Pat,
thank you for your reply.
>> Q1. I have heard of several 18mo's who are still 95% breastfed and
>> reluctant to move onto solids.
>
>I've known several babies like this. They were hioghly allergic and had
>more sense than the adults and "knew" not to eat :-)
I have also come across babies who later turn out to be autistic or
dyspraxic (which apparently can affect chewing and swallowing). The
trick is going to be explaining that, without causing anxious parents to
get even more anxious.
>>Can a toddler nurse too much? I don't think so. But I've also observed
>busy moms who tend to use BF as only way they pay attention to toddler, so
>this needs to be addressed, not ignored.
And I've observed high needs toddlers, who may be somewhat highly
strung, who seem to use BF as a kind of tranquillizer ;-) I have also
interviewed parents about their "slow to wean" toddler, and then
realised that they have a new (nursing) baby in the house.
>> Q3. Is iron the only nutrient which could become insufficient with
>> extended, exclusive breastfeeding? The iron isn't insufficient. But the
>baby's needs change as his/her body grows and needs more nutrients to
>keep growing.
So you're saying the milk is the same, but the baby begins to need
nutrients from other sources? And when the baby won't take nutrients
from other sources, and is maybe becomming anaemic, what is the solution
then?
>
>> Q4. Does the "quality" of the milk degrade as nursing continues, and if
>> so, how long does it take?
>
>No, it does not degrade.
I thought it did. I thought that that was why milk-producing animals
have to have young every couple of years, in order to keep their milk
production up. Or is that because they are effectively "pumping"? In the
old days, could a wet nurse continue nourishing one baby after another,
without having one of her own?
>
>> How long, theoretically, could a child
>> continue to be exclusively breastfed (from the mother, without
>> supplements)?
>
>I'm sure you will get all sorts of answers, but we do know that the
>baby's nutritional needs begin to change between 6 mo and 1 yr and solids
>begin in here somewhere, to some extent, almost everywhere in the world.
>Individual babies may have had very different, long term nursing
>experiences, for various reasons, but they usually get supplemented some
>way, somehow.
My question is with reference to these 18mo's and older, who won't
accept solids. At what point (if ever) would that child's nutritional
status begin to suffer without solids? Or is it indefinate, provided the
mother is happy to continue, with perhaps an iron supplment? TIA.
--
Anna H. Breastfeeding advocate and writer.
http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna/
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