding, psychological support from loved ones (husband, parents) is important for a woman in her desire to breastfeed for as long as possible.

After all, mothers often stop feeding their children only because of the misunderstanding of others.

Don't listen to those who suggest stopping feeding for a year. Continue breastfeeding until age two or beyond. After a year or a year and a half, human milk does not become “empty”; at any stage of breastfeeding, it is the most valuable and healthy product for the baby, which helps him grow healthy, smart and cheerful.

Olga Kachalova
Associate Professor, Department of Hospital Pediatrics, Moscow Faculty of Russian State Medical University
national expert on the WHO/UNICEF program "Ten steps to successful breastfeeding", Ph.D.

Comment on the article "How long to breastfeed your baby"

And we are almost 8 months old now, and we eat everything from the chest, we love this thing) Now it’s warmer, so we can even go for a walk. I think I’ll try to wean him off for a year.

28.04.2011 08:43:16,

At two months the baby stopped latching. We are now 7 months old. We still eat breast milk, in a slightly different way (long live the breast pump, I’m already changing the third one) - I express before each feeding, of course this has its difficulties, but they are worth it to overcome them. I want to hold out breastfeeding for at least a year, while it lasts formation of immunity.

09/30/2009 07:58:59, Alex_sa

I really liked the article. I want to write a lot...
But I’ll probably write about what I didn’t see in the discussions.
I want to breastfeed for as long as possible (my daughter is now 1 year 11 months old),
BUT I have real problems with my teeth, gums, and hair.
And this is what I understood about this: nature is wise, as you know, and everything in it is harmonious,
therefore, a mother who goes the natural route breastfeeds for a long time,
must live, accordingly, in a natural environment, where there is clean ecology, fresh vegetables, etc.
And if the mother gives for a long, long time, and in return does not receive sufficient support (vitamin),
then a discrepancy occurs, as a result of which the mother’s body suffers.
And if the mother feels bad, then the child is not very good either.
It turns out there are two options: either stop feeding, or figure out how to do so,
so that my mother’s body has this support.
I don’t completely trust artificial vitamins and, as a supporter of naturalness,
Now I’m trying to find sources of natural vitamins.
If anyone has a similar experience, please share.

03/09/2009 00:49:04, sio

Total 197 messages .

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When feeding with formula, it is easy to calculate the amount of food needed by the baby. It is more difficult to know how much breast milk to feed a newborn.
It is important to know about the duration of feeding, how to understand that the baby is eating enough and how many times a day to feed him.

Feeding frequency

Once born, a baby may require breastfeeding 6-12 times a day. In the future, it is important to decide whether to accustom him to a diet or feed him on demand.

When setting up a regimen already in the first month, it is worth developing a clear interval between feedings. In the first months it should be 3-3.5 hours.

That is, you need to feed the baby approximately 7-8 times a day. By 4-6 months, children switch to 5 meals a day.

When feeding on demand, everything depends on the baby's wishes. There is no need to calculate anything. The baby will tell you when it’s time to feed him.

You can understand this by anxiety, crying, and the baby’s search for the breast. Pediatricians believe that with natural feeding, overeating is impossible.

The child will drink as much milk as he needs. However, when feeding on demand, the mother ceases to belong to herself and can hardly plan her day.

At the same time, experts are confident that this type of nutrition has a beneficial effect on the development of infants and the duration of the lactation period.

Single and daily milk intake for infants

On the first and second days, the baby needs 7-9 ml of colostrum at a time. After the first flow of milk on the 3-4th day, there is more water in it, and the baby’s ventricle is already slightly enlarged.

At this time, the newborn is able to drink 30-40 ml. In subsequent days, feedings are increased by 10 ml each day. When a child turns 1 month old, he should already eat 100-120 ml.

• The weight of babies up to one and a half months should be divided by 5.
• At the age of up to 4 months, body weight is divided by 6.
• From 4 to 7 months - by 7.
• Up to 8 months - by 8.
• From 8 months to 1 year - by 9.

Eating at night

Experts disagree on whether you should wake your baby for night feedings.

Otherwise, the baby should be fed if he wakes up on his own and urgently requires food.

Most often, infants wake up from hunger in the first months of life. From 5-6 months they can already sleep through the night without snacking.

In any case, you should not give milk to your baby as soon as he wakes up. Perhaps he is cold or hot and thirsty.

