- Hi guys! Welcome back to my channel!
In today's video, I'm going to be talking about
extended breastfeeding and also,
the benefits of extended breastfeeding.
I touched upon this recently in a "Day in the Life" video
and so many of you commented saying:
could I make a full video about this subject?
So that's what I'm doing here today
and I'll also link in the description
all of my previous breastfeeding videos.
Because I have made a breastfeeding tips video
which nearly has a million views now.
And, I also had health visitors email me to say:
they actually use that video to send to new mothers
that they're looking after.
And, I've also made a tips video about
how to breastfeed in public and also,
a video about weaning from the breast to the beaker
because that is what I did with my children.
So, I'll link those down below
but I really wanted to make this video
because I've talked the other day about
how I was still breastfeeding Jackson who is 18 months old
and I had a few negative comments on that video.
And I, I don't know--
It just really got to me and I feel like
I have a small platform here.
If there is anything I can do to normalize breastfeeding
and make women feel better about their choices to breastfeed
then I would really like to do that.
Because when I was a very new mother
and I ended up breastfeeding Fraser,
I remember I got to about nine months of feeding him
and then the questions started to come
from family members, friends, you know
"When are you going to stop?"
I even had a health visitor say to me:
that if I carried on feeding him past seven months,
that I would be doing it completely for myself.
There was no nutritional benefit to him
and that is completely wrong.
So, I really want to share with you some benefits
and also, just talk to you about my journey
through extended breastfeeding.
I never thought I was going to be some kind of
"Earth" mother that I kind of am.
You know, as soon as I got pregnant
I was like yoga, hypnobirthing, home birth,
breastfeeding for, you know, over a year etc.
So I never thought it would be like this
but it's something that has come naturally.
So, yeah, I think I'll just share my story with you
and yeah, a few of the benefits.
And this is also a collab with my good friend Katie Ellison.
We were talking about breastfeeding
and also, stopping breastfeeding recently.
And she said that she was going to make a video
all about how she was weaning her son Ren,
who was 23 months at the time,
she was weaning him off of the breast.
So, she had it quite difficult in the beginning
but she has got through it
and she has made a video talking all about her experience
of, you know, breastfeeding for 23 months
and then how she got him to stop.
I definitely going to check out her channel
after you've watched this video.
I love her channel and I love her little family;
they are adorable.
I always wonder why she doesn't have more subscribers
than she does because I personally love her videos.
I love her "Day in the Life", especially.
So, yes, I will link her channel down below.
I also always feel with these type of videos
that I need to say a little disclaimer at the beginning,
and that is that whether you choose to bottle-feed
or breastfeed your baby that is completely up to you.
I would hate for anyone to watch one of my videos
about breastfeeding and feel bad that they didn't for longer
or that they couldn't or it just didn't work out.
I think whatever you have chosen to do
to feed your baby was the right decision.
This is just what has ended up working out for me
and what I have found easiest.
And I also understand that extended breastfeeding--
Extended breastfeeding, by the way,
is anything over one year.
So, I can understand why that could also be quite limiting.
You know, you kind of have to be around
and if you go back to work early,
or if you have a life (chuckles),
it's quite hard to carry on extended breastfeeding.
But for me, pumping never worked out
so I have just, kind of, had to be around.
And luckily, that has ended up working out for me.
I personally find it funny when people think
that breastfeeding is weird
because that is what breasts are meant for.
Although, society has sexualized breasts,
they are actually for one thing
and that is to make milk for our babies.
If you actually think about it,
us as adults drinking cow's milk is more weird
because whoever thought of that was a good idea,
must have been into some freaky stuff.
With all three of my boys,
I have ended up breastfeeding for a year and a half.
With my first son Fraser, I breasfed for a year
and then once he hit one, I stopped telling people
that I was still breastfeeding
because I would only feed first thing in the morning
and last thing at night.
And I was embarrassed that I was carrying on
but for me, it's always been so easy
in the middle of the night.
It solves teething, illness, it's portable
when you go on a holiday, it's sterile.
So, I have started so, so easy
that it's kind of become this secret weapon (chuckles)
when I have a baby.
If anything is wrong I know I've got that,
or if I'm on a plane or anything like that.
So I have really enjoyed it but I know some people
do extended breastfeeding until
they're like three, four, five.
For me, it has stopped at 18 months.
