Breastmilk Does not stop magically working once Your baby turns 1.

If you’re like me, you probably set a timeline and figured once you hit a year you would be done with breastfeeding. It would be cold turkey, just like that, and your baby would start on another type of milk. I set a goal for 6 months and here I am with an 18 month old who still loves her milk at bedtime. Here I was thinking that I could never make it to 6 months and I’ve made it to 18 months. 

The magic number is 12 months because at that point you can transition your child to other forms of milk. Some people think it’s odd to see a toddler still drinking milk from the breast and to these people I say: Yes my daughter still breastfeeds and it’s none of your business. I make the milk and she likes it, so what’s the big deal? If only it was that simple, right? In a lot of cases we feel pressured to stop breastfeeding at a year because our partners want more of our time, or our family member keep making comments about when the baby will eat “real food”, and they understandably make weaning a tough decision. Not to mention, even if you are ready to wean, breastfed babies are persistent and sometimes make it harder for you to stick with weaning. 

I’m here to tell you that at the end of the day, if you and your baby are fine with extended breastfeeding, do it. The World Health Organization supports breastfeeding until age 2 along with food. This means that as long as your baby is eating cookies with their milk, you’re doing a great job (okay, maybe more than cookies). If you don’t want to stop and neither does your baby, there is absolutely nothing wrong with breastfeeding your baby after they turn one. They enjoy the milk and it’s such a short period of time in their lives that you get to look back on. If no one supports you, know that I’m rooting for you and proud of you for sticking to it for this long.