Should You Wean Your Infant Early?

How much time you should nurse is commonly culturally specific and determined. Whereas in North America, breastfeeding your baby beyond a year is often considered unusual (or “extended” nursing), in many developing nations breastfeeding your baby up to age two and beyond is considered normal. For more information and facts, visit: benefits of breastfeeding.

Many will state that you ought to only breastfeed so long as is it is convenient for you as a mom. However, considering the numerous reports that suggest that long term nursing confers many health, intellect and other important advantages to your baby, I recommend that you may want to try to nurse for as long possible, even if it is not as convenient as bottle feeding your infant.

Nursing is not always easy. For mothers who work, a lot of effort will need to be put into pumping milk during work hours. Even those who do not work often find continually nursing a child to be tiring, since a baby who is breastfed will generally need to feed more often than one who does not.

Still, preparing bottles require a lot of effort as well and has additional expenses as well. Ironically, you may have to work longer to bottle feed your baby, since bottle feeding is actually quite a pricey undertaking. Though it may seem that bottle feeding is easier initially, once you consider in the additional work hours to pay for formula and all the supplies required to bottle feed plus factor in the additional hours you may have to care for a sick child (since breastfed children are generally healthier), you will quickly see that breastfeeding is actually usually an easier option.

With all the medical benefits and emotion bonding, economic rewards and the overall time savings that nursing involves, I would argue that you should nurse as long as possible! Unless you are suffering from a serious illness that puts your baby at risk (such as HIV/AIDS) or are taking prescription medicine that poses a risk to your child, you should try to seek whatever support you can get to assist you to breastfeed your baby for at least a year or longer.