People often ask me what advice I would give a mother about how long to
breastfeed, given that my research suggests 2.5 years to 7.0 years as the
norm for the species. Usually this is phrased as "Do you think all women
should nurse their kids for 7 years!!!????" -- imagine a shocked tone of
voice --
My standard answer is: "Women should know what is normal for the species.
They should know what the research says about the health and cognitive
outcomes of children breastfed for various lengths of time. They should get
full support from their pediatrician, their boss and co-workers, their
spouse and relatives, and friends and strangers. And then they should
breastfeed as long as they and the baby both want -- it's an intimate
relationship between TWO people, both of whom should be willing partners."
In my humble opinion.
So then the questioner usually goes on to say: "Well, is it worth nursing
for just a few months then?"
My standard answer is: "YES!! Any nursing, even just a few days, can make
a lasting difference in the child's health." And then I launch into my 'oil
well' analogy, which anyone who has heard my "A Time to Wean" talk has
heard, and which I'm sure is in the archives here. Briefly, I say that the
benefits are extremely high in the early days, and thereafter they taper
off. The first day is the most important single day. The first week is the
most important single week. The first month is the most important single
month, and the first year is the most important single year. If you can
nurse for 3 days, that's great. If you can nurse for 3 weeks, that's even
better. Three months is an excellent start for your child, and three years
even better.
Most studies that use breastfeeding as a dose-response variable compare
groups of "never breastfed," "breastfed 0-6 months," 6-12 months, 12-18
months, and 18-24+ months. They find the biggest differences between the
first two groups, those who never breastfed and those who breastfed for 0-6
months, some of whom only breastfed for a few days or weeks. They find a
smaller difference between the 0-6 and 6-12, even smaller between 6-12 and
12-18, and smaller still between 12-18 and 18-24+. So, like an oil well
that pumps its biggest output in the first few days/weeks/months of pumping,
breastfeeding's benefits are concentrated at the early end, but they
continue to accrue the longer you nurse, just at an ever slowing pace.
Imagine you have an oilwell, and this is the projected NET income:
Year One $10 million dollars ($6 million of which comes in the first month)
Year Two $1 million dollars
Year Three $100,000 dollars
Year Four $10,000
Year Five $1,000
Year Six $100
At what point would you say to cap the well? It depends in part on how
greedy you are (for money, or for health and cognitive benefits for your
child and health benefits for yourself, in the case of breastfeeding). It
also depends in part on whether you 'like' the oil well -- is it noisy and
smelly? In that case, you might want to cap it after one year. If you love
the noise and smell, then you might want to keep it going as long as you are
getting ANY net income, even if it eventually dwindles to $10 a year.
Any breast milk that a child gets from his mother is wonderful.
Kathy Dettwyler
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