Anyways...
EDIT: I thought I'd edit this. In my country (Peru) women are recommended to use exclusive breast feeding up to month 4th because of the possibility of iron deficiency. The WHO recommends exclusive breast feeding up to month 6 and then breast feeding up to age 2 but when the kid is receiving additional nutrients.
Where did you learn about the non nutrition of BM after 6mo?? That is too bad. I usually enjoy your research findings..The docs who push moms to supplement too early actually force them to wean. Once you supplement, the supply drops big time. The solids that formula kids are given at 4mo are to complement formula, while exclusively nursed kids by well fed moms don't need any iron supplements, usually, and are advised to start solids slowly at 6mo, BM still remains the main source of nutrition for long months while the kid is learning to like solids. If BM has no nutritional value why would WHO strongly suggest to nurse past 2? It irks me when people spread myths.
Too bad about the warped Western mentality that breasts are only good for looking at as sexual objects and no longer for what they were originally made for... luckily, thanks the the Internet, I feel we are starting to go back to the the old ways
Breastfeeding is the normal way of providing young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. Virtually all mothers can breastfeed, provided they have accurate information, and the support of their family, the health care system and society at large.
Colostrum, the yellowish, sticky breast milk produced at the end of pregnancy, is recommended by WHO as the perfect food for the newborn, and feeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth.
Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond.
This is also incorrect. Link with plenty of links to research at the bottom.
Kinda strange people have a phobia about human milk but sucking on a cow teet seems totally normal
I could see why people are pushing moms to supplement early in your country and understand the bias. Since everyone might be nutrition depleated there. But it's a myth - moms would have to be really really really depleated to have bm worse than formula. I can see why some people would not want to bother with solids since nursing is so practical, some kids also do not really take to solids, way past the 1,5 yr. It is good to offer solids no matter what, in my opinion, to broaden the kid's palate, they eventually take to it, laters. I also can see that some moms would not be disciplined enough about keeping the supply high enough to satify the kiddo when they get older, it takes work sometimes and especially around 6-9mo when kids get disinterested and don't focus. Introducing solids is tricky too, one has to have a system and not just randomly throw some food at kids. So I can see why some countries take the more manufactured stuff approach, rather than educating people, that's too bad, though.
My own dad who grew up in powerty and who is a doc was amazed about how high quality formula is and kept pushing it on me, haha, he does not anymore when he updated his knowledge on BM and the perks (emotional, physical, mental, etc.). Sometimes I feel bad I nursed her so long, since she is a tot too clever and little too confident for her own good now, naw, I am kidding..We did a mix of everything for long time, worked well for us.
I would feel very weird if I saw my 8yr old child sucking on my hubby. Ugh.
But I am not so sure if the codependence in late nursing is always just a mom wanting to be too important. Modern anthropology actually disagrees with this view. What's sick is the lady advertising it online, I can't get my head around it.
It's funny, my tot is going through a major baby phase, I think they all do, but she wouldn't nurse, she wants her plastic bottle when she feels like being a little baby a tiny bit longer before she grows up.
When I talk to lact agents back home, though, they have the anthropology data from all over and they always say how women nurse a lot longer than they admit since they feel ashamed. And then you have these exhibitionists who subject their grown kids to this, and in public, it's very strange.
LOL! That makes no sense! Who sucks on cow teets?
LOL!!! Exactly! Maybe he does! Hhahah!
I know! Wew! That is just toooo wierd! I don't see how she can do it. That's not normal. I don't care what anyone says, that is not normal and not healthy.
Can you imagine how those kids must have been teased mercilessly in school after that show aired? I think after the show they probably stopped. I hope they did! That's one time teasing may have good results. LOL!
I can see women in third world countries nursing longer because they don't have clean water or other modern foods to feed the kids or can't afford it and can't afford bottles etc and may not have access to the healthy kinds of foods kids need so I can see a little where they may breastfeed till like 4yrs old or maybe 5, that's still long for me but when it really is a matter of survival, then I can see it, afterall breasts are seen different in those cultures where the women walk around topless. So it's a totally different system there. But in places like the US and other modern societies there's no need to breastfeed past 2 yrs old. Once the kids can talk and know what breasts are, they don't need to be breastfeeding anymore. Give them some children's vitamins or something.
with regards to nutrition in BM
it always has some nutritional value - but since the iron-point was mentioned: there are 2 things to be taken into account when talking about iron:
a) the "right level" was set by formula-fed babies, not by BF-babies.
b) breast-milk does in fact contain less iron (compared to formula) but this is not a problem (normally) as the bio-availability in BM is so much higher, so BF babies should get exactly as much iron as needed (although the overall blood-level might be lower - see a) )
I once saw a documentary about the "formula-mafia" in 3rd world countries and it was shocking. key points (out of my memory) were
1) mus were widely mis-informed by dr/nurses as health professionals get money and other benefits if they introduce formula at an early stage
2) if baby weans early mum gets pregnant sooner
3) families ruin themselves by buying horribly expensive formula (thinking it is the best for their babies) and the more kids they have the more money they need to spend on formula, a financial burden a lot of families can't take.
4) therefore, a lot of families water-down formula to "increase the value" therefore making it no value to the infant, causing malnutrition in infants
5) water/bottles are not always clean, again causing a hell lot of helath problems for the babies too
and: mum's diet normally does not affect the quality of the milk within the first 6-12 month as the body takes everything to keep the kids alive (i.e. producing good milk).
just my 2 cents