It is worth eliminating all these factors and only then starting feeding.

How to understand how much a baby eats

The amount of milk drunk per feeding is influenced by many factors. How actively the baby sucked at the breast, how much milk and the intensity of its flow from the mother.

If the baby spent an hour at the breast, this does not mean that he has eaten too much.

Taking these subtleties into account, you can only find out exactly how much milk your baby drinks by weighing it. To do this, the baby should be weighed when hungry and after eating.

Duration of feeding

There are standards for the time spent at the breast. However, this is an individual question. For one baby, 10 minutes is enough to satisfy his hunger.

Another may stretch this process to an hour.

It depends on the nature of the baby, the volume of milk, and the environment. Some children linger at the mammary glands to be with their mother longer.

Having eaten, they simply smack their lips and indulge.

Based on the norms, in the first months the child should eat enough in 20-30 minutes.

For him, breastfeeding is an opportunity to nourish himself and enjoy contact with his mother. And also satisfy the sucking reflex.

Having matured, a baby can spend no more than 5-10 minutes eating.

Is it necessary to alternate breasts during one feeding?

When teaching pregnant women, lactation consultants advise using one breast per feeding. This allows the baby to drink thin foremilk and thicker, more nutritious hindmilk.

If you use both breasts, your baby may not receive enough nutrients and become hungry ahead of time.

Such feeding will not be effective enough, which will affect weight gain. Due to regularly emptied mammary glands, the mother may experience lactostasis, and subsequently mastitis.

You can use both breasts for feeding when the baby has grown up and does not eat enough from one breast.

How to tell if a baby is full or hungry

The first sign of satiety is the child’s calmness. Regular, nutritious meals are also indicated by restful sleep; well-being, development and mood; normal weight gain.

A hungry child makes searching movements with his mouth. He is restless, moody, rarely urinates or defecates, and is not gaining weight well.

Why is your baby not gaining enough weight?

According to standards, in the first months of life, a baby should gain weight by about 100 grams per week.

If the increase is less, despite regular and sufficient feeding, you need to look for the root of the problem.

Underweight may be associated with:

Insufficient fat content of mother's milk;

Unfavorable atmosphere at home;

Hyperlactation, when the mother has too much milk and the baby feeds only on the front, without getting to the more nutritious one - the back (this can happen due to frequent pumping.);

Engorgement of the nipples (In this case, it is difficult for the child to suck out food. You can help him by starting feeding by expressing a few drops of milk);

Repulsive odor of milk (caused by garlic and onions);

Laziness or weakness of a baby who quickly falls asleep at the breast without having time to eat.

Causes of overeating

Lactation consultants say that a newborn cannot overeat breast milk. However, in practice this happens.

Most often this happens for the following reasons:

Attaching the baby to the breast at the first call. A baby may cry for a variety of reasons. First you should try to calm him down.

Only if there are signs of hunger should you feed him.

Staying near the mammary glands for too long. When the mother has an excess of milk, and the baby sucks it for a long time and intensively, the feeling of fullness may be delayed.

Then the child will inevitably overeat.

The first sign of overeating is frequent and severe regurgitation.

The pediatrician strongly advises not to force the baby to eat when he has left the breast on his own. If he stops sucking milk, it means he's full.

When the baby is hungry, he will immediately report it. He will be capricious, look for his mother's breast and will calm down only when he gets what he wants.

Each child has his own diet, so general standards can only be a guide.

It is best to make a feeding plan in consultation with your pediatrician. He will tell you what interval is suitable for the child, taking into account his body weight, sleep schedule, and appetite.

On average, the interval between breastfeeding is 3-4 hours. At night it may be larger.

According to Dr. Komarovsky, there is no need to wake up the baby at night for feeding. And after reaching 1 month and gaining body weight of at least 4 and a half kilograms, you should try to wean him from eating at night.

In the evening, it is better to feed the baby as late as possible - at 22, 23 or 24 hours. This will increase the chances that he will not wake up hungry at night.

Until what age should a child be breastfed only?

The World Health Organization advises not to offer your baby anything other than milk until 6 months of age. Then the period of complementary feeding begins.

At the same time, you can feed him with mother's milk.

When to stop breastfeeding is up to the mother to decide. It is practiced to complete lactation in a year, 2 or even 3.

