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Extended Breastfeeding Fact Sheet
By Kelly Bonyata, BS, IBCLC
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- Although there has been little research
done on children who breastfeed beyond the age of two, the available
information indicates that breastfeeding continues to be a
valuable source of nutrition and disease protection for as long
as breastfeeding continues.
- "Human milk expressed by mothers who
have been lactating for >1 year has significantly increased
fat and energy contents, compared with milk expressed by women
who have been lactating for shorter periods. During prolonged
lactation, the fat energy contribution of breast milk to the infant
diet might be significant."
-- Mandel 2005
- "Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts
of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially
protein, fat, and most vitamins."
-- Dewey 2001
- In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL
of breastmilk provides:
- 29% of energy requirements
- 43% of protein requirements
- 36% of calcium requirements
- 75% of vitamin A requirements
- 76% of folate requirements
- 94% of vitamin B12 requirements
- 60% of vitamin C requirements
-- Dewey 2001
- Studies done in rural Bangladesh have shown that
breastmilk continues to be an important source of vitamin A in
the second and third year of life.
-- Persson 1998
- It's not uncommon for weaning to be recommended
for toddlers who are eating few solids. However, this recommendation
is not supported by research. According to Sally Kneidel
in "Nursing Beyond One Year" (New Beginnings,
Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August 1990, pp. 99-103.):
Some doctors may feel that nursing will interfere
with a child's appetite for other foods. Yet there has been
no documentation that nursing children are more likely than
weaned children to refuse supplementary foods. In fact, most
researchers in Third World countries, where a malnourished toddler's
appetite may be of critical importance, recommend continued
nursing for even the severely malnourished (Briend et al, 1988;
Rhode, 1988; Shattock and Stephens, 1975; Whitehead, 1985).
Most suggest helping the malnourished older nursing child not
by weaning but by supplementing the mother's diet to improve
the nutritional quality of her milk (Ahn and MacLean. 1980;
Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 1978) and by offering the child more
varied and more palatable foods to improve his or her appetite
(Rohde, 1988; Tangermann, 1988; Underwood, 1985).
References
- The American Academy of Family Physicians notes
that children weaned before two years of age are at increased
risk of illness (AAFP 2001).
- 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 (Gulick 1986).
- "Antibodies are abundant in human
milk throughout lactation" (Nutrition
During Lactation 1991; p. 134). In fact, some of the immune
factors in breastmilk increase in concentration during the
second year and also during the weaning process. (Goldman 1983,
Goldman & Goldblum 1983, Institute of Medicine 1991).
- Per the World
Health Organization, "a modest increase in breastfeeding
rates could prevent up to 10% of all deaths of children under
five: Breastfeeding plays an essential and sometimes underestimated
role in the treatment and prevention of childhood illness."
[emphasis added]
References
- Many studies have shown that one of the
best ways to prevent allergies and asthma is to breastfeed
exclusively for at least 6 months and continue breastfeeding long-term
after that point.
Breastfeeding can be helpful for preventing allergy by:
- reducing exposure to potential allergens
(the later baby is exposed, the less likely that there will
be an allergic reaction),
- speeding maturation of the protective
intestinal barrier in baby's gut,
- coating the gut and providing a barrier
to potentially allergenic molecules,
- providing anti-inflammatory properties
that reduce the risk of infections (which can act as allergy
triggers).
References
- 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.
References
- According to Sally Kneidel in "Nursing Beyond
One Year" (New Beginnings, Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August
1990, pp. 99-103.):
"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 (Ferguson et al, 1987). In
the words of the researchers, 'There are statistically significant
tendencies for conduct disorder scores to decline with increasing
duration of breastfeeding.'"
- According to Elizabeth N. Baldwin, Esq. in "Extended
Breastfeeding and the Law":
"Breastfeeding is a warm and loving way to meet the
needs of toddlers and young children. It not only perks them
up and energizes them; it also soothes the frustrations, bumps
and bruises, and daily stresses of early childhood. In addition,
nursing past infancy helps little ones make a gradual transition
to childhood."
- Baldwin continues: "Meeting a child's
dependency needs is the key to helping that child achieve independence.
And children outgrow these needs according to their own unique
timetable." Children who achieve independence at their
own pace are more secure in that independence then children forced
into independence prematurely.
References
- The American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends that "Breastfeeding should be continued for
at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually
desired by mother and child... Increased duration of breastfeeding
confers significant health and developmental benefits for the
child and the mother... There is no upper limit to the duration
of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental
harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer."
(AAP 2005)
- The American Academy of Family Physicians
recommends that breastfeeding continue throughout the first year
of life and that "Breastfeeding beyond the first year
offers considerable benefits to both mother and child, and should
continue as long as mutually desired." They also note
that "If the child is younger than two years of age, the
child is at increased risk of illness if weaned." (AAFP
2001)
- A US Surgeon General has stated that
it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello
1990)
- The World Health Organization emphasizes
the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO
1992, WHO 2002).
- Scientific research by Katherine A. Dettwyler,
PhD shows that 2.5 to 7.0 years of nursing is what our children
have been designed to expect (Dettwyler 1995).
References
[see also position
statements supporting breastfeeding]
- Extended nursing delays the return of
fertility in some women by suppressing ovulation (References).
- Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast
cancer (References).
Studies have found a significant inverse association between duration
of lactation and breast cancer risk.
- Breastfeeding reduces the risk of ovarian
cancer (References).
- Breastfeeding reduces the risk of uterine
cancer (References).
- Breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometrial
cancer (References).
- Breastfeeding protects against osteoporosis.
During lactation a mother may experience decreases of bone mineral.
A nursing mom's bone mineral density may be reduced in the whole
body by 1 to 2 percent while she is still nursing. This is gained
back, and bone mineral density may actually increase, when the
baby is weaned from the breast. This is not dependent on additional
calcium supplementation in the mother's diet. (References).
- Breastfeeding reduces the risk of rheumatoid
arthritis. (References).
- Breastfeeding has been shown to decrease
insulin requirements in diabetic women (References).
- Breastfeeding moms tend to lose weight
easier (References).
Page last modified:
01/04/2006
Written: 3/12/98
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Breastfeeding Links @ 
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Portuguese
version of this page translated by Denise Arcoverde for Breastfeeding
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