What I Love About Extended Breastfeeding.

Yesterday I talked about What I Hate About Extended Breastfeeding and in the spirit of fairness, I thought today I would talk about What I Love About Extended Breastfeeding. Because the truth is, it's not all teeth, sole responsibly of night feeds and other people's opinions -- if it was, we probably wouldn't even be at the Extended stage.

There's obviously some appeal in there or we simply wouldn't be at this stage!

What I love - the 'look'.

 I did that. Looking at my son and thinking, "I did that". Of course John now gets the majority of his nourishment from other foods but there's always the pride that it's my milk, created by me, that has gone into helping him grow as much as he has, and continues to do so.

 The Ultimate Instant fix. John's fallen and hurt himself - shove a boob in his face. He's tantruming and not listening to a word I say - shove a boob I'm his face. It's 5am and he thinks its time to play - shove a boob in his face! Breastfeeding is an instant calmer. One of my biggest reasons for carrying on for so long is because it's my go-to, fail-proof calm-down method -- my secret parenting weapon if you will. I won't give that up too easily!

 I've never paid a penny to breastfeed my son. Ok, so you could argue that breast pumps, breast pads & Lansinoh cream do cost money but in comparison to the weekly cost of artificial milk and all the costs of preparing & sterilising for bottle feeds, breast feeding is as good as free. Plus there's no penny pinching at the end of the month to accommodate another tin of toddler milk.

 The cuddles like no other. Looking down and seeing how perfectly my baby (read:toddler) fits across my lap, whilst reminiscing at the thought of the tiny baby he once was. Exchanging glances and milky smiles, whilst staring into contently sleepy eyes. Knowing that no one else has shared that special moment with this perfect little boy, made even sweeter in the knowledge that it won't last forever and it really is a moment worth holding on to.