Doing my bit for World Breastfeeding

World Breastfeeding Week 2013 was from 1 to 7 August this year, but it is never too late not a good time to talk about breastfeeding.

The theme this year was "Breastfeeding Support: Close to Mothers"- all about the support for the mother from the closer to the wider circles in her community, to enable her to have a good breastfeeding experience and relationship with her baby.

Most often we do not find enough support to help us keep going...

My own experience with my first-born was very traumatic, because I had to take her off the breast at four months when I went back to work. She was one of the few ones who completely refused a bottle! I still think that if I had better support, I could have made a plan!

With Little Missy the second time around I knew I had to try something else, but fortunately she did not have a problem with taking the bottle as well. We could give a bottle with expressed milk to the day care, and later on we sent the tinned milk to day care.
I had a goal of going back to work, while still expressing, and kept that up until 9 months.
My next goal was one year, and we just continued from there...

Nobody was as surprised as me, but at 4 years and 7 months she is still breastfeeding.
I am breastfeeding a preschooler!

Sometimes she will skip days, but sometimes she will ask for more than once a day.
I do not offer it to her, and sometimes distracts her when we are in a public area. Until we get home!
I just don't have it in me to breastfeed in public any more.
I can see that there are raised eyebrows when I mention that we are still continuing with it.... (*Smile*)

I am waiting for her to wean herself!

It is still working for her, and therefore it is still working for me.
There is definitely a huge component of comfort that she gets from it, and I think that is why she never picked up the habit of a thumb, or a blankie. (Which the elder sister did!)
She is also very healthy, and did not have the expected grommets and adenoids that comes with going to day care.

Little Missy does not like drinking cow's milk (and very little milkshake), and that's another reason I think it is still good for her to get some extra immunity...

She has already thrown away her bottles, and all too soon this will also pass!

From the Surprised Lactivist (me); it is possible to continue with this relationship until your child is ready to wean.
They won't be hanging 24/7 on your breasts when they are older, so don't be worried! (*Wink smile!)


Keep calm, and breastfeed on....


Photo: Patrick Pretorius

The surprised lactivist

Lactivist = lactation + activist


“Breastfeeding is a natural event and should be treated as such. Let's reclaim the life-giving tradition of nursing!” Lactivist

I am as surprised as anybody else that I am still breastfeeding. It works! Very well!

I never considered to breastfeed as long, as I had certain goal posts in mind, such as 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and it just kept on shifting it further away…


In the meantime I gained more knowledge, such as:

- Breast milk adapts to baby’s and toddler’s needs. It does not diminish in nutritional value; to the contrary!

- Children get more intelligent the longer they breastfeed. (Yes!)

- Breast milk helps with keeping the immunity high!

- It is possible to get pregnant while breastfeeding.

- It is possible to breastfeed while pregnant.

- It is possible to tandem breastfeed a baby and a toddler.


The last three facts are fascinating to me, because it is not something that gets told in our Western Society. I know of many mothers who stop breastfeeding to get pregnant again.

I have come to cherish the breastfeeding relationship with my toddler as one of the best things I can do for her. It builds our relationship. It nurtures her into a strong independent human being. She does not have separation anxiety, or extra crutches such as dummies and blankets. (My teen had all the extra gadgets! I had to wean her when she was four months old when she did not want to take the bottle.) The best; she is very healthy! She did not get the flu this winter! (You go away, Murphy!)

With this I also do not want to make anyone feeling guilty. (Please, we have enough of that already!)

I just want it to become a possibility again in our society. It is acceptable and desirable to breast feed your baby and toddler for as long as they need it. We need to give the following generations a new mindset of thinking. Breastfeeding is better, and longer is even better! And it is not something to frown about, but something to aspire to!

By breastfeeding now for as long as possible, I am teaching my teen and my toddler that is a very viable option when they are going to have children. It only takes a generation to change a mindset!

[I am a lactivist! (You go, Powerwoman!) Wink smile]

Extended Breastfeeding

There are many names for it. Breastfeeding the toddler. Breastfeeding past infancy. Extended breastfeeding.


When you are pregnant, or just had your little one, you only think of getting past the soreness and the 24/7 constant latching. No, at first you are only worried about getting it right, and being able to breastfeed. Your first goal is the 6 week mark, and after that you try to continue to 3 months. Then 6 months. Somewhere you realise that it has become easier, and you continue... until the next goal. One year. Two years!

And now I am contemplating going for longer... Until the toddler tells me that it is finished!

We have accomplished so much with regards to health and the medical science, but we still reach too easily for the formula. We know for a fact that it is better to breastfeed. Better for the baby, and better for the mother. But why is it that it is not a standard way of doing things? That we not know before the time that is how it is supposed to be? We have somehow lost touch with what comes natural. We think that it is okay that our children are able to survive on second-hand milk (chemicals), and don’t contemplate the effects on them.

I am very sorry already that I gave in to the occasional bottle when it was not necessary. I should not have gone the formula route when it was too early. I was also worried about the baby going to day care, and that she would not accept a bottle...

Our bodies are able and well adapted to sustain our babies well into toddlerhood. I know now to trust my “booboos” (as Mieka calls it now), and not to worry that it is not “enough”.

I will continue as is and show – just by doing it – that it’s the easiest way for baby way past toddlerhood. Your milk does not lose its healthy properties. Quite the opposite! The health benefits for the mother also increases, such as less incidences of breast cancer. Today we have information at our typing tips, and we can enlighten ourselves as we go along!

I cherish the breastfeeding moments with my toddler. Silently I have become a lactivist, a word that I did not know existed before I was breastfeeding my toddler. I want everybody to know that it is the easiest and most precious time you have with your little one!

It goes by in a *FLASH*! (I will remember the special times!)

Related posts:

Breastfeedng past infancy - very special

The joys of breastfeeding a toddler (guest post)