It is not easy for a nursing mother to know how much her baby has eaten. However, a cheerful mood, good health and excellent weight gain will indicate that everything is fine.

If your baby is not gaining weight, you can weigh him before and after feeding to find out how much he drinks at one time.

By focusing on age standards, studying the opinions of experts and observing your baby, you can easily understand whether the baby has enough milk.

And also how to help him if difficulties arise.

1. What is long-term feeding?

Breastfeeding a child for more than a year is considered long-term feeding. Although in fact this term is not entirely correct, or rather not at all correct) Rather, what is now called long-term feeding would be correctly described as “normal feeding.” After all, breastfeeding is not just an action directed from a subject to an object. This is a huge component of the relationship between a mother and her child, when the relationship arises, develops and ends on the initiative of both parties. Thus, the duration of feeding depends on how much both mother and baby need it. Therefore, it is wrong to say that you cannot breastfeed for 2-3 years, or that breastfeeding makes sense in the first six months or a year. From this point of view, breastfeeding can be compared to the process of pregnancy. None of the mothers is going to give birth prematurely, and everyone is waiting for the natural end of the pregnancy. It's the same with lactation. It also has its own beginning and its own logical end, laid down by nature, which does not imply either breast tightening or taking drugs that suppress milk production.

In Russia, the experience of “long-term” breastfeeding is now being adopted primarily from the West. In our country, the traditions of long-term breastfeeding, if not lost, are well forgotten, unfortunately. Although several decades ago it was believed that it was advisable to breastfeed a child for at least 3 large fasts, i.e. just about 2 years.

2. How long should you breastfeed?

Here there is no, and there cannot be, a clear answer. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends feeding until two years of age or beyond. The duration of breastfeeding is individual for each mother-child pair. Breastfeeding ends on its own when the sucking reflex fades (after 2.5 years) and the child’s nervous and digestive systems mature.

3. The benefits of long-term breastfeeding

(It’s so strange to describe the advantages of prolonged breastfeeding, which is the norm and by its nature preserves and develops the female and children’s bodies and psyche as they should be, and is not at all some kind of bonus program. True, often for many mothers it is the knowledge of specific facts and will help feed you further.)

- for the child’s health:

Nutritional value. After two or more years, milk remains a valuable source of proteins, fats, calcium and vitamins.
Immunity to diseases. It has been proven that the concentration of immunoglobulins in milk increases with the age of the child. This way older children receive strong immune support.
Allergy resistance. There is ample evidence that the later cow's milk and other common allergens are introduced into a child's diet, the less likely it is to develop allergic reactions.
Positive effect on the formation of the bite, jaw and facial skeleton. Dr. Palmer's research suggests that breastfeeding helps a child to correctly form the shape of the jaw and facial skeleton (formation occurs before the age of 4). And some components of breast milk protect the baby's teeth from caries.
Long-term feeding contributes to better development of a child’s cognitive abilities.
Children who have been breastfed for several years adapt better to society and are less likely to develop problem behavior.
Long-term breastfeeding promotes the normal physical development of the child, ensures an optimal ratio of fat and muscle tissue in the child’s body, and an optimal ratio of body length and weight.

- for maternal health:

Long-term breastfeeding protects the mother from the development of breast cancer.
Lactational amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) reduces the risk of developing various tumors of the ovaries and reproductive organs.
In addition, metabolism changes during lactation; many substances from a woman’s diet are absorbed better than before or during pregnancy. Long-term breastfeeding helps preserve the mother's figure and breasts, so to speak.
Prolonged lactation reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
Long-term breastfeeding also reduces the risk of diabetes in the future.

- for the mental and emotional development of the child:

With the introduction of complementary foods and gradual maturation, it is not the nutritional function of breastfeeding that comes to the fore, but its emotional component. Sucking at the breast helps children cope with all age-related crises that are characteristic of almost every year of a baby’s life, emotional overload, stress, anxiety, fears, and new impressions. This way of interacting with the mother (the most pleasant, understandable from birth and inherent in nature - sucking the breast) allows you to once again feel maternal love, closeness and care. For a child, this is an opportunity to be a little baby in order to become more independent in everything else, “more mature.”