By then, my children have been walking around and talking
and with Caleb, especially, he actually walked up
to me once and said "Milk" and I was like
"Okay, I think it's time to stop."
Just personally for me, that's how I felt.
But again, if you choose to breastfeed for longer
that is completely, you know, normal.
So, the first benefit is that it does provide nutrients
to your baby and lots of people will tell you
that it doesn't once they are a year and up.
But they will still get protein, that calcium,
vitamin A, fats, nutrients, and your immunity as well.
I think once a baby is on to three full meals a day,
they obviously have less breast milk.
But the way I would like to explain it to you is
if you were to sit down and have a full plate of spinach,
it will be packed full of nutrients.
But then, if you were to sit down
and have a smaller plate of spinach,
it will still have all that nutrients in it
but a smaller portion.
So, although, they would be having less breast milk
when they're older it doesn't mean there are
less nutrients in the milk; I hope that makes sense.
The second benefit is that boosts your baby's immune system
even if they are past the age of one,
they will still get your immunity and babies
that breastfeed even if it's extended breastfeeding,
have lower illness rates and mortality rates as well.
And it will also help them long
after you have stopped breastfeeding, too.
The third benefit of extended breastfeeding
is that it can make the mom healthier.
We all know that in the early days,
breastfeeding can help you get that flat stomach back
and help to kind of bring everything back in.
But it can also reduce the risk of breast cancer
and ovarian cancer as well.
There have been so many studies done on this online,
so you can check it out if you want to,
but it is also cumulative.
So if you have breastfed three babies for six months each,
it will mean that over your lifetime
you have breastfed your baby for a year and a half.
So you will have the benefit of like lowering
the risk cumulatively; I hope that makes sense.
So for me, like if I breastfed each baby
for a year and a half,
I would have breastfed for-- How long is that?
Oh my God, I'm so bad at math (chuckles).
I would have breastfed for four and a half years?!
Oh my gosh! (chuckles)
So that will reduce my risk as well,
and I've found one study online.
I will link down below if you want to check it out as well.
But in this study, it said that:
"Women who breastfed for 13 months were
63% less likely to develop ovarian cancer
and women who had breastfed for over 31 months
were 91% less likely to develop ovarian cancer."
The fourth benefit is that it boosts brain development
and it's not just because of the nutrients
but also, the bonding experience.
And also, because when you breastfeed
you have to change sides each time
and it said that babies will look around
and see things from different perspectives.
And so, if you do bottle-feed your baby
it said make sure that you don't always feed
on the same side, that you change the sides
and the ways that you feed them
even if it is with a bottle.
The fifth benefit is that it is soothing for your baby.
It makes you stop as a mom, sit down
and hold your baby and feed them.
As I mentioned earlier it is my secret weapon.
If he is ever ill or teething I know
that will instantly soothe him.
Or if he's ever in a stressful situation
he's hurt himself or something like that,
that will instantly calm him down.
And my sixth benefit is also quite similar,
it is also calming for the mother as well.
As busy moms, it is so easy to caught up in chores,
siblings, housework, everything that's going on.
So for me, it's like a really nice chance
to have to sit down with my baby and feed him.
And I really look forward to it, I really enjoy it.
I mean in the early days sometimes when you're out
in the buggy and you're like "Aw, I've gotta sit down."
But now, it's just this really special thing
that we do every evening.
I'm actually in the process of stopping breastfeeding.
So, we don't feed in the morning at all, anymore.
But I really look forward to our evening feed.
And my seventh and final benefit to extended breastfeeding
is probably the main reason that I have fed for so long,
and that is it's just so convenient.
I find it so much easier than a bottle and formula
and even that's why I didn't get on with pumping
because, again, it's a bottle and it's sterilizing
and all that kind of stuff;
get it to the right temperature, etc.
I just think it is the quickest thing
to just quickly feed your baby like that.
If it's the middle of the night,
or again, like I said if you're on a plane
or out in a park or anything, I don't know--
I just find it so simple to just have that on tap
and I think that's why I've just carried on for so long.
Especially, there always seems to be something coming up
like a holiday where I don't know what the milk will be like
when we get to that country,
or you know, I just find it so, so convenient
and that is why I have loved it so much!
And yes, I hope you liked this video.
I hope it provided some insight,
let me know what you think in the comments below.
And yeah, thank you so much for watching
and I'll see you on my next one.
Bye guys!