There are so many things I didn't know before I had a baby in my life. There are plenty of things I STILL don't know but it is interesting how quickly you become expert in certain things that become very important to you and then later you can't believe you never knew it.
I knew almost nothing about breastfeeding until a couple of years ago. Nothing at all. I didn't know that you could feed a baby JUST breastmilk and they'd thrive. I never put much thought into it but I guess I just assumed all babies needed either formula, cereal or some other type of food for growth and development.
I also had very little experience with anyone breastfeeding around me- not exclusively, just breastfeeding at all. My main motivation with my breastfeeding plan was to save money initially. I thought about paying for a year's worth of formula and it made my head spin. So my plan became to breastfeed as much as possible.
Then I began to read about exclusive breastfeeding and delaying solids and even about extended breastfeeding. I knew this would be challenging with working full time, and I have no longterm goals but so far my boy has avoided both formula and cow's milk. He eats solids but his diet is still more than half breastmilk. I ran across these tips for breastfeeding until age 2, as the WHO recommends. We're already on our way to that point, so why not make age 2 a new goal? Not everyone can get this far, we've been really lucky and I have only ever looked a month ahead at a time.
Maybe these tips will help push us through the next 10 months:
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/09/natural-weaning.html
Weaning causes:
*biggest one: Cow's milk - they substitute cow's milk for ...breastmilk. If you are breastfeeding, there is NO need for cow's milk, ever. They don't need it for nutrition, and it is a fast path to weaning for *many* babies.
Another caveat with cow's milk - if your baby/toddler is allergic to cow's milk, she will crave it - she will drink several cups/bottles a day. This of course will quickly take the place of breastmilk. Check for food/dairy allergies with your doctor if your baby is preferring cow's milk to momma's milk.
*Pregnancy - the taste of milk changes. Many children though can still be taught to relatch after the birth. Research this, or find a lactation specialist that specializes in this.
*Too many solids - especially between the 9-14 month mark - at this age, they only should have one "solid" meal a day, the rest of their nutrition should be coming from breastmilk. There are some scientists who believe babies don't biologically need solids until about 14 months of age. Even at 2 years of age, the ratio of breastmilk to solids should be somewhere between 75/25 to 50/50.
*Not offering the breast first.
* Only nursing once at night and once in the morning. They still should be nursing 5-7 times minimum daily during the toddler years.
* Night weaning - which is usually mother-led, and leads to faster weaning overall.
* Nursing Strikes - this is a common misconception that happens to babies before one year old. Moms think their babies are self-weaning, but they are actually are just on a nursing strike. Nursing strikes tend to be overcome quickly, especially when solids are decreased and dairy is eliminated.
*Other external causes
