Mother of Five Shares Her Extended Breastfeeding Journey
Dayna, a mother of five, has been breastfeeding her children for 13 years and has no plans to stop until they are ready to wean. She describes child-led weaning and nursing toddlers as completely normal and hopes to see greater societal acceptance of extended breastfeeding.
Speaking about her experience, Dayna said: "I first began breastfeeding 13 years ago, and in that time I've noticed a cultural shift in the way people view breastfeeding." She remains comfortable with her decision to breastfeed her children to a natural term, but has faced unpleasant situations while nursing in public.
Public Reactions and Challenges
Dayna has encountered suggestions that she breastfeed in another room when feeding her baby in front of others. She explained: "I would politely decline. I would just give people the energy that they give to me; I've had friends experience awful comments, which is just shocking, as mothers are already going through enough."
She attributes negative reactions to a lack of normalisation: "Most people's experiences with breastfeeding are what they see in their families growing up, media, publicly. If breastfeeding was normalised more in society there would be more understanding of the benefits of it and the realisation that breastfeeding to a natural term (well into toddlerhood) is biologically normal."
Benefits of Extended Breastfeeding
Dayna highlighted the advantages of continuing breastfeeding beyond two years: "Continuing breastfeeding past two years old has so many benefits if both mum and child are happy to continue their journey together. The best part of breastfeeding into toddlerhood include prolonged bonding, nutritional benefits, ability to evoke a sense of calmness and winding downtime quickly, reduction of risk to certain childhood illnesses, protection from illness."
However, she acknowledged challenges: "The worst part (or perhaps the best depending on your situation) is there may be a delay in the return to your cycle which would delay falling pregnant again. Also, breastfeeding a toddler while pregnant for me personally was difficult as I had hypersensitive nipples and the act of feeding him hurt and was very uncomfortable and in which case we cut down feeding a lot."
Commitment to Natural Weaning
Dayna intends to continue breastfeeding "until we're ready to begin to wean or one of us is ready." She emphasised: "Breastfeeding is a mutual relationship and the mother or child may no longer wish to continue feeding for whatever reason. Breastfeeding your child into toddlerhood is completely biologically normal and in fact what nature intended us to do."
She concluded: "Of course, some mothers may choose not to breastfeed or are unable to, and that is their journey, but breastfeeding into toddlerhood is another mothers and their children's journey as well, and is completely normal. Mothers need more support and acceptance for their decisions to breastfeed into toddlerhood. Let's just normalise it."
