Breastfeeding beyond 1

Mama has resolved today to breastfeed me till I'm 2 or 3 years old. At first she wanted to breastfeed me till I want to stop. And to supplement with formula milk or fresh milk once a day, in case she goes back to work part time. But for my sake, she's considering feeding me even when I want to stop, unless I'm above 3.

She read an article today to inspire her to feed me breastmilk. Those who care for me or want to question Mama's rationale for her resolution, please read. http://www.babyreference.com/BEYONDBREASTMILK.html Even if you doubt the authenticity of the article, don't doubt God's wonderful creation. It's really amazing how God made the breastmilk to suit every stage of a child's life, even beyond WHO's recommendation of 6 months, or what most people say, 1 year is enough. When was Moses weaned?

Summary of what Mama learnt from the article:
- Breastmilk beyond 6 months do not lack in important nutrients, like iron, protein, fats, carbo, zinc etc. The content changes as the child grows older.
- Cow and goat milk have very little vitamins and nutrients, and far too much protein, sodium and many other things that is damaging to kidneys/body in general for babies; difficult to digest.
- Formula-fed babies (like Mama) usually need to start solids earlier cos their protein/fats and basically all the nutrients lah... are harder for young babies to digest. So they benefit from solids, more than breastfed babies.
- Breastmilk is not deficient in iron and efforts to raise iron levels in the absence of proven anemia are not beneficial. In fact, when exposed to formula milk or solids, then in risk of anemia.
- Iron-fortified food, including baby cereal, actually reduces zinc absorption! And it's not a good starting solid!
- Use close-to-no-iron foods as experimentation (pear, cucumber, apple, plum, papaya, melon, banana) to protect baby’s immune advantages before solid foods are a sure thing
- And feed high iron foods once solids are a “go”. These include peas, prunes, apricots, meats,
beans (especially soy), potato skins, spinach, fortified cereals
- Don’t push consumption even once solids have started
- Weight is not the end-all of an infant’s health
- Lower weight is often a greater sign of health than higher, in terms of long-term outcome.
- There is generally NO reason to feed grains early
- No reason to feed sweet fruit sauces and the like
- Only dark colored veggies, beans or meat and fish can hold a candle to breastmilk’s
nutrition
- Eggs are wonderful, and yolks only or complete egg can be tried before age one in a non-allergic family
- Meat, high in iron and zinc, is far better than fortified white cereal so that minerals are not set
off-balance
- How many have ever heard of a meat allergy?
- Breastmilk is an animal food. If breastmilk ends early (like before age 3) then other animal foods need to take its place, or great efforts need to be made to compensate for B12, zinc, DHA,
chondroitin sulfate and other vegan challenges
- Salmon is great: zinc, iron, selenium, retinol, omega 3’s, high-quality
protein (fish allergies are more common in adults)
- A diet of broccoli, carrots, peas, walnutbutter & eggs or meat might
not pale too badly in comparison to breastmilk nutritionally
- Of course Human milk has perfect calcium delivery for Human children
- After mom’s milk:
CALCIUM listed in order of amount per calorie: molasses, dark salad greens,
cabbage, broccoli, green beans, cucumber, peas, soy, squash, most other types of beans (including cocoa), figs, kiwi, almonds, real maple syrup, brown sugar, and tomatoes.