Your breastfed baby has thrived off your milk and is doing quite well but she’s approaching her first birthday. Now people are saying your baby should drink cow’s milk, rather than exclusively drink milk from the mama.
Do breastfed babies need cow’s milk?
Nope! There is nothing special about cow’s milk. It’s merely a convenient way [...]

Tips for Gradual Weaning – Tip #4:
Replace One Comfort with Another
Your child wants to nurse. You want him to wean. What do you do?
If you want to move past the “don’t offer, don’t refuse” stage, try substituting a fun activity for nursing. Some babies want to nurse out of boredom. Give them something else [...]

Tips for Gradual Weaning – Tip #3:
“Don’t Offer, Don’t Refuse”
Weaning can be hard on a child. Think about it.
Are you a coffee lover? If you are, then imagine waking up and someone has taken your coffee pot away from you. And there’s no coffee shops in your neighborhood, either. Your body will crave caffeine [...]

You have spent awhile getting used to breastfeeding your child at home and getting into a comfortable routine. Traveling can really mix up this routine and present new challenges for a breastfeeding mother. Here are a few tips that can help ease you into a more enjoyable and comfortable trip with your breastfed [...]

Tips for Gradual Weaning – Tip #2:
Cut Out One Nursing Session at a Time
The weaning process can be slow—really slow. But this is okay. It’s best not  to set deadlines to have your baby weaned. Instead, when you (and your child) are losing interest in breastfeeding, focus on eliminating one nursing session at [...]

Tips for Gradual Weaning – Tip #1:
Be Flexible
Weaning is best when done gradually. You may have heard of “child-led” weaning.
Child-led weaning is great because, obviously, you nurse until your child is developmentally and emotionally ready to stop.
photo credit: katedubya
But child-led is not strictly initiated by the child—moms (and dads) still play [...]

Weaning Your Older Baby or Toddler – Part Two:
Be Careful What You Wish For
If you’re like me, you know all the benefits of breastfeeding a toddler—the emotional attachment, the positive health aspects, the reduced risk of allergies, etc. You and your talking nursling may be an anomaly in society, but you don’t care. [...]

This post is the third in a series. To see the others, click on the “bad breastfeeding advice” tag.
Three Pieces of Breastfeeding Advice to Ignore — Bad Advice #3:
“Babies shouldn’t breastfeed beyond [six months, one year, etc]. Mothers who nurse their toddlers are doing it more for themselves than for their babies.”
There is [...]

Why Breastfeed Your Toddler?
Worldwide, the median age of weaning is 4.2 years. While this may seem odd to our Western ears, it shows that other cultures have different ideas about how long babies and toddlers need to nurse. Let’s look at a few of the reasons why moms may decide to breastfeed her toddler.
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While it can be a challenge at times, there are some amazing benefits to breastfeeding a toddler.
The busy toddler years don’t lend themselves to the younger baby years of snuggling and contentedly gazing into each other’s eyes. Toddlers are on the move all the time! This is one of the reasons nursing a toddler is [...]