- for the psycho-emotional health of the mother:

Long-term feeding is also very important for mothers. Firstly, this is the absence of unnecessary stress from forcibly weaning a child who is not ready for this. This is an opportunity to get additional rest. After all, without rocking or, conversely, without running around after the baby, the mother can spend a little time in peace and quiet during the feeding process. And extra rest for a young mother is never superfluous. Secondly, it is much easier to travel with an infant. After all, mother’s milk “protects” children from diseases. Diseases are much easier to tolerate while breastfeeding. When traveling, it is very easy to put a child to sleep; for this he only needs his mother’s breast, and not the usual environment and a complex ritual. This saves the mother from unnecessary worries when traveling and makes her more mobile.

4. Disadvantages of early weaning

The process of breastfeeding has its beginning and its logical end. If lactation ends untimely, this can affect the mental and physical state of the child and the mother herself. This includes discomfort, swelling of the chest, lactostasis from the milk that comes, but is not sucked out by anyone. And it’s just stress for a mother who needs to come up with a new arsenal of means to calm her child. For a baby who has been weaned, but whose sucking reflex has not yet died out, some kind of substitute will be needed to satisfy the need for sucking, otherwise the child may begin to suck his finger, which often leads to the formation of an abnormal bite. Children who are not ready to stop breastfeeding react very sharply to their mother’s actions at the end of feeding; for them this is a big burden on the psyche. Premature weaning can provoke emotional delay and even greater attachment to the mother, and not at all become an incentive for independence.

5. Natural completion of GW

When we talk about the natural end of breastfeeding, we mean the cessation of breastfeeding when the mother does not take active steps to complete feeding, and the baby’s need to attach to the breast subsides on its own. Those. The child stops feeding when he outgrows this need. Just like the need for several naps during the day outgrows and goes to one nap, and then outgrows that too. Mom can help her child in this process. Don't push or push, but help. Show him the interesting world around him, organize his absences, demonstrate different options for calming down and interacting with his mother. The age of self-weaning is on average after 2.5 years.

What does the process of naturally ending breastfeeding look like? First, daytime and evening feedings go away, leaving attachments for dreams and for comfort. Then the child learns to fall asleep with a book, a song, in a hug and with other relatives. The last to go are morning latches and feedings to calm down. The child simply forgets to ask his mother for the breast. And when upset, he is satisfied with stroking and hugs. In the end, there may be one application per week, two. Then you will no longer be able to remember when this “last time” was.

6. Organization of the process of feeding the toddler

Breastfeeding a child after a year and older is not at all similar to feeding a newborn:
The number of applications is reduced. The child grows, becomes more inquisitive and independent, breaks away from his mother and learns about the world.
Mother and child learn to agree on how and when it is convenient for both of them to feed: (the child learns to wait until the mother is free in order to attach him to the breast, learns to express his desires in words (with some code word: for example, eat), stops asking for the breast in public places or guests.
Breastfeeding fits very well into the life of an older child: he can attend developmental classes, kindergarten, and spend time with other relatives. Mom can work and limit her absences. None of this prevents you from continuing to breastfeed.

7. Long-term feeding is the choice of many mothers

We decided to find out why mothers still choose long-term breastfeeding for themselves and their child, what motivates them in a specific situation and everyday life. And we learned a lot of interesting things:

“I have no questions about why you feed ‘so long’. This is both useful and necessary for my son. I have a question: why excommunicate? :)"

“When you breastfeed your baby as much as he needs, it’s a completely different level of relationship, intimacy and mutual understanding. It’s a pity that I didn’t understand this with my firstborn.”

“I trusted my daughter at the beginning of our feeding, I applied it when she asked, i.e. fed on demand. I still trust you. If she asks for the breast, it means she really needs it.”

“Breastfeeding for us is just one of the aspects of living together: we eat together, sleep together, relax together and feed by mutual consent:)”

“I feed in tandem. This helps my son avoid jealousy towards his newborn sister, and serves as a constant reminder to me that he did not become “big”, “adult” and “independent” overnight.

“While breastfeeding, I am not afraid that the baby will not receive enough nutrients or will suffer from dehydration. And I’m not tormented by worries if today he ate little “adult food”.

“I can’t imagine how I would have coped without breastfeeding during my illness and during teething.”

“GW will give me confidence in my abilities, so to speak. I know that I can always calm my child down, that I can put him to sleep, and support him during illness. And I don’t need anything or anyone for this.”